Boøwy: Легенды японского рока

Japanese rock group

Boøwy ('/b//oʊ//i/ BOHee; stylized as BOØWY) was a Japanese rock band formed in Takasaki, Gunma in 1981. The classic lineup of vocalist Kyosuke Himuro, guitarist Tomoyasu Hotei, bassist Tsunematsu Matsui, and drummer Makoto Takahashi reached legendary status in Japan during the 1980s. In 1988, the year they broke up, they became the first male artists to have three number one albums within a single year on the Oricon chart. They were named Artist of the Year at the 3rd annual Japan Gold Disc Awards in 1989. The 1990s Band Boom in Japan was credited to Boøwy as they popularized the formation of musical groups. In 2003, HMV Japan ranked Boøwy at number 22 on their list of the "100 Most Important Japanese Pop Acts".

In 1979, Kyosuke Himuro was in a band called Death Penalty which won a music contest held in his hometown of Takasaki in Gunma Prefecture. 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). In September, they recruited Tsunematsu Matsui on bass, Atsushi Moroboshi from Death Penalty on guitar, and Kazuaki Fukazawa from Blue Film on saxophone. Mamoru Kimura from Spinach Power agreed to drum for them in 1981. They landed a gig once a month at the Shinjuku Loft, but it did not 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 and began recording their first album. In May 1981, Kimura left Bōi, as he originally joined the band on a temporary basis. He would later collaborate with the group again when he co produced their second album, 1983's Instant Love. Makoto Takahashi was brought to the Loft by a friend to watch Bōi perform on May 11. 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 January 1982, they changed their name to Boøwy and on March 21 released their first album, Moral. At this time they were a punk rock 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 did not 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. The band 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. 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 concerts, appropriately titled 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. The band has had several number ones since disbanding, including; their 1988 Singles collection, 1998's This Boøwy which sold over 1.6 million copies to be certified 4× Platinum by the RIAJ, and the 2001 DVD of their final concerts. On February 1, 2012, Hotei performed a concert at the Saitama Super Arena to celebrate his 50th birthday. Takahashi appeared as a special guest and together they played Boøwy's "Justy" and "No. New York". This was the first time the two performed together in 24 years. To celebrate Boøwy's 30th anniversary, the compilation album Boøwy The Best "Story" was released on March 21, 2013. It contains 32 tracks, including the song "Cloudy Heart", which received the most votes in a poll.

In 1988, the year they broke up, Boøwy became the first male artists to have three number one albums within a single year on the Oricon chart. They were named Artist of the Year at the 3rd annual Japan Gold Disc Awards in 1989. which caused musical instrument sales to hit an all time high during the 1990s, leading record companies to sign and debut 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 number 75 on its list of the "100 Greatest Japanese Rock Albums of All Time". Their album Beat Emotion was named number 5 on Bounces 2009 list of "54 Standard Japanese Rock Albums". In a 2012 poll by Recochoku, Boøwy were ranked the number one band that people wanted to see reunite. With the release of Boøwy The Best "Story" in 2013, Boøwy became the second band ever, and first Japanese, to reach number one over 20 years after they broke up. The Beatles being the first. In 2017, Hotei suggested that with their spiky hair and heavy make up Boøwy might have been the first visual kei band. Having always been conscious of visuals and influenced by David Bowie, he explained that "I too wanted to create something extraordinary and by wearing make up, I felt like I had another identity. I thought by adding some fantasy to rock music, it would create more depth in the music."

Moral (March 21, 1982), Oricon Albums Chart Peak Position: No. 2 (1989 re release)
Instant Love (September 25, 1983) No. 3 (1988 re release)
Boøwy (June 21, 1985) No. 48
Just a Hero (March 1, 1986) No. 5
Beat Emotion (November 8, 1986) No. 1
Psychopath (September 5, 1987) No. 1