Tokyo Yankees formed in 1988 and began playing shows in the local club scene the following year. Umemura and Nori were previously in the heavy metal band Guerilla, while U.D.A. and Ami were in the speed/thrash metal band Rommel. "Rockin 'f", a Japanese heavy metal publication, issued their first single, "Joker", with an issue of their magazine in 1990. That same year their song "Rat Race" was issued on an omnibus album titled "The End of the Century Rockers Emergency Express II". The band eventually signed with Extasy Records, who released their debut album, "Do The Dirty", in 1991. That year they participated in Extasy Records' Extasy Summit '91 at the Nippon Budokan to a crowd of 14,000.