Kiyoshiro Imawano　

Kawabe Moto / Summer Eye　

Ian Dury　

Rock ＆ roll has always been populated by fringe figures, cult artists who managed to develop a fanatical following because of their outsized quirks, but few cult rockers have ever been quite as weird, ..more

The Zombies　

Aside from the Beatles and perhaps the Beach Boys, no mid-’60s rock group wrote melodies as gorgeous as those of the Zombies. Dominated by Colin Blunstone’s breathy vocals, choral backup h ..more

Crowded House　

An institution in their homeland, a two-hit wonder in the U.S., and, during the last half of their ten-year career, bona fide stars in the U.K. and most of Europe, Crowded House recorded some of th ..more

Takuro Yoshida　

Iggy Pop　

There’s a reason why many consider Iggy Pop the godfather of punk： every single punk band of the past and present has either knowingly or unknowingly borrowed a thing or two from Pop and his lat ..more

Punipuni Denki　

SMAP　

Adele　

When the U.K. press began dubbing Adele the next Amy Winehouse in late 2007, the hype didn’t touch upon the singer/songwriter influence found in the Londoner’s music. Influenced by Roberta F ..more

Omnium Gatherum　

Hailing from the town of Kyminlinna, Finland, Omnium Gatherum was formed in late ・0’s by vocalist Antti Filppu, guitarists Markus Vanhala and Harri Pikka, keyboardist Mikko Pennanen, b ..more

Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra　

STRAIGHTENER　

Dio　

For a brief spell during the mid-’80s, the heavy metal quintet Dio were one of the top U.S. concert attractions, boasting one of the most over the top stage acts of its time loaded with props an ..more

NEK!　

Manic Street Preachers　

Dressed in glam clothing, wearing heavy eyeliner, and shouting political rhetoric, the Manic Street Preachers emerged in 1991 from their hometown of Blackwood, Wales, as self-styled Generation ..more

Tomori Kusunoki　

Sex Pistols　

The Sex Pistols may have only been together for two years in the late ’70s, but they changed the face of popular music. Through their raw, nihilistic singles and violent performances, the band revo ..more

KAT-TUN　

Yamashita Yosuke　

Yamashita studied piano as a child and has played professionally since the age of 17. He attended Kunitachi College of Music in Tokyo from 1962-1967 and played for a time with saxophonist Sadao W ..more