We bumped into each other in Nogizaka (it was Hideki’s residency area back then) and I asked him right there whether he’d be the guitarist for my backing band.---Hideki
Interviewer:It’s such an honour for witnessing you two’s talk. Thanks for the opportunity!
Hideki: Don’t mention it! First of all, congratulations to Fujimal san for his 45th anniversary of the career! It’s been yonks since we’ve chin-wagged like this! 45 years, eh- no wonder why we look ancient now (laugh).
Fujimal:Thanks! Golly gee, it was ’74 when I first met you so it’s been 43 years!
Hideki: Fujimal is such a great senior of mine (he’s 4 year older than Hideki) but since I made my debut in ’72 our career spans are the same (laugh).
F: Ah, so we have started at the same time!
Int.: So you have invited Fujimal to your backing band in ’74 when the catchphrase ‘The New Big 3(Goro Noguchi, Hiromi Go and Hideki)’ became a fixed expression, right?
H: Yeah, I was longing to have my own backing band. You know there was a band just for Kenichi Hagiwara- and Kenji Sawada had The Takayuki Inoue Band, didn’t he. I was also hoping to experiment more rock-orientated sound than the full band.
Int.: Goro Noguchi, back then, had a super-band with Ken Yajima(gui.), Akira Okazawa (bass.) and Kiyoshi Tanaka (dr.) as his own touring band, didn’t he.
H: It could’ve cost a fortune to have your own band with the studio musicians and taking them on tour, but hey ho! I persisted and had it granted!
Int.: You got to know this fab guitarist for the first time was when Fujimal was a member of Joe Yamanaka Band, opening for Rod Stewart and The Faces touring in Japan, right?
H: Indeedy.
Int.: What was your impression of Fujimal there?
H: His amazing guitar playing!! And his appearance as well- tall and slim.
Int.: Who else were the band members for Joe?
George Wada(dr.), Kenichi Sawa and me as guitarists, Jack Matsumura(ba.) and Shigeki Watanabe, a.k.a. Chappy who used to be in The Wild Ones. Tetsu Yamauchi was playing the bass guitar for Rod, then.
Int.: So how did you two actually get together and started to play as a team?
F: We bumperd into each other in Nogizaka, didn’t we.
H: Yeah, I went like, ‘You were playing the guitar for Joe Yamanaka the other day?-then asked him straight away to play for me.
F: It was a sheer serendipity.
Int.: How did you choose the members for Hideki’s band?
F: The major TV stations back then used to have their own big bands, so I was playing the guitar with each of them at first-but didn’t work out with the rhythm sections, so we decided to form a bad like Takayuki Inoue Band (for Kenji Sawada, a.k.a. Julie) from scratch. I’ve chosen the members from the young session musicians. Hideki’s agent spoilt us so much by providing us with all the instruments…. The first single we did together was ‘恋の暴走 (Shattered Love)’. It was pretty tough for me learning the pop idol style of dance moves!
H: We were both lifting legs on ‘激しい恋 (Intense Love)’, too, weren’t we!
Int.: What kind of music you would’ve rather play at the time Hideki approached you?
F: Back then, I was hoping to have a go explore more on hard rock music. Instead, I was thrown into a whirlpool of the pop idol industry as I joined Hideki’s gang- it definitely was an intriguing experience. I think I have contributed to Hideki’s music as a rock musician, adding its essence since I was the one who suggested him to cover ‘Heartbreaker’ by GFR.
Int.: You were the touring member of Hideki’s, too- not only the domestic ones but overseas ones as well, weren’t you?
F: Aye, we did in Hawaii… China as well.
Int.: Any behind-the-scenes story?
F: At the concert in Yoron Island (near Okinawa), Niagara fireworks we used (it’s a special kind of fireworks resembling waterfalls) caused quite a damage to not only some of us getting minor burns but also the music sheets caught fire by the falling sparks towards us, all due to the changing direction of the wind since the rehearsal!! What else,,, ah, you know the outdoor concert held at the foot of Mt. Fuji… I remember there were coaches to take his fans from all over Japan- more than 30 coaches were sent to the concert field from Shinjuku itself.
Amagai:I wasn’t his manager then yet but I was in charge of sending each bus from Shinjuku- verifying each passenger’s names on the list, comparing them to their IDs,,,. By the time the last bus left Shinjuku, the first one had reached to the destination(laugh).
H: I heard there were chains of coaches from Shinjuku all the way to Mt. Fuji.(laugh). It was my dream to do the outdoor concert just like Woodstock, after seeing its film whilst growing up.
Int.: What was the touring schedule of yours back then?
H: Well, we had concerts on all Saturdays and Sundays, apart from one weekend each month- we had TV shootings instead.
Amagai:We had ‘８時だョ！全員集合(It’s 8 O’clock! Gather Around) on Saturday, NTV’s TV Jockey on Sunday, we were on many more of those live TV shows…
Int.: How did you guys discuss over music arrangements including Hideki’s vocal parts whilst he was unbelievably busy?
F: We all gathered and did the rehearsals after the band thought out over the arrangements in advance, had the music score prepared.
H: And we did the rehearsal camps a lot, didn’t we.
To be honest, I wish I could work on both, Hideki and SHOGUN. –Fujimal
H: Do you think you’re influenced by Woodstock in ’69, Fujimal?
F: Santana and Jimi Hendrix, I guess. Santana had a lot of band members- there were even some percussionists- and so groovy with Latin flavour, wasn’t he. On the other hand, Jimi’s band was formed with only guitarist, drummer and bassist- it blew my mind as it was quite rare back then to see a three-piece band, which is nothing uncommon these days. I didn’t fall for Jimi then as his stuff didn’t sound with harmonic implications much (laugh.).
H: I loved Alvin Lee, Santana, Joe Cocker and Janis Joplin.
Int: Speaking of you, Hideki, you held a very first stadium concert as a solo artist (summer in ’74 at Osaka Stadium until ‘83, - then as of ’78 for 4 summers at Korakuen Stadium as well, Hideki’s become a holder of ‘the most performed artist’ for Korakuen Stadium). You kept us shocked and amazed by your flamboyant, risky performances like hanging upside down on the rope ladders hooked to a crane without wearing a safety tether. How did you observe Hideki doing all these on stage, Fujimal?
F: I was gobsmacked, amazed. Hideki rocked more than any of those so-called ‘rock’ concerts. By the way, I was on a gondola, lifted up on a crane like Hideki during the rehearsal- gosh I couldn’t move my legs- I was petrified (laugh.).
Int: How did you use the audio monitors?
Ama: We used the wireless headphone type of ear monitors. Oh, I was on the gondola with Hideki, handling the CO2 cylinders (laugh.).
H: I have fear of heights, but I feel reckless as soon as I’m on stage, even think that I could die there.
F: The atmosphere of the stadium was quite unique when inside- there was a wall of cheers from the audience seats that even sounded eerie…. Made me wonder how the baseball players could concentrate on their games…. Oh, another thing, it was a real challenge to keep the tempo there as the sounds bounces back and forth like echo- so I was following Hideki’s body rocking with rhythm (laugh).
Ama: Some Nankai Hawks players were practicing at Osaka Stadium while we were rehearsing- and one of them was kindly played catch with us (laugh).
Int: Back then, Fujimal, you got the Hiwatt’s amp and even a 2 x 6 stacks of Marshall cabinet for a while- all provided by Hideki’s agent I heard.
F: For the stadium concerts, the stage was split in two- the combo band (more lika big band I guess- as there were 12-13 members) and me. And the stacks of Marshall was all to myself!
H: The top-notch staff had gathered for these concerts….
F: Come to think of it, the way the members were introduced was just like the one for the baseball games! You waited at the dugout and the announcement would go like, ‘Guitar, Fujimal Yoshino!’ then I’d dashed out.
Int: So, your Fujimal Band (as a backing band for Hideki, started with Masao Nakajima (key.), Kazuyoshi Watanabe (bass.), Kazuya Watanabe (dr.) in 1974) was expanding into different bands by taking a different form as changing members like One Line Band/Shogun? (e.g. for Hideki’s album in ’78, ‘First Flight’, the recording members were that of SHOGUN without Casey Rankin- on the same year Fujimal made an album with Osamu Nakashima(perc.), Kazuo Ohtani (key.), Michy Nagaoka(bass.), Hideo Yamaki(dr.) as One Line Band).
[Ref.: The musician credits on Hideki’s album ‘First Flight(’78)’, mentioned on Fujimal, Yoshino’s Autobiography ‘Lonely Man In The Bad City’ by Yoshino Fujimal, DU Books, 2017, pp. 273.]
F: Yeah, Kazuo Ohtani(key.), Michy (the bassist Michio Nagaoka),,,Yamakin (the drummer Hideo Yamaki).
Int: Were you the bandmaster all along? Or changed to Otani at some point?
F: It had been Osamu Nakajima (per.) as he was the eldest. But Ohtani was in charge of all the arrangement. Everything was live musical instruments we used, no step recording or samplings. It was a pain to just write down the scores! You just type the data into your desktop, it only takes a matter of seconds to create scores for all the parts these days (laugh).
Int: In the midst of all this, Hideki’s ‘Young Man (Y.M.C.A.)’- released in Feb., 1979 and ‘Otokotachi No Melody’ by SHOGUN- released 2 months later- both made great hits…
F: I went on hiatus working for Hideki as I started SHOGUN.
H: Yeah, that was when we were both finding our own ways.
Int: How did you feel when you were leaving Hideki for a while?
F: To be honest, I wish I could work for both Hideki and SHOGUN. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t compete Hideki’s singing and expressiveness,,, it’s a different story when it comes to the guitar play (laugh).
Int: Hideki, how did you see Fujimal’s activities as a member of SHOGUN and the vocalist side of him?
H: I’ve had him sing for me, it’s just magical when he takes the chorus- the harmonics, the overtones of me and him- it fits perfectly!
Int: You’ve done all the arrangements and produced Hideki’s 25th anniversary album, ‘Life Work’ in ’96, Fujimal?
F: He came to the event at Hattori Ryokuchi Outdoor Concert Hall in Osaka as a guest singer- I was playing for Yoshinori Monta (who composed Gal and Do for Hideki in the 80’s) and that was how we reunited after a long while- I still thought his songs/singing voice were great.
H: I believe his backing guitar is the best in Japan, as well as solos.
Int: Thank you for both of you, today. Looking forward to you guys playing together in future!
H: Yeah, we’ve got to keep rolling.
F: I’d love to play with you, definitely! I really want you to keep singing forever!