Tokiyoshi Harada (クマ原田) was born in Sapporo, Hokkaido (Japan) on 10 June 1951. As a member of Sing Out as a teenager, he appeared on NHK General Television ‘s music variety show Stage 101 from the first episode on 10 January 1970 to 3 April 1971.
He moved to Germany, where he participated in the musical Hair, and after a stay in the Netherlands, he moved to London. He became active as a studio musician, playing bass for artists like Van Morrison and Mick Taylor. With Kate Bush, he recorded December Will Be Magic Again. During the 1980’s he produced Snowy White’s single ‘Bird Of Paradise’ and toured with Chris Rea.
In the 1990’s he continued to work with Mick Taylor and also started working with Miki Imai. He also started educational workshops, both in the UK and in Japan, where he would visit every year from 2007 onwards. In 2005, he became the first principal of Hokkaido Art High School.
In 2016 he toured with Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel. Harada participated in the Japan tour of British-based opera singer Ayaka Tanimoto, whom he had been producing for some time, in 2019.
In the night of 21 March 2023, Tokiyoshi Harada passed away, aged 71.
References
クマ原田. Wikipedia (Japan), retrieved 2 March 2024
