THE CRO-MAGNONS released their debut single, 「タリホー」 (Tally Ho), on September 20, 2006. Their first national tour began at Shimokitazawa SHELTER that same day. Thirty-three concerts followed before the end of December.
For listeners unfamiliar with their history, calling THE CRO-MAGNONS a new band requires some explanation. Vocalist 甲本ヒロト (Hiroto Kōmoto) and guitarist 真島昌利 (Masatoshi Mashima), better known as Marcy, had already worked together for twenty years.
They formed THE BLUE HEARTS in 1985. The group became one of the defining names in Japanese rock before ending in 1995. Hiroto and Marcy immediately continued with THE HIGH-LOWS, whose own ten-year run ended with an indefinite suspension of activities in November 2005.
A few months later, Hiroto released two solo songs. Anyone following the pair could reasonably wonder whether their long partnership had reached its conclusion.
The answer arrived on July 23, 2006. At exactly 1:41 p.m., Hiroto and Marcy appeared at FM802 MEET THE WORLD BEAT with bassist Masaru Kobayashi and drummer Katsuji Kirita. The group had kept its identity secret before the festival. Its official history still describes that performance as the moment when THE CRO-MAGNONS “appeared.”
The formation itself had been less theatrical. After THE HIGH-LOWS stopped, Hiroto and Marcy continued meeting in a studio. They played Sex Pistols songs together, then asked an engineer they knew to introduce other musicians. Kirita and Kobayashi joined them. Marcy brought in demos, the four played together and the new band took shape.
Tally Ho followed less than two months after that first public appearance. The single contained three songs: 「タリホー」 and 「弾丸ロック」 (Dangan Rock), both written by Hiroto, and Marcy’s 「クロマニヨン・ストンプ」 (Cro-Magnon Stomp). It was released on CD and seven-inch vinyl, with a limited CD edition including a DVD titled THE CRO-MAGNONS Appear!!.
The single reached number three on the weekly Oricon chart. One month later, the group released its self-titled first album. By then, THE CRO-MAGNONS already had their own record, their own tour and enough material to exist independently from everything Hiroto and Marcy had done before.
That is why Tally Ho matters in their discography. It introduced the four musicians who still form THE CRO-MAGNONS in 2026. What could initially have looked like a third chapter for the famous duo became a twenty-year history for the same quartet.
THE BLUE HEARTS lasted approximately ten years. THE HIGH-LOWS did the same. THE CRO-MAGNONS have now continued for twice as long, releasing their eighteenth studio album, JAMBO JAPAN, in October 2025.
The band marked its twentieth year in July 2026 with a live album recorded during the JAMBO JAPAN 2025–2026 tour. Its twenty-four-song tracklist draws from the catalogue built since 2006. 「タリホー」 appears near the end, followed only by 「ナンバーワン野郎！」 (Number One Yarō!).
For anyone discovering THE CRO-MAGNONS after eighteen albums, Tally Ho is still where their story begins.