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.

The band then adopted a mainstream sound by recruiting lead vocalist Genki Hitomi and keyboardist Rei Atsumi and renamed themselves to Vow Wow.

After Murray left to join Black Sabbath, studio bassist Mark Gould played on Vow Wow's last album before they disbanded in 1990.

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.

[3] Bow Wow was formed in 1975 by Yoshimi Ueno, a record producer who was looking to create an idol-like band such as The Monkees or the Bay City Rollers.

[6][7] Hokari wrote that, once 19-year-old guitar virtuoso Yamamoto joined and was elected to sing in English, the idol concept was largely dropped in favor of authenticity.

In 1984, the remaining three members were joined by vocalist Genki Hitomi and keyboardist Rei Atsumi, this resulted in a more commercial sound and the band decided a name change was necessary.

[11] Now called Vow Wow, the group produced Beat of Metal Motion (1984) before signing to Toshiba EMI for Cyclone (1985) and relocating to England in 1986.

[12] One of the members then suggested Yamamoto call Neil Murray, who had recently left Whitesnake and whom he and Niimi knew from working on the second album by Phenomena.

Vow Wow recorded what was to be their final album, Helter Skelter (1989), which was handled by Tony Taverner (Gipsy Kings) and was, as Rivadavia put it, a "re-sequenced, repackaged, and reissue" of Vibe.

According to Yamamoto, Murray told him he had to leave Vow Wow because Cozy Powell was insistent that he join Black Sabbath and the bassist could not say no to his close friend.

[12] Shortly after, producers Nick Griffiths (Queen, Paul McCartney) and Bob Ezrin (Kiss, Pink Floyd) requested to create an album with Vow Wow.

Yamamoto later said that the band had thought they could get signed to an American record label, but when that did not happen, "We lost our aim and then we started to get frustrated and our relationships collapsed.

However, Bow Wow became a trio in 1998 when original members Mitsuhiro Saito and Toshihiro Niimi rejoined Yamamoto and they released the album Back.

[18] Yamamoto, Hitomi and Atsumi reunited as Vow Wow for two concerts at Club Citta on June 29 and 30, 2024, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of their first album and to pay tribute to Niimi.

[19] Hitomi announced that he was returning to professional musical activities during the second night, and Yamamoto later speculated that each member would like to perform as Vow Wow at least once a year.