Buck-Tick was originally formed in 1983. All five of the band members lived in Gunma prefecture. Hisashi Imai originally had the idea for the band, and wanted to start despite not knowing how to play any instruments at the time. He recruited his friend, Yutaka Higuchi, and the two of them began to practice — Imai on guitar and Higuchi on bass. Then, Higuchi asked Hidehiko Hoshino, who had been his friend since their first year of high school, if he would like to join, too. Since Hoshino was tall and handsome, Higuchi tried to convince him to become the vocalist, but Hoshino was more interested in playing guitar, and did not want to be in the spotlight, so Imai's friend Araki became vocalist instead. Atsushi Sakurai, a rebellious loner in Imai's class who hung out with the bad-kid "Yankī" crowd, volunteered to be the drummer. The Buck-Tick members went to high school with Boøwy singer Kyosuke Himuro.