is a Japanese musician, songwriter and guitarist. He first became known as a member of the influential rock band Happy End in the early 1970s, before starting a solo career and becoming a prolific session musician. As of 2006, Suzuki had contributed to 588 recordings. In 2019, Suzuki's high school band Skye reunited and released their first album.

Biography

Before being invited to join Happy End in 1969, Suzuki was in a band called with his high school classmates Tatsuo Hayashi and Ray Ohara (

Sadistic Mika Band was a Japanese rock band formed in 1972. Its name is a parody of the late 60s band Plastic Ono Band. Produced by Masatoshi Hashiba on Toshiba-EMI Records (now EMI Music Japan), the band was led by guitarist Kazuhiko Katō and singer , who were a ...

). Happy End produced three albums, '' Happy End'' (1970), ''

Kazemachi Roman is the second album by Japanese folk rock band Happy End, released on URC Records in 1971. In this concept album, Happy End attempted to paint a musical picture of Tokyo before the 1964 Summer Olympics, through which sweeping changes transformed ...

'' (1971) and '' Happy End'' (1973), before officially disbanding on New Year's Eve 1972. Suzuki and

Haruomi Hosono , sometimes credited as Harry Hosono, is a Japanese musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is considered to be one of the most influential musicians in Japanese pop music history, credited with shaping the sound of Japanese pop for ...

then formed with Hayashi,

Masataka Matsutoya is a Japanese arranger, composer, music producer, and motor journalist. He currently resides in Setagaya, Tokyo. He is a graduate of Keio Senior High School and Keio University (literature department). His wife is singer-songwriter, composer, an ...

and Hiroshi Sato in 1973. They changed their name to a year later. Suzuki released his first solo album, '' Band Wagon'' which was recorded in Los Angeles with musicians from notable acts such as

Little Feat Little Feat is an American rock band formed by lead vocalist and guitarist Lowell George and keyboardist Bill Payne in 1969 in Los Angeles. George disbanded the group because of creative differences shortly before his death in 1979. Surviving ...

Santana Santana may refer to: Transportation * Volkswagen Santana, an automobile * Santana Cycles, manufacturer of tandem bicycles * Santana Motors, a former Spanish automobile manufacturer Boats * Santana 20, an American sailboat design by W. D. Sch ...

and

Sly and the Family Stone Sly and the Family Stone was an American band from San Francisco. Active from 1966 to 1983, it was pivotal in the development of funk, soul, rock, and psychedelic music. Its core line-up was led by singer-songwriter, record producer, and multi-i ...

, in 1975. To tour the record, he formed the band with Sato, bassist Akihiro Tanaka and drummer Toshiaki Hayashi. The group played around 10 shows, before disbanding on November 16, 1975. Suzuki, Hosono and Hayashi reformed Tin Pan Alley, dropping the "Alley" from the name, for an album in 2000. On February 17, 2009, Suzuki was arrested by the

Tokyo Wangan Police Station is a police station in Kōtō, Tokyo. It is operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department (tmpd). History In early 2004, as Tokyo's Wangan area rapidly developed, the creation of a new police station was brought up. In June 2005, the TMP ...

for violating the

Cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: ''Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternatively ...

Control Law. He received a six month prison sentence suspended for three years on March 17. To celebrate his 40th anniversary as a solo artist, Suzuki teamed up with

Ino Hidefumi is a Japanese jazz, and electronic musician. He releases his music solely on Innocent Record, a label he created with the concept of "One label, one artist.” Early life Ino was born in Nobeoka, Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan in 1970. He bega ...

for two concerts on April 3 and 4, 2015. They performed twice each day and were backed by Hayashi and

Hama Okamoto is a bass guitarist and member of the rock band Okamoto's from Tokyo. He is represented with the agency Sony Music Artists. He is the eldest son of Downtown's Masatoshi Hamada and actress Natsumi Ogawa. His real name is . Equipment used * Fender ...

. Suzuki supported

Yumi Matsutoya , nicknamed , is a Japanese singer, composer, lyricist and pianist. Generally the writer of both the lyrics and the music in her songs, she is renowned for her idiosyncratic voice and live performances, and is one of the most prominent figures ...

at the

69th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen The was the 2018 edition of NHK's television special Kōhaku Uta Gassen, held on December 31 live from NHK Hall (Tokyo, Japan). It was broadcast in Japan through NHK General Television and NHK Radio 1, and worldwide through NHK World Premium. Th ...

at the end of 2018. When Ohara invited Suzuki and Tatsuo Hayashi to record with

Shirō Sano is a Japanese actor. Career Born in Yamanashi Prefecture, Sano lived in Tokyo and Matsue, Shimane as a child, before returning to Tokyo to enter art school. He joined several theatrical troupes, including Jurō Kara's Jōkyō Gekijō. He had h ...

in 2019, the three decided to reunite their high school band Skye. Adding Matsutoya to the line-up, they released the album ''Kindan no Kajitsu'' with Sano in September 2019. In 2020, Fender released Suzuki's signature model guitar, the "Shigeru Suzuki '62 Stratocaster Journeyman Relic". In June, he released the song with Chu Kosaka under the name . Skye's self-titled first album was released in October 2021.

Discography

;Solo studio albums *'' Band Wagon'' (1975) * *''Lagoon'' (1976) *''Caution!'' (1978) *''Telescope'' (1978) *''Cosmos '51'' (1979) *''White Heat'' (1979) *''Sei Do Ya'' (1985) * ;With Tin Pan Alley * *''Tin Pan Alley 2'' (1977) * *''Tin Pan'' (2000) ;With Skye * *''Skye'' (2021) ;

CBS/Sony , often abbreviated as SMEJ or simply SME, and also known as Sony Music Japan for short (stylized as ''SonyMusic''), is a Japanese music arm for Sony. Founded in 1968 as CBS/Sony, SMEJ is directly owned by Sony Group Corporation and is opera ...

Sound Image Series *''

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

'' (1978) with

and

Tatsuro Yamashita , occasionally credited as Tatsu Yamashita or Tats Yamashita, is a Japanese singer-songwriter and record producer, who is known for pioneering the style of Japanese Soft rock, adult-oriented rock/soft rock music. His most well-known song is "C ...

*''New York'' (1978) with various artists *''Island Music'' (1983) with Hosono, Yamashita,

Ryuichi Sakamoto is a Japanese composer, pianist, singer, record producer and actor who has pursued a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). With his bandmates Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, Sakamoto inf ...

and Takahiko Ishikawa *''Off Shore'' (1983) with Hosono, Yamashita, Sakamoto, Matsutoya, Masaki Matsubara and Kazumasa Akiyama

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Suzuki, Shigeru Living people 1951 births 20th-century Japanese guitarists 20th-century Japanese male singers 20th-century Japanese singers 21st-century Japanese guitarists 21st-century Japanese male singers 21st-century Japanese singers Japanese songwriters Japanese rock guitarists Japanese male rock singers Musicians from Setagaya Happy End (band) members