22/01/14

Kobukuro


Kobukuro
コブクロ
 http://jepangbanget.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/kobukuro1.jpg
Origin Osaka, Japan
Genres Folk rock, pop, ambient rock
Years active 1998–present
Labels Minosuke Records
(1999—2000)
Warner Music Japan
(2001—current)
Associated acts Ayaka
Website www.kobukuro.com

Members Kentarō Kobuchi
Shunsuke Kuroda
Kobukuro (コブクロ?), a Japanese band, formed in 1998 and made its major label debut in 2001. The name is a portmanteau of the two family names, Kentarō Kobuchi and Shunsuke Kuroda.[1]

Members

  • Kentarō Kobuchi (小渕健太郎 Kobuchi Kentarō?, b. March 13, 1977); guitar, vocals, various other instruments)
  • Shunsuke Kuroda (黒田俊介 Kuroda Shunsuke?, b. March 18, 1977); main vocals)
The band's visual appearance is unusual; there are only two people, and Kuroda stands over 193 cm (6'4") tall.

History

In May 1998, Kobuchi and Kuroda met each other in Sakai near Osaka. Kobuchi was a salesman who held street concerts every Saturday for relaxation and Kuroda was a physical education teacher and a street musician. In September the same year, Kobuchi offered Kuroda a song and seeing that Kuroda was not a skilled guitar player, Kobuchi became the guitar player of the group. Thus, Kobukuro was formed.
Kobukuro received moderately successful ratings for their first three indie albums—Saturday 8:PM (July 1999), ANSWER (December 2000) and Root of My Mind (March 2001). Kobukuro signed with Warner Music Japan in 2001, and made their debut with the hit single, "Yell" which reached number 4 on the Oricon Charts.
Kobukuro released the studio album Nameless World on December 21, 2005. Nameless World became their first number-one album on the Oricon weekly charts. On September 27, 2006, they released their greatest hits album All Singles Best, which topped the Oricon weekly charts for four consecutive weeks.
On March 21, 2007, Kobukuro released the single "Tsubomi." When the song "Tsubomi" was released, Marty Friedman pointed out that the song's arrangement was very simple and did away with the influence of the music of the Western culture.[2] The song "Tsubomi" became their first number-one single on the Oricon weekly charts. "Tsubomi" won the coveted "Grand Prix" awards in December 2007 at the 49th Japan Record Awards. The song was included in their 2007 studio album 5296, which also topped the Oricon weekly charts.
On their 2009 album Calling, Kobuchi wrote "Sayonara Hero" as a memorial song for Kiyoshiro Imawano, who had died earlier that year. On March 3, 2010, they released their cover version of "Layla" (used in a Pepsi Nex commercial they starred in) as a digital single of iTunes Store without the release of the CD single.[3]
When the Oricon weekly charts dated May 17, 2010 was released, the sales of All Singles Best passed 3,000,000 copies on the Oricon charts, becoming the first album to do so in 7 years 10 months since the 2002 achievement of Southern All Stars' Umi no Yeah!!, released on June 25, 1998.[4]

Discography

Singles

Original Japanese Title Romanized Name Translation of Title Release Date Sales
Yell ~エール~ / Bell - Yell / Bell 22 March 2001 245,390
Wadachi Rut 20 June 2001 53,430
You / Miss You - - 21 November 2001 22,360
Kaze Wind 14 February 2002 120,000
願いの詩 / 太陽 Negai no Uta / Taiyō Song of Wish / The Sun 10 July 2002 37,620
雪の降らない街 Yuki no Furanai Machi The Town Without Snow 13 November 2002 27,988
宝島 Takarajima Treasure Island 9 April 2003 24,482
Blue Blue - - 27 August 2003 16,134
Door - - 12 May 2004 20,083
永遠にともに / Million Films / ここから Towa ni Tomo ni / Million Films / Koko kara Forever with You / Million Films / From Here 14 October 2004 146,265
ここにしか咲かない花 Koko ni Shika Sakanai Hana A flower that only blooms here 11 May 2005 407,200
Sakura Cherry Blossoms 2 November 2005 434,389
君という名の翼 Kimi to Iu Na no Tsubasa Wings That Are Named You 26 July 2006 106,957
Tsubomi Flower Bud 21 March 2007 506,093
蒼く 優しく Aoku Yasashiku Bluer, Gentler 7 November 2007 213,961
時の足音 Toki no Ashioto Footsteps of Time 29 October 2008 255,485
Niji Rainbow 15 April 2009 102,577
Stay - - 15 July 2009 86,290
流星 Ryūsei Meteor 17 November 2010 113,503
Blue Bird - - 16 February 2011 78,224
あの太陽が、この世界を照らし続けるように。 Ano Taiyō ga, Kono Sekai o Terashi Tuzukeru Yōni. I Wish That Sun Continued Lighting up This World 27 April 2011 48,093
紙飛行機 Kamihikōki Paper Plane 28 November 2012

Albums

Released Title Peak Sales
July 21, 1999 Saturday 8PM #294 -
March 4, 2000 Root of My Mind #197 -
December 19, 2000 Answer - -
August 29, 2001 Roadmade #6 105,000
August 28, 2002 Grapefruits #4 100,000
November 6, 2003 Straight #10 46,000
November 3, 2004 Music Man Ship #3 250,000
December 21, 2005 Nameless World #1 898,000
September 27, 2006 All Singles Best #1 3,038,000
December 19, 2007 5296 #1 1,429,000
August 5, 2009 Calling #1 477,000
August 25, 2010 All Covers Best #1 387,000
September 5, 2012 All Singles Best 2 #1 731,217

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