Jacks were a 1960s Japanese psychedelic rock group who released their best … Read Full Bio ↴Jacks were a 1960s Japanese psychedelic rock group who released their best known studio album Vacant World in 1968.

The Jacks, originally known as "Nightingale", began their career in 1966 as a folk trio. After jazz drummer Takasuke Kida joined the group they headed into a new musical direction. Vacant World, released in 1968 as Karappo No Sekai (Vacant World) or Jacks no Sekai (Jacks' World) in Japanese, is widely seen as one of the most important Japanese albums. The song "Vacant World" (or "Karappo no Sekai" in Japanese) was famously banned from Japanese airwaves due to lyrical content. The Jacks' musical legacy has carried on in Japan despite the fact that their career was quite short, disbanding shortly before the release of their second studio album Super Session (Jacks No Kiseki in Japanese).

After the breakup of Jacks, singer Yoshio Hayakawa released one acclaimed solo album before retiring from music, only to reemerge again as a solo artist during the 1990s. Drummer Takasuke Kida died in a car accident in 1980. 水橋春夫 (Mizuhashi, Haruo) Japanese guitarist, well-known in Jacks, and later, music producer. Born February 2, 1949. Died August 5, 2018.

Jacks played in a distinct musical style fused with ambient psychedelic, surf, folk and jazz. The group had a dark, introspective sound with an exploratory, improvisational edge and sometimes headed into moody instrumental excursions. The Jacks typically employed reverb, tremolo and subtle fuzz-guitar and also utilized the vibraphone, organ and wind instruments such as the flute. Lead singer Yoshio Hayakawa sung in Japanese and typically ranged from a low, calm and tranquil voice to throaty, desperate sounding wails. Similarly, drummer Takasuke Kida would follow suit, going from subtle jazzy sounding fills to complicated, offbeat rhythms and manic cymbal crashes.

Personnel
Yoshio Hayakawa – vocals, rhythm guitar
Haruo Mizuhashi – lead guitar, vocals
Hitoshi Tanino – Fender bass, upright bass
Takasuke Kida – drums, flute, vibraphone

Discography

Albums
Vacant World [Jacks No Sekai] (Toshiba Express, September 1968)
Super Session [Jacks No Kiseki] (Toshiba Express, October 1969)
Jacks' Greatest Hits (Toshiba Express, 1972)
Live '68 (H.A.F., 1973 - fan club release)
Echoes In The Radio (radio sessions) (Toshiba Eastworld, June 1986)
Vacant World and Super Session are in print by EMI Japan.

Singles
"Karappo No Sekai" b/w "Iikodane" (Takt/Million, March 1968)
"Marianne" b/w "Tokei Wo Tomete" (Takt Million, May 1968)
"Karappo No Sekai" b/w "Tokei Wo Tomete" (Columbia, September 1968)
"Kono Michi" b/w "Karappo No Sekai" (album version) (Toshiba Express, October 1968)
"Joe's Rock" b/w "Flower" (Toshiba Express, October 1969)

ジャックス - ‘Jacks’ have always been an outsider group in Japanese music, too original to fit under the Group Sounds moniker of the times. Their music was often slow, dramatic and morbid.

In 1965 Yoshio Hayakawa and fellow classmate Suehiro Takahashi were in a folk group called Eri Matsubara and the Folktorio Nightingale [not sure of that first word - kana is フォークトリオ・ナイチンゲール]. After graduation in the summer of 1966, Hayakawa and Takahashi performed as a duo at their university with the name ‘Jacks’. The following year they became a quartet with Hitoshi Tanino playing bass and Takasuke Kida on drums. Takahashi soon left the group so Haruo Mizuhashi joined on lead guitar. Each member would make major contributions to Jacks unique melange of styles:

Yoshio Hayakawa (早川義夫) – vocals, rhythm guitar - Hayakaya’s singing is always expressive and often distraught with emotion; I would guess his vocal style (and lyrical subject matter) owes more to Japanese enka ballads than ‘folk’.

Haruo Mizuhashi (水橋春夫) – lead guitar, vocals - Haruo Mizuhashi definitely plugged into the sounds coming from California in 1967, especially Barry Melton’s playing on Country Joe and the Fish’s first LP Electric Music for the Mind and Body. He makes good use of contrasting delicate passages with discordant stabs of solos and riffs.

Hitoshi Tanino (谷野ひとし) – Fender bass, upright bass - Tanino’s bass playing is original and solid and he was their second most active songwriter after Hayakawa.

Takasuke Kida (木田高介) – drums, flute, vibraphone, tenor saxophone - Takasuke Kida’s jazz-influenced drumming gives a special fury to the songs with wild fills and orchestral effects.

They made at least three appearances on NHK network’s radio show Folk Village, including February and June of 1967 and January of 1968. Seven songs from these shows survive on the LP Echoes in the Radio released in 1986, but I haven’t heard this yet. All these songs would be revisited by the band for studio recordings in the next year.
In the summer of 1967, they did well in a contest sponsored by Yamaha. Whether through attention from the radio show, the Yamaha contest or some other source, they were hired for the soundtrack of Koji Wakamatsu’s film Harakashi Onna (A Womb for Let), a film unavailable on DVD in the U.S. to my knowledge.

In one long session at Meguro Studio on February 3, 1968 they cut twenty tracks for the film. Most of these were released on two LPs released in 1986, Realization and Remains but the complete session is now on CD, Selected Masterpieces by Koji Wakamatsu film music series: Harakashi Onna.

A number of these songs would be re-cut for later single and LP releases: “Marianne” (マリアンヌ), “Gloomy Flower” (裏切りの季節), and “In the Broken Mirror” (われた鏡の中から). “Dm 4-50” would be revisited on the Super Session LP in much abridged form - here the band stretches out with a long solo passage and slower pace.

“Omae wa Hinagiku” (お前はひな菊), “Gone My Yumiko” (由美子はいない) and “Jijoku No Kisetsu” (地獄の季節) would not be revisited in the studio, but each was a feature of their live and radio shows.

“Vacant World” (からっぽの世界 / Karappo no Sekai) is present, but only as an airy instrumental. Instrumentals take up half the session. “Teki Wa Toku Ni” (敵は遠くに) is slow and has a bleating saxophone throughout. “Umi to Onnanoko” (海と女の子) is also a slow instrumental, but nicely atmospheric. In addition there are six instrumentals written by Haruo Mizuhashi, of which “M-19” is one of the best.

Venom
Jacks Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Your lipstick in the dark is perfect
Cause is the way you are cheating, my girl
And girl because you smell so sweet, heart
You are making the fools fall in love, dam!

And your kisses are so delicious
But you have such a rotten heart, damn
It fucks me up the way you are sexy...

And I really love your underwear...

Your lipstick
Your chemistry
Your demon wings
Are killing me
Striptease
Baby stop please
Stop and kiss me
Baby your venom is killing

Stop playing with me, oh baby
Because your tongue is so lonely
Your body now is getting creepy
Your kissing skills are almost a wonder

Stupid things made your heart colder
I'm not gonna cry in the corner
The pretty face that makes you so hot
Is making a real mess...

Don't don't pretend, oh no no

Be careful with your love
Yeah... someday

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to "Venom" by Jacks speak of a toxic relationship - one where the singer is fully aware of the cheating and lies of his partner. The lipstick worn by the partner in the dark is a representation of her hiding her true self and intentions from the singer. However, the singer cannot help but be drawn in by her charm and sweet scent. Despite her toxic personality, her kisses are described as delicious, which shows the internal struggle that the singer is facing. He is aware of her evil intentions, but still finds himself attracted to her.

The lyrics also talk about the singer's struggles with the toxicity of the relationship. The partner's demon wings symbolize her true nature, and the striptease represents how she is constantly manipulating and playing with the singer's emotions. Through the lyrics, the singer realizes that he needs to stop playing this game with her and confront her about her actions. The line "baby your venom is killing" sums up the danger and harm that the singer is exposed to due to this relationship.

Overall, "Venom" is a song that explores the dark side of relationships and how people get lured into toxic situations, even though they know it isn't good for them.

Line by Line Meaning

Your lipstick in the dark is perfect
You wear your lipstick perfectly when you cheat on me in the dark

Cause is the way you are cheating, my girl
Your cheating ways are the cause of my pain, girl

And girl because you smell so sweet, heart
You smell good, but you're causing my heart to ache, girl

You are making the fools fall in love, dam!
You are causing foolish people to fall in love with you and it's frustrating, damn it!

And your kisses are so delicious
Your kisses are pleasurable

But you have such a rotten heart, damn
But your heart is corrupted, damn it!

It fucks me up the way you are sexy...
It messes me up how attractive you are

And I really love your underwear...
And I have strong attraction to your underwear

Your lipstick
Your makeup

Your chemistry
Your attraction to me and others

Your demon wings
The bad intentions that hide beneath your attractiveness

Are killing me
They are causing me a lot of pain

Striptease
When you take off your clothes

Baby stop please
Please stop, baby

Stop and kiss me
Stop and show me affection

Baby your venom is killing
Your poisonous nature is causing harm, baby

Stop playing with me, oh baby
Stop toying with my emotions, baby

Because your tongue is so lonely
Because you use your words dishonestly

Your body now is getting creepy
Your actions are becoming unsettling

Your kissing skills are almost a wonder
Your skills in kissing are impressive

Stupid things made your heart colder
Your poor choices and actions have made you more callous

I'm not gonna cry in the corner
I won't cry alone

The pretty face that makes you so hot
Your attractive appearance

Is making a real mess...
Is causing real problems

Don't don't pretend, oh no no
Don't pretend, oh no no

Be careful with your love
Be cautious with your actions of love

Yeah... someday
Yeah, someday

Writer(s): Aaron Ubaldo García Rico, Javier Martínez De Velasco Durán, Pedro Regalado Pulido, Rodrigo Vazquez Mellado Rosas, Sebastián Macgregor García

Contributed by Henry D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

To comment on or correct specific content, highlight it

TRACKS