The Tempters
Encyclopedia
The Tempters were part of Japan
's Group Sounds
pop music
era in the 1960s.
Featuring lead vocalist
Kenichi Hagiwara
, who was also known by the nickname of Shoken, they rivaled The Tigers for the top spot in the Japan rock
scene hierarchy. The band
also featured drummer
Hiroshi Oguchi
, who later formed the glam rock
band Vodka Collins
.
"Emerald - No Densetsu" ("Legend of the Emerald"), was released by the band in July 1968 and was number one for two weeks in Japan, and in the Top 10 for 13 weeks, selling over one million copies.
Both Oguchi and Hagiwara are now successful actor
s.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
's Group Sounds
Group Sounds
Group Sounds is a genre of Japanese rock music. Inspired by The Beatles, Group Sounds became popular in the mid to late 1960s. Group Sounds initiated fusion of Japanese kayōkyoku music and rock music...
pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
era in the 1960s.
Featuring lead vocalist
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
Kenichi Hagiwara
Kenichi Hagiwara
Kenichi Hagiwara , also known as Sho-Ken, was the lead singer of The Tempters, the "bad boys" of the Group Sounds Japan pop scene in the mid and late 1960s...
, who was also known by the nickname of Shoken, they rivaled The Tigers for the top spot in the Japan rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
scene hierarchy. The band
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
also featured drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
Hiroshi Oguchi
Hiroshi Oguchi
Hiroshi Oguchi was born in Kawaguchi Japan, November 28, 1950. He died January 25, 2009, in Tokyo Japan, of cancer....
, who later formed the glam rock
Glam rock
Glam rock is a style of rock and pop music that developed in the UK in the early 1970s, which was performed by singers and musicians who wore outrageous clothes, makeup and hairstyles, particularly platform-soled boots and glitter...
band Vodka Collins
Vodka Collins
Vodka Collins is a Tokyo based Japanese-American rock band, formed in 1971. The core band members are drummer Hiroshi Oguchi , singer-guitarist Alan Merrill, singer-guitarist Hiroshi "Monsieur" Kamayatsu and bassist Take Yokouchi...
.
"Emerald - No Densetsu" ("Legend of the Emerald"), was released by the band in July 1968 and was number one for two weeks in Japan, and in the Top 10 for 13 weeks, selling over one million copies.
Both Oguchi and Hagiwara are now successful actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
s.