From 1988, Spitz started performing gigs at live houses in Tokyo, such as Shinjuku Jam, and Shibuya Yaneura. Kusano was deeply influenced by The Blue Hearts, one of the most successful and influential Japanese punk rock band at the time, both artistically and musically. He had apparently tried to imitate Hiroto Komoto's idiosyncratic stage presence and vocalizations, on the band's earliest live performances or recordings. A club magager of Shibuya La Mama considered Spitz was just a faceless rip-off of The Blue Hearts. He suggested to the group that they should establish their own artistic identity, or else they would never go anywhere. Afterwards, Kusano stopped acting or writing like Komoto and Masatoshi Mashima, and adapted to acoustic guitar-driven sound that matched with his own wide-ranged soft voice. Songs like "Ai no Uta" and "Hibari no Kokoro" which were officially released, are the earliest materials that Kusano wrote after changing his style of music.