Show-Ya

Show-Ya (しょーや, Shōya) is an all-female heavy metal/hard rock band from Japan, founded in 1982. The group disbanded in 1998, but reformed with the original line-up in 2005 for the 20th anniversary of their first release. The music of Show-Ya is deeply rooted in classic rock and in their albums and live shows they have covered songs from The Beatles, The Doors, The Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and AC/DC. Their music evolved from the pop rock of their first offerings to the heavy metal of their most successful albums, Outerlimits and Hard Way.

Biography

The first nucleus of Show-Ya was formed in 1982 by Keiko Terada and Miki Nakamura, who had been playing together for a year, in order to enter the East West Grand Prix musical contest organized and sponsored by Yamaha. The new band won the contest for best female group, which resulted in a record contract with Toshiba EMI. In the following two years, Miki Igarashi replaced the original guitarist Mitsuko Numata and the line-up was completed by Miki Tsunoda on drums and Satomi Senba on bass. Nakamura, Igarashi and Tsunoda adopted the stage names of “Captain”, “Sun-Go” and “Mittan” to avoid confusion with the first name Miki, which they have in common. In this period they wrote material for their debut album Masquerade Show, which was recorded in Japan and mixed at Abbey Road Studios in London. The album was promoted by The Coca-Cola Company, which used their debut single "Suteki Ni Dancing (Coke Is It)" for a TV and radio commercial and a campaign. While in London, the band had the opportunity to play in front of a foreign audience at Dingwalls and at the legendary rock club The Marquee. After the successful release of their first album, the band returned to Abbey Road Studios to mix their second album Queendom the following year.