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City pop (Japanese: シティ・ポップ, Hepburn: shiti poppu) is a loosely defined form of Japanese pop music that emerged in the late 1970s and peaked in popularity during the 1980s.
- The City Pop Revolution. Happy End revolted against the divide between foreign rock ’n’ roll, thought by many to have been unsuitable for singing in the Japanese language, and kayokyoku, a sentimental style of Showa-era pop deemed more appropriate for the structure and tone of the Japanese language.
- Sugar Babe, ‘Songs’ (1975) (Niagara) Happy End opened the floodgates in terms of the potential of foreign music styles in the Japanese language but, until the mid-Seventies, that potential was mostly limited to blues rock and hard rock (sometimes termed the beginning of “New Music”).
- Haruomi Hosono / Shigeru Suzuki / Tatsuro Yamashita, ‘Pacific’ (1978) (CBS/Sony) The “New Music” and city pop artists of the 1970s and ’80s were the first generation of Japanese musicians to mature in a post-war Japan that was significantly under the influence of American pop culture.
- Tatsuro Yamashita, ‘For You’ (1982) (Air) Concerning the style of city pop informed by funk, boogie, doo wop and soul – that is, the strain left largely undriven by synthesizers- the early Eighties saw both its popular peak and some of its greatest works.
- Takeuchi Mariya 竹内 まりや. Variety vinyl album cover (1984) Image credit: @ss.record. Takeuchi Mariya released her first full-length album in 1978, followed by 5 other albums which were partially recorded in Los Angeles, with stars of that era such as David Foster.
- Yamashita Tatsuro 山下 達郎. Publicity poster for Yamashita Tatsuro’s live performances in 2019. Image credit: @lovebomb1970. Yamashita Tatsuro is married to Takeuchi Mariya and was part of a band called Sugar Babe, which disbanded in 1976.
- Anri 杏里. Timely!! vinyl album cover (1983) Image credit: @rat.rodders.33. Anri debuted in 1978 when she was just 17 years old. Her single, Cat’s Eye (1983), was one of the first Japanese pop songs to be used as an anime theme song.
- Ohashi Junko 大橋 純子. Simple Love vinyl album cover (1977) Image credit: @jt_city_pop. Despite debuting in 1974, it was not until 1977 that Junko rose to fame with her single, Simple Love.
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Listen to the Modern City Pop Essentials playlist on Apple Music. 41 Songs. Duration: 3 hours, 2 minutes.
Jan 30, 2019 · Русский. The Roots of the Genre. City pop’s sophisticated sound, polished melodies, and lyrics of mature, urban romance have been making a comeback. And the Japanese genre’s revival has...
