Bow Wow are a Japanese rock band formed in 1975. Originally consisting of guitarist and vocalists

Kyoji Yamamoto is a Japanese musician, singer-songwriter and record producer who is the leader of the hard rock/ heavy metal bands Bow Wow (known as Vow Wow for a period of time) and Wild Flag. He is known for his skillful guitar playing, with former bandmat ...

and Mitsuhiro Saito, bassist Kenji Sano and drummer Toshihiro Niimi, they were one of the first

Japanese metal is heavy metal music from Japan. 1970s: Early acts Originally formed in 1967 as a cover band of British and American psychedelic rock titled " Yuya Uchida & the Flowers," Japan's Flower Travellin' Band have been credited as one of the progenito ...

bands. After releasing nine studio albums, Saito left in 1983. The band then adopted a mainstream sound by recruiting lead vocalist

Genki Hitomi (born Noriaki Hitomi, October 1, 1957 in Tokyo, Japan) is a Japanese former singer and teacher is best known as the lead vocalist of Japanese heavy metal band Vow Wow in the 1980s. Biography Hitomi started his career as a singer when he was ...

and keyboardist Rei Atsumi and renamed themselves to Vow Wow. They relocated to England in 1986, before Sano left the band the following year and Yamamoto invited former

Whitesnake Whitesnake are an English hard rock band formed in London in 1978. The group was originally put together as the backing band for singer David Coverdale, who had recently left Deep Purple. Though the band quickly developed into their own en ...

bassist Neil Murray to replace him. After Murray left to join

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy metal music. The band helped def ...

, studio bassist Mark Gould played on Vow Wow's last album before they disbanded in 1990. Yamamoto reformed Bow Wow in 1995 with all new members, before it became a trio when fellow original members Saito and Niimi rejoined in 1998. Niimi left in 2015 and the group now performs under the name Bow Wow G2, which refers to the two guitarists being the only official members. Tomoaki Hokari of ''OK Music'' wrote that Bow Wow was one of the first Japanese bands to prove that domestic musicians could compete with Western hard rock acts. In Japan their best-selling album is ''V'' which reached number 12 on the

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike i ...

chart. Internationally their best-selling album is ''Helter Skelter'', which reached number 75 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

History

1975–1983: Bow Wow

Bow Wow was formed in 1975 by Yoshimi Ueno, a record producer who was looking to create an idol-like band such as

The Monkees The Monkees were an American rock and pop band, formed in Los Angeles in 1966, whose lineup consisted of the American actor/musicians Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork alongside English actor/singer Davy Jones. The group was con ...

or the

Bay City Rollers The Bay City Rollers are a Scottish pop rock band known for their worldwide teen idol popularity in the 1970s. They have been called the " tartan teen sensations from Edinburgh" and one of many acts heralded as the "biggest group since the B ...

. After recruiting vocalist and guitarist Mitsuhiro Saito and drummer Toshihiro Niimi, whom he had managed before, vocalist and guitarist Kyoji Yamamoto and bassist Kenji Sano were scouted from Yamaha Music School and Bow Wow was officially formed. Hokari wrote that, once 19-year-old guitar virtuoso Yamamoto joined and was elected to sing in English, the idol concept was largely dropped in favor of authenticity. They were quickly signed to Victor and used the money to buy a truck that could double as a stage, which earned them interviews with many magazines and television shows. Bow Wow released their self-titled debut album in 1976. Yamamoto recalled that when he joined, he told the producer he was a guitarist and not a singer, but during recording someone suggested he sing in English and he went with it. In 1977, they opened for

Aerosmith Aerosmith is an American rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whitford (guitar). Their style, which is rooted in blues ...

and

Kiss A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

on their Japanese tours and released two more albums, ''Signal Fire'' and ''Charge''. The title track from ''Signal Fire'' was named the 28th best guitar instrumental by ''

Young Guitar Magazine ''Young Guitar Magazine'' is a Japanese guitar magazine first published in May 1969 by Shinko Ongaku Shuppansha (now Shinko Music Entertainment), with a focus on folk music. Starting from the 1970s, it started covering hard rock in the 1970s, an ...

'' in 2019. According to

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

's Eduardo Rivadavia, their next few records were criticized by critics and fans as being musically all over the place, veering from their hard rock roots, and suffering from poor production values. Yamamoto himself has described the three consecutive albums, ''Guarantee'' (1978), ''Glorious Road'' and ''Telephone'' (both 1980), as being the band's "pop era." He noted that Saito was the main vocalist on the first two, but he took over vocal duties again on ''Telephone'', where he looked to fuse pop with rock. For ''Telephone'' the band switched record labels to Sounds Marketing System and worked with producer Touru Yazawa, who had produced the folk rock group Alice. Bow Wow followed up with ''Hard Dog'' in 1981, which returned the band to a respectable hard rock act. In 1982, they switched labels again to VAP and released both ''Asian Volcano'' and ''Warning from Stardust''. Writing for ''

Rolling Stone Japan ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its cove ...

'', Daisuke Kawasaki rated ''Warning from Stardust'' at No. 23 on a 2007 list of the "100 Greatest Japanese Rock Albums of All Time". The band also performed at that year's

Montreux Jazz Festival The Montreux Jazz Festival (formerly Festival de Jazz Montreux and Festival International de Jazz Montreux) is a music festival in Switzerland, held annually in early July in Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline. It is the second-largest annual ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

and the

Reading Festival The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Festiv ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. The following year they toured with

Hanoi Rocks Hanoi Rocks was a Finnish rock band formed in 1979. They were the first Finnish band to chart in the UK and they were also popular in Japan. The band broke up in June 1985 after drummer Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley died in a drunk driving accide ...

across the UK and performed their final concert at

Nakano Sun Plaza , formerly Nakano Sun Plaza, is a hotel in Nakano, Tokyo. The hotel includes a concert hall, the Nakano Sunplaza Hall (formerly Nakano Sun Plaza Hall). Built in 1973,

on November 21, 1983. Which was the last with Saito, who left to join ARB.

1984–1990: Vow Wow

In 1984, the remaining three members were joined by vocalist

and keyboardist Rei Atsumi, this resulted in a more commercial sound and the band decided a name change was necessary. Now called Vow Wow, the group produced ''Beat of Metal Motion'' (1984) before signing to

Toshiba EMI , formerly , was one of Japan's leading music companies. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of British music company EMI Group Ltd. on June 30, 2007, after Toshiba sold off its previous 45% stake. Its CEO and president was Kazuhiko Koike. When ...

for ''Cyclone'' (1985) and relocating to England in 1986. After releasing the album ''III'' that year, they found themselves without a bassist when Kenji Sano returned to Japan in May 1987. Former

bass player Neil Murray was recruited to fill the spot after he and Yamamoto worked on the second album from

Phenomena A phenomenon ( : phenomena) is an observable event. The term came into its modern philosophical usage through Immanuel Kant, who contrasted it with the noumenon, which ''cannot'' be directly observed. Kant was heavily influenced by Gottfried ...

, although Murray later stated he never became a full member. They then began recording the album ''V'' (1987) with producer Kit Woolven (

Thin Lizzy Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Their music reflects a wide range of influences, including blues, soul music, psychedelic rock and traditional Irish folk music, but is generally classified as hard rock or som ...

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

) and co-producer John Wetton, who wrote the lyrics for the album's hit single "Don't Leave Me Now". They were asked by Tommy Vance to create the

jingles A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually t ...

for his British radio program, the

Friday Rock Show The ''Friday Rock Show'' was a radio show in the United Kingdom that was broadcast on BBC Radio 1 from 10pm to midnight on Friday nights, from 17 November 1978 until 2 April 1993. For most of its existence, it was hosted by Tommy Vance. Vance ...

. After releasing ''Vibe'' (1988), which included the hard rock anthem "Rock Me Now", the band returned to Japan for a national tour. Although experiencing commercial success, Hitomi wanted to remain in Japan to begin a family. Vow Wow recorded what was to be their final album, ''Helter Skelter'' (1989), which was handled by Tony Taverner (

Gipsy Kings Gipsy Kings are a group of flamenco, salsa, and pop musicians from Arles and Montpellier in southern France, who perform mostly in Catalan but also mix in Spanish with southern French dialects. Although the group members were born in France, th ...

) and was, as Rivadavia put it, a "re-sequenced, repackaged, and reissue" of ''Vibe''. After the album, Atsumi joined

RC Succession was an influential Japanese rock band from Tokyo, formed in 1968. One of Japan's longest-running bands, it went through many line-up changes over the years with front man Kiyoshiro Imawano and bassist Kazuo Kobayashi the only constant members, ...

for a live tour and Murray became a member of Black Sabbath. Shortly after, producers Nick Griffiths (

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

) and

Bob Ezrin Robert Alan Ezrin (born March 25, 1949) is a Canadian music producer and keyboardist, best known for his work with Lou Reed, Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, Kiss, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Peter Gabriel, Andrea Bocelli and Phish. As of 2010, Ezrin's car ...

(

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philosophical lyrics an ...

) requested to create an album with Vow Wow. The band regrouped in Los Angeles without Murray, and utilized American studio bassist Mark Gould for their final album, ''Mountain Top''. Vow Wow disbanded after a May 28, 1990 concert at the

Nippon Budokan The , often shortened to simply Budokan, is an indoor arena located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally built for the inaugural Olympic judo competition in the 1964 Summer Olympics. While its primary purpose is to host martial arts con ...

. Yamamoto later said that the band had thought they could get signed to an American record label, but when that did not happen, "We lost our aim and then we started to get frustrated and our relationships collapsed. It was sad but 1990 was a bad year for hard rock bands. The hard rock and heavy metal scene was in decline." Hitomi became a high school

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

teacher, while the other members each continued separate musical careers, Yamamoto forming the band Wild Flag in 1991.

1995–present: Bow Wow revival and Vow Wow reunion concerts

In May 1995, Yamamoto reformed Bow Wow with all new members. They had several releases until dissolving in March 1997. However, Bow Wow became a trio in 1998 when original members Mitsuhiro Saito and Toshihiro Niimi rejoined Yamamoto and they released the album ''Back''. It was followed by ''Beyond'' (2000), ''Another Place'' (2001) and ''What's Going On?'' (2002). In August 2003 they performed in

Daegu Daegu (, , literally 'large hill', 대구광역시), formerly spelled Taegu and officially known as the Daegu Metropolitan City, is a city in South Korea. It is the third-largest urban agglomeration in South Korea after Seoul and Busan; it is ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

at the O.K.! Crazy!! World Rock Festival. Bow Wow released ''Era'', their most recent album to date, in 2005. Genki Hitomi and Rei Atsumi reunited with Yamamoto and Niimi for a Vow Wow reunion concert on December 25, 2009, and for two sold-out shows the following year on December 25 and 26, 2010. Bow Wow released the single "King or Queen" in 2014. Niimi left Bow Wow in 2015 and the group now performs sporadically under the name Bow Wow G2, which refers to the two guitarists, Yamamoto and Saito, being the only official members. In August 2016, Bow Wow G2 held a concert for the band's 40th anniversary, which was later released on home video. Three years after their last performance in 2018, the duo held a concert for their 45th anniversary on September 26, 2021 at Ebisu Garden Hall, where they recreated the setlist of Bow Wow's 1978 live album ''Super Live''.

Members

Bow Wow

Current members

* –

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

(1975–1983, 1998–present),

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

(1975–1983, 1995–1997, 1998–present) * – guitar, vocals (1975–1983, 1998–present) * –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

(2016–present, support member) * –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

(2016–present, support member)

Former members

* – bass (1975–1983) * – lead vocals (1995–1997) * – guitar (1995–1997) * – bass (1995–1997) * – drums (1995–1996) * – drums (1975–1983, 1996–1997, 1998–2015) * Daisuke Kitsuwa – bass (1998–2015, support member)

Vow Wow

Last line-up

* – lead vocals (1984–1990, 2009, 2010) * Kyoji Yamamoto – guitar, backing vocals (1984–1990, 2009, 2010) * Toshihiro Niimi – drums (1984–1990, 2009, 2010) * – keyboards, synthesizers, piano, keytar, backing vocals (1984–1990, 2009, 2010)

Former members

* Kenji Sano – bass, backing vocals (1984–1987) * Neil Murray – bass, backing vocals (1987–1990) * Mark Gould – bass, backing vocals (1990)

Timeline

ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:18 PlotArea = left:110 bottom:90 top:10 right:140 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1975 till:01/01/2020 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:4 ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:4 start:1975 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:1975 Colors = id:band value:yellow legend:Band id:vocals value:red legend:Vocals id:bvocals value:pink legend:Backing_vocals id:guitar value:green legend:Guitars id:key value:purple legend:Keyboards id:bass value:blue legend:Bass id:drums value:orange legend:Drums id:lines value:black legend:Studio_album id:bars value:gray(0.95) BackgroundColors = bars:bars LineData = at:20/12/1976 color:black layer:back at:25/07/1977 color:black layer:back at:01/12/1977 color:black layer:back at:20/12/1978 color:black layer:back at:25/02/1980 color:black layer:back at:21/09/1980 color:black layer:back at:21/04/1981 color:black layer:back at:21/04/1982 color:black layer:back at:21/09/1982 color:black layer:back at:21/09/1984 color:black layer:back at:20/07/1985 color:black layer:back at:22/01/1986 color:black layer:back at:02/09/1987 color:black layer:back at:06/11/1988 color:black layer:back at:25/04/1990 color:black layer:back at:21/10/1995 color:black layer:back at:21/07/1996 color:black layer:back at:25/05/1998 color:black layer:back at:18/07/1999 color:black layer:back at:20/12/2000 color:black layer:back at:07/07/2001 color:black layer:back at:15/02/2002 color:black layer:back at:11/11/2005 color:black layer:back BarData = bar:BW text:"Bow Wow" bar:VW text:"Vow Wow" bar:Yamamoto text:"Kyoji Yamamoto" bar:Hitomi text:"Genki Hitomi" bar:Horie text:"Tetsuya Horie" bar:Saito text:"Mitsuhiro Saito" bar:Yegashi text:"Hiroshi Yaegashi" bar:Atsumi text:"Rei Atsumi" bar:Sano text:"Kenji Sano" bar:Murray text:"Neil Murray" bar:Gould text:"Mark Gould" bar:Shotaro text:"Shotaro Mitsuzono" bar:Niimi text:"Toshihiro Niimi" bar:Eiji text:"Eiji Mitsuzono" PlotData = width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar: BW from:start till:01/01/1984 color:band bar: VW from:01/01/1984 till:28/05/1990 color:band bar: BW from:01/01/1995 till:03/01/1997 color:band bar: BW from:01/01/1998 till:end color:band bar: Yamamoto from:start till:01/01/1984 color:vocals bar: Yamamoto from:start till:01/01/1984 color:guitar width:3 bar: Yamamoto from:01/01/1984 till:28/05/1990 color:guitar bar: Yamamoto from:01/01/1984 till:28/05/1990 color:bvocals width:3 bar: Yamamoto from:01/01/1995 till:03/01/1997 color:guitar bar: Yamamoto from:01/01/1995 till:03/01/1997 color:bvocals width:3 bar: Yamamoto from:01/01/1998 till:end color:vocals bar: Yamamoto from:01/01/1998 till:end color:guitar width:3 bar: Saito from:01/01/1975 till:21/11/1983 color:vocals width:3 bar: Saito from:01/01/1975 till:21/11/1983 color:guitar bar: Saito from:01/01/1998 till:end color:vocals width:3 bar: Saito from:01/01/1998 till:end color:guitar bar: Hitomi from:01/01/1984 till:28/05/1990 color:vocals bar: Horie from:01/01/1995 till:03/01/1997 color:vocals bar: Yegashi from:01/01/1995 till:03/01/1997 color:guitar bar: Yegashi from:01/01/1995 till:03/01/1997 color:bvocals width:3 bar: Sano from:01/01/1975 till:01/06/1987 color:bass bar: Sano from:01/01/1975 till:01/06/1987 color:bvocals width:3 bar: Murray from:01/07/1987 till:01/02/1990 color:bass bar: Murray from:01/07/1987 till:01/02/1990 color:bvocals width:3 bar: Gould from:01/02/1990 till:28/05/1990 color:bass bar: Gould from:01/02/1990 till:28/05/1990 color:bvocals width:3 bar: Shotaro from:01/01/1995 till:03/01/1997 color:bass bar: Shotaro from:01/01/1995 till:03/01/1997 color:bvocals width:3 bar: Niimi from:01/01/1975 till:28/05/1990 color:drums bar: Niimi from:01/01/1996 till:03/01/1997 color:drums bar: Niimi from:01/01/1998 till:31/12/2015 color:drums bar: Eiji from:01/01/1995 till:01/01/1996 color:drums bar: Eiji from:01/01/1995 till:01/01/1996 color:bvocals width:3 bar: Atsumi from:01/01/1984 till:28/05/1990 color:key bar: Atsumi from:01/01/1984 till:28/05/1990 color:bvocals width:3

Discography as Bow Wow

Albums

Singles

* "Volume On" (1976) * "Still" (1977) * "Sabishii Yuugi (1978) * "Hoshii no wa Omae Dake" (1979) * "Wasurekaketeta Love Song " (1980) * "Rainy Train" (1980) * "Keep on Rockin'" (1980) * "Soldier in the Space" (1980) * "Gonna be Alright" (1981) * "Take Me Away" (1982) * "Forever" (1983) * "You're Mine" (1983) * "One Last Time" (2002) * "King or Queen" (2014)

Compilations

* ''The Bow Wow'' (1979) * ''Locus 1976-1983'' (1986) * ''The Bow Wow II Decennium '' (2008) * ''XXXV'' (2011)

Videos

* ''The Live Empire'' (2003) * ''Live Explosion 1999'' (2003) * ''2003.3.22 Live'' (2003) * ''Rock to the Future 2002 Bow Wow vs XYZ→A'' (2003) * ''Super Live 2004'' (2005) * ''Super Live 2005'' (2006) * ''Super Live 2006'' (2007) * ''Super Live 2007'' (2008) * ''Super Live 2009'' (2010) * ''Super Live 2011'' (2012) * ''Bow Wow G2 Live in Tokyo'' (2017)

Discography as Vow Wow

Albums

Singles

Compilations

Videos

Every VHS was re-released on DVD on June 14, 2006

References

External links

Official website

Official YouTube
{{Authority control Japanese hard rock musical groups Japanese heavy metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1975 Musical groups disestablished in 1990 Musical groups reestablished in 1995 Musical groups from Tokyo English-language musical groups from Japan