DREAMS COME TRUE

Overview

DREAMS COME TRUE (ドリームズ・カム・トゥルー, nicknamed "Dorikamu" or DCT) is a Japanese pop band formed in January 1988. Today it is the duo of vocalist Miwa Yoshida and bassist Masato Nakamura; keyboardist Takahiro Nishikawa was the third founding member until he left on March 21, 2002. The band has sold roughly 50 million records. Its fifth album, The Swinging Star (1992), was the first Japanese album to sell over three million copies and the first in Oricon history to reach that cumulative figure; seven of its albums have passed two million copies, the most of any artist. The band is managed by DCTentertainment, releases through Universal Music / DCT records, and runs the official fan club POWER PLANT.

Career

Formation and debut (1987–1989)

In 1987 Yoshida first played her songs for Nakamura, which led to the formation of the group. Nakamura had been the bassist in Tunnels' backing band from 1985 to 1988 and invited Yoshida to sing backing vocals on the 1988 tour. He was struck by the sophisti-pop of Swing Out Sister and by Yoshida's voice. In January 1988 they formed as "CHA-CHA & AUDREY's Project", played venues such as Shibuya TAKE OFF7 and Roppongi Nails, and within months renamed themselves Dreams Come True. They debuted on March 21, 1989 with the single "Anata ni Aitakute" and the self-titled album, released simultaneously.

The 1990s peak

The second album, Love Goes On… (1989), stayed in the Oricon top 100 for 229 weeks, and the third, Wonder 3 (1990), became the fastest album from debut to reach a million sales. "Egao no Yukue" gave them their first Oricon top 10 in 1990, and they made their first NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen appearance that year. "Eyes to me / Kare wa Tomodachi" reached No. 1 on Oricon in 1991, the year they launched the Dreams Come True Wonderland tour, whose Tokyo date at Yoyogi National Gymnasium completed their goal of climbing Shibuya's Koen-dori. Million Kisses (1991) was their first double-million album. In 1992 "Kessen wa Kinyōbi / Taiyō ga Miteru" became their first million-selling single, and through 1995 five singles sold a million, including "Love Love Love / Arashi ga Kuru", which topped 2.4 million. Two best-of albums (1997 and 2000) each sold over two million, and The Monster (1999) also went million.

Nakamura composed his first game music in 1990 for Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog (released 1991, with 3.5 million copies sold worldwide) and for Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (1992), whose ending featured the band's "Sweet Sweet Sweet" from The Swinging Star. In 1993 they recorded "Winter Song" for the Japanese version of Sleepless in Seattle, and in 1994 "Eternity" for the animated film The Swan Princess. Yoshida began a solo career in 1995 and appeared on the cover of Time the following year.

Sing or Die and independence

Love Unlimited∞, released April 1, 1996, was their last album for Sony Music. In 1997 they signed with Virgin Music America (with Toshiba-EMI handling Japan) and set up the private label Virgin/D.C.T. to break into the US market. Yoshida adopted the name "Miwa" and Nakamura "King Masa". The English-language album Sing or Die (1998) was a commercial failure in the West. Nakamura later called the American venture a failure; back in Japan, the band struggled to find work, and he set up an independent office and apologized to broadcasters, with work returning only after about five years. After Monkey Girl Odyssey (2001), the last album to credit Nishikawa, they left Virgin and Toshiba-EMI and founded the independent label DCT Records.

2000s onward

In 2001 they performed "Crystal Vine", the Japanese theme of Disney's Atlantis: The Lost Empire, and Yoshida voiced Audrey in the Japanese dub. Nishikawa left in 2002, and the band joined Universal Music Japan in 2003. In 2004 they released the English-language Love Overflows -Asian Edition-, and The Love Rocks (2006) and And I Love You (2007) returned to their classic sound. "Nandodemo" came out in 2005. On November 12, 2008 the single "Tsuretette Tsuretette" debuted at No. 1 on the weekly Oricon chart, nine years and ten months after their previous chart-topper, "Asa ga Mata Kuru". It appears on Do You Dreams Come True? (2009), and the video of their 20th anniversary tour was among the first concert films shot with the RED ONE camera. In March 2009 a tribute concert featured Hiroko Shimabukuro, BoA, Ayaka Hirahara, Hitoto Yo, Crystal Kay and Ayaka, among others.

In 2010 they released the download-only single "Godspeed" and in November the 23rd album Love Central. They performed the Japanese theme song of Pixar's Inside Out (2015), "Itoshi no Riley". The 25th-anniversary tribute album Watashi to Dorikamu appeared in 2014, followed by a second volume and the all-time best Dreams Come True The Best! Watashi no Dorikamu (1 million shipped) in 2015, and The Ura Best! Watashi Dake no Dorikamu in 2016. At the 2019 edition of the roughly four-yearly Dreams Come True Wonderland tour, Nishikawa appeared as a surprise guest.

Recent activity (2021–)

The band released "Tsugi no Seno! de – On the Green Hill –" in September 2021. In 2022 came "Hane o Motsu Koibito" (an on-air version in April and the full version in July), "Up on the Green Hill from Sonic the Hedgehog Green Hill Zone", "Spirila" in December, and the Dreams Come True Music Box Vol. 6.5 – Green Hill –. In 2024 they issued "This Is It! You're the One! I Knew It!" (Odyssey Version), "Kaiju", and a True Wellness Project version of "Nandodemo" for Comado, followed in December by music box versions of "Kaiju" and "Spirila". In 2025 they released "Koko Kara da!" (January and March) and "Beacon" (July).

Musical style

Their music is rooted in J-pop and draws on kayōkyoku and city pop. Songs may begin with lyrics or with the melody; Yoshida says that when Nakamura composes, the music comes first. She rarely uses an instrument to write, since melodies usually arrive together with words, and she records or notes them immediately.

Their original lineup of one woman and two men became known as the "Dorikamu formation" and inspired many groups after the 1990s, such as globe. Artists including Koda Kumi, Ayaka and Nana Mizuki have cited the band as an influence, and "Nandodemo" has been used as an entrance song by athletes such as Saori Yoshida and Homare Sawa.