Eikichi Yazawa

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Eikichi Yazawa
矢沢 永吉

Background information
Origin Hiroshima, Japan
Genre(s) Rock
Years active 1975–present
Label(s) EMI Music Japan

Eikichi Yazawa (矢沢永吉 Yazawa Eikichi?, born September 14, 1949 in Hiroshima) is a Japanese rock singer. He was a member of the legendary Japanese rock group Carol, and is one of the most successful rock singers in Japan.

In 2004, HMV listed Eikichi Yazawa as the 14th top Japanese musician. [1]

Contents

[edit] Biography

Yazawa formed the band Carol in 1972. They were strongly inspired by the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. Carol had some minor success and a few hit singles and albums were released. After the band broke up in 1975, Yazawa flew to the U.S. to start his solo career. His first solo album, I Love You, OK, was recorded at the A&M studio in Los Angeles and produced by Tom Mack.

In 1977, he was the first artist to perform at the Budokan hall in Tokyo, to a full crowd of over 13,000 people. He now holds the record of most performances at the Budokan hall, having performed there almost 100 times (the hundredth being on December 16, 2007).

1978 was a greatly successful year for Yazawa. His fourth studio album, Gold Rush, went to #1 in the charts. He also held a hugely successful performance at the Korakuen baseball stadium (now the Tokyo Dome) for over 40,000 people.

In 1980, Yazawa, seeking worldwide success, signed a contract with the Warner Pioneer record company and moved to the West Coast of the United States. He recorded the albums Yazawa (featuring members of American rock band Little Feat, It's Just Rock n' Roll, and Flash in Japan, all of which were released worldwide, but were not very commercially successful compared to his Japanese releases.

In 1996 Yazawa appeared in a string of commercials for such products as "Boss" coffee. His commercials typically were of him in various "cool" poses around Tokyo, with his new songs serving as background music and his own voiceovers rather than on-camera talking.

In the late 1990s, Yazawa was swindled out of about 3.5 billion yen for a huge building construction project in Australia.

In December of 2005, Yazawa ran a sold-out Japan tour of "live houses" (Japanese-English for a live-music club) as a part of his "back to roots" approach to his 30th anniversary as a solo artist, following the break up of rock band Carol in 1975. 'Ei-chan' delighted fans with a rendition of "Whiskey Coke," a hit from that year (and a Karaoke library mainstay), as well as numbers from his 2005 album, "Only One,".

His albums have sold over 12 million copies in the Japanese market, and he has had a strong influence on modern Japanese rock music.

He was invited to perform at Wembley Stadium alongside Robert Palmer, Bon Jovi, and Rod Stewart, and often performs live aid concerts. Seven of his albums were produced by Andrew Gold.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Singles

[edit] Albums

[edit] Live albums

[edit] Compilations

[edit] References

  1. ^ 音楽 情報ニュース/Top 100 Japanese pops Artists - No.14/HMV

[edit] External links

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