Hideki Saijo

Hideki Saijō (西城 秀樹, Saijō Hideki, originally Tatsuo Kimoto (木本 龍雄, Kimoto Tatsuo); April 13, 1955 – May 16, 2018) was a Japanese pioneering rock, city pop, Kayoukyoku, J Pop, R & B, Funk, Lounge vocalist, composer, musician as well as an actor.

He debuted at Japanese major pop music scene, in March 1972, when he was 16 years old, with a catch phrase “Wild Seventeen Year Old”, with a song called “A Season of Falling in Love (恋する季節）from BGM Victor Japan RCA Records, which ranked in Japanese national pop music chart as the 48th at the highest.

With his fourth single, “Let’s Challenge with Our Youth （青春に賭けよう）and fifth single, “A Storm of Passion （情熱の嵐）, both released in 1972-1973, he became one of the most popular singers in Japanese pop music and a Best Ten Chart ranking artist.

In 1973, his 6th single, “Teared Love （ちぎれた愛）, became a rapid and massive mega hit, ranking in number 1 of Japanese national chart, selling half a million (5000 thousand) records within a few weeks - a record highest sales number.

As seen from above, he quickly became one of the most popular singers in Japan from a very early stage of his career, and then a superstar vocalist as well as a most popular “aidoru (idol).

After the initial success as explained above, he continued to rank in the national Top Ten Charts, with singles such as “Chains of Roses (薔薇の鎖）”, “Passionate (Hard) Love （激しい恋）, “Lola （傷だらけのローラ）” in 1974.

(To be continued.)

famous for singing the Japanese version of the Village People's hit song "Y.M.C.A.," called "Young Man." In the 1970s, he was called "New Big Three" (新御三家, shin gosanke) with Goro Noguchi and Hiromi Go. Although the original version was camp, Saijō's version was intended to seriously inspire "young men."