TM NETWORK

Overview

TM NETWORK is a Japanese trio made up of Tetsuya Komuro (synthesizer, keyboards), Takashi Utsunomiya (vocals) and Naoto Kine (guitar, keyboards). The lineup has never changed since their 1984 debut. Praised as a new-generation rock band built around synthesizers, they became known across Japan as makers of futuristic synth pop after the 1987 single "Get Wild." Combined sales of their singles and albums, including LPs and cassettes, are officially said to exceed 16 million.

Career

1979: Utsunomiya and Kine played together in a school-days band called SPEEDWAY; Komuro joined briefly.
1983: Komuro contacted the two about a new group, and they chose the name TM NETWORK. On August 22 they performed "1974" at the Coca-Cola-sponsored Fresh Sounds Contest, broadcast on TBS, their first step toward a record deal.
April 21, 1984: Debut with the single "Kin'yobi no Lion (Take It to the Lucky)" and the album RAINBOW RAINBOW. They first became popular in Hokkaido.
1987: Their fourth original album Self Control gave them their first Oricon album top ten, and the tenth single "Get Wild" (released April 8) their first Oricon singles top ten. The best-of album Gift for Fanks, released July 1, became their first Oricon number one. "Get Wild," the first ending theme of City Hunter, sold a combined 525,010 copies and has been covered by many artists, including Vocaloids. "Beyond the Time" was the ending theme of the 1988 film Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack.
1990: Renamed TMN.
1994: On April 21, their 10th debut anniversary, they declared the end of the TMN project, which concluded with the Tokyo Dome concerts TMN 4001 DAYS GROOVE on May 18 and 19.
1996: Kine played on a song by Komuro and Utsunomiya.
1999: They reunited as TM NETWORK and released three singles. That year "Happiness×3 Loneliness×3" featured collaborations with Julio Iglesias Jr., Sheila E. and Leehom Wang.
2000: Their ninth album Major Turn-Round came out on the independent label Rojam Entertainment, showing progressive rock influence.
2004: The tenth album Easy Listening reflected Komuro's interest in trance.
2007: The eleventh album SPEEDWAY was released, after which activities ceased following allegations against Komuro.
2014: They signed with avex Entertainment and released their twelfth album Quit30.
2018: Komuro's withdrawal from public appearances again halted the group.
2021: They reunited with the virtual concert series How Do You Crash It?, streamed on October 9, December 11 and the following February.
2022: How Do You Crash It?-LIVE- (April 21) and the LIVE HISTORIA DX releases (July 29) appeared. Sony Music Japan's catalog became available on download services worldwide, and "Please Heal the World" was released as a LINE-exclusive NFT. The FANKS intelligence Days tour was Komuro's first since the news of his infidelity; a live album followed on December 28.
2023: "Whatever Comes" (Opening Edit on June 14, full single on August 23), the album DEVOTION (June 14) and the single "Angie" (December 6).
2024: 40th-anniversary live releases including DEVOTION and the single "Get Wild Continual" (April 21), STAND 3 FINAL (July 10) and YONMARU (September 25).
2025: "Carry on the Memories" (February 26), "BEYOND THE TIME (Mobius no Uchu o Koete) -2025 Version-" (June 19) and the live album TM NETWORK 2024 intelligence Days FANKS inside -LIVE- (September 24).
2026: The name was quietly changed to TMNETWORK, written without a space.

Musical Style

TM NETWORK offered stylish pop centered on digital synthesizers and samplers, sparking a major trend in Japan from the late 1980s to early 1990s. Their sound strongly influenced later J-POP and anime songs by acts such as B'z, access, DREAMS COME TRUE and TRF, and its rock-based tension invited comparisons with BOØWYm. They pioneered synchronized performance with computers and sequencers, yet at times used analog synths, Hammond organ, grand piano and Mellotron.

In production, Komuro develops new methods in the studio, Kine writes ballads and Utsunomiya concentrates on singing. Composition is mostly by Komuro and Kine, arrangement mostly by Komuro, and lyrics largely by female lyricists, chiefly Mitsuko Komuro. From the late 1980s they adopted the Synclavier and hard-disk recording. Live, they radically rebuilt their songs and embraced surround systems and moving lights.