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The story
B’z guitarist Tak Matsumoto appeared on TBS’s “Sunday Hatsumimigaku” on the 11th, and GLAY’s TAKURO — someone who knows Matsumoto well — appeared via VTR. TAKURO revealed words his senior Matsumoto once said to him: “We’re not celebrities.” On the 5ch Entertainment/Sports News+ board, the remark sparked a debate over where to draw the line on whether singers count as “celebrities” (tarento), with posters citing musicians who also do TV/variety work as counterexamples. The thread also branched out into talk about the roots of GLAY’s popularity and B’z’s songs.
GLAY’s TAKURO on a Warning From His “Senior,” B’z’s Tak Matsumoto: “We’re Not Celebrities”
Tak Matsumoto, guitarist of the popular rock duo B’z, appeared on TBS’s “Sunday Hatsumimigaku” on the 11th.
GLAY’s TAKURO, someone who knows Matsumoto well, appeared via VTR and revealed words Matsumoto once said to him.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
LMAOOO
Their music really took a nosedive once they went full 'celebrity'
Back when it was the five-piece lineup, they were actually focused on the music and it was good
TVvvv Mrs. GREEN APPLE—–!!
Image down, image down, image doooowntown!! (wordplay: "image down" sliding into the comedy duo Downtown's name)
♪ It's not a dream — this thing and that thing too, let's open that door with these very hands
If you want a blessing, know sorrow, cry alone… and then shine
ULTRA!!
TAKURO
"MAN!!" (together spelling out "ULTRAMAN")
Shinohara: "Relax"
If he'd worn them in his private life, he probably would've gotten an earful too
In the end it all comes down to how good TAKURO's songs are
Bands where just one guy handles the writing, composing, and singing tend to last longer
Though in TAKURO's case it's not the singing
L'Arc-en-Ciel is still stubbornly hanging on, for what it's worth
Re: #49
LUNA SEA and Kuroyume both made comebacks too
He's probably ripped off too many songs to react to every single one
Matsumoto's own curated playlist of Western music has both 'Long Train Runnin'' and 'Trampled Under Foot' on it
Not defending B'z or plagiarism here, but musical "plagiarism" accusations are kind of like how, in comedy, if you do a "hair salon" skit, people say you ripped off so-and-so's "hair salon" skit
The hair salon skit format just gets permanently branded as stolen forever after that
In the same way, a lot of people who don't actually know much about music end up calling anything that merely sounds similar "plagiarism"
Though I guess it turned out to be good advice in the end
In Japan, idols are a separate case, but singers don't really get lumped into the "celebrity" (tarento) category much, do they
Though I guess the point was more like "don't turn into a TV personality instead of staying a singer"
Maybe the advice was: focus properly on the music, be an independent musician, and keep your own earnings for yourself
Though when they debuted, these guys got thoroughly exploited by YOSHIKI, didn't they
Why are they so insistent that they're different?
And then it all came crashing down on him in the end
Matsumoto's actually on good terms with Komuro, but it sounds like he treats him as a cautionary tale
It's weird that the show that replaced his was hosted by Masahiro Nakai
Tak Matsumoto dissing Masashi Sada, YOSHIKI, and Masaharu Fukuyama
I'm pretty sure Yuji Oda and Katsunori Takahashi both consider music their actual main job
Throw Masaharu Fukuyama in there too
Yuji Oda isn't a musician though lol
This feels like it's going to hit Mrs. GREEN APPLE right where it hurts lol
I think it'd be like driving a nail into rice bran (i.e., pointless — it won't make a dent)
Their songs are pretty rough though, right?
It's just belting out high notes
Obviously that only lands with little kids
Zero musicality, like Masatoshi Ono, Crystal King, or M.C.A.T.
It became pretty clear that without a tie-in (a drama/anime/commercial theme song), they just don't sell
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
“Sunday Hatsumimigaku” is a variety show where celebrities’ acquaintances reveal "little-known remarks" about them, and this time GLAY’s TAKURO spoke via VTR about B’z’s Tak Matsumoto. Matsumoto is the guitarist of B’z, who debuted in 1988, making him a senior figure in the music world relative to GLAY. The words “We’re not celebrities” have been taken to mean that one should keep their focus on their core work as a singer or musician. Where the thread split was on the sense of where to draw the line on whether singers belong in the “celebrity” (tarento) category — some cited singers like Masaharu Fukuyama and YOSHIKI who also do TV/celebrity work, arguing “aren’t we all celebrities in the end?” Another point raised was the circumstances behind how GLAY’s public profile changed after their explosive popularity in the late 1990s — online posts mentioned things like their relationship with their talent agency and going independent with their own label, but it should be noted this isn’t part of the actual broadcast content — it’s background chatter that’s circulated among viewers, and should be read as separate from the show itself.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Entertainment/Sports News+) thread “[Entertainment] GLAY’s TAKURO on a Warning From Senior B’z’s Tak Matsumoto: “We’re Not Celebrities”.”
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