Key Of Grey

Nope, this isn’t a picture of the B’z…it’s a picture of me playing my Tak Matsumoto guitar again. Finding CC-licensed pictures of B’z was difficult.

August 31, 2009 – In preparation for my sabbatical to Japan next week, this installment of the Artist You May Not Know series will highlight the Japanese rock duo B’z. B’z consists of Tak Matsumoto on guitar and Koshi Inaba on vocals. They were formed in 1988 when Tak, already a well known guitarist and studio musician, saw Koshi in a karaoke contest and approached him to be in his hard rock project.

Their music can be characterized by the era they’re from: the late 80′s and early 90′s. Think Bon Jovi, and White Snake and you get the idea. I, being a fan of hair bands, fell hard for them when I visited Japan almost 15 years ago and have been a fan ever since. Here are some additional facts about them:

• They have released 42 consecutive number 1 singles.
• They have 21 number 1 albums.
• Under the recommendation of Steve Vai, B’z are the first Asian artists to get their hands on the Hollywood RockWalk
• They have sold more than 78 million records in Japan alone.

Tak Matsumoto is also the first Asian artist to have his own signature Gibson. His first run of Les Paul Customs consisted of just 99 guitars and sold out immediately, even at the ridiculous price of 7 thousand dollars. As I wrote about briefly in a previous post, the jewel of my guitar collection is the last of three prototypes made for that 99 series run. I happened upon it by accident and the seller definitely did not know what he had.

Tak Matsumoto has a side project away from the B’z that recalls the early hair bands even more. It’s called the Tak Matsumoto Group (TMG) and includes Eric Martin from Mr. Big on vocals, Jack Blades from Damn Yankees/Night Ranger on bass, and rotating drummers (Brian Tichy, Cindy Blackman, and Chris Frazier).

Really, I like the B’z because of Tak Matsumoto’s insane and unique playing style. No one sounds like him. I’ve embedded a video below so you can get a taste. It’s one of their oldies played at a 2008 concert. Guitar solo at 2:40.

B’z Official Website


B’z “Runaway”


TMG “Oh Japan”