Kenji Sawada
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| Kenji Sawada | |
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| Background information | |
| Also known as | Julie |
| Born | June 25, 1948 |
| Origin | Tsunomi, Iwami (now part of Tottori), Tottori Prefecture, Japan |
| Genre(s) | Rock, pop, gram rock, adult contemporary |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, composer, lyricist, actor |
| Years active | 1967-present |
| Label(s) | Polydor Japan, Toshiba EMI/Eastworld, Julie Label |
| Website | Official |
Kenji Sawada (Kyūjitai: 澤田 研二, Shinjitai: 沢田 研二 Sawada Kenji?, June 25, 1948), nicknamed "Julie" (ジュリー Jurii), also-known as a vocalist for Japanese rock band The Tigers, is a Japanese singer, composer, lyricist and actor.
As a singer (often he also worked as a songwriter) and actor, Sawada had prospered greatly on Japanese popular culture in last three decades of "Showa era". In the end of 1960s, he succeeded as a lead singer of the band The Tigers. After the breakup of The Tigers and another project PYG, he began his own solo career. As a solo singer, he had sold over 12 million copies singles and reached to the best-selling Japanese male solo music artist in the 1970s and '80s. Around the mid of 1980s, his astonishing popularity declined quickly, but he has kept on working as an artist up 'til now. He has sold at least 15 million copies singles and albums,[1] and at present, he is a thirty-sixth best-selling music artist in Japan.
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[edit] Music career
Sawada was lead singer of the best-known J-pop music act of the late 1960s Group Sounds era band The Tigers. A bona fide national teen idol, his nickname to the fans was Julie. Japanese pop stars of that era adopted nicknames, and oddly they were often English language girls' names. His nickname is derived from actress Julie Andrews as he is a fan of hers. The group was signed to Watanabe Productions.
In 1969, the Bee Gees were commissioned to compose two songs for the band in an attempt at international success. One of the songs was a hit in Japan, titled "Smile For Me" and sung by Sawada. In spite of his English pronunciation being clear and concise, the recording did not make the pop charts in foreign markets as the Watanabe Productions management team had hoped. The band disbanded shortly after that record release.
In 1970, after The Tigers broke up, Sawada formed the first Japanese supergroup, Pyg. Kenichi Hagiwara, Sawada's main rival in the Group Sounds era, was a co-lead vocalist. The concept worked on paper only, and lasted a little over a year. They made only one album.
When Pyg disbanded, Sawada had a solo career as a singer, but turned to acting as his main form of artistic expression.
Because Sawada started to wear trendy clothes and applied make-ups in 1970s, he was regarded as an influential innovator and was called "David Bowie of Japan". Later he was crowned as "Pioneer of Visual Kei" after the term "Visual Kei" was indentified.
Sawada also plays the shamisen.
[edit] Film career
Sawada's best known roles include Paul Schrader's biopic of the legendary Yukio Mishima, Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters and Takashi Miike's horror-comedy musical The Happiness of the Katakuris.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Partial filmography
- Samurai Reincarnation (1981)
- Capone Cries a Lot (1985)
- Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985)
- Hiruko the Goblin (1990)
- Yumeji (1991)
- Pistol Opera (2001)
- The Happiness of the Katakuris (2001)
[edit] References
- ^ Music Program (Japanese). Music TV (April 2005). Retrieved on 2006-08-24. “34. 沢田研二 （1566万枚)—34. Kenji Sawada (15 660 000 discs)”
[edit] External links
- Kenji Sawada at the Internet Movie Database
- Kenji Sawada (Japanese) at the Japanese Movie Database
