Nuggets II: I’m Just A Mops by The Mops

I'm Just A Mops—The Mops

• Track 86, disc 4
• Year: 1968
• From: Tokyo, Japan.

10/10

More about Nuggets II

Credits

PERSONNEL/HIROMITSU SUZUKI: vocals * MASARU HOSHI: lead guitar, vocals * TAROU MIYUKI: rhythm guitar * KAORU MURAKAMI: bass * MIKIHARU SUZUKI: drums
Producer(s) unknown
Recorded in Tokyo, Japan
From the album Psychedelic Sounds In Japan, Victor #SJV-356 (1968) [Japan]

The Mops

The Group Sounds genre became popular in Japan in the late 1960s. It fused Western rock music with Japanese pop music (kayōkyoku). It was sparked by The Beatles’ 1966 appearance at the Budokan.

The Mops started as a high school band, playing instrumental rock like The Ventures. Their manager visited San Francisco and brought home Jefferson Airplane records, steering the band toward psychedelic rock. The Mops covered ‘White Rabbit’ and ‘Somebody to Love’ on their debut album. They became known as Japan’s “first psychedelic band”, and performed with elaborate light shows.

I’m Just A Mops

‘I’m Just A Mops’ may be a grammatically dubious title, but it’s a terrific song.

There’s a busy bassline, a fuzzy guitar, a Beatlesque tune, and a charismatic singer delivering wacky lines like “But I don’t care of them/’Cos I am just a Mops!”

The Mops hammered their point home six months later with their first album, Psychedelic Sounds In Japan, which included wild covers of “Somebody To Love” and “San Franciscan Nights,” as well as some fuzzed-out nuggets of their own, like “Blind Bird” (which included the dramatic exhortation “Please kill me”–predating Richard Hell by a not-so-blank generation). Best of the bunch, though, was probably their loopy theme song, “I’m Just A Mops,” a proud statement of their outcast status, in less than perfect English: “But I don’t care of them/’Cos I am just a Mops!”

Mike Stax, Nuggets II liner notes

The Aftermath

The Mops broke up in 1974. Guitarist Masaru Hoshi worked as an arranger. Vocalist Hiromitsu Suzuki became a TV personality and actor, while drummer Mikiharu Suzuki started a successful career in artist management. 

Read More

• Nuggets II Song by Song
• 1960s Album Reviews

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