Tamio Okuda comes across as just a regular, ordinary guy. In his bio, equal prominence is given to his work as a producer, as a solo artist – and being a keen black-bass fisherman. When performing live or in videos, Okuda looks like he just got out of bed, wearing T-shirt and jeans and in need of a shave. Okuda was a member of midranking rock band Unicorn until the band broke up in 1993, and then went on to achieve tremendous success by working as the producer of female pop duo
Puffy. Okuda’s deep knowledge of and respect for classic pop, especially the Beatles, was apparent on
Puffy singles such as “Circuit no Musume,” a bright, infectious tune with lots of catchy hooks which he both wrote and produced. In 1992 Okuda released his first solo single,
Yasumi (Holiday), and in 1994 he released his first solo album,
29 (i.e., his age at the time), which featured great tunes such as "Musuko", an unashamedly sentimental song about a father’s love for his son. The following year saw Okuda release his second solo album,
30, which again displayed his knack for writing and performing unpretentious guitar-driven rock. In 1997 Okuda collaborated with veteran singer/songwriter Yosui Inoue on the excellent album
Shopping, which featured their rocking version of "Asia no Junshin (Pure Heart of Asia)", which Okuda had originally written for
Puffy.
Shopping also included the beautiful Okuda composition “2 Cars”, a dreamy ballad reflecting his l...
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Tamio Okuda comes across as just a regular, ordinary guy. In his bio, equal prominence is given to his work as a producer, as a solo artist – and being a keen black-bass fisherman. When performing live or in videos, Okuda looks like he just got out of bed, wearing T-shirt and jeans and in need of a shave. Okuda was a member of midranking rock band Unicorn until the band broke up in 1993, and then went on to achieve tremendous success by working as the producer of female pop duo
Puffy. Okuda’s deep knowledge of and respect for classic pop, especially the Beatles, was apparent on
Puffy singles such as “Circuit no Musume,” a bright, infectious tune with lots of catchy hooks which he both wrote and produced. In 1992 Okuda released his first solo single,
Yasumi (Holiday), and in 1994 he released his first solo album,
29 (i.e., his age at the time), which featured great tunes such as "Musuko", an unashamedly sentimental song about a father’s love for his son. The following year saw Okuda release his second solo album,
30, which again displayed his knack for writing and performing unpretentious guitar-driven rock. In 1997 Okuda collaborated with veteran singer/songwriter Yosui Inoue on the excellent album
Shopping, which featured their rocking version of "Asia no Junshin (Pure Heart of Asia)", which Okuda had originally written for
Puffy.
Shopping also included the beautiful Okuda composition “2 Cars”, a dreamy ballad reflecting his love of all things automotive. That song was also included on Okuda’s 2001 album,
Car Songs of the Years, which also featured numbers such as "And I Love Car", "Circuit no Musume", and "Gasoline Gasoline". As well as releasing consistently solid albums, Okuda is one of Japan’s most popular live performers.
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