The Blue Hearts

The Blue Hearts (ザ・ブルーハーツ, Za Burū Hātsu?) was a popular Japanese punk rock band that performed from the latter half of the 1980s to the early half of the 1990s. They have been compared to such bands as the Sex Pistols, The Clash and the Ramones. In 2004, The Blue Hearts were named by HMV Japan as the 19th most successful and influential Japanese music group.

Its members were Hiroto Kōmoto (vocalist), Masatoshi Mashima (guitarist), Junnosuke Kawaguchi (bassist) and Tetsuya Kajiwara (drummer). Mikio Shirai was not an official member of the band, but often toured with them as their keyboardist. Formed in 1985, the group made its major debut in May 1987, and released its first album, the self-titled The Blue Hearts, and followed that up with seven more albums. Though they started on an independent label, each album sold more copies than the previous one, with their last recording selling in the millions.

In addition to having popular albums, they also had many popular singles. The two most well-known are «Train-Train» and «Linda Linda», which can be found on many karaoke machines. A cover version of «Linda Linda» was used in the 2004 dramas Socrates in Love and Gachi Baka, as well as the 2005 film Linda Linda Linda, the plot of which centers on a high school girls’ band practicing The Blue Hearts’ songs for the finale concert of their school’s culture festival. The song also appears in the 2005 Nintendo DS video game Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan,. Other songs, including «Train-Train», «Owaranai Uta» and «Hito ni Yasashiku», have been featured in the Konami arcade games Drummania and Guitar Freaks.