"Tsunami" is a song by the
Southern All Stars
, also known by the abbreviations and SAS, are a Japanese rock band formed in Kanagawa in 1974.
The band is composed of Keisuke Kuwata (lead vocals and guitars), Yuko Hara (vocals and keyboards), Kazuyuki Sekiguchi (bass), (drums) and (pe ...
, released as their forty-fourth single on January 26, 2000.
Overview
The song was the first number-one single for Southern All Stars since the 1996 single ''Ai no Kotodama'' on the
Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics
Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that ...
weekly charts. The band used the style of
hard rock
Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...
on the previous single "Yellow Man," which was released in March 1999. However, it only managed to reach the number-ten position on Oricon charts. Therefore, they returned to
Japanese pop. The song sold over 654,000 copies in the first week and debuted at number-one, beating out
Morning Musume
, formerly and commonly known as and colloquially referred to as , is a Japanese girl group, holding the second highest overall single sales (of a female group) on the Oricon, Oricon charts as of February 2012, with the Oricon record of most to ...
's "
Koi no Dance Site" on the Oricon weekly charts. The song once spent two weeks at the number-one position, lost one week to
B'z's "
Kon'ya Tsuki no Mieru Oka ni", and reached the number-one position again for three weeks, before being dethrone by
KinKi Kids
is a Japanese duo consisting of Koichi Domoto and Tsuyoshi Domoto under the talent agency Starto Entertainment (formerly of Johnny & Associates). Domoto was formed in 1993 as Kinki Kids and officially debuted on July 21, 1997. With more than 30 m ...
's "Suki ni Natteku Aishiteku/KinKi no Yaruki Manman Song" in week 7 of the release. It sold over 2.9 million copies and became the best selling single for the band. In June 2005, it became the third best-selling single on the Oricon chart, surpassing the sales of "
Dango 3 Kyodai
is a Japanese song released on March 3, 1999. The song caused a social phenomenon in Japan. On the Japanese Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics
Sta ...
".
The song was included in their
greatest hits
A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...
album ''Ballad 3: The Album Of Love'', released on November 22, 2000. The album debuted at the number-one position on the Oricon weekly charts, selling over 1.36 million copies within only one week.
The song resurrected the band. The song won the "Song of The Year" award at the 14th
Japan Gold Disc Award. It also won the grand prix award at the
42nd Japan Record Awards.
Cover versions
The song was remade by South Korean singer V.One in 2003 with the title "그런가봐요" with Korean lyrics. The song became his breakout single after years of struggling for success and became one of his only hit songs. A variation of the cover was later sung by girl group
AOA's member
Choa, with piano accompaniment by
You Hee-yeol, for the third episode of the first season of JTBC Entertainment's program
Two Yoo Project Sugar Man, a music program intended to revitalize songs from artists considered as one-hit wonders by recreating their most well-known songs.
A cover version was recorded and released by the American band
Allister in their 2006 album ''Guilty Pleasures''. An instrumental cover version was made by
Megadeth
Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist and guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal—alo ...
's former guitarist
Marty Friedman
(born December 8, 1962) is an American guitarist, best known for his tenure as the lead guitarist of thrash metal band Megadeth from 1990 to 2000. He is also known for playing alongside Jason Becker in Cacophony from 1986 until 1989, as well ...
, and featured on his 2009 solo album
Tokyo Jukebox.
Debbie Gibson
Deborah Ann Gibson (born August 31, 1970) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She released her debut album ''Out of the Blue (Debbie Gibson album), Out of the Blue'' (1987) at age 16, writing and largely producing the material. The a ...
recorded an English-language cover of the song in her 2010 Japan-only release ''
Ms. Vocalist''.
Track listing
# Tsunami (written by
Keisuke Kuwata
is a Japanese multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, and Lead vocalist, frontman for the Southern All Stars, as well of his own solo band, the Kuwata band. He has also done a significant amount of scoring music for films. He went to Aoyama Ga ...
)
# Toryanse (written by Keisuke Kuwata)
See also
*
Southern All Stars discography
References
{{Authority control
2000 singles
Rock ballads
Oricon Weekly number-one singles
Victor Entertainment singles
Southern All Stars songs