Written by Jack Herbert

Quirky pop duo making strides stateside

Puffy are a Japanese duo who are starting to make waves in the US, where they must call themselves Puffy AmiYumi to avoid offending Puff Daddy's lawyers.

Ami Ohnuki and Yuki Yoshimura were discovered and put together in 1995, since when their derivative, eccentric pop has sold over 14 million records.

In the late 1990s, they hosted a popular talk show, which featured very high-profile guests by Japanese TV's standards - including Harrison Ford, Lenny Kravitz, Garbage, and Sylvester Stallone. However, the programme was cancelled in 2002.

As their star falls in the East, it rises in the West. Later this year, they'll host a new series ('Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi') on the Cartoon Network in the US. group reunited briefly in 1993 for the album 'Technodron'.