Early days - (born 鈴木 あや,
Suzuki Aya, renamed in the U.S. as '''
Sandra O'Neale''', born December 27, 1952) - was born in
Japan to an American father of Irish and Spanish ancestry and a Japanese mother. Her father was in the U.S. Navy, and she spent her early life in Japan, but moved to
Hawaii in her early teens and began to study
hula and Pacific dance. After becoming accomplished as a singer and dancer, Sandii released her first record "Perusha Neko" under the name Sandi Ai. Returning to Japan in 1975 she was befriended by
Kyu Sakamoto, who helped her to get a job as a DJ on
NHK TV in Japan. Sandii performed during the interval of the "World Popular Song Festival" in late 1975, and secured a record deal with
Toho. Sandii's debut album,
Sandi Ai, is a mix of Japanese originals and covers of well-known songs by
John Lennon and
Olivia Newton-John. The album was not a great success, and Sandii left Toho for Discomate Records. grew up in a movie theater in
Komatsu City,
Ishikawa Prefecture, where a U.S. military base was located, and went on to attend
Doshisha University in
Kyoto. While still a student there, he made his single debut in 1970 with “Showa Genroku Hoge Hoge Bushi.” He then joined led by Takashi Mizutani, who was a year his senior in the light music club. He went to the United States and spent seven months traveling around. Upon his return to Japan, he recorded the solo album *Machibouke*. Later, while continuing he activities with Les Rallizes Dénudés, he formed the “The Sunset Gang” (, "Yuyake Gakudan"). In 1976 Sandii performed at the Yamaha World" Popular Song Festival as a non-competitor interval act, and the next year she won the prestigious “Grand Prix Best Vocal Performance” award with the single "Goodbye Morning", her best selling record to date. Sandii met Makoto Kubota in 1976, when he was a guest on her NHK TV show and afterward joined his band
The Sunset Gang as a backup singer. Makoto was an accomplished musician with broad influences, and the collaboration went on to be critically acclaimed, though never quite achieving the popular success expected. The music of The Sunset Gang was very influenced by blues, Southern and West Coast rock, but later they became increasingly interested in Hawaiian and Okinawan music. At this time Sandii also became friends with the future members of the
Yellow Magic Orchestra, frequent collaborators with the Sunset Gang;
Haruomi Hosono naming her "Sandii" because of the connection with Hawaii. However, until 1980 Sandii used a variety of names for different sessions e.g. "Sandra Hohn", "
Sandi A. Hohn", and even "Sandy Ayako". On the soundtrack of
Lupin The Third Sandii performed the songs "I Miss You Babe" and "Love Squall"; the latter was a single release paired with the theme of the TV series by
Yuji Ohno. In 1978 Sandii sang the end title theme for the Japanese release of Agatha Christie's
Death on the Nile, which became a top 20 hit in Japan. This gave Sandii and Makoto the opportunity to record a follow-up album. With limited time and budget, the album
Mystery Nile consists of disco and pop cover versions including "
Dancing Queen" by
ABBA. Sandii and Makoto used fake English names on the record - "Sandy O'Neil" and "Theo Layer". Other guest appearances include the albums
Dead End and
Monkey Magic by
Godiego plus
Melting Pot by Yamamoto Sho, whose backing band became
Ippu-Do (including future
Japan member
Masami Tsuchiya). In 1979, again using the name "Sandy O'Neil", Sandii released the disco track "Hey! King Kong", which failed to become a hit. The same year saw Sandii's first guest appearance with the Yellow Magic Orchestra on their album
Solid State Survivor. Right at the end of '79 the Y.M.O. and Sandii began to record her debut for Alfa Records,
Eating Pleasure, featuring lyrics by
Yellow Magic Orchestra lyricist,
Chris Mosdell, who, as he had done for YMO's
Solid State Survivor also wrote the bulk of the lyrics for
Eating Pleasure. At this point Makoto also wound up the Sunset Gang and Sandii & The Sunsetz were born. The two groups had the same members, but Sandii became lead vocalist. The collaboration with Mosdell would go on to produce some of the band's biggest hits over the next four years. Sandii & the Sunsetz also wrote songs for pop idol
Akina Nakamori, including her hit "Babylon". The group had problems with international distribution and promotion and was unable to replicate that success worldwide, but it had an avid cult following.
Steve Cropper saw Sunsetz guitarist Keni Inoue play in his distinctive plucking style (as heard on "Open Sesame") and asked to be taught the technique. In 1985 Sandii & The Sunsetz left Alfa Records for Toshiba-EMI, whose greater financial muscle gave the group a better budget to work with. Following a collaboration with
Stephen Duffy ("Something Special") the group released the rock influenced "La La La La Love", released as "Banzai Baby" outside Japan. Although a strong album musically the group was disappointed that it was not promoted internationally, despite following the guidance of the record company, and opted to follow their own creative vision for subsequent releases. This led them to reggae, dancehall and other Jamaican styles which heavily influenced the final Sunsetz albums "Rhythm Chemistry" and "One Love". Sandii now runs two
Hula schools, in Harajuku, Tokyo and Yokohama and has a TV series on
NHK, contributing to the popularity of
Hula dance in Japan and allowing Sandii to release roughly two albums a year of
Hawaiian and other Pacific style music. In late 2005 Sandii achieved the rank of
Kumu Hula and celebrated with an event at a shrine in Ise, with old friend
Haruomi Hosono providing the music. Makoto Kubota still produces music in Japan that explores new directions. ==Band Members==