Tak Matsumoto News

TV Asahi’s music program 「Music Station」 celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. On that occasion, a special edition of the show is being held on September 19th, dubbed 「Music Station Ultra Fes」. Tak Matsumoto is set to appear on the show and will possibly perform a rendition of 「#1090 ~Million Dreams~」, an updated version of the very same song, that has been used as the theme song for Music Station for years.

Tak will not be in the studio in Japan, but will be performing live from Los Angeles. Possibly because he is currently at work on the next B’z record.

News

On August 23rd, a joint statement signed by 116 Japanese artists was released which strongly voices the need to prevent scalpers from selling concert tickets at a premium. The campaign’s aim is to save the future of music, as ticket scalping hurts the industry and fans alike. Fans who want to buy tickets usually find that the tickets are already sold out because scalpers have already bought the remaining ones, only to resell them at a high price elsewhere.

B’z tickets are very hard to obtain because they are usually sold through ticket lotteries. Tickets in general sale are hard to come by, as well. As such, with every live tour, be it solo or B’z, Japanese auction sites are flooded with B’z fanclub tickets, although their resale is not allowed. Furthermore, general sale tickets are also sold for very high sums.

To counter this, B’z also recently started tightening measures, requiring photos of the attendees to be uploaded in the case of very exclusive concerts, such as the fanclub-exclusive SHOWCASE last year. Upon entry, the ticket holder will be identified and matched to the information stored in the system. This system may even someday be extended to the use of facial recognition software, as already employed by bands such as Arashi.

Via: Tenbai NO

Feature

After years of work, an integral part of the B’z Wiki has been completed. Today, we have published eleven new articles which means, at long last, articles for all 52 B’z singles are now completed!

This project was especially difficult because of the language barrier involved. Hours of research into a base article can in turn lead you down a rabbit hole attempting to track down the origin of one solitary comment. Prior to the B’z Wiki and associated efforts, virtually none of this information was available in English. These 52 articles total over 60,000 words—approaching the length of a proper novel—and attempt to offer something new for even the most seasoned B’z veterans.

All told, the breadth of the band’s career and the litany of releases to cover has made this an especially daunting task, but today, that is no longer a concern—the long-promised singles pages are now completed!

For those that have browsed the Wiki for such information before, here are the most recent articles you may have missed:

• Dakara Sono Te wo Hanashite (1988)
• LADY-GO-ROUND (1990)
• Taiyou no Komachi Angel (1990)
• Easy Come, Easy Go! (1990)
• LADY NAVIGATION (1991)
• ZERO (1992)
• Ai no Mama ni Wagamama ni… (1993)
• Hadashi no Megami (1993)
• Don’t Leave Me (1994)
• Negai (1995)
• love me, I love you (1995)
• LOVE PHANTOM (1995)
• Calling (1997)
• HOME (1998)
• ultra soul (2001)
• Yasei no ENERGY (2003)
• BANZAI (2004)
• ARIGATO (2004)

Additionally, in commemoration of this milestone, read on for 52 facts about the 52 singles that you may or may not yet know!

(more…)

News

New entries in the JASRAC database (short for Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers) may be giving us our next glimpse at what B’z may have in store for their upcoming album. The two new songs—like all other B’z songs listed—are attributed to Tak Matsumoto as composer and Koshi Inaba as lyricist and bear the titles “QUEEN OF MY SOUL” and “Gyakkyou ni Kujikeru na” (Never Waver in the Face of Adversity, 逆境にくじけるな). The entries are still new and lack a publishing entity, so they may be registered for tie-up promotions later instead of Being Publishing, or are simply tentative registrations.

This is not the first time in recent months a new B’z song was registered with the same official entity for governing song royalties in Japan. As previously reported, “Cost” (コスト) was also registered earlier this year, though it has yet to materialize in released form.

Koshi Inaba News

Koshi Inaba has just released his latest digital exclusive single 「YELLOW」 through digital music channels such as iTunes Japan, Mora and Dwango. The release comes after the song was announced in March, to be featured in the latest line of KOSE sun protection commercials. Ever since, the song has been reworked and has now been released in its current form.

Alongside the release of the single a stylish music video featuring Koshi in vectored out form from various live shows has been uploaded to the band’s official YouTube channel. We have embedded the video for your viewing pleasure below!

Koshi is currently in Nashville, working on his new solo record with Stevie Salas. The solo record is expected to release in the Fall. A potential solo tour is planned for early 2017.

News

Tak Matsumoto, Chad Smith, Juan Alderete, and Koshi Inaba after the 2009 recording of MAGIC.

A recent and previously unreported blog post by noted bassist Juan Alderete confirms his involvement with a brand new B’z studio album. Longtime fans may recall Alderete’s earlier stint in the studio with the band, during which he provided bass on a healthy number of ACTION tracks in 2007 and later three tracks for 2009’s MAGIC. Most recently, he contributed to “Vermillion Palace” and “Step to Heaven” on Tak Matsumoto’s solo album enigma.

Additionally, he mentions that Jason Sutter is also involved and will be providing drums on select tracks. Fans of Tak’s recent live output and studio album may recognize the name. The former Foreigner and Marilyn Manson drummer most recently contributed to Tak Matsumoto’s enigma and on all dates of the subsequent live undertaking, Tak Matsumoto Tour 2016 -The Voyage-.

Alderete also notes that he auditioned in 2001 for what would become B’z LIVE-GYM 2002 “GREEN ~GO★FIGHT★WIN~”. Famed Mr. Big member Billy Sheehan eventually assumed the role for that tour, though Alderete had made quite the impression which lead to him being called in to provide bass on memorable album tracks “Junjou ACTION“, “Ore to Omae no Atarashii Kisetsu“, and “Isshinfuran” as well as both “Ichibu to Zenbu” and “DIVE” later. His role in the 2009 sessions alongside Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith was filmed and released as part of the documentary Magical Backstage Tour 2009.

No release date is currently known for the much-anticipated twentieth B’z album, though the normal gestation period for the band’s sessions would suggest a release date of late 2016 or, more likely, early-mid 2017. It can also reasonably be expected that the pairing of Shane Gaalaas and Barry Sparks will appear on other tracks for drums and bass respectively and that “Sekai wa Anata no Iro ni Naru” will be included.