Beck (manga) - Musical Influence

Musical Influence

Harold Sakushi, the author of the original manga, has confirmed in an interview with Tokyopop, that Chiba's attitude, style, and appearance was based on Zack De La Rocha from Rage Against the Machine, and the way Koyuki holds his guitar is based on Tom Morello of the same band. Also, the band's first song, "Spice of Life", has a guitar riff similar to that of Rage's "Bulls on Parade", except that the notes' tones progressively ascend instead of descending. Ryuusuke is based on Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page (he is even acknowledged by some as "the Japanese Jimmy Page"), though also resembles Tom Morello in some of his playing — though, at times, he can be cocky (as seen when he tries to name the band after himself), like Yngwie Malmsteen or Noel Gallagher. Also, his attitude towards guitar playing and his playing style can be seen as similar to John Frusciante.

The manga contains many references and tributes to classic rock and popular culture. Nearly every other chapter has a mock cover of a popular rock album with characters from the manga in place of the people usually pictured, including Radiohead's The Bends, The Beatles' Rubber Soul, Oasis' Definitely Maybe and many more. Other artworks contain parodies of famous moments within music, including one moment lifted from the music video for "Karma Police" by Radiohead, which shows Saito running away from the car instead. A particular dream sequence of Koyuki's in the manga (seen in episode 14 of the anime as well) features various deceased rock idols such as Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, Bob Marley, Sid Vicious and Freddie Mercury picking up garbage, meaning they were there "to clean up after Beck". In more recent volumes a character named George Graham, dubbed the "king of funk", shows a huge resemblance to George Clinton of Parliament Funkadelic and shares the last name of Larry Graham, one of the innovators of slap bass. He comments on the band that he never heard such an amazing groove as when he heard Beck/MCS play. The manga also contains hundreds of references to rock culture, and existing bands. Throughout the series, references to real albums, including one sequence where Koyuki has a pile of albums lying on his bedroom floor that include Radiohead's Kid A and Sigur Rós' Takk.... Real-life famous music related destinations also appear, including: Kurt Cobain's house and Viretta Park, Jimi Hendrix's grave, Abbey Road Studios, the site of the original Cavern Club and Strawberry Fields.

Even in the anime, lots of musical influences can be seen, not only on the characters themselves: some of Koyuki's shirts have altered names for real bands, like "Ramonne" (subtitled "Johnny"), "Radiohead" changed to Rodiohead and Radioheat, and "Pixis" and a fictional band called Long Boy has a similar banana looking logo to the iconic cover art of The Velvet Underground and Nico. Koyuki's pose when he is singing without playing guitar is a homage to Oasis/Beady Eye frontman Liam Gallagher, who puts his hands behind his back while singing. In the ending sequence, some rock icons like Freddie Mercury, Sid Vicious, The Residents, The Beatles, Bob Marley and Kurt Cobain (who closes the slideshow) can be seen sketched on the slideshow. Also, some of the names Ryuusuke suggests for the band (before they decide to settle on "Beck") include R.E.M. (standing for "Ryuusuke Excellent Minami" instead of "Rapid Eye Movement"), Ryuusuke's Snake Pit, Minami Ryuusuke Orchestra (may be a take on Electric Light Orchestra as well) and Minami Ryuusuke and Family. Also, in episode 5 titled "BECK", The Hives' appearance is clearly parodied on the cover of an early CD by the Rocket Boys, a 1960s rock band and Saitou's favorite band ("Follow Me" By the Rocketboys is sung by Koyuki and Maho at a summer Festival at one point in the series). "Bomb the World" can be heard at the Grateful Sound, and The Who's "Sparks" is also heard in episode one. In the seventeenth episode Koyuki can be heard playing the main riff from Rage Against the Machine's "Bombtrack". Female indie-singer Jewel also makes an appearance at Grateful Sound in the 23rd episode (Koyuki borrows her acoustic guitar to step up on stage later on). An acquaintance of Ryuusuke, Erica Blige, a successful pop/R&B American singer of whom he receives news of the death, possibly had her name inspired by two real-life pop singers, Erykah Badu and Mary J. Blige (as well as other characters mentioned by Sykes in the manga, like "P. Dre" and "Missy Timberland"). It should be noted here that the character Tetsuo Kuroki, vocalist for the band Room 13, wears a Converge t-shirt on his first appearance. This character is also known for being a howler, and Room 13 is probably, judging from both this and the "illogical" playing style, a mathcore band.

Harold Sakuishi himself has admitted that the band is inspired in part by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Sakuishi admits that they are his favorite band; their music, specifically the song "Under the Bridge", helped him through a difficult time in his life. A one-shot manga also called Under the Bridge was written by Sakuishi and narrates his first meeting with the band. This influence is widely seen in Beck, not only in the band's musical style, but also in the fact that Taira heavily resembles a younger version of Flea, the Chili Peppers' own bassist, both in looks (he is mostly seen playing shirtless and has his hair bleached blonde, as Flea used to have his own) and in playing style. The band that Taira joins in the final episode is The Pillows, who are mostly famous in America for their FLCL soundtrack work. Later in the episode a roadie tells Taira that their guitarist, Yoshiaki Manabe, is looking for him, proving that Taira is supposed to be playing with the actual Pillows.

Alt-rock band Boys Night Out also makes an appearance. During Koyuki's slideshow in the same episode, pictures from a live at CBGB's reveal men that resemble Joey Ramone and Iggy Pop, where Maho would ask curiously who they are, but Koyuki would answer with "some New York punks".