Bow Wow: Bow Wow (1976)
When I first heard and then wrote about Bow Wow’s 45-year-old self-titled debut album in the All-Music Guide, many years ago, I ignorantly suggested that they filled a yawning void and were arguably Japan’s first true heavy metal band.
Not true.
If older, wiser me could get a do-over, I’d write that the Tokyo quartet actually took the baton passed by proto-metal pioneers like Flower Travellin’ Band and early ‘70s groups like glam rockers Gedō and Deep Purple copyists Murasaki, then did much to help modernize Japanese hard rock.
Bow Wow was formed in Tokyo, circa 1975, by lead guitarist (and sometime lead vocalist) Kyoji Yamamoto, vocalist/guitarist Mitsuhiro Saito, bassist Kenji Sano, and drummer Toshihiro Niimi -- all of them fish out of water in a Japanese music market dominated by manufactured pop stars.
But Yamamoto's guitar heroics simply would not be denied, and after butting heads with clueless recording engineers on their first day in the studio, Bow Wow laid down strong tracks like the hard-driving “Heart’s on Fire,” fluid boogie rocker “Volume On,” and the party-ready “Theme of Bow Wow.”
Another personal favorite is the eerily named, ten-minute blues-rock epic “James in My Casket” (clever title for a band that was still singing 90% of their lyrics in Japanese), featuring a jaw-dropping Yamamoto guitar workout inspired by, and dedicated to, Jimi Hendrix.
The album isn't without its faults, though, including “Withered Sun,” which sounds like a jam on The Beatles’ “I Want You (She’s So Heavy),” and the silly bubblegum of “Foxy Lady,” which is a anything but a Hendrix cover, and does foreshadow Japan’s future love affair with Cheap Trick.
All in all, this was a promising and confident first statement from Bow Wow, who proved to be astonishingly fast leaners on their much-improved, often flat-out-amazing second and third LPs, Signal Fire and Charge, both released in 1977, and followed by ‘78’s fabulous Super Live.
If not for a brief and misguided dalliance with pop music, as the ‘70s gave way to the ‘80s, the prolific Bow Wow would continue to add new and memorable albums to their legacy over ensuing decades, to emerge as one of Japan's greatest heavy rock bands.
I also think it’s notable that Bow Wow’s first LP arrived exactly five years ahead of Loudness’ first, The Birthday Eve, which should give some context for other naive fans like me, who once believed that Japanese heavy metal began in the ‘80s.
Luckily, nothing could be further from the truth ...
p.s. -- Oh, and before I let you go, check out this vintage television footage of the fresh-faced Bow Wow in action, brought to you by the magic of YouTube.
More Bow Wow: Signal Fire, Charge, Super Live.
