12 Girls Band

12 Girls Band is a chinese girl-group, who was formed in 2001.  They aren’t the typical pop idol group as they use real instruments to make a more traditional Chinese and Western sounds rather than the typical electronic-pop.   To create the group, there was an audition where more than 4,000 contestants participated in.   After choosing twelve lucky girls, they trained them well while making sure every member came from music conservatories.   Even though, there were initially twelve members involved in the group, a thirteenth girl was added recently.

Each member plays an instrument:

• Erhu (two-string fiddle): Qin Zijing, Shangguan Zhennan, Yu Qiushi, Jin Jing, Luo Pianpian
• Pipa (a four-stringed instrument): Shi Juan, Zhong Bao
• Zhongruan (a plucked string instrument, a.k.a. “Moon guitar”): Zang Xiaopeng
• Dizi (a traverse flute): Chen Xuejiao, Liao Binqu
• Yangqin (a hammered dulcimer): Sun Lili, Zhang Jing, Ma Ya Jing
• Guzheng (a plucked zither): Yu Qiuxuan
• Duxianqin (a one-stringed plucked instrument): Tang Xiaoyuan

The creator of this unique band was Wang Xiao-Jing, a man who was inspired by the Chinese numerology.   That’s what gave him the idea of organizing a female ensemble, the womanhood, which is represented by twelve hairpins in the Chinese mythology.

Overall, the group has seven original studio albums, six studio-albums with covers and tributes, two compilations CDs and three live-albums.   Their first debut CD was released in the summer of 2001 and topped the charts for 30 consecutive weeks.   It is called, ‘’Meili Yinyuehui’’.   They also have an English album, titled, ‘’Eastern Energy’’, which includes cover versions of Coldplay’s ‘’Clocks’’ and Enya’s ‘’Only Time’’.   ‘’Eastern Energy’’ was released in August, 2004. The girls also promoted their records with worldwide tours, where they traveled through Asia and North America.

This is their discography:

Studio albums:
Meili Yinyuehui (Chinese, 2001)
Joshi Juni Gakubou –  Beautiful Energy (Japanese, 2003)
Kikou – Shining Energy – (Japanese, 2004)
Eastern Energy (English, 2004)
Tonkou – Romantic Energy – (Chinese, 2005)
Romantic Energy (English, 2005)
Shanghai (Chinese, 2007)

Tributes & Covers:
Red Hot Classics (2004)
Tribute to Wang Luobin (2004)
Merry Christmas To You (Japanese, 2005)
The Best of Covers (2005)
White Christmas (2005)
Twelve Girls of Christmas (English, 2005)

Compilations:
Freedom – Greatest Hits (2004)
The Best of 12 Girls Band (2006)

Live Albums:
Kiseki/Miracle Live (2003)
Twelve Girls Band Live at Budokan Japan 2004 (2004)
Journey to Silk Road (2005)