Koichi Fujita
Koichi Fujita (藤田浩一 Fujita Kōichi; born March 20, 1947[1] in Chiba, Chiba Prefecture, Japan – October 11, 2009) was a Japanese guitarist, lyricist, composer, record producer, and businessman. He was known for being the producer of four of the six variants of Omega Tribe as well as producing for Kiyotaka Sugiyama, Carlos Toshiki, Toshiki Kadomatsu, Momoko Kikuchi, and Lazy.
Koichi Fujita 藤田浩一 | |||||
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Koichi Fujita in 1969 | |||||
Background information | |||||
Born | Chiba, Chiba Prefecture, Japan | March 20, 1947||||
Died | October 11, 2009 62) | (aged||||
Genres | Group sounds · J-pop | ||||
Occupation(s) | Guitarist · songwriter · composer · record producer | ||||
Instruments | Guitar | ||||
Years active | 1967–1995 | ||||
Associated acts |
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Education | Chiba Prefectural Chiba High School | ||||
Office |
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Japanese name | |||||
Kanji | 藤田浩一 | ||||
Kana | ふじた こういち | ||||
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Biography
Early life and career
Fujita was born on March 20, 1947 in Chiba, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. As a child, he loved playing football, but spent most of his days alone because his mother died and his father remarried. He attended Chiba Prefectural Chiba High School where he heard a Beatles record, and bought an electric guitar.[1] He was scouted by Watanabe Productions and debuted in 1967 as a member of Out Cast. He served as the guitarist after the previous guitarist, Shuichi Katagiri, left the band shortly before the band's debut.[2][3] He left in the summer of 1967 after writing three songs[4][5], and would form The Love with Yuji Takamiya, Arai Hideo, Yasufumi Tajima (known as "Fumio Shimada" and "Heckel Tajima"), and Hiroshi Kobata. The band dissolved in 1969.[6]
Production career
In 1980, he scouted Kiyotaka Sugiyama, Shinji Takashima, and Shunji Nishihara from the band Kyutipanchosu. In 1983, Kiyotaka Sugiyama & Omega Tribe debuted with "Summer Suspicion", which peaked at No. 9 on the Oricon charts.[7][8][9] He produced all albums by the band. After the band broke up, he scouted Carlos Toshiki, making him the lead vocalist of 1986 Omega Tribe before the name changed to Carlos Toshiki & Omega Tribe. Fujita produced all albums for both variations.
In 1979, Fujita listened to Toshiki Kadomatsu's demo tape. In 1980, Lazy keyboardist Shunji Inoue and the choir group Trois formed the unit "BIG BANG." In March 1981, he produced their cover of Ai No Corrida, establishing Bermuda Music Publishing in the same year. In 1982, he produced Kadomatsu's album, Weekend Fly to the Sun, and in 1984, produced and wrote for Momoko Kikuchi's debut album, Ocean Side.
Many of the songs and albums Fujita produced were hits and succeeded commercially. They were known as the "Triangle Sound".
Later life and death
After 1995, he stopped producing and concentrated on being president of his company. Fujita died on October 11, 2009.
References
- "Respect for Koichi Fujita". Bermuda Music Publishing.
- "その他のグループ・サウンズ アウト・キャスト". アイドルの歴史 (in Japanese). October 27, 2019.
- "アウト・キャスト". Discogs.
- "アウト・キャスト – 愛することは誰でもできる". Discogs.
- "アウト・キャスト – 友達になろう". Discogs.
- "ザ・ラヴ The Love". Dankaisedai (in Japanese).
- Cdジャーナル(編) (2007). 音楽CD検定公式ガイドブック(下) (in Japanese). 音楽出版社. p. 70. ISBN 9784861710308.
- "杉山清貴デビュー30周年記念ツアー『30th Anniversary SUGIYAMA, KIYOTAKA Live tour 2013"I AM ME"』のチケット好評発売中。". Oricon News (in Japanese). December 27, 2012.
- "「さよならのオーシャン/杉山清貴」". Hiroshima FM (in Japanese). January 25, 2008.