Kazumasa Oda
| Kazumasa Oda 小田 和正 |
|
|---|---|
| Born | September 20, 1947 |
| Origin | Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, Japan |
| Genres |
Folk rock adult contemporary |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, singer, composer |
| Years active | 1970–present |
| Labels | Funhouse, BMG Japan, Ariola Japan/Little Tokyo |
| Associated acts | Off Course |
| Website | www |
Kazumasa Oda (小田 和正 Oda Kazumasa?, born September 20, 1947) is a Japanese singer-songwriter, and composer. He was the leader of folk rock band Off Course from 1969—1989, and has done solo work since 1985.
As the vocalist of Off Course, Oda wrote many Japanese standard numbers in the 70s and 80s. The group's most successful singles—"Sayonara" (1979), "Yes-No" (1980), and "Kimi ga Uso o Tsuita" (1984)—were written by Oda.
In 1985 he began work as a solo musician. He produced many hit singles as singer-songwriter, such as "Little Tokyo" (1989), "Itsuka Dokokade" (1992), "Tsutaetai Koto ga Arunda" (1997) and "Kirakira" (2002). His most successful single was "Love Story wa Totsuzen ni" (1991), the theme song of a Japanese TV drama called Tokyo Love Story. It sold over 2,580,000 copies and became the eighth best-selling single in Japan.
Kazumasa Oda and Yasuhiro Suzuki began performing together in 1964 while the two were in junior high school. In 1969, they formed the band The Off Course, which they later renamed to Off Course. The pair worked as a duo for their first six albums. Oda primarily played keyboards and Suzuki played guitars, with the two sharing songwriting and vocals.
For their seventh album, in 1979, Off Course added three new permanent members and moved to more of a pop/rock sound. Oda and Suzuki continued to provide the vast majority of the songwriting and lead vocals. After five albums as a five-man band, Suzuki left the group in 1982 to pursue a solo career. The remaining members continued on for four more albums. Off Course officially came to an end after their final concert on February 26, 1989.
In 1985, Oda collaborated with Yumi Matsutoya and Kazuo Zaitsu and released the #1 hit single "Imadakara". It was mostly written by Matsutoya and Oda, and played by the former Sadistic Mika Band members. In same year, Oda began his own solo career. His first solo album K.Oda (1986) was produced by Oda and Grammy Award-winning recording engineerBill Schnee, who was known for his work with Steely Dan, Olivia Newton-John, Boz Scaggs, Pablo Cruise, and Huey Lewis and the News. Schnee was one of Oda's friends, and had also worked on the Off Course albums. Oda's solo debut album was recorded by many influential musicians; Jeff Porcaro on drums, David Hungate on bass, Dann Huff on guitar and others.
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