| Boøwy | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Bōi (暴威 "tyranny") |
| Origin | Takasaki, Gunma, Japan |
| Genres | Rock, punk (early years) |
| Years active | 1981–1988 |
| Labels | Victor/Invitation (1982) Tokuma Japan (1983) East World/Toshiba EMI (1985–1988) |
| Associated acts | Complex |
| Members | |
| Kyosuke Himuro Tomoyasu Hotei Tsunematsu Matsui Makoto Takahashi |
|
| Past members | |
| Mamoru Kimura Kuniaki Fukasawa Atsushi Moroboshi |
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Boøwy (pronounced: bóui, stylized as BOØWY) was an influential Japanese rock group consisting of Kyosuke Himuro (vocals), Tomoyasu Hotei (guitar), Tsunematsu Matsui (bass) and Makoto Takahashi (drums). They were a rock band that reached legendary status in Japan during the 1980s. Their style of music varied from punk to pop rock and they had fans of all ages.
In 1988, they became the first male artists to have three albums reach number-one within one year on the Oricon charts.[1] The 1990s "band movement" in Japan was credited to Boøwy as they popularized the formation of musical groups, which caused musical instrument sales to hit an all-time high during the 90s and the record companies signed and debuted 80 bands during the 90s in hopes of finding a new Boøwy. In 2003, HMV Japan ranked Boøwy at #22 on their list of the "100 Most Important Japanese Pop Acts".[2] In September 2007, Rolling Stone Japan rated their album Just a Hero at #75 on its list of the "100 Greatest Japanese Rock Albums of All Time".[3] The band's name is a reference to David Bowie, an artist Hotei is a fan of.
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In 1979, Kyosuke Himuro was in a band called Death Penalty, that won a music contest that was being held in his hometown of Takasaki in Gunma Prefecture.[2] In that same contest was Tomoyasu Hotei's band Blue Film,[2] who came in second place. After the contest Death Penalty signed with the record company Being and went to Tokyo. Things did not go as well as expected and they broke up. Himuro then joined Spinach Power, but he had problems with them as well and decided to form another band after seeing an RC Succession concert in 1980.
Around the same time, Hotei was in Tokyo after being expelled from high school for saying "Jesus had long hair" when his teacher warned him about his hair being too long. He received a phone call from Himuro and even though they did not really know each other, they decided to start a band called Bōi (暴威 tyranny). They recruited Tsunematsu Matsui on bass and Atsushi Moroboshi from Death Penalty on guitar; Kuniaki Fukazawa from Blue Film on saxophone; and Mamoru Kimura from Spinach Power on drums.
They landed a gig once a month at the Shinjuku Loft, but it didn't pay the bills. To earn a living they started working part-time jobs and sent demo tapes to various record companies. They finally signed with the record company Victor.
In 1981, Kimura wanted to leave Bōi, as he originally joined the band on a temporary basis, so they looked for another drummer. Makoto Takahashi was brought to the Loft by a friend to watch Bōi perform. He was impressed and tried out for the band when he heard they needed a new drummer. During the summer of that year he replaced Kimura on drums and Bōi went on to become the most popular band at the Loft.
In 1982, they changed their name to Boøwy and on March 21 released their first album, Moral. At this time they were a punk type band. For their concert in Shibuya on September 9, Hotei wanted to take a different approach to their music and become more pop sounding, but the fans didn't like the change. Fukazawa and Moroboshi mirrored the opinions of the fans and finally on October 9, after their performance at the Loft, they left the band and Boøwy became a four member band.
In 1983, they cut ties with their production company and formed their own company φ-connection with Mamoru Tsuchiya, former member of Blue Film, as their manager.[2] At the time, this was unheard of and frowned upon in the music industry, so the record company stopped promoting them and people started to forget Boøwy existed. Tsuchiya faced an uphill battle in promoting them; with no funds, he gathered hand-made flyers, posters, character goods, the musical instruments and the band in an old Toyota HiAce with no AC and went on a trip around Japan looking for places to perform.
In 1984, they continued touring live houses for more exposure. Eventually it paid off and they started getting offers from different record companies. Not wanting to go through the same hardship they faced in 1983 they decided to sign with the production company Yui, which later got them signed to Toshiba-EMI.[2] In preparation for their major debut they took a six month break from touring.
Boøwy performed in London, England at the Marquee Club on March 12, 1985.
The band gathered popularity, an eventually Boøwy became Japan's #1 rock band. They held a concert called "Case of Boøwy" in the Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium, in Kanagawa and in Kobe, Hyogo on July 31 and August 7, 1987, where they played most of their songs from their debut to the present for four hours straight.[2] That same year they announced their breakup at a concert at Shibuya Kōkaidō on December 24. There are many rumors concerning the breakup, but the most popular is the rift between Hotei and Himuro. An indication of the band's stature at the time, is that at their farewell gigs ("Last Gigs"); two nights at the newly opened Tokyo Dome on April 4 and 5, 1988; they sold out all 95,000 tickets in ten minutes.[2]