Murashita Kozo was a Japanese singer-songwriter.
He aimed to be a rock musician from childhood, but eventually ended up as a folk singer after his acoustic guitar performances became popular at his college.
He passed away on June 24th, 1999 after complications from a brain hemorrhage.
History[]
Murashita was born in Kumamoto to a prominent family that ran several businesses, including a movie theater chain. Through this and his older sister’s influence, he became interested in Western music, especially rockabilly. Despite his parents’ refusal to support his music hobby, he built his first guitar in 1965 from lauan wood and taught himself to play. Impressed, his father later bought him a real electric guitar. Though he trained as a competitive swimmer and joined Nippon Steel’s corporate swim team after graduating in 1971 with the goal to become an Olympian, the demanding schedule led him to develop burnout and leave and move to Hiroshima, inspired by classmate Hamada Shogo. There, he busked at Hiroshima Peace Park, adapted to folk music, and worked as a piano tuner while joining local bands. By 1978, he hosted a radio show’s music corner and signed with Yamaha. In 1979, he won the Yamaha Pop Music contest and secured a deal with CBS/Sony. His fifth single, Hatsukoi, reached #3 on the Oricon charts, making him a household name.
His career was later hindered by health issues developed from hepatitis, limiting promotion of new music, though he continued performing live and producing music. On June 20, 1999, while preparing for a concert, he suffered a hypertensive cerebral hemorrhage and died four days later at age 46.
Discography[]
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Trivia[]
- Murashita was not a fan of idols and idol culture. However he was an outspoken fan of Mita Hiroko in her idol days, and he also had an immense respect for Nakamori Akina. His 1991 single, Akina was written as a tribute to her. Although Nakamori never heard the song until after he had passed away, she decided to cover one of his songs, Odoriko, as a tribute to him on her cover album Utahime 3 ~ Shuumaku.
- He was also friends with Kokusho Sayuri, as they belonged to the same management for a time, and even gave her parents complimentary concert tickets to his shows.