Kazuhiko Katō

, nicknamed , was a Japanese record producer, songwriter and singer. He sometimes used the spelling of “Kazuhiko Katoh”. History As a member of the Folk Crusaders, Katō launched his recording career in the mid-1960s. “Kaettekita Yopparai (I Only Live Twice)”, their psychedelic debut song composed by Katō and released in 1967, sold more than 1.3 million copies in Japan, and became one of the best-selling singles of the early Japanese popular music industry. The group also starred in director Nagisa Oshima’s 1968 film Kaette kita yopparai (alternately known as Sinner in Paradise or Three Resurrected Drunkards). After the breakup of Folk Crusaders in 1970, Katō gained success for his production works for other musicians, including Shigeru Izumiya, Mariya Takeuchi, and Takuro Yoshida. In particular, Sadistic Mika Band, the acclaimed project he started with his first wife Mika Fukui, received international success. Their 1974 album entitled Kurofune (Black Ship) is regarded as one of the most significant Japanese rock albums of the mid-1970s. The group was disbanded and reassembled again several times, with new vocalists such as Yumi Matsutoya, Karen Kirishima, and Kaela Kimura. As a co