CDJapan : What is City pop? -1. The Origin of City Pop-

This series is divided into four sections and this is the first volume. This article features the 70s and 80s.

What is City Pop? -2. Shibuya-kei-
What is City Pop? -3. City Pop Revival!-
What is City Pop? -4. Worldwide City Pop-

1. Where is the source of "City Pop?"

The origin of City Pop has not been clearly determined.
However, lots of people have referred that one of the origins is Happy End, the pioneer of Japanese-language rock music.
According to the book named "The basics of City POP can be found in these 100 albums ("City Pop no Kihon" ga Kono 100 Mai de Wakaru!)" written by Hitoshi Kurimoto [Profile], SUGAR BABE is also referred as one of the origins.

In these original City pop, foreign music is often used as the base for music production. For example, Happy End was influenced by Buffalo Springfield. Tatsuro Yamashita, who was a former member of SUGAR BABE, was influenced by R&B and soul music such as Curtis Mayfield.

After the break-up of the bands, City pop sound has gradually spreaded through the band members' respective solo careers, as producers, songwriters, or as session musicians. For example, the band Caramel Mama (later called Tin Pan Alley) consisted of Suzuki Shigeru on guitar and Hosono Haruomi on bass, both guitarists former members of Happy End, was mainly a support group for artists such as Yumi Arai (Currently known as Yumi Matsutoya).

Surely, the names of the band members may convince some of you of this, other members worked actively. Eiichi Otaki (Ex. Happy End) and Taeko Onuki (Ex. SUGAR BABE) released some albums as solo artists. Takashi Matsumoto (Ex. Happy End) wrote lyrics for many hit songs. Yutaka Uehara (Ex. SUGAR BABE) has participated as a drummer on albums of Masayoshi Takanaka, Yosui Inoue, and more.

Music Video of "Kimi wa Ten-nen Shoku" by Eiichi Otaki

This music video was created in 2021. The illustration was drawn by Hiroshi Nagai who drew the cover artwork of "A LONG VACATION" by Eiichi Otaki.

Within this trend, especially YMO (YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA) created a trend called techno-pop, which was different from city pop. It then led to a trend in pop music as a whole. Also, their music was also appreciated abroad and their song "Behind the Mask" was covered by Michael Jackson. YMO was formed by Haruomi Hosono, Yukihiro Takahashi, and Ryuichi Sakamoto. The latter two sadly passed away this year.

As the overall trend in pop music changed, musicians associated with city pop were asked to provide songs for J-Pop idols such as Seiko Matsuda and Momoe Yamaguchi. As such songs were promoted on TV and radio, city pop has become popular.

This issue featured the origin of City Pop in the 70s and 80s.
City Pop had started by some artists who influenced foreign music. Then, it had spreaded along with TV and radio, occasionally techno-pop and Japanese idol songs.
In the next issue, we tell about "Shibuya-kei" in the 90s.

Next: What is City Pop? -2. Shibuya-kei-

Hot News -Tatsuro Yamashita Reissue LPs and Cassettes

Recently, as a result of the popularity of the 70s-80s city pop, Tatsuro Yamashita's reissues have started.
It is a very valuable chance to listen to his music because he rarely upload his music on music streaming service.

The basics of City Pop can be found in these 100 albums

Hitoshi Kurimoto selected 100 works for his book "The basics of City POP can be found in these 100 albums ("City Pop no Kihon" ga Kono 100 Mai de Wakaru!)"
Please check it out. *It includes items not in stock.

See more

Spotify Playlist

Information of Hitoshi Kurimoto

Hitoshi Kurimoto is a music and travel writer and music selector.
He began his writing career as a music writer while working for a record company. After leaving the company, he spent two years wandering around Central and South America, and after returning to Japan, he worked as a freelance writer for magazines and websites, and selected music for radio and in-flight broadcasts. After working as a booking manager at Billboard Live for about five years, he works as a freelance again.

The following article written by him explains the history of City Pop. https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-topics/g00631/a-guide-to-city-pop-the-soundtrack-for-japan%e2%80%99s-bubble-era-generation.html
Twitter: https://twitter.com/tabirhythm
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tabirhythm/