BODY band history
The result of many hours digging through amebo blog entries and geocities.jp from the late 90's. A labor of love.
by Paul Desparejo

Body was formed by Ichiro Takigawa (AKA Cipher of D'erlanger) and Akira Kikuchi (AKA Tetsu of Zi:Kill) in 1992 following Zi:Kill's breakup. One the strength of their previous bands' successes, they immediately signed to Sony Records and began auditions for the vacant spots in the band. Nakagomi Hirokazu, a young singer with very little experience, and Motoki Okada (ex-DEEP'S) successfully landed the vocalist and bassist positions, respectively.

This lineup recorded a demo in late 1992 or early 1993 featuring three different arrangements of "I LOVE YOU." The band was introduced to the public on May 03, 1993 at a SUBLIMINAL VISION, a concert organized by Rockin F magazine. L'Arc~en~Ciel, Die in Cries and Zi:Kill were the bands billed for the event as well as a suprise guest. Body made their unofficial debut that afternoon by taking the stage and performing "I LOVE YOU" at the start of the event. Despite the audience having no knowledage of the band, the fans went wild for them with one fan reporting that the crowd almost drowned out the bands sound with cheers and shouts of "Cipher!" The performance caused such a buzz that curious fans flooded Rockin F's phone line in the days following the event.

Despite the positive reception at SUBLIMINAL VISION, a change was made to the lineup the following month. Nakagomi was let go and replaced with Naoki Kimura. The reason has never been revealed, but many fans are of the opinion that SONY was behind the change. Naoki landed the vacant vocalist position after being approached after a gig by Yasuyuki Saito, guitarist of legendary Japanese metal band Reaction, who had gone to work for Sony Records after Reaction dissolved. Naoki was an amateur singer who had never heard D'erlanger before, due to only listening to western bands at the time, but decided to try out for the gig on the strength of the demo tape Saito had given him, an early recording of "I LOVE YOU."

The finalized lineup of BODY spent December 1993 to February 1994 in the studio recording their their debut album, "FLAME," which was released in April 1994. "I LOVE YOU" hit No. 16 on the Oricon singles chart, while "FLAME" managed to make it to No.04 on the Oricon albums chart, intitially selling 44,000 copies. Despite a strong chart showing, the album was not a critical success, with GIGS magazine criticising the sound quality and poor mix of the album.

On May 14th, 1993 BODY held their official debut live at Nippon Budokan; they had held a few promotional gigs earlier in the year, but this was the first concert with tickets on sale to the public. The Budokan concert, which later proved to be BODY's final live as well, was filmed and later released on CD/VHS as "NAKED FLAME ~Live at Nippon Budokan~. After a two-month break, the band held a meeting at Sony headquarters in Ichigaya on July 13th. There was a difference of opinion within the band on their debut performance, direction, and power dynamic within the band, and at the meetings conclusion BODY members were unable to find a common path forward. The decision was made to dissolve the band, only three months after their major debut and one official performance.

Ichiro and Akira quickly recruited Iida Seiichi, Akira's former Zi:Kill bandmate, and eventually hired ex-JUSTY NASTY singer Kenichi Fujisaki to form CRAZE. CRAZE is often considered a continuation/restart of BODY without Naoki and Motoki, with CRAZE performing many BODY songs in their lives and recording "I LOVE YOU"

Naoki later released a solo album for Sony Records, Faith, but it was not a success. After taking some time away from music, Naoki resurfaced as the new singer for his mentor Yasuyuki Saito's band, Reaction. Naoki and Saito remained close friends and performed together in the reformed reaction until Saito's death in 2008.

in 2010, Naoki, Motoki, and former BODY support member Kenji Shimizu formed a new band, THE LOVEROCK VIOLENT. References http://ameblo.jp/sgc0317/entry-10579039026.html http://www7b.biglobe.ne.jp/~kajirin/subliminalvision.html http://www.geocities.jp/seirensirenes/BODY/BODY.htm Naoki Kimura Birthdate: Jan 22 Influences: David Sylvian, David Bowie, The Police What CDs are playing in your home? David Sylvian, Cure, The Fix What do you spend money on? Things for my apartment, CDs and Books Favorite cigarette: Red Lark Hobbies: Painting Family structure: Mother, brother, sister What does your family call you? Naoki What is something you can't live without? Music, friends, liquor and cigarettes How do you dress offstage? Secret Rock musician friends? The members of Body! Motoki Okada Birthdate: 1969/01/09 Influences: David Bowie, Billy Idol, Sid Vicios What CDs are playing in your home? Old music, What do you spend money on? Things for my apartment, CDs and Books. Favorite cigarette: Red Lark Hobbies: Painting Family structure: Mother, brother, sister What does your family call you? Naoki What is something you can't live without? Music, friends, liquor and cigarettes How do you dress offstage? Secret Rock musician friends? The members of Body!