Koichi Fujita

Koichi Fujita 藤田浩一
File:Koichi Fujita (1969).jpg Koichi Fujita in 1969
Background information
Born	(1947-03-20)March 20, 1947 Chiba, Chiba Prefecture, Japan
Died	October 11, 2009(2009-10-11) (aged 62)
Genres	Group sounds · J-pop
Occupation(s)	Guitarist · songwriter · composer · record producer
Instrument(s)	Guitar
Years active	1967–1995
Education	Chiba Prefectural Chiba High School
Office	Watanabe Productions Triangle Productions Bermuda Music Publishing
Japanese name
Kanji	藤田浩一
Kana	ふじた こういち
Transcriptions Romanization Fujita Kōichi

Koichi Fujita (藤田浩一 Fujita Kōichi; born March 20, 1947 in Chiba, Chiba Prefecture, Japan – October 11, 2009) was a Japanese guitarist, lyricist, composer, record producer, and businessman. He was known for being the producer of four of the six variants of Omega Tribe as well as producing for Kiyotaka Sugiyama, Carlos Toshiki, Toshiki Kadomatsu, Momoko Kikuchi, and Lazy.

Biography

Early life and career

Fujita was born on March 20, 1947 in Chiba, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. As a child, he loved playing football, but spent most of his days alone because his mother died and his father remarried. He attended Chiba Prefectural Chiba High School where heard a Beatles record, and bought an electric guitar. He was scouted by Watanabe Productions and debuted in 1967 as a member of Out Cast. He served as the guitarist after the previous guitarist, Shuichi Katagiri, left the band shortly before the band's debut. He left in the summer of 1967 after writing three songs, and would form The Love with Yuji Takamiya, Arai Hideo, Yasufumi Tajima (known as "Fumio Shimada" and "Heckel Tajima"), and Hiroshi Kobata. The band dissolved in 1969.

Production career

In 1980, he scouted Kiyotaka Sugiyama, Shinji Takashima, and Shunji Nishihara from the band Kyutipanchos. In 1983, Kiyotaka Sugiyama & Omega Tribe debuted with "Summer Suspicion", which peaked at No. 9 on the Oricon charts. He produced all albums by the band. After the band broke up, he scouted Carlos Toshiki, making him the lead vocalist of 1986 Omega Tribe before the name changed to Carlos Toshiki & Omega Tribe. Fujita produced all albums for both variations.

In 1979, Fujita listened to Toshiki Kadomatsu's demo tape. In 1980, Lazy keyboardist Shunji Inoue and the choir group Trois formed the unit "BIG BANG." In March 1981, he produced their cover of Ai No Corrida, establishing Bermuda Music Publishing in the same year. In 1982, he produced Kadomatsu's album, Weekend Fly to the Sun, and in 1984, produced and wrote for Momoko Kikuchi's debut album, Ocean Side.

Many of the songs and albums Fujita produced were hits and succeeded commercially. They were known as the "Triangle Sound".

Later life and death

After 1995, he stopped producing and concentrated on being president of his company. Fujita died on October 11, 2009.