Takao Horiuchi

Overview

Takao Horiuchi (堀内孝雄, born October 27, 1949 in Abeno-ku, Osaka) is a Japanese singer, composer, actor and television personality. A member of the folk group Alice, he is affectionately known as "Beyan." As a solo artist he moved into an enka and kayokyoku direction he called "New Adult Music," and he won the Japan Record Award (kayokyoku/enka category) in 1990 for "Koiuta Tsuzuri." He is represented by Up-Front Create.

Career

Early life and Alice

Horiuchi was the youngest of three children in a family that ran a popular diner, Yamatoya. He loved singing from boyhood, performing songs by Michiya Mihashi, and took up guitar under the influence of the Beatles. After graduating from Momoyama Gakuin High School, he formed an amateur band while attending Kyoto Sangyo University. At an audition for an amateur band circle in Kobe he met judge Shinji Tanimura, who alone passed his band while the other judges rejected it. Horiuchi later left university.

On December 25, 1971, Tanimura and Horiuchi formed Alice in a hotel room in Osaka, on the premise that Toru Yazawa would join. The group debuted on March 5, 1972 with the single "Hashitte Oide Koibito yo," and Yazawa formally joined on May 5. Horiuchi composed Alice singles including "Tooku de Kiteki wo Kikinagara," "Fuyu no Inazuma," "Johnny no Komoriuta," "Yume Sarishi Machikado" and "Shuushifu."

Solo career

Alongside Alice he pursued a solo career, scoring major hits with "Your Eyes Are 10,000 Volts" (1978) and "Minami Kaikigen," a duet with Tomoharu Taki that sold 400,000 copies. After Alice went on hiatus he formed "Horiuchi Takao & Keynes" with Signal in 1984 and released songs such as "Gyakkosen." As a soloist he shifted to enka and kayokyoku, producing hits including "Itoshiki Hibi" ("Precious Days," 1986), "Koiuta Tsuzuri" and "Kageboshi," with Horiuchi continuing to write the music.

His 1988 song "Gaki no Koro no Yo ni" became the theme of the TV Asahi drama Hagure Keiji Junjoha, and he was retained as theme singer, with a new song each time, through all 19 series and the final drama special. He also sang themes for the semiannual spin-off Sasurai Keiji Ryojo-hen. In 1990 he won the Japan Record Award at the 32nd ceremony for "Koiuta Tsuzuri."

At the 52nd NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen at the end of 2001, he sang "Sake to Namida to Otoko to Onna," the signature song of his close friend and fellow Osaka native Eigo Kawashima, who had died of illness in April that year at age 48, weeping throughout. In November 2004 he appeared in a commercial with Aya Matsuura, and on December 16 he sang the national anthem before the Japan vs. Germany national team match at Yokohama International Stadium. In 2014 he formed Brothers 5 with Jiro Sugita, Hirofumi Banban, Gen Takayama and Akira Inaba.

Recent releases

His albums include "Kotoba ni Naranai Okurimono" (1975), "Wasurekakete Ita Love Song" (1977), "Aitsu ga Shinda Ban" (1978), "Song Forever" (1979) and "Thank You Aisubeki Otokotachi" (2010). Later releases include the "45th Anniversary All Single Collection" (2016), the single "Utsusemi no Ie / Hijiribashi no Yuhi" (2017), the single "Minna Shonen Datta" (2018), the "50th Anniversary Best Album Itoshiki Hibi" (2022) and the single "Aonisai ~Waga Tomo yo" (April 2024).

Kohaku and records

He appeared on NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen 17 times between 1988 and 2006; the 2000 (51st), 2005 (56th) and 2009 (60th) appearances were with Alice. His songs were chosen as the Hagure Keiji Junjoha theme every year from 1988 to 2005, a feat reportedly recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Songwriting and acting

Horiuchi has written songs for other artists, including "Aizenbashi" for Momoe Yamaguchi (1979), "Tasogare no Diary" for Yoshie Kashiwabara, "Sanga" for Hiroshi Itsuki, "Karasu no Nyobo" for Yuko Nakazawa, "Koi wa Hi no Mai Ken no Mai" for Fuyumi Sakamoto, and "Ten made Todoke" for Tetsuya Takeda. He has acted in TV dramas such as Hagure Keiji Junjoha and in films including Fushigi na Misaki no Monogatari (2014), hosted Hit Studio Enka and served as an advisor on Tantei! Knight Scoop.

Musical style

Horiuchi is a singer-songwriter who has composed most of his own material since the Alice years. Starting from folk and new music, he turned in his solo career to enka and kayokyoku while still writing his own music. He recorded duets with Cho Yong-pil ("Yaro-tachi no Banka"), Kei Eun-sook ("Angels of the City," 1992) and Hiroshi Itsuki. His trademarks are his mustache and the cheerful "Thank you!" he shouts at the end of each song.

Personal

His nickname "Beyan" comes from Horibe Yasubei, whose name resembles his surname. He was a high school classmate and close friend of Takajin Yashiki. His sons Kota and Kohei are members of the rock band 99RadioService, and he has five grandchildren.