is a Japanese lyricist and former musician. After several years playing the drums in the rock bands Apryl Fool and Happy End during the late 1960s and early 1970s, Matsumoto decided to focus on writing lyrics for others in 1974. As of 2015, he had written over 2,100 songs, 130 of which entered the top 10 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 in Nov ...

chart. Total sales of the singles he has written exceed 49.8 million copies, making him the third best-selling lyricist in Japan. In 2017, he was awarded the

Medal with Purple Ribbon are medals awarded by the Government of Japan. They are awarded to individuals who have done meritorious deeds and also to those who have achieved excellence in their field of work. The Medals of Honor were established on December 7, 1881, and we ...

from the Japanese government for his work in music.

Life and career

In elementary school, Matsumoto listened to

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...

and read poetry by

Jean Cocteau Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau (, , ; 5 July 1889 – 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, filmmaker, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost creatives of the su ...

. However, he bought a drum kit and became obsessed with rock music because of

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

. Matsumoto is a

Keio University , mottoeng = The pen is mightier than the sword , type = Private research coeducational higher education institution , established = 1858 , founder = Yukichi Fukuzawa , endowmen ...

graduate. Matsumoto's first band was , which covered songs like

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's " Gloria and

Sam & Dave Sam & Dave were an American soul and R&B duo who performed together from 1961 until 1981. The tenor (higher) voice was Sam Moore (born 1935) and the baritone/tenor (lower) voice was Dave Prater (1937–1988). Nicknamed "Double Dynamite", "The ...

's "

Hold On, I'm Comin' ''Hold On, I'm Comin is the 1966 debut album by Atlantic Records soul duo Sam & Dave, issued on the Atlantic-distributed Stax label in 1966. The album reached number one on the ''Billboard'' R&B Albums chart and number 45 on the ''Billboa ...

". In 1968 he joined the

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

band Apryl Fool, going by the alias Rei Matsumoto, after being invited to join by

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 ...

. However, they announced their break up on the release day of their only album. In 1969, he and Hosono then formed the pioneering rock band Happy End, for which he wrote most of the lyrics. After releasing two studio albums, '' Happy End'' (1970) and ''

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 transform ...

'' (1971), they officially disbanded on New Year's Eve 1972, before the 1973 release of their third album. Upon declaring himself a lyricist, Matsumoto told a friend that he wanted to write a "commercial" song, meaning a TV advertisement. But the friend mistakenly thought by "commercial" he meant "popular" and got him a job writing for

Agnes Chan Agnes Meiling Kaneko Chan (; Japanese: 金子陳美齢, ''Kaneko Chan Meirin'') is a Hong-Kong-born Japanese singer, television personality, university professor, essayist and novelist. Since 1998, Chan has been a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador a ...

, a pop idol. Matsumoto made his debut as a lyricist in 1974 with "Pocket Ippai no Himitsu" by Chan. Matsumoto said that while in Happy End he focused on the quality of the music over its potential popularity, but upon becoming a lyricist, he vowed to focus on both quality and sales. He was most prolific in the late 1970s and 1980s, offering lyrics to many idol singers such

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(including 17 of her 24 consecutive 1 singles),

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Masahiko Kondo Masahiko (written: 正彦, 雅彦, 誠彦, 昌彦, 允彦, 政彦, 真彦, 正比古 or まさ彦) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, an officer in the Imperial Japanese Army imprisoned for his involvement ...

and

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as well as musical artists such as

Yellow Magic Orchestra Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO for short) is a Japanese electronic music band formed in Tokyo in 1978 by Haruomi Hosono (bass, keyboards, vocals), Yukihiro Takahashi (drums, lead vocals) and Ryuichi Sakamoto (keyboards, vocals). The group is conside ...

. The songs "Garasu no Shounen", "Hakka Candy" and "Boku no Senaka ni wa Hane ga Aru" by

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are some of his notable recent work. Matsumoto took part in two winning works at 1981's 23rd Japan Record Awards.

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's hit song "Ruby no Yubiwa" won the Grand Prix award. Matsumoto wrote nine of the ten songs on his Happy End bandmate

Eiichi Ohtaki Eiichi Ohtaki (July 28, 1948 – December 30, 2013) was a Japanese musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He first became known as a member of the rock band Happy End, but was better known for his solo work which began in 1972. ...

's record ''

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'', which won Best Album. Matsuda's album ''Supreme'', which Matsumoto produced, won Best Album at 1986's

28th Japan Record Awards The 28th Annual Japan Record Awards took place at the Nippon Budokan in Chiyoda, Tokyo, December 31, 1986, starting at 6:30PM JST. The primary ceremonies were televised in Japan on TBS. Award winners *Japan Record Award: **Akina Nakamori for " ...

. In 2002, he formed the independent record label . In 2015, the tribute album was created to commemorate Matsumoto's 45th anniversary as a lyricist. The album won a Planning Award at the 57th Japan Record Awards. A special two-day concert for the same anniversary was held at the

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on August 21–22, 2015 featuring numerous artists such as

Hiromi Ōta Hiromi Ōta (太田裕美 '' Ōta Hiromi'', born on January 20, 1955, in Kasukabe, Saitama Saitama Prefecture, Japan) is a Japanese female singer. She is a popular singer who is considered an idol Idol or Idols may refer to: Religion and ...

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Shoko Nakagawa is a Japanese media personality, actress, voice actress, illustrator, and singer. Also known by her nickname , she is best known as the presenter of ''Pokémon Sunday'', and as the performer of the opening theme from the anime ''Gurren Lagann'' ...

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. Matsumoto himself stepped behind the drum kit once again to perform songs with the surviving members of Happy End; Hosono and

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. Another tribute album, titled and overseen by

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, was released on July 14, 2021. It features artists such as B'z,

Glim Spanky is a Japanese rock band from Nagano Prefecture, consisting of vocalist and rhythm guitarist Remi Matsuo and lead guitarist Hiroki Kamemoto. Originally formed in 2007 as a quartet, the group became a duo in February 2010. Their name comes from ...

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, and members of

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. At the

63rd Japan Record Awards The was held on 30 December 2021. Nominations and awards were announced by the organizers on 19 November. Like the previous award ceremony, the Best Album Award, Songwriting Award, Composition Award, Merit Award, and Planning Award were not pre ...

in 2021, Matsumoto received a Special Award.

Honors

* Japan Lyricist Awards, for "Fuyu no Riviera" by

Shinichi Mori known professionally as is a Japanese male enka singer and composer, who also sings folk and pop music. He has sold more than 90 million records, making him one of the best selling Japanese musicians. Mori has been married and divorced twi ...

(1983) *

(2017)

References

External links

*
Official Twitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matsumoto, Takashi Japanese lyricists Japanese rock drummers Musicians from Tokyo Keio University alumni Recipients of the Medal with Purple Ribbon 1949 births Living people Happy End (band) members