Pyg (band)

Japanese rock band

Pyg (stylized as PYG) was a Japanese rock supergroup, composed of members from well known bands of the group sounds era: The Spiders, The Tempters and The Tigers. The spelling "Pyg" (rather than "Pig", which was the band's original choice) was suggested by Alan Merrill, who shared the same management at the time, Watanabe Productions. Formed in 1971, the band was a seven piece ensemble on stage. Fronted by two lead singers, Kenji Sawada of the Tigers and Kenichi Hagiwara of the Tempters, the musical director of Pyg was guitarist Takayuki Inouye of the Spiders. Inouye's Spiders bandmate Katsuo Ohno joined on keyboards, Hiroshi Oguchi of the Tempters provided drums, and Ittoku "Sally" Kishibe of the Tigers joined as bassist. Yuji Harada, formerly of Mickey Curtis & The Samurai, was also added to the line up as second drummer. The band released one studio album, Pyg! (1971), the live album Free with Pyg (1972), and five singles before dissolving.

In December 1970, during the Group Sounds boom period (1966 1969), when they were at the height of their popularity, The Tigers announced their disbandment. Following this, The Tempters, who shared the limelight with The Tigers, held their disbandment performance in a small hall within the Sankei Building in Otemachi, Tokyo. Additionally, The Spiders; another popular Group Sounds band, also announced their disbandment in the same month. On January 11, 1971, in a traditional Japanese restaurant in Yotsuya, Tokyo, former members of The Tempters; Kenji Hagiwara and Hiroshi Oguchi, former members of The Spiders; Katsuo Ohno and Takayuki Inoue, and from The Tigers; Shuji Kishibe and Kenji Sawada gathered. Previously without Sawada, the five had been discussing since the end of 1970 about forming a new rock band, influenced by what was already emerging as New Rock (in Japan, rock influenced by art rock and psychedelic rock was collectively referred to as "New Rock"). Meanwhile, from around the autumn of 1969, Watanabe Productions, to which The Tigers belonged, had been planning to promote Sawada as a solo singer and celebrity in the future. Within the band, Sawada was overtly favored, and the other members were treated coldly as a "backing band." However, Sawada stubbornly refused to become a solo singer and opposed the disbandment of The Tigers until the end. Sawada was determined to continue activities as a band, an attitude that would become his policy of working together with an exclusive band for years to come. Kishibe then invited Sawada to join the "New Rock Band" project. Sawada decided to join, saying, "If Sally (Kishibe) is there, then I will too." Watanabe Productions, considering keeping Sawada in the production as a top priority, agreed under the condition that the new band would belong to Watanabe Productions, and established a subsidiary, "Watanabe Planning," to manage the new band and its members. After naturally disbanding, Kenji Sawada turned to a full fledged solo career, while Hagiwara released a solo ep before focusing on his acting activities. The rest of the members transitioned to the Takayuki Inoue Band.

花・太陽・雨／やすらぎを求めて（1971.4.10）DR 1610
自由に歩いて愛して／淋しさをわかりかけた時（1971.7.21）DR 1633
もどらない日々／何もない部屋（1971.11.1）DR 1649
遠いふるさとへ／おもいでの恋（1972.8.21）DR 1711
初めての涙／お前と俺（1972.11.21）DR 1731

PYG!（1971.8.10）MR 5007
FREE with PYG（1971.11.10）MR 9096
GOLDEN☆BEST（2004.2.25）UPCY 9285
スーパー・ベスト（2011.8.27）WMP 60057