Tomoyasu Hotei
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Tomoyasu Hotei | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Tomoyasu Hotei (布袋寅泰 Hotei Tomoyasu?) |
| Born | February 1, 1962 |
| Origin |  Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, Japan |
| Genre(s) | Japanese rock |
| Occupation(s) | Guitarist, singer, composer, lyricist, actor |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar, singing |
| Years active | 1981–present |
| Label(s) | Toshiba-EMI |
| Associated acts | Blue Film (amateur) Boøwy (1981–1988) Complex (1988–1990) |
| Website | http://www.hotei.com/pc/jp/index.html |
Tomoyasu Hotei (布袋寅泰 Hotei Tomoyasu, born on February 1, 1962 in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture) is a Japanese musician, guitarist and actor.
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[edit] Biography
At 190 cm (6 foot, 3 inches), Tomoyasu Hotei is one of the most intimidating people in the Japanese music world. This image has also been put to good use when casting him as the villain in movies and TV commercials, most notably as the sinister man in black chasing Masatoshi Nagase in the Boss coffee ads. Over a long musical career as a guitarist with one of Japan’s legendary rock bands, guest artist and solo performer, he has developed a worldwide reputation as Japan’s premier axeman and has sold over 25 million albums. Possessing strong skills as both a guitarist and songwriter, he has played in various configurations and styles, but has always been a rocker at heart.
Hotei first began playing the guitar in junior high school. In high school, his band “Blue Film” finished runners up in a school contest to “Death Penalty", a band led by Kyosuke Himuro. Hotei was expelled shortly before graduation. The reason was that, when warned about his long hair he replied “Jesus had long hair!” Shortly after, he went to Tokyo where one day he received a phone call from Himuro. The two had never really known each other but hit it off and went on to hold auditions for a new band, which in 1981 became the six-member Boøwy. The band became major stars in Japan, in 1985 played the Marquee in London, and in 1986 had their first million seller, Beat Emotion.
When the band broke up in 1988, Hotei established himself as a solo star, as did Boøwy singer Kyosuke Himuro. Hotei also made two albums with Koji Kikkawa as Complex, both of which went to number one in the national charts. Hotei frequently records overseas, and has collaborated with many foreign musicians, including playing on The Stranglers Hugh Cornwell’s 1993 solo album, on stage with David Bowie at Nippon Budokan in 1996, and at the Closing Ceremony of the Atlanta 1996 Centennial Olympic Games with Michael Kamen.
He later recorded “Guitar Concerto” with Kamen. He has also worked with Andy Mackay of Roxy Music, guitarist Chris Spedding and Mike Edwards of Jesus Jones. Hotei also sometimes plays in Europe, and performances include a number of major festival dates. His regular drummer in recent years, Zachary Alford, has previously played with Bruce Springsteen and David Bowie. His album of 1998 Supersonic Generation, recorded in part with Apollo 440 and Ofra Haza, was released in 14 European countries.
In addition to releasing many best-selling solo albums, Hotei composed & performed the score for Hiroyuki Nakano’s Samurai Fiction, as well as starring in the film. Tomoyasu Hotei’s songs have also appeared on the soundtrack to 1998’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and the song “Battle Without Honor or Humanity” was used in the Quentin Tarantino’s film Kill Bill, the PlayStation 2 version of Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA, and Michael Bay’s film Transformers. Hotei recorded a cover of John Lennon’s “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” for Merry Axemas, an instrumental guitar Christmas album featuring tracks from guitarists including Jeff Beck, Joe Perry and Steve Vai.
His fame recently spread further into the world of video gaming, with the Nintendo DS game Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan featuring his song Thrill. The game was a critical hit, and was bought by gamers the world over on import - as was its sequel Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii, which featured another Hotei song, Bambina. Both songs were cover versions.
Tomoyasu Hotei’s wife, Miki Imai is also a popular singer and actress.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Singles
- “Deja-vu” (December 12, 1990)
- “Beat Emotion” (June 29, 1991)
- “You” (December 4, 1991)
- “Lonely Wild” (July 22, 1992)
- “Saraba Seishun no Hikari” (さらば青春の光, July 28, 1993)
- “Surrender” (サレンダー, March 30, 1994)
- “Bara to Ame” (薔薇と雨,December 14, 1994)
- “Poison” (January 25, 1995)
- “Thrill” (スリル, October 18, 1995
- “Last Scene” (ラストシーン, January 24, 1996)
- “Inochi wa Moyashitsukusu tame no Mono” (命は燃やしつくすためのもの May 24, 1996)
- “Circus” (October 23, 1996)
- “Change Yourself!” (August 1, 1997)
- “Thank You & Good Bye” (January 28, 1998)
- “Bambina” (バンビーナ, April 16, 1999)
- “Nobody Is Perfect” (May 12, 1999)
- “Vampire” (August 30, 2000)
- “Love Junkie” (October 25, 2000)
- “Born to be Free” (January 1, 2001)
- “Russian Roulette” (February 6, 2002)
- “Destiny Rose” (October 17, 2002)
- “Nocturne No.9” (August 27, 2003)
- “Another Battle” (アナザー・バトル, June 30, 2004)
- “Identity” (2005 February 23)
- “Liberty Wings” (April 27, 2005)
- “Battle Funktastic” (January 25, 2006)
- a collaboration with Rip Slyme.
- a collaboration with Brian Setzer.
- “Stereocaster” (ステレオキャスター, November 8, 2006)
- a collaboration with Char.
[edit] Albums
- Guitarhythm (October 5, 1988)
- Guitarhythm II (September 27, 1991)
- Guitarhythm III (September 23, 1992)
- Guitarhythm IV (June 1, 1994)
- King & Queen (February 28, 1996)
- Merry Axemas A Guitar Christmas (1997)
- Supersonic Generation (April 29, 1998)
- Samurai Fiction (July 29, 1998)
- fetish (November 29, 2000)
- Scorpio Rising (March 6, 2002)
- Doberman (September 26, 2003)
- Monster Drive (June 15, 2005)
- Monster Drive Party!!! (September 13, 2005)
- Soul Sessions (2006)
- Ambivalent (October 24, 2007)
[edit] Compilations
- Tribute Spirits (1 May 1999)
- Greatest Hits 1990–1999 (June 23, 1999)
- Electric Samurai (March 30, 2004)
- All Time Super Best (December 7, 2005)
[edit] Live albums
- Tonight I'm Yours (January 26, 2000)
- Rock The Future Tour 2000-2001 (March 22, 2001)
- Live in Budokan (December 26, 2002)
[edit] Videography
- Aka Kage as Rannosuke Kazamatsuri (風祭龍之介) 2001, Hiroyuki Nakano
- Samurai Fiction ~SF episode 1~ as Rannosuke Kazamatsuri (風祭龍之介) 1998, Hiroyuki Nakano
[edit] Trivia
- “Thrill” is one of the songs in the music game Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan.
- Also, “Bambina” is one of the songs in Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2, the sequel to Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan.
- “Battle Without Honor or Humanity” was featured in the movies Kill Bill, Transformers, and Team America: World Police, and the games Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA and Pop'n Music Carnival (13). It also made an appearance in a first season episode of My Name Is Earl, and has been used in a variety of automobile ad campaigns worldwide. It is also the intro theme used during the Colin Cowherd radio show syndicated in the United States via ESPN Radio.
- “Battle Without Honor or Humanity” also featured in the trailer for the PlayStation 3 game Gran Turismo HD by Polyphony Digital.
- “Russian Roulette” was featured in an opening video of the PS2 game, Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny.
- He appears in “Grace” on the Apocalyptica album Worlds Collide.
[edit] See also
- List of best-selling music artists
- Egashira 2:50 – He uses Hotei’s song “Thrill” as his theme song.
