Ranmadou’s story starts with guitarist Eiryu Kou. <br />Kou joined a band called The Vickies as a guitarist in 1966. <br />(A few sources claim it was 1967 or 1968 but Kou remembers <br />The Beatles visited Japan when he was with The Vickies so <br />it must have been before July 1966.) The Vickies were an <br />early version of Blues Creation. In fact, when Kou left <br />the band in August 1968 to take over his family’s business, <br />he was replaced by future Blues Creation leader, Kazuo Takeda. <br />Kou later briefly returned in September but then left to form <br />a band called Blind Lemon Jefferson in April 1969. They played <br />played at go-go clubs in Touhoku during the summer and then from <br />September were based out of a club called ‘Apple’ in Shinjuku, Tokyo. <br />The band broke up in late 1969. In January 1970, Kou formed Dew with <br />singer Fumio Nunoya, who had left Blues Creation the previous December. <br />(As far as I know, the only thing released from Kou’s time <br />with Dew are ‘Lost Blues Days Vol.1' (2001) on the Captain <br />Trip label, track 6, “Tobacco Road” and 7, “Hard Luck Story”.) <br /> <br />In early 1971, Kou left Dew and formed Ranmadou with <br />Yukio Saruyama (bass), Hisao Matsuyoshi (vocals) and <br />Toshirou Yashima (drums). (I’m not sure about the romanization <br />of those names.) Both Saruyama and Matsuyoshi had been in Blind Lemon Jefferson <br />and Yashima was recommended by Kazuo Takeda. In March, they played in Gifu Prefecture and then moved to Kyoto in May. For the next 2 months, they played <br />at a club called ‘Cat’s Eye’ and worked up most of their original material <br />. While in Kyoto, they opened for an early version of Flied Egg. Around <br />this time, Ritsuo Kamimura became their manager. Kamimura had connections <br />with Hachimitsu Pie’s and Happy End’s management agency Kazetoshi, who set <br />the band up with a gig at ‘BYG’ in Shibuya, Tokyo from July. In August, they <br />played at the sub-stage of the 3rd Annual Japan Folk Jamboree and Kou claims <br />they were the loudest band there. (Dew also performed.) <br />They started recording their debut album Ranmadou in April 1972. Through their <br />management connections, Takashi Matsumoto from Happy End and Keiichi Suzuki <br />from Hachimitsu Pie were involved in the album and their influence can be <br />heard in the laid-back feeling on the first side album. It was also a conscious <br />decision on Kou’s part to move the band in a more pop direction. <br />When the URC label catalog was released on CD in 1989, Ranmadou’s performance from the 3rd Annual Folk Jamboree was released as Summer 1971. <br /> <br />http://echoesof-the-past.blogspot.co.il/2008/06/ranmadou-summer-1971.html
