Kiyoshi Maekawa

Overview

Kiyoshi Maekawa (前川 清, born August 19, 1948 in Shikamachi, Nagasaki Prefecture) is a Japanese singer and tarento working in enka and kayokyoku. He is best known as the first lead vocalist of Hiroshi Uchiyamada and Cool Five. He has appeared on NHK's Kōhaku Uta Gassen 29 times: 11 with Cool Five and 18 as a soloist. His signature image is that of a singer standing alone with a single microphone.

Career

Early life

Born the youngest of four siblings, Maekawa moved to Sasebo shortly after birth. He loved baseball as a boy, serving as ace pitcher at junior high and pitching for the Nagasaki Nanzan High School team. Jazz drifting from the U.S. base at Sasebo inspired his dream of becoming a singer. He left high school in 1968, tried several jobs, and was discovered singing in a Nagasaki cabaret. He joined Cool Five first as a band boy carrying instruments, until producer Charlie Ishiguro made him lead vocalist.

Cool Five years

Cool Five debuted on February 5, 1969 with "Nagasaki wa Kyō mo Ame Datta," a Japan Record Award-winning song, and Maekawa made his first Kōhaku appearance that year. During the 1970s he fronted hits including "Awazu ni Aishite" (1969), "Uwasa no Onna" (1970), "Soshite, Kōbe" (1972), "Nakanoshima Blues" (1975) and "Tokyo Sabaku" (1976). Joining Fuji TV's Kinchan no Don to Yatte Miyō! in the mid-1970s revealed his comic talent, and he also appeared on variety shows such as 8-ji da yo! Zen'in Shūgō and Dorifu Daibakushō. From the 1990s he performed comedy sketches with Tomio Umezawa. He married singer Keiko Fuji in 1971; they divorced the following year.

Solo career

He held his first solo concert at Nippon Seinenkan on September 27, 1980. His first solo single, "Yuki Ressha," composed by Ryuichi Sakamoto, appeared in 1982, and he released one solo single a year through 1986. He left Cool Five in 1987 to focus on his solo career. After requests poured in for "Dakishimete," which he sang at the 1996 Kōhaku, he guested on Masaharu Fukuyama's All Night Nippon in 1997 and asked his fellow Nagasaki native for a song. The result, "Himawari" (2002), reached No. 13 on Oricon, his only solo top-20 hit, and was performed at that year's Kōhaku.

His labels were Pony Canyon (1987–1996), BMG Victor (1996–1999) and Gauss Entertainment (1999–2002); since 2002 he has been with Teichiku Entertainment. A Cool Five reunion at the 2006 Kōhaku led to their first recording in 20 years, and he now also performs as Kiyoshi Maekawa & Cool Five alongside his solo work. In August 2008 he underwent surgery for hip dysplasia, a condition he had suffered since childhood. Since 2012 he has appeared in the Kyushu Asahi Broadcasting travel show Maekawa Kiyoshi no Egao Manten Tabisuki.

Recent activity (2016 onward)

His recent releases include "Shiawase no Yakusoku -Otoko no Arigatō-" (single version, 2016), "Uso yo" (2017), "Hatsukoi Love in fall" (2018), "Suteki de Kanashii" (2019), "Tokyo City Serenade" and "Aruite Ikō" (2020), "Mune no Kisen wa Ima mo" (2021), "Shōwa kara" and a rearranged "Anata Dake" (2023), and "Fūchō" (2024). His cover-album series My Favorite Songs continued with Popular III (2017), Japanese IV (2019) and Acoustic V (2020). In 2018 he released a concert album marking his 50th anniversary and the 20th anniversary of Hobonichi, titled Hajimete no Maekawa Kiyoshi.

Acting and other pursuits

His film credits include Lupin III: Strange Psychokinetic Strategy (1974), Truck Yarō: Neppū 5000 Kilo (1979), his first lead role in Tabi no Okurimono (2012), Have a Song on Your Lips (2015) and The Bucket List (2019). On television he appeared in Shinzanmono and Mito Kōmon (2010), and in 2022 made his first morning drama appearance in NHK's Maiagare! as a doctor.

He is also a racehorse owner: his horse Koiuta won the 2007 Victoria Mile, making him the first celebrity owner to win a graded top-level race since the grading system began. A Catholic with the baptismal name Sebastian, he is an avid koi breeder, and his own brand "Maekawa Kohaku" won the grand championship at the 2014 national koi show. Southern All Stars' Keisuke Kuwata, a longtime Cool Five fan, often performs impressions of him. His son Hiroki is a singer and actor, and his daughter Yuna Maekawa is a singer.

Musical style

Rooted in enka and kayokyoku, Maekawa also loved Western pop and rock in his younger years and often sang them in concert, as captured on live albums of the period. His solo work includes pop-flavored songs such as "Yuki Ressha" (Ryuichi Sakamoto) and "Fiction no Yō ni" (Daisuke Inoue). Mr.Children's Kazutoshi Sakurai has praised the expressive power he achieves standing alone at the microphone. He has also covered Southern All Stars songs such as "Manatsu no Kajitsu" and "TSUNAMI."