KUWATA BAND is a Japanese rock band formed by Southern All Stars member Keisuke Kuwata. Their record company is Southern’s exclusive label, Taishita Label . The motivation for forming the band was Kuwata’s desire to “try some nonsense rock someday!”, who had been active with Southern All Stars until 1985, and Hara’s maternity leave, which led to a one-year limited run in 1986. They reunited once again on the Nippon Television music program “Merry Christmas Show” broadcast in December 1987.
At the time, Kuwata seriously believed that “Japanese, Chinese, and Korean rock will soon be all in English,” and from the start, he had a strong attitude of pointing out the problems with Japanese rock, for example by writing all the songs in the album ” NIPPON NO ROCK BAND ” in English lyrics. Kuwata also said at the time that “we will also cross the ocean someday” with an eye on expanding overseas.
On the other hand, the four singles released during his active career were a mix of Japanese and English, following the Southern All Stars style. Even after the breakup of KUWATA BAND, Kuwata continued to release songs that combined Japanese and English, and from the 1990s onwards he shifted his style to one that put the Japanese language at the forefront, releasing songs that celebrated literary quality and Japanese sentiment, such as “Tsuki” (Moon) (1994) and “Tokyo” (2002), and as he grew older, the world of his lyrics became darker and more nuanced. Regarding this change, he said, “I have become more aware of myself as a Japanese singer.”
In January 1986, Keisuke Kuwata formed the band with other musicians, including fellow Southern All Stars member Hiroshi Matsuda. Their debut single ” BAN BAN BAN ” was released in April. It was a long-running hit, staying in the top 20 of Oricon for 13 consecutive weeks. It also ranked first on The Best Ten chart that year. Then, on July 5th, they released their second single ” MERRY XMAS IN SUMMER ” and third single ” SKIPPED BEAT ” at the same time. In July their first album “NIPPON NO ROCK BAND” was released, and they started their live tour “ROCK CONCERT”. In November they released their fourth single ” ONE DAY “. On December 5th, they released the album “ROCK CONCERT”, which contains the live performances that began in July. In December he participated as a performer and sound producer in the Nippon Television Network program “Merry Christmas Show,” which was produced (planned) by Kuwata.
In January 1987, they released a film version of the album, “ONE DAY KUWATA BAND ~ROCK CONCERT (AT TOHO STUDIO,19th Oct.1986)”. They then disbanded after their farewell concert tour, “KUWATA BAND “FINAL” Bokura:1987″, but temporarily reunited on December 24 to take part in the program “Merry Christmas Show” as they had done the previous year. In February 2016, to mark Kuwata’s 60th birthday, all of KUWATA BAND’s songs were made available for digital download , and on December 20, 2019, streaming distribution began.
