“Rock Fujiyama” is the creation of Marty Friedman. It was a popular television variety show that aired in Japan from April 2006 to March 2007. Broadcast by TVTokyo, it only aired in Japan, but with the modern day of computers and the internet, many music fans world-wide came to love the program.
Marty Friedman
Marty Friedman was born in Washington DC, USA. He is most
widely
known
as a guitarist in the 1990’s American band “Megadeth”.
Before joining Megadeth, Marty was in a band named “Cacaphony”, which released two albums and toured the US and Japan.
In a bold move, Marty left the legendary Megadeth to pursue new musical goals, and now resides in Tokyo, Japan. He speaks fluent Japanese (very well, according to Japanese fans) and has a very successful career in Japan, appearing on Japan television regularly, and touring the country.
“Mr. Heavy Metal” (Hebi meta san)
In 2005, Marty Friedman produced a music-variety television program called “Mr. Heavy Metal’ or “Hebimetasan” as it is known to the Japanese fans. It featured a regular guest, usually a popular Japanese artist. It debuted September 27th, 2005 and was broadcast until April 5th, 2005.
Rock Fujiyama
Rock Fujiyama picked up where “Mr. Heavy Metal” left off, but the focus of the show changed. Marty decided to expand the show from its Heavy Metal focus, to a wider range or rock genres. This expansion featured episode with guests from rap, pop, rock, and metal genres. The show debuted April 2006, and lasted one season (51 episodes total).
Click Here for a List of Guests
Because American and British bands tour Japan frequently, Marty Friedman was able to feature many non-Japanese artists on the program. Show Format The show invariably begins with a short (1½ minute) opening guitar jam, performed by Marty and Rolly, followed by Kenny, Shelly and Marty introducing that week’s guest artisit.
Each episode features a few repeating segments:
* “Fuijiyama’s Greatest Hits”
* Marty’s “musical fusion”
* Rock “games”
The show’s main focus is on Marty’s love of blending traditional Japanese music with modern rock songs. It is a very creative and (so far as I know) unique idea. A guitar jam that successfully blends two or more songs is performed every episode by Marty and Rolly. During many episodes, the guest would join.
“Fujiyama’s Greatest Hits” a sort of “round table” discussion of rock music. Everyone - Marty, Rolly, Shelley, Kenny, Rock Ninja, and the guest - participates.
Rock Fujiyama’s Games
In addition to the musical fusion and discussion of American rock, each episode featured games. Each guest participates, sometimes competing, sometimes acting as judge as Marty and Rolly compete.
For the first 24 episodes, a guitar riff guessing game was the main feature. Kenny would instruct the guest artist to hum a few lines from a rock song. Marty and Rolly would have to guess the song, the name of the artist/band, and then play the riff. During the first few episodes, Rolly’s “role” was that of the “Mad Guitarist”, invariably acting like a total ass during this segment – boasting when he won the game, swearing at Marty when he lost.
The show usually ended with another guessing game, where Rolly would play a riff from a rock song, and Marty and the guest would guess the band. A variety of CDs from various rock bands would be placed on a table in front of the participants. Rolly would then play a riff from a song, and they would have to find which CD it belonged to. A golden “Rock Fujiyama Statue” – a golden Skull - was the prize.
After the 20th episode, the games changed. The guitar-riff game changed to include the guest, instead of acting as judge. Instead of a hummed rock song, the tune was written, not vocalized. For example, “dadadada dada…ba papapapa” would simulate a rock song, and was displayed as Japanese syllables to the contestants. The would then guess the song and the artists. Quite a bit more challenging, in my opinion.
In later episodes, the CD game was changed to a more challenging and entertaining guessing game: a 3 part game of musical “tag”.
Marty, Rolly and the guest would participate.
It would work as follows:
One participant would name a rock band or artist. He would then point at another contestant, and that person would need to name a guitarist from the band. In turn, he would indicate someone else, and that third person would have to play a riff from the band’s various hits.
Anyone who could not answer or answered incorrectly, would need to drink a glassful of vile liquid. It has been told to me that the liquid is a mixture of algae paste and wasabi. Ewww.
Lastly, early episodes of Rock Fujiyama would end with Shelly giving a brief “rock language” lesson. Usually, it would feature a common phrase. The 1st episode featured “HELL YEAH”, and this became the program’s tag line. After episode 19 the rock lessons ended, and a different segment appeared – a romantic Rock Ninja attempting to woo a disinterested Shelly with his knowledge of smarmy rock songs.
On a final note, some episodes near the end featured updates of the “Rock Fujiyama Band” – their concerts, their work on the soon-to-be-released CD, etc. On March 26, 2007, “Rock Fujiyama” aired for the last time.
GyaO Fujiyama
As a treat for the fans of the show, the sponsor Gyao created “GyaO Fujiyama” with Marty and the other show’s stars. It would air every week on the Gyao internet website. A 20 minute program, it was sort of a “behind-the-scenes” of Rock Fujiyama.
This program also featured regular segments:
* “Rock Items”
* Marty’s Crazy Japan
* Shelly’s Rock Language Lesson
The program would show the cast “behind” the stage of Rock Fujiyama. It would usually begin with Kenny producing a variety of “rock items” – usually things like memorabilia, toys, clothing, etc., that either were official rock products (ie. Kiss Cologne), or related to the rock world in some manner (ie. skull clocks, leather, jewelery, etc.).
Next, in “Marty’s Japan”, Marty Friedman would speak about different things in Japan, usually comparing Western and Japanese culture, food, etc. Shelly’s rock lesson would often be humorous, as she would ask Rock Ninja about common English phrases (some relating to rock-culture). Some examples have been “Stray Cat”, “Offspring”, “Blur”, “24-7”, & “iffey”. Always amusing is Rock Ninja’s attempted pronunciation.
The best part of every Gyao Fujiyama episode, in my opinion, is Marty and Rolly’s “Guitar Clinic”. Each episode would end with Marty and Rolly selecting a particular guitar method, “trick” or certain equipment to share. Educational and always amusing.
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