Superfly (band)

History

Shiho Ochi met Kōichi Tabo in 2003 while they were students at Matsuyama University, both members of a music circle that covered songs by Finger 5 and the Rolling Stones. In 2004, the group formed the blues band "Superfly," naming themselves after Curtis Mayfield's song "Superfly." The group split up in 2005, with only Ochi and Tabo remaining when they went to Tokyo to seek out a label. After a battle between recording labels, the duo debuted on Warner Music Group with their 2007 single "Hello Hello," followed by a performance at the Shibuya, Tokyo, Apple Store and the EP Live from Tokyo.

On November 8, 2007, after the release of their second single "Manifesto," Kōichi Tabo announced on their website that he stopped appearing on stage to concentrate on composing songs. He has since written music for artists including Charice Pempengco, Mai Fukui, Yuna Ito, Maaya Sakamoto, BECCA, Saki Fukuda, and Asia Engineer. Later that month, Superfly released a single in collaboration with the Australian band Jet, titled "I Spy I Spy." Their debut album Superfly was released on May 14, 2008, topping the Japanese Oricon weekly album charts for two weeks, with a free concert at Yoyogi Park in Tokyo celebrating its release.

Ochi, who admires Janis Joplin, traveled to San Francisco in 2008, visiting Haight-Ashbury and meeting Sam Andrew of Big Brother and the Holding Company for a documentary titled Following the Steps of Janis on Music On! TV. In June and July, Superfly did a national tour titled the Rock'N'Roll Show 2008 Tour. In 2009, the asteroid 91907 Shiho was named after Ochi, discovered at the Kuma Kogen Astronomical Observatory in Ehime Prefecture, her home prefecture. April also saw the release of the Rock'N'Roll Show 2008 DVD set from the band's 2008 tour stop at the NHK Hall.