Village Singers

***Village Singers*** (ヴィレッジ・シンガーズ, *Vu~irejji shingāzu*) is a Japanese group sound band formed in 1966 until 1971.

## History

The predecessor of Village Singers was "The Folk Trekkers", a folk group formed by Hisashi Komatsu. The group was once disbanded, but a new group was formed by Hisashi Komatsu, Takao Nanri, and Osamu Mori. In June 1966, Yutaka Hayashi and Masahiro Koseki were added and the band name was started as "Village Singers". The group is named after the folk mecca "Greenwich Village" in the United States. It was a rare style at the time to add a 12-string guitar to the band formation. Made his record debut in October 1966 on "Dark Sandy Beach". This song was a light folk-rock style song, but it didn't make a big hit.The following year, in 1967, he released his second single, "In Search of You," but the slump continued.

The members were reorganized in an attempt to revive, and new band members such as Tetsuo Koike, Kazuomi Sasai, and Michio Shimizu. In August 1967, the first and third single "Barairono Kumo" with new members sold over 600,000 copies and was in the limelight. The fifth single "The Girl with Flaxen Hair" released in February of the following year became a big hit ranked 7th on the Oricon chart.

Furthermore, "Lemon in the Rainbow / Ring of Memories" released in April of the same year was a double-sided hit, achieving a feat of being ranked 17th on the Oricon chart and 12th on the Oricon chart. In August, he released hit songs one after another, "Until The Stars Fell" and "Falling Leaves And Kissing" in November, but in 1969 it became sluggish and "Love In The Rain" released in February. Then, Oricon 42nd place, "When I Fell In Love While Crying" released in March barely entered Oricon 75th place, but the songs released after that did not lead to a hit at all outside the Oricon area, and it was released in January 1971. At the end of "Forever From Here", it was disbanded in June 1971.

In 2002, Hitomi Shimatani made a big hit by covering "The Girl with Flaxen Hair" as a commerical song for Kao's "Essential Damage Care". With this as an opportunity, the members at that time gathered and reunited and are still active to this day.

## Members

* Hisashi Komatsu - band leader, guitar (born February 10, 1944 - ) Nickname: Gyorome
* Michio Shimizu - vocals, guitar (born August 17, 1945 - ) Nickname: Road Device
* Tetsuo Koike - keyboard, vocals (born November 30, 1947 - ) Nickname: Goldfish
* Yutaka Hayashi - drums (born February 24, 1947 - ) Nickname: Kappa
* Kazuomi Sasai - bass (born November 12, 1944 - ) Nickname: Chachamaru

## Old members

* Masahiro Koseki (keyboard)
* Takao Nanri (12-string guitar, banjo)
* Osamu Mori (bass)
* Eiji Tsunoda (bass)

## Major hit songs

* Barairono Kumo (バラ色の雲, *Baraironokumo*); (August 1967)

* Because I Like It (好きだから, *Sukidakara*); (November 1967)

* A Maiden With Flaxen Hair (亜麻色の髪の乙女, *Amaironoka mino otome*) ;February 1968)

* Lemon In The Rainbow (虹の中のレモン, *Niji no naka no remon*); (April 1968)

* Ring of Memories (想い出の指輪, *Omoide no yubiwa*); (April 1968)

## Appearance

Televisions:

* March 7, 1967 - "Young 720" \*Semi-regular appearance (broadcast: TBS TV)
* April, 1967 - "Let's Sing With Youth!" \*Guest appearance (broadcast: Fuji TV)
* October, 1968 - "Bakusho Young Pops" \*Guest appearance (broadcast: Nippon Television)
* October, 1968 - "Let's Go! Young Sounds" \*Guest appearance (broadcast: Fuji TV)

Movies:

* February 1967 - "Ginza Lights" (Starring Masako Izumi and Ken Yamauchi, directed by Noboru Kaji) (Distributed by: Nikkatsu)

* August 1967 - "The Spiders: Wild Scheme a-Go Go" (Starring The Spiders, directed by Buichi Saito) (Distributed by: Nikkatsu)
* October 1967 - "Tokyo Night" (Starring Masako Izumi and Ken Yamauchi, directed by Noboru Kaji) (Distributed by: Nikkatsu)
* December 1967 - "Happiness For You" (Starring Yoko Naito and Kazuo Funaki, directed by Seiji Maruyama) (Distributed by: Toho)
* January 1968 - "The Spiders: Go Forward!" (Starring The Spiders, directed by Kō Nakahira) (Distributed by: Nikkatsu)
* April 1968 - "Ring of Memories" (Co-starring Nana Ozaki, The Spiders & The Darts, directed by Kōichi Saitō) (Distributed by: Shochiku)
* July 1968 - "Lemon In The Rainbow" (Co-starring Nana Ozaki, directed by Kōichi Saitō) (Distributed by: Shochiku)
* September 1968 - "Small Snack" (Starring Nana Ozaki and Purple Shadows, directed by Kōichi Saitō) (Distributed by: Shochiku)
* March 1969 - "Fallen Leaves And Kiss" (Co-starring Nana Ozaki, Hiroshi Fujioka, The Ox as guest appearance, directed by Kōichi Saitō) (Distributed by: Shochiku)