Recent Videos

“Don’t Wanna Lie” Release Message

Posted on May 31, 2011
News

As usual, here we have the translation of the message from B’z about the release of their new single “Don’t Wanna Lie”! This time, the messages turned out to be a little… weird. But Tak’s message is the same as always. Short and in English. haha

Don’t Wanna Lie Don’t Wanna Lie ♪
Don’t Wanna Lie is finally on sale! Don’t just listen to it when watching Conan, but please also listen to it on the CD.
Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu

☆ Inaba

I don’t wanna lie to you. I wanna be honest.
Feel free to listen to the song!

Tak

“ultra soul 2011” Theme Song for FINA World Championships

Posted on May 30, 2011
News

After it got a little quieter in the B’z news segment, it was only a matter of time until B’z news would come up again. As the release of B’z new single, “Don’t Wanna Lie”, draws closer, new information is beginning to be revealed! In fact, early birds can already get their copy of the single today in Japan.

So, this morning, it was revealed that B’z is providing the official theme song for the 2011 World Aquatics Championships in Shanghai. It’ll take place from July 16 to July 31 and will be broadcasted on TV Asahi. According to the newspaper, “ultra soul 2011” is a rearranged version of the original “ultra soul” released in 2001.

You can listen to it here, it’s a bit from the program “Morning Bird” on TV Asahi where they talk about Kitajima Kosuke, a Japanese swimmer. Can anybody make out a difference between ultra soul 2011 and the original ultra soul? It somehow sounds the same to me.

It is also worth noting that the original ultra soul was the theme song for the first ever FINA World Championships held in Asia in 2001. This year marks the 10th anniversary and for that occasion they chose ultra soul again. Very original…

Does this mean “ultra soul 2011” will be a 3rd track on another single? Or on the album? Or just for publicity? We’ll keep you updated!

B’z #1 Streak in Danger?

Posted on May 29, 2011
News


With AKB48 having strong sales these days, B’z fans in Japan are concerned whether B’z will be able to keep up their series of consecutive number one singles, or not. AKB48 has recently released their new single “Everyday, kachuusha”, selling 942,475 copies of their single on the day before the official release.

This does sound fishy, right? How could AKB48 sell so many singles in one day? So I did some digging … look what I found on a Japanese blog:

There are in fact people buying a LOT of copies of the very same single. Looks like there’s a lot of Japanese Otaku who are buying 2200 copies of the single to show AKB48 how much they worship and love them. (see the picture below)

But will AKB48 be able to keep up the strong sales? Their daily sales have dropped to a “low” 54,000 per day, but it is no doubt that AKB48 will get the #1 spot in the weekly single chart this wednesday. However, with AKB48’s sales dropping per day, I don’t see any indication that B’z will not get the #1 spot on the day before the release of their new single “Don’t Wanna Lie”. But will B’z also be able to get the #1 spot on the weekly chart? Only time will tell.

Koshi Inaba in Los Angeles & Attends Art Exhibition

Posted on May 11, 2011
Koshi Inaba News

Remember Rima Fujita? I introduced her a few posts ago. She drew an artistic portrait of Tak Matsumoto which was a present for Tak Matsumoto because he won the Grammy. Well, she has recently updated her blog about an art exhibition. And apparently Koshi Inaba happened to be in LA and attended her art exhibition. He also bought one of her pieces!

She writes on her blog:

[…] my long-time friend, Koshi Inaba who is one of the top rock stars in Japan happened to be in LA, and went to my exhibition… and purchased a piece of the snow leopard babies. Not only he is one of the biggest collectors of my work he’s been a strong supporter of my work and a dear friend.[…]

Check out her blog post here: http://rimafujita.blogspot.com/2011/05/koshi-came-to-my-exhibition-in-bevelry.html

Matsumoto Congratulates Carlton For Lifetime Achievement Award

Posted on May 2, 2011
Tak Matsumoto News

Larry Carlton, who won a Grammy Award together with Tak Matsumoto in February this year, has received the George Benson Lifetime Achievement Award at The Canadian Smoothies 2011 on April 29th. A video has been put on vimeo in which various musicians congratulate Mr. Carlton for this outstanding award. Among them is Tak Matsumoto. For the impatient: watch from 3:43!

“Hi, Larry-san! Congratulations to you. You are an amazing guitar player and so inspiring to me. I learned so much by working with you on the Take Your Pick album. So winning a Grammy with you is one of my greatest achievements in my life. I’ll treasure it forever. I owe you one.”

Larry Carlton: Benson Lifetime Achievement Award from TrueFire on Vimeo.

Congratulations to Mr. Carlton! And may he come to the States or Europe (or both!) and perform with Tak someday! 😉