OK:
Not one person but me will be intrigued by this, but legendary Japanese Metal act Bow Wow are getting 4 classic albums remastered by Rock Candy who always do a good job. Bow Wow were the first true Japanese Metal band and featured some amazing musicians particularily guitarist Kyoji Yamamoto. Bow Wow opened for KISS's historic tour in 1976 and these albums are all from the late 70's if you can believe that.
They were heavily influenced by Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Judas Priest and KISS. If you can get past the vocals, I tell you, this is high-quality stuff. "Signal Fire" was way ahead of it's time and is the best of them all. I prefer Loudness who are still going strong more, but these guys were the real deal with the early material. I'm stunned that Rock Candy is doing these, but that's very cool!
In the 80's they would change their name to Vow Wow due to Bow Wow Wow-wow.

From Melodicrock.com:

ROCK CANDY ANNOUNCE JAPANESE SPECIALIST RE-ISSUES:
Rock Candy, the incomparable reissue label, has announced its July releases. Forming the cornerstone of an occasional series focusing on Japanese artists (all issued under the banner of Japanese Rock Candy) the first four are from highly respected late seventies band Bow Wow as follows:

Bow Wow 'S/T' JPCANDY001 - During the Sixties the Japanese music scene was primarily concerned with native language home-grown talent. However, by the early seventies things began to change, with overseas rock bands visiting the country in an effort to satisfy the younger population who were hungry for a slice of western rock 'n roll. Deep Purple, Free, Grand Funk Railroad, ELP and Led Zeppelin, we're some of the pioneers who were embraced like conquering heroes, so it was no surprise to find young Japanese musicians practicing away in bedrooms in an effort to provide a counter offensive.
Outside of a handful of obscure Japanese progressive rock groups, Bow Wow were one of the first native groups to play in a style that suggested they might actually have international potential. Indeed, although this, their debut album, displayed a certain rough-hewn charm, capturing raw riffs and basic arrangements, the energy and enthusiasm cannot be denied. Additionally, Kyoji Yamamoto's guitar playing was already indicating that he would, in a few short years, become one of the most accomplished players in the world.
Above all else, Bow Wow's debut album, originally released in 1976, is an historic achievement. It is, in effect, the moment where the Japanese moved on from being avid consumers of western rock music – make that HARD ROCK music – to full blown participants in a musical revolution that is still in full swing.

Bow Wow 'Signal Fire' JPCANDY002 - Whilst Bow Wow's self titled debut album found them taking baby-steps to hard rock heaven, their second album, 'Signal Fire', was an all out assault that elevated this groundbreaking band to the front-line of home grown talent. It was a record that refined and, neatly, defined the band's ambition to become the best hard rock group that Japan has ever produced.
'Signal Fire', originally released in 1977, is an album of intense hard rock fire-power. A record that combines fast-as-a-shark riffing with blistering lead guitar work and unique multi-layered phasing of a kind that had not previously been applied to hard rock recordings in such an impressive manner.
At this point, guitarist Kyoji Yamamoto was fast establishing himself as a craftsman with supreme technical ability. His playing was taking on a seriously brilliant sheen, combining the techniques and flare of influential Western players such as Ritchie Blackmore and Jimi Hendrix yet leaving room to create a style of his own.
Hard rock tape-traders soon spotlighted Bow Wow as one of the best new discoveries of the era and hugely successful acts such as Metallica and Iron Maiden have subsequently gone on to confirm that this record was unquestionably a major influence. It remains a truly great moment in the history of hard rock and heavy metal.

Bow Wow 'Charge!' JPCANDY003 - The aptly named 'Charge' was Bow Wow's third album, originally released in 1977, and showcased a mature, and in some ways a more refined, approach to the band's evolving sound. Their previous record had, for all intents and purposes, been an all-out assault on the senses, but with this new album they rather cleverly fused intense hard rock riffing with a sense of mature drama, which suggested Bow Wow were not just a one dimensional beast.
There is no suggestion, however, that the band had abandoned their loud and proud full-on roots. Indeed, some of the material showcased on this album is heavier and more intensely sinister than anything they had previously recorded. Clearly, though, Bow Wow were rapidly expanding their horizons, setting their sights on the big prize, with a view to taking on the gods of Western rock and beating them at their own game. And let us not forget guitarist Kyoji Yamamoto's increasing expertise on guitar. Above all else, this album demonstrates what an incredible player he had been developing into, which was carving out a superior reputation amongst not only his Japanese peers but also internationally. Truly breathtaking, a number of solos on this record are monumental statements, confirming that Yamamoto was not only a masterful Japanese player but also one of the most innovative his generation.

Bow Wow 'Super Live!' JPCANDY004 - The Japanese Love of live rock music is well documented, with many landmark 1970's releases, from acts as varied as Deep Purple, Bob Dylan, Cheap Trick, Jeff Beck and Santana amongst many others, all taking their place in the Japanese live album hall of fame. So, with two studio albums under their belt, it comes as no surprise to find home grown hard rock sensations Bow Wow being recorded for their very own live album. Originally released in 1978, the record captures an increasingly competent band in full unrestrained flight, delivering an explosion of energy. Recorded with pristine clarity, 'Super Live' takes no prisoners. It is the sound of a band finally finding their true sound and displaying instrumental capability of the finest calibre. Indeed, guitarist Kyoji Yamamoto was already shaping up to be the most distinctive Japanese player of the era, an honour he still shoulders to this very day. Of special note is the enthusiasm of their audience – a more fanatical reaction being difficult to imagine. 'Super Live' marked a major advancement in Bow Wow's career. In the first instance it cemented their reputation as unquestionably the hottest Japanese hard rock band around and, secondly, it allowed them to retrench and focus on their next studio album. It is without doubt, another key moment in Japanese hard rock history.

Released on July 20th all four albums are available now at http://www.rockcandyrecords.com for the £9.99 each or buy all four at a special introductory offer price of just £34.99 good until Monday 3rd August.

Wrong.

I'm obsessed with this band.

A lot of people cannot get past the "weird" Japanese vocals but I dig them. Then again, I love hard rock and metal sung in non-English so there you go. It adds an air of mystery and uniqueness for me as a listener when I cannot understand a word of what a band is singing about. Funny part? When bands like TRUST, SORTILEGE and BARON ROJO do English versions of their albums I usually find them vastly inferior to the original Lps.

Now BOW WOW actually did sing mostly in English - but with the vocalists strong Japanese accent he may as well have not bothered. One plus they had though was that the English (an in UK) guy who wrote their lyrics was actually competent as opposed to whoever was mangling the SCORPIONS lyrics back in the day (and if you really want some lyrical pain check out Italian band VANADIUM who were a great DEEP PURPLEesque band with utterly ATROCIOUS lyrics).

But I digress.

I have mixed feelings about these Rock Candy releases. I have gone to a lot of trouble and expense to track down all of the BOW WOW I could get my hands on for many years. All of these were recently remastered and released in Japan in very nice mini-Lp form. And they are even budget titles that come in under 20 dollars each (of course, the shipping is high though!). And Rock Candy did not even do "Guarantee" which came out in the Japanese series (its the studio album that follows the live one in this set).

There are quite a few albums that have never seen the light of CD day and it would have been nice to see something like "Hard Dog" get the nod but I understand what Rock Candy are up to. This band is utterly obscure to Western audiences except for the small following that they managed to acquire in the early 80's in England due to their appearances in Kerrang magazine back when it was a metal bible. These early albums are all excellent and a good way to get people introduced to this great act.

Yamamoto is an absolutely brilliant guitarist - on par with Eddie Van Halen. His technical gifts are tremendous, but like Eddie and unlike Malmsteen he has an incredible sense of melody and plays with enormous feeling. Some of the music fits into a good time party rock vibe like the blistering "Get On Our Train" but there are also more subtle moments like the mellow "Withered Sun".

Bet you never expected a post this long, eh?

Not to be confused with Bow Wow Wow or Lil' Bow Wow!

Chris:
As stated above I mentioned they actually changed their name to Vow Wow due to Bow Wow Wow. I did not mention Lil' Bow Wow, nor will I ever again! But, I get the joke.
I always wondered if Bow Wow opening for KISS in 1976 ever was pro-shot like the KISS show was.

Hell no, but I was glad to read it!
So, should I get these? I'm very interested. I'd love to see the late 70's and early 80's albums remstered as well, but the late 80's Hair metal albums were horrible when they tried to crack the US and UK.
I interviewed Neil Murray (ex Whitesnake/Black Sabbath bassist) many years ago and he was a great guy. I asked him about his time with Vow Wow and he said it was quite strange. I asked if he knew if any of the band were scared of Gamera and he had no idea what the hell I was talking about!
Byron, do you like Loudness as well? They kick ass and Akira Takasaki is a true guitar god. Their new album "The Everlasting" just came out and I need to get it. They are the best in Japanese Metal to me, with Bow Wow, Anthem and EZO (produced by Gene Simmons) next.
Gotta love IMWAN-never thought I'd be discussing this stuff with anyone!

I'd definitely get the Rock Candy releases if you do not have any BOW WOW on cd. First off, I am sure they will sound just as good (if not better) than the Japanese mini-lp releases due to RC's usual high quality mastering. And they will have the standard excellent liner notes.

Other BOW WOW on cd is difficult to find but the trio of 80's lps ("Asian Volcano", "Warning From Stardust" and the second live lp "Holy Expedition") were given legit remastered digi-pack releases a while ago at decent prices:

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/list_from_code ... 0&key=3080

These are all great albums and in the heavier non-Hair Metal style. "20th Century Child" from "Stardust" is in my top 10 BOW WOW tracks of all time.

The band have a ton of other releases and have reformed under the original BOW WOW moniker but are now recording for very small Japanese labels and the stuff that I have tracked down were all expensive (average 30 dollars per single disc) and a bitch to find. I even have a live dvd of them from 1999 called "Live Explosion" where they run through a superb greatest hits type set of their best early heavier material. This show was also out on a great live cd with the same title.

Tread carefully on later releases however. There are quite a few comp cds that do not identify themselves as such and also a lot of re-recordings of older songs. They also have an all-acoustic cd where they do the heavy older stuff in that format. Its a complicated thing collecting this band when you do not speak Japanese!

And yes, I'm a big LOUDNESS fan. Love Akira - he's one of the best and drummer Munetaka Higuchi was the Japanese Cozy Powell as far as I'm concerned (and Cozy is one of my all-time favorites). I prefer the older stuff but some of the reformation material like "Spiritual Canoe" is very good as well. I'll probably grab their new album soon.

ANTHEM are all time favorites of mine as well and the album they recorded with Graham Bonnet (ex-Rainbow, Schenker et al) called "Heavy Metal Anthem" is a total masterpiece for me. Kick-ass melodic metal. Anthem's last few albums are some of their best in a long career. And EZO? Fun stuff - I have a couple of their releases as well.

And Evil's comment cracked me up. Every time I search fot Bow Wow stuff I get loads of false hits for that BOW WOW WOW act with the female singer and a bunch of rap acts. Even iTunes screws up when I try to enter details and artwork for importing from my cds. It just makes me laugh.

When I first saw your topic I thought "Bow Wow Wow", a personal fav of mine!

I want candy.

They why do you show bologna?

Um...because I'm full of it?

R.I.P.
Oscar Meyer

Got the first album for my birthday and it is great. I stressed to my wife if she got me a Bow Wow album to make damn sure it wasn't the rapper-she listened!
Hard Rock with Western influences but an Eastern approach, and damn is the guitar playing incredible, especially the 10 minute Hendrix tribute "James In My Casket". Andy Pearce did a fantastic job with the remastering and it's hard to believe this was from 1976.
If Byron's Ghost is still out there, do you know if Rock Candy will be doing any more of the catalogue? I'll get the others for sure.
Kyoji Yamamoto is one of the best guitarists-anywhere.
Were you able to purchase the Guarantee and Telephone albums?

Update:
Wow, talk about timing! Just found this at CD Japan:

Reissue from BOWWOW. Part of a four-album BOWWOW reissue series featuring albums "Glorious Road," "Telephone," "Kumikyoku X Bomber," and "Hard Dog."

These all come out this week! That is pretty wild that I was asking about these.

Didn't they later change their name to Vow Wow?

It's funny how different artists can have the same name.

I mean, Kurt Cobain was not the first guy to be in a band called Nirvana.

Yeah, they became Vow Wow around 1984 or so to avoid confusion with Bow Wow Wow which was odd seeing as Bow Wow Wow were already toast by then.
As Vow Wow they got a horrible singer and started doing Hair Metal which sadly gave them some success in the UK and a bit in the US. The music was good, but the singing was awful. They split in the early 90s but Bow Wow have been back for about 5 or 6 years I think and are back to kicking ass.

"Guarantee" I have had for quite a while - it was on the series from Japan in mini-lp sleeves from 2008. Its out of print now and Rock Candy skipped it. Not surprised - its a strange record - mellower and more experimental and sung in Japanese with a few weird English words and phrases tossed in. The song titles are not even in English.

I just placed an order for the titles that Rock Candy released in their special bundle: http://www.rockcandyrecords.co.uk/store/398 They send these packing costs included and its a good deal.

They have no plans that I know of for more releases by this band. I wonder what happened to their whole threatened "Rock From Japan" releases?

I just ordered "Hard Dog" and the rest of the missing titles from amazon japan. This now finally completes the vintage Japanese BOW WOW discography.

Complete discog here: http://www.metal-archives.com/ Just type Bow Wow in the search field - no chance of the other BOW WOWs showing up - this is a hardcore metal site.