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Southern All Stars
Kuwata Keisuke (Chigasaki, Kanagawa Pref. 1956- )
Hara Yuko (Yokohama, Kanagawa Pref. 1956- )
Sekiguchi Kazuyuki (Niigata Pref. 1955- )
Matsuda Hiroshi (Miyazaki Pref. 1956- )
Nozawa Hideyuki (Yokohama, Kanagawa Pref. 1956- )
(Guitarist Omori Takashi left the band in 2001)
Southern All Stars are perhaps the most successful of all Japan's pop/rock acts. To give you
an idea, they re-released 44 singles on the same day in June, 2005. The titles dated from their
1978 debut "Katte ni Sinbad" to 2000's "Tsunami." Every one of them went back into the Oricon
charts, and the band basically took over the Top 50. Admittedly the highest ranked was at #18,
but it's an impressive feat nonetheless. The extra sales also pushed "Tsunami" to over 3 million
in all, making it the third best-selling single ever in Japan.
The above feat/marketing stunt was done as part of their 27th anniversary celebrations, which
gives you an idea of the band's longevity and staying power. 2005 also saw them play an outdoor
summer rock festival for the first time in 22 years and the long-awaited announcement of their
first new album of original material in seven years. During that time they had
done plenty of live shows and released a slew of singles. Charismatic frontman Kuwata Keisuke had
also been doing well as a solo artist. But it is as a live band that they are best loved, and they are
regarded as one of the best in the country, largely due to Kuwata's onstage persona.
The band's beginnings go back to the mid 1970s, when Kuwata was a student at Aoyama Gakuin University.
While in a band called Better Days, he met Sekiguchi and Hara - who would become his wife in 1982. They
were soon joined by guitarist Omori Takashi, drummer Matsuda Hiroshi and Nozawa Hideyuki on percussion. Their debut single
"Katte ni Sinbad" came out in 1978 and just a year later they released their third single, the
smash-hit ballad "Itoshii no Eri," which was later covered by no less an artist than
Ray Charles (as "Ellie My Love"). Their lively performances had earned them a reputation as something
of a comic band, but this hit marked them out as a group to take seriously.
Kuwata is the band's main songwriter. He grew up in the seaside and surfing town of Chigasaki, Kanagawa
Prefecture - perhaps growing up there is the reason why so many of their songs are associated with
summer and the beach. The band's signature sound has to be Kuwata's distinctive husky voice and unusual
singing style. Some say it sounds "foreign," unlike anything that had been heard in Japanese pop. They
also play a kind of retro style of music, with lots of hooks and catchy melodies. Their fan base is huge
and covers both sexes and all ages. In the autumn of 2005, they launched their biggest nationwide concert
tour ever, playing to over half a million people in 11 cities, in support of "Killer Street" their first
original album in seven years and an instant chart-topper and million-seller.
But in mid-2008 the band announced that once they had completed celebrations of their 30th anniversary
in showbiz, they would be taking an indefinite break. This led to media speculation that maybe this time
the band was breaking up for good. Whether that turns out to be true or not, it certainly helped sales
of anniversary-related releases. There was more bad news in July 2010, when Amuse announced that Kuwata had been
diagnosed with esophageal cancer, which led to the postponement of an album release and concert tour.
True professional that he is, Kuwata not only made a quick recovery but was performing again before the year was
out. He appeared by satellite hookup on the "Kohaku Uta Gassen" concert on New Year's Eve. January 2011 saw the
announcement of a release date for the delayed album, "Musicman." And though he was looking somewhat thinner than
before, Kuwata delighted fans by performing live at pre-launch events. There's plenty of life in this old dog yet.
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