Show-Ya

Their music is deeply rooted in classic rock and they have covered songs by bands and artists such as The Beatles, The Doors, the Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and AC/DC in their albums and live shows.

Show-Ya was formed in 1981 by Keiko Terada and Miki Nakamura, who had been playing together for a year[1] in order to enter the East West Grand Prix musical contest organized and sponsored by Yamaha.

[2][3] The members chose Shōya (庄や) after the izakaya chain they held the meeting at in Chiba Prefecture, but decided to write the name in English.

[5] With their fourth studio album Trade Last, they ceded musical direction to expert Yasushi Akimoto, famous for being the man behind the success of the Japanese idol all-female band Onyanko Club.

The Japanese idol phenomenon affected the band only marginally, but Akimoto's management gave them the chance to play in front of larger audiences in their “Date Line” national tour.

In September 1987, Show-Ya organized, produced and presented the first Naon no Yaon music festival, featuring strictly female musicians and all-female bands.

[14] At the beginning of 1990, the band's eighth studio album Hard Way was produced and recorded in Los Angeles by Beau Hill (Alice Cooper, Winger, Europe, Ratt).

[7] They had reached the peak of their popularity in their home country but, despite many promotional attempts by their label and management, the band failed to achieve a significant commercial success in the USA.

[15] In June of the same year, the North Korean government invited the band to perform at the Mansudae Art Theatre in Pyongyang and the historic two-day concerts were heavily covered by the Japanese media.

[7][14] On 4 January 1992, the band performed theme music at the wrestling event Super Warriors in Tokyo Dome, for a match between Sting and The Great Muta and The Steiner Brothers.

[5] The band spent some time in Los Angeles, recording and playing shows constantly, and in 1995 they released their only album with Borges, Touch the Sun on the Creedence label.

For the occasion, EMI Japan reprinted all the band's back catalogue in remastered CD editions and released an extensive compilation with a few remixed tracks.