Bow Wow
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Bow Wow are a Japanese rock band formed in 1975. Originally consisting of guitarist and vocalists Kyoji Yamamoto and Mitsuhiro Saito, bassist Kenji Sano and drummer Toshihiro Niimi, they were one of the first Japanese metal bands. After releasing nine studio albums, Saito left in 1983. The band then adopted a mainstream sound by recruiting lead vocalist Genki Hitomi and keyboardist Rei Atsumi and renamed themselves to Vow Wow in 1984. They released three studio albums, before relocating to England in 1986. Sano left the band the following year and Yamamoto and Niimii asked original Whitesnake bassist Neil Murray, to replace him. After two studio albums, Murray left to join Black Sabbath and American session bassist Mark Gould played on Vow Wow's last album, before they disbanded in 1990.
Yamamoto reformed Bow Wow in 1995 with all new members, before it became a trio when original members Saito and Niimi rejoined the band, in 1998. Niimi left in 2015 and the group now performs under the name Bow Wow G2, which refers to the two guitarists being the only official members.
Tomoaki Hokari of OK Music wrote that Bow Wow was one of the first Japanese bands to prove that domestic musicians could compete with Western hard rock acts. In Japan their best-selling album is V which reached number 12 on the Oricon chart. Internationally their best-selling album is Helter Skelter, which reached number 75 on the UK Albums Chart.
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