The Highlights
On or off stage, my name is Naoki Takao. I am, for the most part, a studio musician. I also write lyrics, mostly in English and sing back chorus for various artists two or three times a year on concert tour. Those who have seen me on stage have complimented me by saying not only do I sing well, but the audience enjoys the amount of energy and dancing I put into the show.

I have been in the business for about 15 years (surviving the first years of eating the Japanese equivalent of macaroni and cheese). I have sung back chorus for more than 1,500 recordings and have either written the lyrics or sang in more than 600 TV commercials. Some of the commercials include: Ford Automobiles, Panasonic, Nissan Automobiles, Sony Playstation and Suntory Whiskey. I am also pleased to say I have done a great deal of work for Tokyo Disneyland and more recently Tokyo DisneySea. My regular voice range is D1 - G3. My falsetto range is from B2 - F4, (on good voice days I can even make it to F#4).

I have been given the opportunity to put all this experience into creating my own CD which was released under the Victor label and to write "The Chorus Book" which was published by Rittor Music.

More Background for those who care to take note...
I was born in Yokohama and grew up singing. We lived in a house with a small church attached where my father was the minister as well as a university professor. We had a perpetual flow of students in the house and my father was always starting these impromptu miniature concerts to which my sister and I were often participant victims. We weren't very wild about his musical selections but often the guests included visitors from abroad who would introduce new popular music-Peter, Paul & Mary, Joan Baes (Laugh if you will but it was hot then!) This is how I became interested in English and started listening to "Western" music. As the years rolled on I became very interested in much of the music under the Mo Town label. First Stevie Wonder knocked me over and then later Earth Wind & Fire.

Around 1983 I got a chance to study in the United States at Northeast Missouri State University. Frankly I studied my butt off and graduated with a BA degree majoring in English. I am still proud that 3 of my poems were published in the national magazine for English Honor Society, Sigma Tau Delta. (Don't be fooled the grades weren't half as good as the poems).

After I came back to Japan in 1987 I was teaching English when a friend asked could I help him out. He produced music for TV commercials and needed some English lyrics. Happy for some extra cash, I did it. He called back and asked how do you sing these words. So I went in and sang the scratch vocal. The rest, as they say, is history as I have been singing or writing lyrics ever since.