Tomoyasu Hotei

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Tomoyasu Hotei
Birth name Tomoyasu Hotei (布袋 寅泰 Hotei Tomoyasu?)
Born (1962-02-01) February 1, 1962 (age 50)
Takasaki, Gunma, Japan
Genres Rock
Occupations Musician, singer-songwriter, composer, record producer, actor
Instruments Guitar, vocals, bass, drums, keyboard
Years active 1979–present
Labels Toshiba-EMI
Associated acts Boøwy, Complex, Blue Film
Website hotei.com
Notable instruments
ZODIACWORKS TE-HT

Tomoyasu Hotei (布袋 寅泰 Hotei Tomoyasu?, born February 1, 1962 in Takasaki, Gunma, Japan) is a Japanese musician,[1] singer-songwriter, composer, record producer and actor. Hotei rose to prominence in the 1980's as the guitarist for Boøwy, one of Japan's most popular rock bands, before starting a solo career. In 2003, he was ranked number 70 on HMV Japan's list of the 100 most important Japanese pop acts.[2] He ranked second in a 2011 poll on who the Japanese people thought was the best guitarist to represent Japan.[3] Hotei is best known internationally for his song "Battle Without Honor or Humanity", which has been used in numerous films, commercials, and video games, most notably Quentin Tarantino's feature film Kill Bill.

Contents

[edit] Life and career

Born to a Korean father and a Japanese/Russian mother, Hotei first began playing the guitar in junior high school. In high school, his band Blue Film finished runners up in a school contest to Death Penalty, a band led by Kyosuke Himuro. Hotei was expelled shortly before graduation, because, when warned about his long hair he replied "Jesus had long hair!" Shortly after, he went to Tokyo where one day he received a phone call from Himuro. The two had never really known each other but hit it off and went on to hold auditions for a new band, which in 1981 became the six-member Boøwy. The band became major stars in Japan,[2] even playing the Marquee in London in 1985, and in 1986 released their first million selling album, Beat Emotion.

When Boøwy broke up in 1988, Hotei established himself as a solo artist. He also made two albums with Koji Kikkawa as Complex,[2] both of which went to number one in the national charts. Hotei frequently records overseas and has collaborated with many foreign musicians, including; playing on The Stranglers Hugh Cornwell's 1993 solo album, on stage with David Bowie at the Nippon Budokan in 1996, and at the closing ceremony of the 1996 Summer Olympics with Michael Kamen.[2] He later recorded Guitar Concerto with Kamen.

He has also worked with Andy Mackay of Roxy Music, guitarist Chris Spedding and Mike Edwards of Jesus Jones. Hotei also sometimes tours Europe, including at a number of major festivals. His regular drummer in recent years, Zachary Alford, has previously played with Bruce Springsteen and David Bowie. Hotei's 1998 album Supersonic Generation, recorded in part with Apollo 440 and Ofra Haza, was released in 14 European countries.

In addition to many bestselling solo albums, Hotei composed and performed the score for Hiroyuki Nakano's Samurai Fiction, as well as starring in the film. He composed threes tracks for the cult classic American film Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas together with Ray Cooper. Hotei's best known song "Battle Without Honor or Humanity" was used in Quentin Tarantino's feature film Kill Bill, the PlayStation 2 version of Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA, and Michael Bay's feature film Transformers. Hotei recorded a cover of John Lennon's "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" for Merry Axemas: A Guitar Christmas, an instrumental guitar Christmas album featuring tracks from guitarists including Jeff Beck, Joe Perry, Eric Johnson, Steve Vai and Steve Morse.[2]

The Nintendo DS game Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan features his song "Thrill". The game's sequel, Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii, features another Hotei song, "Bambina" (Both songs are cover versions.). Hotei is featured in "Grace" on the Apocalyptica album Worlds Collide. The song is featured in the game NHL 09.

On July 30 and 31, 2011, Hotei and Kikkawa reunited as Complex for two nights at the Tokyo Dome. All proceeds were donated to aid the victims of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.[4]

On February 1, 2012, Hotei performed a concert at the Saitama Super Arena to celebrate his 50th birthday. Former Boøwy drummer Makoto Takahashi appeared as a special guest and together they played Boøwy's "Justy" and "No. New York".[5] Hotei will make his directorial debut in April 2012, with the stage play Psychedelic Pain, for which he also wrote the music.[6]

[edit] Personal life

Tomoyasu Hotei married singer Kumiko Yamashita in January 1986, they divorced in November 1997.[2] He is currently married to Miki Imai, who is also a singer and actress.[5] On June 14, 2007, Hotei assaulted his friend and punk rock singer Kō Machida.[7] The incident happened when the two men got into an argument about a band they planned on forming together.[7] Machida filed a police report on the 18th, and Hotei was ordered to pay a fine of 300,000 yen on October 1.[8]

[edit] Discography

[edit] Singles

  • "Dancing with the Moonlight" (April 3, 1989)
    • Released only in the UK in two mixes on 12" inch and 7" inch vinyl.
  • "Deja-vu" (December 12, 1990)
  • "Beat Emotion" (June 29, 1991)
  • "You" (December 4, 1991)
  • "Lonely Wild" (July 22, 1992)
  • "Saraba Seishun no Hikari" (さらば青春の光, July 28, 1993)
  • "Surrender" (サレンダー, March 30, 1994)
  • "Bara to Ame" (薔薇と雨,December 14, 1994)
  • "Poison" (January 25, 1995)
  • "Thrill" (スリル, October 18, 1995
  • "Last Scene" (ラストシーン, January 24, 1996)
  • "Inochi wa Moyashitsukusu tame no Mono" (命は燃やしつくすためのもの May 24, 1996)
  • "Circus" (October 23, 1996)
  • "Battle Royale Mixes" (December 24, 1996)
    • Limited release.
  • "Change Yourself!" (August 1, 1997)
  • "Thank You & Good Bye" (January 28, 1998)
  • "Battle Royale Mixes II" (July 23, 1998)
    • Limited release.
  • "Bambina" (バンビーナ, April 16, 1999)
  • "Nobody is Perfect" (May 12, 1999)
  • "Vampire" (August 30, 2000)
  • "Love Junkie" (October 25, 2000)
  • "Born to Be Free" (January 1, 2001)
  • "Russian Roulette" (February 6, 2002)
  • "Destiny Rose" (October 17, 2002)
  • "Nocturne No.9" (August 27, 2003)
  • "Another Battle" (アナザー・バトル, June 30, 2004)
  • "Identity" (February 23, 2005)
  • "Battle Funktastic" (January 25, 2006)
  • "Back Streets of Tokyo" (August 23, 2006)
  • "Stereocaster" (November 8, 2006)
    • A collaboration with Char.
  • "Still Alive" (August 4, 2010)
  • "Promise" (May 18, 2011)

[edit] Studio albums

  • Guitarhythm (October 5, 1988)
  • Guitarhythm II (September 27, 1991)
  • Guitarhythm III (September 23, 1992)
  • Guitarhythm IV (June 1, 1994)
  • King & Queen (February 28, 1996)
  • Supersonic Generation (April 29, 1998)
  • Fetish (November 29, 2000)
  • Scorpio Rising (March 6, 2002)
  • Doberman (September 26, 2003)
  • Monster Drive (June 15, 2005)
  • Soul Sessions (2006)
  • Ambivalent (October 24, 2007)
  • Guitarhythm V (February 18, 2009)

[edit] Compilations albums

  • Guitarhythm Forever Vol. 1 (February 17, 1995)
  • Guitarhythm Forever Vol. 2 (February 17, 1995)
  • Greatest Hits 1990–1999 (June 23, 1999)[1]
  • B-Side Rendez-vous (January 26, 2000)
  • All Time Super Best (December 7, 2005)

[edit] Live albums

  • Guitarhythm Active Tour 91-92 (April 8, 1992)
  • Guitarhythm Wild (April 28, 1993)
  • Space Cowboy Show (March 19, 1997)
  • Space Cowboy Show Encore (April 25, 1997)
  • Tonight I'm Yours (January 26, 2000)
  • Rock the Future Tour 2000-2001 (March 22, 2001)
  • Tomoyasu Hotei Live in Budokan (December 26, 2002)
  • Monster Drive Party!!! (September 14, 2005)
  • MTV Unplugged (June 27, 2007)

[edit] Soundtracks

[edit] Other albums

  • Guitarhythm Box (December 24, 2008)
    • Contains Guitarhythm I, II, III, IV, a preview of V, and a live DVD.
  • Modern Times Rock'N'Roll (Party Mix) (November 25, 2009)
  • Modern Times Rock'N'Roll (December 23, 2009)
    • Cover album of Western hits. Also released as a limited quantity USB flash drive on the same day.

[edit] Other appearances

[edit] Home videos

  • Guitarhythm (July 11, 1989)
  • Guitarhythm Active Tour '91-'92 (March 25, 1992)
  • Guitarhythm Wild (June 16, 1993)
  • Serious Clips (July 27, 1994)
  • Guitarhythm Serious! Climax (May 17, 1995)
  • Cyber City Never Sleep (May 24, 1996)
  • H (October 9, 1996)
  • Space Cowboy Show (April 25, 1997)
  • Space Cowboy Show Encore (1997)
    • Only given to those who bought Space Cowboy Show on both VHS and DVD.
  • SSG Live "Rock the Future" (October 7, 1998)
  • Greatest Video 1994-1999 (July 16, 1999)
  • Tonight I'm Yours (May 16, 2000)
  • Rock the Future Tour 2000-2001 (May 16, 2001)
  • Hotei Live Jukebox (July 25, 2001)
  • Live in Budokan (July 29, 2003)
  • Beat Crazy Presents Live @ AX (May 21, 2003)
  • Doberman DVD (November 3, 2003)
  • The Live! Doberman (June 30, 2004)
  • Top Runner Full Version (March 30, 2005)
    • Limited release.
  • Monster Drive Party!!! (September 14, 2005)
  • All Time Super Clips (May 15, 2006)
  • All Time Super Best Tour (June 26, 2006)
  • Hotei presents "Super Soul Sessions" Brian Setzer vs Hotei vs Char (July 27, 2007)
  • MTV Unplugged (June 27, 2006)
  • Hotei and The Wanderers Funky Punky Tour 2007-2008 (April 23, 2008)
  • Tōdai-ji+G.V. / Time and Space (November 25, 2009)
    • Limited release.
  • Hotei+Tōdai-ji Tomoyasu Hotei Special Live -Fly into your Dream- (November 25, 2009)
  • Guitarhythm V Tour (November 25, 2009)
  • 30th Anniversary Anthology I "Souseiki" (September 14, 2011)
  • 30th Anniversary Anthology II "Ifuu Doudou" (September 14, 2011)

[edit] Videography

[edit] In popular culture

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b McClure, Steve (June 17, 2000). "Domestic Acts Boost-EMI Sales". Billboard. http://books.google.com/books?id=mw8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA88-IA4&dq=Tomoyasu+Hotei&hl=en&ei=i8wTTu_DELLViAKNnJjhDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&ved=0CE0Q6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=Tomoyasu%20Hotei&f=false. Retrieved 6 July 2011. 
  2. ^ a b c d e f (Japanese) "Top 100 Japanese pops Artists - No.70". hmv.co.jp. http://www.hmv.co.jp/news/newsDetail.asp?newsnum=308280040. Retrieved 2011-09-06. 
  3. ^ "Which guitarist do you think can be a representative for Japan?". tokyohive.com. http://www.tokyohive.com/2011/12/which-guitarist-do-you-think-can-be-a-representative-for-japan/#comment-379049647. Retrieved 2012-02-04. 
  4. ^ http://www.diskgarage.com/sp/complex/
  5. ^ a b "Hotei Tomoyasu celebrates his 50th birthday with a live performance". tokyohive.com. http://www.tokyohive.com/2012/02/hotei-tomoyasu-celebrates-his-50th-birthday-with-a-live-performance/. Retrieved 2012-02-02. 
  6. ^ "Kitano Kii will become an angel for Hotei Tomoyasu’s play, “Psychedelic Pain”". tokyohive.com. http://www.tokyohive.com/2012/01/kitano-kii-will-become-an-angel-for-hotei-tomoyasus-play-psychedelic-pain/. Retrieved 2012-01-27. 
  7. ^ a b "Musicians Hotei, Machida fight over music". tokyograph.com. http://www.tokyograph.com/news/musicians-hotei-machida-fight-over-music/. Retrieved 2012-02-02. 
  8. ^ "Hotei fined 300,000 yen in assault case". tokyograph.com. http://www.tokyograph.com/news/hotei-fined-300000-yen-in-assault-case/. Retrieved 2012-02-02. 

[edit] External links

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