Was finishing up some work this morning, and had this on the iTunes. I forgot how good this song was, freakin A. For those of you into J-Rock, I suggest you check out Kyosuke Himuro. It’s no secret, I am a HUGE fan of his music and have been for years.
Himuro or ‘ヒムロック’, as they say got his start early performing and competing against other bands in high school. Rock wasn’t ‘popular’ in Japan save for the Beatles and a few other acts back then. However, after joining up with his high school friend and rival, Hotei Tomoyasu 布袋寅泰 – ace guitarist, and forming the band ‘Boowy’, all that changed. The genre ‘J-Rock’ was born, additionally paving ways to subcultures like Visual Kei and more.
Himuro Kyosuke - known as the 'King of Rock'
As of late, Himuro has been performing solo. While Boowy disbanded in 1988 and was considered one of the most popular bands in the nation, rumors claim there was some sort of disagreement between Hotei & Himuro – that neither could seem to let pass. Both artists went on to continue successful careers on their own, however only as of 2004 did Himuro start performing his legendary Boowy songs again for the public (without Hotei). Last year, he performed a Boowy tribute concert – donating entire proceeds of close to ￥670 Million ($8.7 Million) to the victims of the 2011 tsunami disaster in Fukushima, Miyagi and Iwate, Japan.
All that said, his solo work is still as fantastic as ever. My favorite albums include ‘Flowers for Algernon
I am secretly wishing for a Boowy reunion at some point however – hopefully Hotei & Himuro can work together again. 