Biography
Emerging from early-‘70s Japan as one of its defining exponents of heavy blues psych rock, Speed, Glue & Shinki consisted of three towering, prodigiously gifted longhairs whose mixed heritages and preferred intoxicants supplied the group’s name: Shinki half-Chinese, “Glue” half-French, and “Speed” Filipino. Though the trio’s reputation solidified only after they disbanded, the sheer improbability of their formation and the singular quality of their limited recordings fully justify the acclaim.
Atlantic Records executive Ikuzo Orita and twenty-one-year-old guitar prodigy Shinki Chen, already celebrated as the “Japanese Hendrix” after stints with Powerhouse, Foodbrain, and the Japanese production of Hair, conceived the project. Rather than recruit anonymous sidemen, they sought equals for Shinki’s instrumental and stage presence, enlisting seasoned bassist Masayoshi “Glue” Kabe—veteran of the Golden Cups and Shinki’s earliest professional group—and relatively untested Filipino-born vocalist-drummer Joey “Speed” Smith, also known as Pepe. Smith’s outsized personality, drug obsessions, and songwriting helped shape the band’s uncompromising direction.
When the group issued its 1971 debut, Eve, the album surprised listeners with its raw, loose, occasionally ungainly reworkings of contemporary heavy blues and acid-rock conventions. Its failure to register on Japan’s conservative charts stunned the participants and hastened the band’s breakup after only a handful of live appearances, during which Kabe began disappearing. Smith nevertheless persuaded a reluctant Shinki to return to the studio with former Zero History bassist Mike Hanopol; the resulting self-titled double album of early 1972 dissolved into sprawling proto-metal and art-rock excess. Upon release the set sank without trace, prompting Smith and Hanopol to abandon the effort and relocate to Manila, where they launched the power trio Juan de la Cruz. Shinki Chen diluted his guitar talents in the organ-heavy Orange before retreating to session work, while the peripatetic Kabe resumed his wandering existence—though he later settled down, depriving the story of its romantic coda. Speed, Glue & Shinki ultimately attained cult status, yet for one incandescent moment the ragged trio compelled the rock firmament to kneel and erected an enduring monument to primal guitar rock.
Atlantic Records executive Ikuzo Orita and twenty-one-year-old guitar prodigy Shinki Chen, already celebrated as the “Japanese Hendrix” after stints with Powerhouse, Foodbrain, and the Japanese production of Hair, conceived the project. Rather than recruit anonymous sidemen, they sought equals for Shinki’s instrumental and stage presence, enlisting seasoned bassist Masayoshi “Glue” Kabe—veteran of the Golden Cups and Shinki’s earliest professional group—and relatively untested Filipino-born vocalist-drummer Joey “Speed” Smith, also known as Pepe. Smith’s outsized personality, drug obsessions, and songwriting helped shape the band’s uncompromising direction.
When the group issued its 1971 debut, Eve, the album surprised listeners with its raw, loose, occasionally ungainly reworkings of contemporary heavy blues and acid-rock conventions. Its failure to register on Japan’s conservative charts stunned the participants and hastened the band’s breakup after only a handful of live appearances, during which Kabe began disappearing. Smith nevertheless persuaded a reluctant Shinki to return to the studio with former Zero History bassist Mike Hanopol; the resulting self-titled double album of early 1972 dissolved into sprawling proto-metal and art-rock excess. Upon release the set sank without trace, prompting Smith and Hanopol to abandon the effort and relocate to Manila, where they launched the power trio Juan de la Cruz. Shinki Chen diluted his guitar talents in the organ-heavy Orange before retreating to session work, while the peripatetic Kabe resumed his wandering existence—though he later settled down, depriving the story of its romantic coda. Speed, Glue & Shinki ultimately attained cult status, yet for one incandescent moment the ragged trio compelled the rock firmament to kneel and erected an enduring monument to primal guitar rock.
Albums
