Golden☆Best



バンバン (Banban; Bang Bang) is a Japanese folk group from Kansai which was mainly active from 1971 to 1977. Members: ** Main vocals & guitar: ばんばひろふみ (Hirofumi Banba) ** Vocals & guitar: 高山弘 (Hiroshi Takayama) Ex members: ** 今井ひろし (Hiroshi Imai) ** 高尾稔 (Minoru Takao) ** 首藤英信 (Hidenobu Shuto) ** 上山信博 (Nobuhiro Ueyama) History: The group's name comes from the nickname Banban of Banba Hirofumi, and it has no relation whatsoever to the folk group Billy Banban, which was active around the same time, in terms of the origin of its name. In 1971, they debuted with the single Nani mo Shinaide (Don't Do Anything). The original members were Banba Hirofumi, Imai Hiroshi (from Hokkaido), and Takayama Hiroshi (now Takayama Iwao). They mostly all did vocals and played guitar and didn't have a classical rock band set up with specific roles. In 1973, Takao Minoru joined, making it a four-member group, and they released the single Nagasugita Haru (A Spring That Lasted Too Long). Later, Takayama left, and due to the members' financial reasons, it became a duo of Banba and Imai. In 1975, their single 'Ichigo Hakusho' wo Mou Ichido (Let's Play Strawberry Statement Again) reached number one on the Oricon charts. In 1977, they disbanded. Since then, they have repeatedly reformed and disbanded. Takayama, who left Banban, is currently pursuing a solo career as Gen Takayama. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.