Bow Wow are a Japanese rock band formed in 1975. Originally consisting of guitarist and vocalists Kyoji Yamamoto and Mitsuhiro Saito, bassist Kenji Sano and drummer Toshihiro Niimi, they were one of the first Japanese metal bands. After releasing nine studio albums, Saito left in 1983. The band then adopted a mainstream sound by recruiting lead vocalist Genki Hitomi 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 bassist Neil Murray to replace him. After Murray left to join Black Sabbath, 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.[1] In Japan their best-selling album is V which reached number 12 on the Oricon chart.[2] Internationally their best-selling album is Helter Skelter, which reached number 75 on the UK Albums Chart.[3]
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 or the Bay City Rollers.[1][4][5] After recruiting vocalist and guitarist Mitsuhiro Saito and drummer Toshihiro Niimi from the band Do T. Doll, 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.[6][7] 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.[1] Niimi himself stated that if Yamamoto had not joined, they never would have become a hard rock band.[6]
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.[5][8] Bow Wow released their self-titled debut album in 1976.[8] 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.[9] In 1977, they opened for Aerosmith and Kiss on their Japanese tours and released two more albums, Signal Fire and Charge.[8]
According to AllMusic'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.[10] Yamamoto himself has described the three consecutive albums, Guarantee (1978), Glorious Road and Telephone (both 1980), as being the band's "pop era."[9] 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.[9] 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. The band also performed at that year's Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland and the Reading Festival in England.[8] The following year they toured with Hanoi Rocks across the UK[1] and performed their final concert at Nakano Sun Plaza 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 Genki Hitomi and keyboardist Rei Atsumi, this resulted in a more commercial sound and the band decided a name change was necessary.[11] Now called Vow Wow, the group produced Beat of Metal Motion (1984) before signing to Toshiba EMI 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 for personal reasons in May 1987. He later retired from music completely.[12] The band flew another Japanese bassist to England for an audition, but it did not work out.[12] One of the members then suggested Yamamoto call Neil Murray, who had recently left Whitesnake and whom he and Niimi knew from working on the second album by Phenomena.[7][12] After a jam session, Murray agreed to play on their next album and, later, to a tour of Japan.[12] Although, Murray would later state that he never became a full member.[13] Vow Wow then began recording the album V (1987) in Ibiza, with producer Kit Woolven (Thin Lizzy, David Bowie) 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 for his British radio program, the Friday Rock Show.[13] 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) and was, as Rivadavia put it, a "re-sequenced, repackaged, and reissue" of Vibe.[14] After the album, Atsumi joined RC Succession for a live tour and Murray became a member of Black Sabbath. According to Yamamoto, Murray told him he had to leave Vow Wow because Cozy Powell was insistent that he join Black Sabbath and the bassist could not say no to his close friend.[12]
Shortly after, producers Nick Griffiths (Queen, Paul McCartney) and Bob Ezrin (Kiss, Pink Floyd) requested to create an album with Vow Wow. The band regrouped in Los Angeles, and utilized American studio bassist Mark Gould for their final album, Mountain Top.[12] Vow Wow disbanded after a May 28, 1990 concert at the Nippon Budokan. 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."[13] Hitomi became a high school English teacher, while the other members each continued separate musical careers. Yamamoto formed the trio Wild Flag in 1991.[12] Niimi formed the bands Lance of Thrill and The Slut Banks.[6]
1995–present: Bow Wow revival and Vow Wow reunion concerts
In May 1995, Yamamoto reformed Bow Wow with all new members.[11] 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.[1][15] It was followed by Beyond (2000), Another Place (2001) and What's Going On? (2002). In August 2003 they performed in Daegu, South Korea at the O.K.! Crazy!! World Rock Festival. Bow Wow released Era, their most recent album to date, in 2005.[9]
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.[11] 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.[16] In August 2016, Bow Wow G2 held a concert for the band's 40th anniversary, which was later released on home video.[16] 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.[17] On June 1, 2023, Yamamoto announced that Niimi had died from cancer on May 27.[18] Having felt unwell since the beginning of the month, the drummer was admitted to a hospital on May 6 after being diagnosed with Stage IV cancer that had metastasized throughout his body.[18] Niimi died at 7:38 pm on May 27, at the age of 66.[18]
Yamamoto, Hitomi and Atsumi reunited as Vow Wow for two concerts at Club Citta on June 29 and 30, 2024, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of their first album and to pay tribute to Niimi.[19] Hitomi announced that he was returning to professional musical activities during the second night, and Yamamoto later speculated that each member would like to perform as Vow Wow at least once a year.[20] Bow Wow performed at the Time to Rock Festival in Knislinge, Sweden on July 7, 2024.[21][22] Vow Wow are scheduled to perform two concerts at the Tokyo Dome City Hall on January 8 and 9, 2025.[23]
Legacy
Bow Wow were one of the first Japanese metal bands. Tomoaki Hokari of OK Music wrote that they were one of the acts that proved domestic musicians could compete with Western hard rock acts.[1] Writing for Rolling Stone Japan, Daisuke Kawasaki ranked Warning from Stardust at No. 23 on a 2007 list of the "100 Greatest Japanese Rock Albums of All Time".[24] The title track from Signal Fire was named the 28th best guitar instrumental by Young Guitar Magazine in 2019.[25]Lars Ulrich is a fan of Bow Wow and used to cover their songs with Metallica before they made their debut.[11]X Japan guitarist Hide admired Yamamoto and Saito, and played the Mockingbird-style of guitar because Saito used it.[26][27]Rhythm & Drums Magazine wrote that Niimi was influential on later drummers, including by pioneering the use of rubber mats under drum kits.[6] Kouichi of Laputa is a fan of the band and covered their songs while in high school.[28][29]
