History Music / PizzicatoFive

* WidgetSeries

* ChekhovsGunman: ''On Her Majesty's Request'' features Maki Nomiya as the guest singer on one track, "Satellite Hour"--two years before she'd officially join the band as the full-time vocalist and wind up as the FaceOfTheBand.

* {{Leitmotif}}: All what Pizzicato Five represents can be seen and listened in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paFZTJq8JoI these 6 minutes.]]

* ''Pizzicatomania!'' (1987, a compilation of early EPs and singles)

** ''Çà et là du Japon'' featured a cover of the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' anime theme, slightly retitled "Gatta Call'em All".

* GratuitousForeignLanguage: With plenty titles or snippets of lyrics in GratuitousEnglish, GratuitousFrench (some of their early videos even credit them as "Les Pizzicato V"), GratuitousSpanish, and even Gratuitous Portuguese in a few songs like ''Nonstop to Tokyo'' or ''Loudland!''

** During a radio live in 1995, Konishi and Nomiya performed [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8QNFfy0qHI a live version]] of TheSixties classic Kyu Sakamoto's ''Sukiyaki'' song.

* AnythingCanBeMusic: Pizzicato Five can make songs based on ''anything'' they can conceive as a good song, no matter the genre.

** In 2006, Columbia*readymade reissued several of their albums again (''This Year's Girl'', ''Sweet Pizzicato Five'', ''Bossa Nova 2001'', ''Overdose'', ''Happy End of the World'', and ''Çà et Là Du Japon ''), with another themed graphic design overhaul. The jewel cases were vertically oriented, again, and flipped so the back of the case served as the cover. The covers were each a photo of Maki, with the only text being "pizzicato" written along the bottom in [[AllLowercaseLetters all-lowercase]] [[UsefulNotes/{{Fonts}} Helvetica Bold]].

* HiddenTrack: They have various ones in their albums. PlayedForLaughs in ''Playboy & Playgirl'' where the narrator introduces the hidden track with an announcement to the effect of, "And now here's the bonus track as all our other albums". And then the bonus song is just a snippet of the first track, with the singing replaced by "Nanananana..."

** References to "readymades" pop up a bunch: For example, the ''Readymade Recordings EP'', the song "Readymade FM", and their record label Columbia*readymade. These were nods to Marcel Duchamp from the UsefulNotes/Dada movement. Duchamp would buy ordinary, mass-produced objects from a store, then submit them to museums as works of art with only minor (if any) modifications; he called these pieces readymades.

* ShoutOut: "La Règle du Jeu" was co-written with veteran pop composer Tsutsumi Kyouhei, and the lyrics name-drop prior songs of his like "Weakness of Love" and "Walking in Tears".

* Match Cut: Used throughout [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4Jo26CQfR0 the music video]] for "La Règle du Jeu". Maki and the other dancers change costumes and locations multiple times, but the dance choreography stays consistent across (most) cuts, creating an illusion of continuity. For the final chorus, [[StopTrick it's just their costumes changing]] while they continue dancing without missing a beat.

* NeverTrustATitle: The album ''Bossa Nova 2001'' has a few Bossa Nova songs, but the majority of the songs are other pop genres. One of the actual Bossa Nova songs is ironically named "Rock'N'Roll".

** ''Happy End of the World'' was the only P5 album to get imported to the US identically to its Japanese release. Previous albums weren't released in the US at all, and the later ones had their names changed and their track listing altered. ''Playboy & Playgirl'' dropped "The International Pizzicato Five Mansion" and inserted the single "La Règle du Jeu". ''The Fifth Release from Matador'' dropped "Love Again", and inserted "Room Service", "Tout, Tout Pour Ma Cherie", and the original single version of "A Perfect World".

** On ''This Year's Girl'', "Twiggy Twiggy" flows directly into "Twiggy Vs. James Bond", and they basically function as two halves of a single song.

* ArtifactTitle: Yes, they did have five members to begin with, but were a duo at the time of their biggest international success.
* AuthorCatchphrase: "A new stereophonic sound spectacular"

* CoverVersion: Being one of the styles they managed, Pizzicato Five made a cover of the famous Bossa Nova song "The Girl from Ipanema" (the English version).

* HiddenTrack: They have various ones in their albums. PlayedForLaughs in ''Playboy & Playgirl'' when the narrator says something like "and now here's the bonus track as all our other albums", which is only the first theme singed with just "nanananana".
* IAmTheBand: Yasuharu Konishi, who was one of the initial members and the last one remained. Even he made a disc after splitting with Nomiya with the name of Pizzicato Five making [[CoverAlbum own versions of]] [[Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon Disney's]] [[Franchise/WinnieThePooh movie]] [[Film/MaryPoppins songs]].

* MaleBandFemaleSinger: Most of the formations in the history of the group have a sole female as the singer, not just Maki Nomiya, also Mamiko Sasaki in the first formation in TheEighties.

* MeaningfulName: "Pizzicato" is referred to a playing technique that involves plucking the strings of a string instrument, used in various music genres, like {{jazz}}. And "Five" is because the amount of members initially were in the band (being Konishi the last of them that remained until the end of the group.)

* ReCut: In addition to getting renamed, their late 90s albums also had their track listing altered when they were imported to the US:
** ''Playboy & Playgirl'' drops "The International Pizzicato Five Mansion" and inserts the single "La Règle du Jeu".
** ''The Fifth Release from Matador'' drops "Love Again", and inserts the original single version of "A Perfect World", "Room Service", and "Tout, Tout Pour Ma Cherie".

* SiameseTwinSongs: On ''Bossa Nova 2001'', "Groovy Is My Name" fades right into "Sophisticated Catchy", which basically serves as an instrumental extension.

* TwoGuysAndAGirl: One of the formations have Yasuharu Konichi, Keitaro Takanami (other of founders of the group with Konishi) and Maki Nomiya.

** In ''Á Tokyo'', there's the Japanese rapper YOU THE ROCK★.

* IAmTheBand: Yasuharu Konishi, who was one of the initial members and the last one remained. Even he made a disc after splitting with Nomiya with the name of Pizzicato Five making [[CoverAlbum own versions of]] [[Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon Disney's]] [[Disney/WinnieThePooh movie]] [[Film/MaryPoppins songs]].

* AWildRapperAppears: In ''Á Tokyo'', there's the Japanese rapper YOU THE ROCK★

** ''Hi, Guys! Let Me Teach You" has "Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbow" (1:57).

* ''Pizzicatomania!'' (1986)

* RemixAlbum: ''Happy End of You'' was a whole album remixing tunes from ''Happy End of the World''.

* CoverVersion: Being one of the styles they managed, Pizzicato Five made a cover of the famous Bossa Nova song "The Girl from Ipanema" (the English version.)

* GratuitousEnglish[=/=]GratuitousFrench: Not uncommon. Some of their early videos even credit them as "Les Pizzicato V".
** They have GratuitousSpanish too, and in a few songs like ''Nonstop to Tokyo'' or ''Loudland!'', there's [[GratuitousForeignLanguage Gratuitous Portuguese]].

* NeverTrustATitle: The song "Rock'N'Roll" is more of a bossa nova than a rock song.

* {{Retraux}}: Present in some of their music, videos and artwork.

** ChromosomeCasting: In the formation with Takao Tajima as the only male singer in the history of the group, the only time all the group was male only.

* BreakupBreakout: Both Nomiya and Konishi made solo careers as well other projects away from music.
* CoverVersion: Being one of the styles they managed, Pizzicato Five made a cover of the famous Bossa Nova song "The Girl from Ipanema" (the english version.)

* HiddenTrack: They have various ones in their albums. PlayedForLaughs in ''Playboy & Playgirl'' when the narrator says like "and now here's the bonus track as all our albums'', which is only the first theme singed with just "nanananana".