Chasing Mark Davis!

In the domestic music scene, with the progress of globalization, it's become quite common to see songs by overseas songwriters.
I feel like this is especially noticeable in songs by Johnny's artists, such as Arashi.

When they are introduced on TV music programs, if an English name appears as the composer, I get a little excited, and one of the English-named composers I saw frequently starting around the end of the 80s was

Mark Davis!

As I recall, the first time I saw him credited was for a song by the Johnny's hard rock band Otokogumi.

Otokogumi

"DAYBREAK" August 1988

They debuted while the movie "Rock yo, Shizuka ni Nagareyo" was gaining recognition.
Well, to be honest, the general consensus around me was that they were just an idol band, but the songs are still cool even when you listen to them now.

And then, as their second single "Aki" and third single "TIME ZONE" were released, people started to think, "Actually, Otokogumi is pretty good, isn't it!"

"Aki" December 1988

"TIME ZONE" February 1989

All of these early Otokogumi songs were works by Mark Davis.

Back then, when we were university students, we often went to karaoke, and they were really fun to sing.

When singing at karaoke, you see the composer's name Mark Davis over and over, so it makes you a bit curious.
Well, I just assumed he was some overseas artist, but I couldn't find any works by him as a Western music artist.

If I had the internet like today, I would have found out immediately, but for me at the time, he was a bit of a mysterious composer.

Actually, around the same time, there was a chorus group called EVE, and the song they sang, "Mou Ichido Fall in LOVE," was also composed by Mark Davis , which made me think he must be a pretty popular composer.

EVE

"Mou Ichido Fall in LOVE" Oct. 1988

Mark Davis - I didn't find out the true identity of this composer until I started working, but when SMAP's song "Original Smile" was released, it turned out to be a work composed by Mark Davis as well.

SMAP

"Original Smile" June 1994

So, I asked a SMAP fan (a veteran Johnny's fan) at my workplace.
Then, they told me right away.

Mark Davis is a pen name for Koji Makaino~

They said, just like that...

Perhaps it was common knowledge among Johnny's fans. When I looked it up later, it seemed he had written songs for Masahiko Kondo and others under the Mark Davis name as well...

Oh, Koji Makaino, I thought.

Koji Makaino was, at the time, known to me as a hitmaker for slightly comical and upbeat songs like Masahiko Kondo's "Kejime Nasai" and Kyoko Koizumi's "Adesugata Namida Musume" and "Nagisa no Haikara Ningyo."

It seems he used an English pen name because there was a trend at the time where Western music was considered cool, and it's true that after the late 80s, I felt like I didn't see the name Mark Davis very often.

Koji Makaino has been very active as a hitmaker throughout the 90s and 00s, handling debut songs for new Johnny's groups such as KinKi Kids' "Aisareru Yori Aishitai," Arashi's "A・RA・SHI," as well as A.B.C-Z, Kanjani Eight, and many others.

Mark Davis I haven't seen any songs credited to this name since Tackey's "Ai Kakumei," but perhaps one day, we might get to hear his music again.

Finally, a SMAP fan (a veteran Johnny's fan) at my workplace told me one more thing: that Jimmy Johnson is also Koji Makaino... It seems he has multiple pen names.

Shonentai "What's your name?"

♪