Draft:Ziggy (band)

Ziggy (ジギー) is a Japanese rock band formed in 1984 by Juichi Morishige. The band has gone through several lineup changes, with Morishige being the only consistent member, and the only "official" member since 2014.

Throughout the late 80s and early 90s, the band released multiple top 10 albums, including the number one album Kool Kizz, as well as top 10 singles including "Gloria", "Stay Gold", and "Jealousy", all of which went gold. "Gloria" is considered their most popular song, with sales being estimated anywhere from 200,000 (due to its gold certification) to 500,000 copies. The song has since been covered by many artists, including western artists such as Eric Martin and DragonForce.

The band's name comes from David Bowie's character Ziggy Stardust.

1984–86: Formation
Ziggy was formed by vocalist Juichi Morishige in the fall of 1984 at the age of 21. After constant lineup changes, bassist Norio Toshiro, formally of G.D. Flickers, joined in early 1986. During this period, the band auditioned for Sony Records but was rejected. After their drummer left the band due to a marriage issue, Toshiro brought in Masanori Oyama, a friend from his university. Eventually, in October later that year, Sownin Matsuo joined in on guitar, finalizing their initial lineup.

1987–1992: Debut and initial fame
Ziggy released their debut mini-album, ''Soreyuke! R&R Band'', on July 10, 1987, on indie label Vice. The release was commemorated with a live show at the Shibuya Ramama; however, Morishige left the stage after five songs, resulting in some songs being played instrumentally. Shortly after, Ziggy went on their first national tour.

On October 5, 1987, their debut album, Ziggy ~In With The Times~, was released by Japan Record under Tokuma Japan Communications, which peaked at number 57 on the Oricon Albums Chart.

On May 25, 1988, Ziggy released their first two singles, "I'm Gettin' Blue", from In With The Times, and "Gloria", as well as their second album, Hot Lips, from which "Gloria" is from. Hot Lips peaked at number 12.

Their third album, Nice & Easy, was released on March 25, 1989, and peaked at number 6. On July 10, 1989, two years after their debut mini-album was released, it was rerecorded as ''Soreyuke! R&R Band -Revisited-'', and peaked at number 8. "Gloria" was rereleased on July 26, 1989, and was featured in the Fuji TV drama Dokyuusei; the rereleased version peaked at number 3 on the Oricon Singles Chart and was 19 on the year-end charts, becoming Ziggy's biggest hit. Their first solo performance at the Nippon Budokan was held on August 21st.

On April 25, 1990, their fourth album, Kool Kizz, was released and debuted at number 1, their only album to do so. Shortly after, they took a small hiatus.

In 1991, an anime movie based on the band was produced titled ''Ziggy: Soreyuke! R&R Band, and a mini-album comprised of unreleased tracks, Sound Trax'', was released alongside the film.

1992–99: Change and decline
Yellow Pop, Ziggy's fifth album, was released on June 25, 1992, on Tokuma's Public Image Records, ending their hiatus. Yellow Pop saw the band change their sound from traditional rock and roll from past albums; due to this sound change, Oyama and Matsuo both left the band after the "Come On Everybody" tour, as both were unhappy with the direction the band was going. A live video titled Come On Everybody and the fan-voted compilation Order-Made -15 Numbers Selection- were released, which were the last works of all four members together.

Their sixth album, Zoo & Ruby, was released on July 21, 1993, and was their first album and only with just Morishige and Toshiro as members. The album continued on the trend of the band expanding their sound, with Morishige citing The Beatles as a major inspiration for the sound and writing of the album.

Blond 007, their seventh album, was released on July 27, 1994, and would be their last album on a Tokuma label. The album marked the return of a band-style production, with support members Atsushi Yokozeki and Toshihiro Niimi joining in on the production process.

In October 1995, live support drummer Miyawaki "Joe" Satoshi, formally of 44 Magnum, joined as an official member, making him the first one since 1992.

Their eighth album, What News?!, was released on Mercury on March 26, 1996, which returned to a traditional rock sound. The album spawned three singles, with the third one, "Step By Step", serving as the first closing theme for the Case Closed anime.

Crawl, their ninth album, was released on March 26, 1997. Little promotion was done for the album, so it didn't sell as well, and was their first to not break into the top 10 since Hot Lips, peaking at number 25.

Due to a decrease in sales and personal issues, Ziggy was on the verge of dissolution. Because of this, their management proposed the return of guitarist Matsuo; Morishige agreed, and Matsuo put his current project at the time, Trybecca, on hold; he officially rejoined in March. They initially performed under the name The King of Gypsyz, but they returned as Ziggy a few months later.

Ziggy released their tenth album, Goliath Birdeater, on March 20, 1999, under SMEJ Associated Records. Toshiro was dissatisfied with the album, saying it relied too much on external producers. This resulted in a conflict between him and Morishige and Matsuo, who wanted a more traditional rock sound. Although they tried to make amends, Toshiro eventually exited the band later that year. This was deemed as a breach of contract from their record company, who cancelled their contract and restricted any works under Ziggy or solo projects.

2000–02: Snake Hip Shakes
After Toshiro's departure, the band announced their new bassist, Masato Tsuya, formally of Psycho Candie, and they would change their name to Snake Hip Shakes due to legal issues. They released their first single as Snake Hip Shakes, "Eien no Justice 〜Kono Michi no Hate ni〜", on June 21, 2000, through Meldac. They'd release their first album, Snake Hip Shakes, just weeks later, on July 26, 2000. They released a cover album of Ziggy songs, No Doubt -Ziggy Songs Played By Snake Hip Shakes-, on October 25 later that year.

Throughout 2001, they released two more albums as Snake Hip Shakes: Virago, on April 25, and Never Say Die, on December 19, as well as a single for each album.

2002–08: Return to Ziggy and breakup
By 2002, all issues regarding the Ziggy name were resolved and the name was eventually returned to Ziggy in April. In July, they released their eleventh album, and first since returning to Ziggy, Heaven And Hell, on the 24th. A sequel was released, Heaven And Hell II, on December 18.

In 2003, they released the single "My Love", which appeared on their thirteenth album, Rock And Roll Freedom!, which was released on September 18.

They released their fourteenth album, Just A Rockin' Night, on January 26, 2005. This would be their last album with Tsuya, who would leave in April 2006. A year later, they announced Yoji "James" Ichikawa and Masahiko "Jimmy" Igarashi from Morishige and Matsuo's other band, The Prodigal Sons, would join on bass and second guitar respectively, but just as support members.

On October 24, 2007, Ziggy released their fifteenth album, Now And Forever, on both Tokuma Japan Communications and Meldac, making this their first album with Tokuma since Blond 007 in 1994. The album was released in two editions: a PV edition, featuring the album with a bonus DVD with music videos, and a 2CD edition, which included a bonus disc with live tracks.

In February 2008, it was announced that Ziggy would break up, citing musical differences between the members ; it was later revealed that Morishige's alcoholism at the time played a part as well.

2010–14: Live reunions
In 2010, Toshiro had an interest in playing older Ziggy songs live again, so he, Morishige, and Satoshi set up a reunion tour. Former guitarist Sownin Matsuo refused to join, so in his place, they brought in support guitarist Kato Taro. As Toshiro wanted, they only played older songs, with the newest being from Crawl. The tour lasted from fall until the end of the year.

For Ziggy's 30th anniversary in 2014, Morishige, along with Toshiro, Taro, Takuya Kanagawa, and Tatsuya Sato played a nationwide tour; however, unlike previous times, only Morishige appeared as an official member, and everyone else, even Toshiro, were only support members. Along with the tour, a CD containing three demo tracks was sold only at venues, and Ziggy's full discography under Tokuma was digitally remastered and rereleased on HQCD. A new 2CD compilation spanning the band's entire career up to that point, titled Ziggy Platinum Best, was also released.

2017–present: Return to music
In December 2016, it was announced that Morishige would hold a national tour under the name Ziggy throughout 2017, with all other members except Morishige himself being support members. The tour, titled "Ziggy Tour 2017", started in April, and was accompanied by the release of a new single in March titled "Celebration Day", which was the first new Ziggy song in ten years ; the single peaked at number 37 on the Oricon Singles Chart. Later, on October 25, their sixteenth album, 2017, was released on Space Shower Music and was the first album in ten years. The album has two discs, with the first disc being new songs, and the second disc being live recordings from their 2017 tour. It peaked at number 29 on the Oricon Albums Chart.

In 2018, two more singles were released in March and April, titled "Teenage Lust" and "Kimi no Egao Yori Utsukushī Hana o Shiranai" respectively, and their seventeenth album, Rock Show, was released on October 24 and peaked at number 26 on the Oricon Albums Chart.

In March 2019, the single "Hikari no Ame" was released and peaked at number 45. In late 2018, it was discovered Morishige had developed vocal cord polyp, which he eventually went into surgery for in mid-2019. In October, the single "I Stay Free Forever" was released and peaked at number 35, being the highest charting single since reforming. In November, a rerecorded version of the band's first album, In With The Times, was released to fan club members only but was eventually given a regular release. It was followed up with a rerecording of Hot Lips in 2020.

On April 21, 2021, the band's eighteenth album, SDR, was released on Killer Tune and peaked at number 29.

Their nineteenth album, So Bad, It's Real, was released on August 28, 2023, Morishige's 60th birthday. That same day, a concert celebrating both the album's release and Morishige's birthday was held at New Side Beach in Shin-Yokohama.

Appearance and musical style
Ziggy's music has gone through different styles of rock, such as rock and roll, blues rock, and hard rock. In the earlier days of the band, the members had long hair, make-up, and flashy outfits much like many glam metal bands, such as Mötley Crüe. Due to their style and timing, the band had sometimes been associated with the visual kei movement, whose bands also had outfits and music styles based on glam metal; however, Ziggy usually isn't considered to be a part of the genre.

The band was influenced by many glam metal acts, who heavily influenced the band's physical appearance and sound. Vocalist Juichi Morishige also considers artists such as Kenji Sawada, Hideki Saijo, and The Beatles as influences for his vocal parts.

Members
Current members
 * Juichi Morishige – vocals (1984-2008, 2010, 2014, 2017-present)

Former members
 * Norio Toshiro – bass (1986–1999, 2010; support 2014)
 * Masanori Oyama - drums (1986–1992)
 * Sownin Matsuo – guitar (1986–1992, 1998–2008)
 * Miyawaki "Joe" Satoshi – drums (1995–2008, 2010)
 * Masato Tsuya – bass, backing vocals (2000–2006)

Current support members
 * Kato Taro – guitar (2010, 2014, 2017–present)
 * Tatsuya Sato – keyboards (2014, 2017–present)
 * Toshi – bass (2017–present)
 * CHARGEEEEEE… – drums (2017–present)

Former support members Timeline
 * Atsushi Yokozeki – guitar (1992–1995)
 * Toshihiro Niimi – drums (1992–1995)
 * Ichiro – guitar (1995–1998)
 * Hisashi Shirahama – guitar (1995–1998)
 * Igarashi "Jimmy" Masahiko – guitar (2006–2008)
 * Yoji "James" Ichikawa – bass (2006–2008)
 * Takuya Kanagawa – drums (2014)
 * Kiyoshi – bass (2017)
 * Eiji Mitsuzono – drums (2017)