Southern All Stars

Southern All Stars formed in 1973 in Yokosuka City, with Keisuke Kuwata on vocals and guitar, Yasuharu Nakanishi on guitar, Kazuyuki Sekiguchi on bass, and Akira Takamori on drums. Their first album came out in 1978, and they built a following with straightforward rock and folk influences. Songs like 'Tsunami' and 'Kibou No Wadachi' became familiar radio presences in Japan.

In 1980, the band faced criticism after a concert where some felt they appeared to endorse drug use. They apologized publicly and said they wouldn't repeat that. Five years later, their song 'Manatsu no Kajitsu' drew accusations of borrowing too heavily from a traditional folk melody, which they denied. These moments didn't stop their output, but they became part of the band's story.

'Tsunami' arrived in 2015, written in response to the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. It turned into a kind of communal ballad for recovery, played often in the years after. The band kept recording through the 2000s and 2010s, with albums like 'Smile' and 'Umi no Yeah!!' adding to a catalog that started in the late seventies.