Meet The Mops!
 
Back in Tokyo in 1966, four high school kids formed a band they dubbed The Mops. Originally The Mops (Mikiharu Suzuki (drums), Taro Miyuki (guitar), Masaru Hoshi (or Katu Hoshi/guitar), and Kaoru Murakami (bass) were just instrumentalists who were digging hard on surf rock grooves. But that all changed when they were exposed to the sounds of bands like Jefferson Airplane and The Doors. When drummer Mikiharu Suzuki’s brother Hiromitsu joined the band as their vocalist, things really got fuzzy in all the right ways for The Mops.
 

Psychedelic Sounds in Japan
 
Within a year, The Mops were playing gigs all around Tokyo championed as “Japan’s first psychedelic band.” Their live shows quickly became known for their elaborate lighting and the band’s guitar sounds got monumentally fuzzier. The Mops grew their hair out and would often blindfold themselves in order to simulate the effects one might experience while tripping balls on the 60s drug of choice, LSD. (To this day, drugs are next to impossible to score in Japan due to their harsh drug enforcement laws.)
 

 
In 1968 The Mops released their first full-length record, Psychedelic Sounds In Japan. In addition to the band’s steller original songs on the record, The Mops also covered songs from The Doors (“Light My Fire”), a couple of Jefferson Airplane hits (“White Rabbit” and “Somebody to Love”), and two tracks from The Animals (“San Franciscan Nights” and “Inside Looking Out”). Not only does The Mops cover of The Animals “Inside Looking Out” completely rule, it’s sung so fantastically by Hiromitsu Suzuki in English that it’s nearly impossible to discern the band’s Asian origins. 

I believe that most of you reading this will dig the shit out of what you are about to hear.
 

The Mops cover of The Animals “Inside Looking Out”
 

The Mops cover of The Animals ““San Franciscan Nights”
 

The Mops cover of The Doors “Light My Fire”
 

The Mops cover of Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit”
 

The Mops cover of Jefferson Airplane’s “Somebody to Love”

Previously on Dangerous Minds:
Teenage Wasteland: Photos of rebellious youth in Japan, 1964