Shōgo Hamada

is a legendary Japanese singer-songwriter and former member of the group . He is a part of Sony Music Japan's SME Records division. He was born in Takehara City in Hiroshima Prefecture, and graduated from Kuremitsuta High School (where he was a member of the baseball team). He attended Kanagawa University, where he studied law, but left the school before graduating.

In 1975, he made his professional debut as the drummer of the band Aido. Sunglasses have been his trademark ever since his debut, and he has never performed live without sunglasses of some sort (most commonly Ray-Ban Aviator or Ray-Ban Wayfarer). His solo debut came in 1976 with the album Umareta Tokoro o Tōku Hanarete. Though his exposure in the media has always been extremely low, relative to many performers with similar levels of mainstream popularity, he has acquired his many fans over the years through his steady series of live performances. Many of his early songs expressed his skepticism about how one should live their life. In addition to his well-known ballads, he was strongly influenced by his father's experience as a victim of radiation poisoning following the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945, and many of his songs have a very strong protest song tone.

He has written music for many other artists, including Momoe Yamaguchi, and Akiko Wada. He is affectionately referred to as "Hamasho" by many of his fans.

Discography

Singles released within Aido Single title Date released Formats 1 / 1975-05-01 EP 2 / 1975-09-01 EP

Singles Single title Date released Formats 1 (EP version) / (EP version) 1976-04-21 EP 2 (Single version) / 1976-10-21 EP 3 / 1977-04-21 EP 4 / 1977-11-21 EP 5 / 1978-08-21 EP 6 / 1979-04-21 EP 7 / 1979-08-21 EP 8 / 1979-12-21 EP 9 / 1980-02-21 EP 10 (Single version) / 1980-07-21 EP 11 / 1980-10-21 EP 12 / 1981-03-21 EP 13 / 1981-08-26 EP 14 / 1981-11-21 EP 15 "On the Road" / (Live) 1982-02-25 EP 16 / 1982-11-21 EP 17 "Dance" (12-inch single version) / "The Little Rocker's Medley" (Live) 1984-08-01 12-inch 18 (Single version) / (Single version) 1985-05-22 EP 19 "Big Boy Blues" (Single version) / "Sweet Little Darlin'" (Single version) 1985-12-08 EP 20 (12-inch Single version) / (12-inch Single version) / "Walking in the Rain" 1986-07-16 12-inch, CT 21 c/w "Little Surfer Girl" 1987-06-21 EP 22 "Breathless Love" c/w "Blood Line" (Single version) 1988-05-29 12-inch, 8-cm CD, CT 23 (Single version) / (Single version) 1992-02-01 8-cm CD, CT 24 / (Single version) 1992-12-12 8-cm CD 25 / 1994-04-25 8-cm CD 26 / (Single version) 1995-07-01 8-cm CD 27 / 1996-10-30 8-cm CD 28 / (Single version) 1997-10-22 8-cm CD 29 / 1998-04-01 12-cm CD 30 "Love Has No Pride" c/w "Give Me One More Chance" 1998-10-01 12-cm CD 31 / 1998-12-02 12-cm CD 32 "...To Be "Kissin' You"" (French edit) / / "...To Be "Kissin' You"" 2000-04-01 12-cm CD 33 / 2001-08-01 12-cm CD 34 / (21 ctr. Ver.) 2003-09-10 12-cm CD 35 / "Midnight Blue Train 2005" 2005-04-13 12-cm CD 36 "I am a Father" / 2005-07-17 12-cm CD 37 "Thank You" / / (2005 Ver.) 2005-10-12 12-cm CD

Albums Album title Date released Formats Miscellaneous info – 1975-05-01 LP, CT Released as a member of Aido 1 1976-04-21 LP, CT 2 Love Train 1977-05-21 LP, CT 3 Illumination 1978-09-21 LP, CT 4 Mind Screen 1979-05-21 LP, CT 5 1979-12-05 LP, CT – Slow Down 1980-08-01 CT Compilation album 6 Home Bound 1980-10-21 LP, CT 7 1981-09-21 LP, CT 8 On the Road 1982-02-25 LP (2), CT (2) 9 1982-11-21 LP, CD, CT 10 Sand Castle 1983-12-01 LP, CD, CT 11 Down By the Mainstreet 1984-10-21 LP, CD, CT – Club Snowbound 1985-11-15 LP, CT Limited edition special release album 12 J.Boy 1986-09-04 LP (2), CD (2), CT (2) – Club Surfbound 1987-06-28 LP, CT Limited edition special release album 13 Club Surf&Snowbound 1987-06-28 CD 14 Father's Son 1988-03-16 LP, CD, CT 15 Wasted Tears 1989-09-01 LP, CD, CT 16 1990-06-21 CD, CT 17 Edge of the Knife 1991-09-01 CD, CT 18 1993-09-06 CD, CT, MD 19 Road Out "Tracks" 1996-02-29 LP, CD, CT, MD 20 1996-11-11 CD, MD 21 1997-01-22 LP, CD, MD 22 The History of Shogo Hamada "Since 1975" 2000-11-08 CD 23 Save Our Ship 2001-08-22 CD 24 2003-09-26 CD 25 My First Love 2005-07-06 LP, CD 26 The Best of Shogo Hamada Vol.1 2006-08-09 CD 27 The Best of Shogo Hamada Vol.2 2006-08-09 CD 28 Journey of a Songwriter 2015-04-29 LP, CD