Boøwy

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 Kazuaki Fukasawa Atsushi Moroboshi

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. 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 1990s and the record companies signed and debuted 80 bands during the 1990s in hopes of finding a new Boøwy. In 2003, HMV Japan ranked Boøwy at number 22 on their list of the "100 Most Important Japanese Pop Acts". 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". The band's name is a reference to David Bowie, an artist Hotei is a fan of.

History

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. In that same contest was Tomoyasu Hotei's band Blue Film, 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, Kazuaki 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 May 1981, Kimura left Bōi, as he originally joined the band on a temporary basis. 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 bands 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 on October 9, after their performance at the Loft, they left the band and Boøwy became a quartet.

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. 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. 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.

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. 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.

Members

• Kyosuke Himuro (氷室京介) – lead vocals
• Tomoyasu Hotei (布袋寅泰) – guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
• Tsunematsu Matsui (松井恒松) – bass
• Makoto Takahashi (高橋まこと) – drums

Former members

• Mamoru Kimura (木村マモル) – drums
• Kazuaki Fukasawa (深沢和明) – saxophone, backing vocals
• Atsushi Moroboshi (諸星アツシ) – guitar

Discography

Singles

• "Honky Tonky Crazy" (ホンキー・トンキー・クレイジー, June 1, 1985), Oricon Singles Chart Peak Position: #61
• "Bad Feeling" (August 22, 1985) #46
• "Wagamama Juliet" (わがままジュリエット, February 1, 1986) #39
• "B･Blue" (September 29, 1986) #7
• "Only You" (April 6, 1987) #4
• "Marionette" (Marionette -マリオネット-, July 22, 1987) #1
• "Kisetsu ga Kimi Dake wo Kaeru" (季節が君だけを変える, October 26, 1987) #4
• "Dakara" (February 3, 1988) #2

Albums

• Moral (March 21, 1982)
• Instant Love (September 25, 1983)
• Boøwy (June 21, 1985)
• Just A Hero (March 1, 1986)
• Beat Emotion (November 8, 1986)
• Psychopath (September 5, 1987)

Live album

• "Gigs" Just A Hero Tour 1986 (July 31, 1986)
• "Last Gigs" (May 3, 1988), Oricon Albums Chart Peak Position: #10
• "Gigs" Case of Boøwy (November 28, 2001) #3
• Gigs at Budokan Beat Emotion Rock'n Roll Circus Tour 1986.11.11~1987.2.24 (February 24, 2004) #7
• "Last Gigs" Complete (April 5, 2008, "Last Gigs" plus more songs) #10

Compilation albums

• Moral+3 (February 3, 1988, debut album +3 songs from "Dakara" single)
• Singles (December 24, 1988) #1
• Boøwy Complete Limited Edition (December 24, 1991, box-set includes all 6 studio albums, "Gigs" Just A Hero Tour 1986, Last Gigs, Singles and a "Specials" disc)
• Boøwy Complete Required Edition (March 3, 1993, re-release of Boøwy Complete Limited Edition) #3
• This Boøwy (February 25, 1998) #1
• Boøwy Complete 21st Century 20th Anniversary Edition (March 29, 2002, same as Boøwy Complete Limited Edition) #14
• This Boøwy Dramatic 172368000 (September 5, 2007) #4
• This Boøwy Drastic 172368000 (September 5, 2007) #5

Other albums

• Orchestration Boøwy (August 9, 1989, orchestra covers)
• Moral - Trance Mix (January 23, 2002, remix album) #13
• Instant Love - Hammer Trance (August 21, 2002, remix album) #83

Videos

• Boøwy Video (VHS: July 2, 1986, DVD: November 28, 2001) Oricon DVDs Ranking: #5
• "Gigs" Case of Boøwy (4 VHS: October 5, 1987, 2 DVDs: November 28, 2001, live) #2 and #3
• Marionette (VHS: October 26, 1987)
• Singles of Boøwy (VHS: December 24, 1991, DVD: November 28, 2001) #6
• Last Gigs (DVD: October 27, 2001, live) #1
• 1224 (DVD; December 24, 2001) #2
• Gigs at Budokan Beat Emotion Rock'n Roll Circus Tour 1986.11.11~1987.2.24 (DVD: February 24, 2004, live) #2
• "Gigs" Box (DVD: December 24, 2007, 8 disc box-set) #12
• "Last Gigs" Complete (DVD: April 5, 2008, live) #3

External links

• Official Toshiba EMI page