The band Godiego appeared on Tetsuko Kuroyanagi's long-running talk show "Tetsuko's Room" (TV Asahi), which aired on February 17th. Five members appeared: Mickey Yoshino (keyboards), Yukihide Takekawa (vocals), Yoji Yoshizawa (guitar), Tommy Snyder (drums), and Steve Fox (bass).
As they celebrate their 50th anniversary since their debut this year, Mickey said, "It was a long run, and we took a few breaks, but looking back, I think those breaks were good." During those breaks, each member pursued different activities. Mickey said, "I think that was a really good thing."
When Tommy and Steve came to Japan, they stayed at Mickey's house. Takekawa lived in Saitama, but rehearsals were held in Yokohama, so he stayed at Mickey's house (which was relatively close).
Before "Gandhara" became a hit, Mickey produced other people's albums, wrote songs for various people, and performed them together. "That just made things more complicated," Mickey says. Playing other people's songs in the studio felt like "writing a sign for someone else's house." This made everyone feel uncomfortable. Just when they needed a hit of their own, "Gandhara" came at the perfect time.
In 1980, Takekawa gave his first overseas performance in Nepal. It was also his first time abroad, and he recalls, "Nepal was amazing. It was like a fairy tale country. There were brick factories around the airport, and smoke was rising from them. We were heading there by plane and disembarking. I thought I had come to an incredible place."
The audience was 60,000 people. "No one knew who we were, but they came together in such high numbers, and once the show started, the excitement gradually grew," Takekawa said. "We'd never done anything like that in a country before, so people came close to the stage. When we rehearsed, there were 10,000 people behind us." Just when people wondered which way they would face during the actual performance, 50,000 people gathered in front of the stage. "It was like a dream. Everyone was dancing while singing, and dust was rising up. It was amazing," Takekawa recalled.
