Ranmadou

Ranmadou (乱魔堂) was a heavy blues rock band from Japan.

Ranmadou’s story starts with guitarist 洪栄龍 (Eiryu Kou). Kou joined a band called The Vickies as a guitarist in the summer of 1968. The Vickies were an early version of Blues Creation, and in fact, when Kou left the band in August 1968 to take over his family’s business, he was replaced by future Blues Creation leader, Kazuo Takeda. Kou later briefly returned in September but then left to form and lead a band called Blind Lemon Jefferson in April 1969. The played played at go-go clubs in Touhoku during the summer and then from September were based out of a club called Apple in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The band broke up in late 1969. In January 1970, Kou formed Dew with singer Fumio Nunoya, who had left Blues Creation the previous December.

In early 1971, Kou left Dew and formed Ranmadou with bassist 猿山幸夫 (Yukio Saruyama), vocalist 松吉久雄 (Hisao Matsuyoshi) and drummer 矢島敏郎 (Toshirou Yashima). Both Saruyama and Matsuyoshi had been in Blind Lemon Jefferson. In March, they played in Gifu Prefecture and then moved to Kyoto in May. For the next 2 months, they played at a club called Cat’s Eye and worked up most of their original material. Around this time, Ritsuo Kamimura became their manager. Kamimura had connections with Hachimitsu Pie’s and Happy End’s management office Kazetoshi, who set the band up with a gig at BYG in Shibuya, Tokyo from July. In August, they played at the 3rd Annual Japan Folk Jamboree.

They started recording their debut album Ranmadou in April 1972. Through their management connections, Takashi Matsumoto from Happy End and Keiichi Suzuki from Hachimitsu Pie were involved in the album and their influence can be heard in the laid-back feeling on the first side album. Unfortunately, their American West Coast style didn’t really suit Ranmadou. The high points are the second side when Kou gets a chance to play heavier riffs and lengthy solos.

The band played at the Haru Ichiban Concert in May and four tracks were released in 2006 on the CDs from the concert. In June, the band added rhythm guitar player 山崎隆史 (Takashi Yamazaki), who had been in Zunou Keisatsu and contributed to their second album. Ranmadou’s single studio album came out in August 1972 but they split up before the end of the year.