band explosion explodes in tokyo

1989 World Band Explosion

U.S.'s Ipso Facto Takes Top Prize , BILLBOARD, November 11, 1989

TOKYO Ipso Facto, a six-strong band from the U.S. led by Wain McFarlane, won the Platinum Grand Prix and $20,000 in cash in the Band Explosion '89 world finals, staged here Oct. 29 in the Nippon Budokan Hall.

With its reggae-based sound and the song "Guilty," written by McFarlane and the group, the band beat 22 other finalists, 9 from Japan and 13 from abroad.

The Band Explosion, in its third year, was sponsored by Nestle K.K., Yamaha Corp., and the Yamaha Music Foundation. The 23 finalists emerged from a total of 22,000 groups who had competed in 20 countries for the right to appear in Tokyo in the last stages.

The Gold Grand Prix went to Mask Party, of the U.K., which played "One Shot" and collected a $10,000 cash prize. In third place ($5,000) was the Indonesian group Topeng & Mask, which played "Topeng Dance."

Individual best-player awards were won by Al Hodgeson, U.K., drums; Cynthia Ayala, Philippines, bass; Richard Sistilii, Italy, guitar; Debbie Rebier, U.K., keyboards; and Hiroyuki Inoue, voice. Each received $2,000.

The judging panel was composed of Jon Bon Jovi, Joey Tempest, David Bryan, producer Masataka Matsutoya, guitarist Issei Noro, bassist Hideki Samejima, and drummer Wataru Yamade.

Special guests were Japanese rock band Bakufu Slump.

After the event Yatsuya Suzuki, Yamaha managing director, said that in the future the number of japanese bands in the band explosion will be cut back and the number of Asian bands increased.

Foreign countries providing contestants this year included Australia, Canada, West Germany, Switzerland, Mexico, Holland, Spain, France, and Sweden.