One of the most apt comments about city pop in one of those playlists: "Things really have changed. These songs make you nostalgic for things that you did not even experience."
I would argue that the city pop 'sound' never really went away. It just evolved with the times. Artists who were heavy in the scene, if they were still releasing music into the 90s, continued making records that perhaps had more contemporary influences like New Jack Swing or Shibuya-kei. But themes of city life, beach for example, never went away.
I agree-although, I think the sound went through such a rapid evolution that the popular musical aesthetic was markedly different after the early 90's. There are also several revivalist groups that are actively trying to cultivate the sound of this particular era(75-90). I also agree that the golden age of City Pop left its mark on the future of Japanese pop-this can make things a little blurry at the borders. That's the elusive thing about City Pop, though, it's almost a meta descriptor of genre like Motown.
One of the most common responses from an American Bandstand segment called "Rate a Record" was "it has a good beat and it's easy to dance to." City Pop songs flow like a gentle stream. People with no dancing skills can groove to City Pop. If dancing is really not one's style, people can have an intimate conversation without yelling. As contradictory as it sounds, Japan created great date music. My first City Pop CD was 1997's Koi from Toko Furuuchi because getting Japanese contemporary music is difficult to get in the US. BTW, a hybrid of City Pop was contemporary Hawaiian Pop of the late 70s and early 80s from bands like The Fabulous Krush and The Ali'is.
What an interesting perspective! I hadn't thought of that. I have found some city pop that is intentionally dance-oriented, but you're right a lot of it is a loungier, more intimate kind of pop music. I'll definitely check out that Hawaiian scene as The Aliis ring a distant bell. Thanks for watching and commenting!
I never paid the attention into the genre until back in 2020, that TH-cam recommended me a music of the name "Plastic Love" by Mariya Takeuchi, the rest is history.....
City pop came to an end when the energy and optimism which inspired it came to an end. And that happened when Japan's economic boom came to an end for good, thanks to a series of economic measures forced upon the country - the Plaza Accord, Voluntary Export Restraints; and other trade restrictions which, taken together, had a far more lasting effect than the off-cited real estate crash of '89. The Japanese had 40 good years when they could look forward to the future. When it became apparent that those times weren't ever coming back, their mindset changed, for good.
Great video!!! I love city pop. One other thing that I think draws a lot of people to it, is its similarity to video game music. Its just great music to have in the background while also being very nostalgic. I was on a video game sound track kick during covid and it led me to city pop. I'm currently into Sadao Watanabe, he makes me nostalgic for snes games I never played. City pop also got mixed into the vinyl resurgence. I know I always had trouble locating Yamashita albums online, so I went out and bought the vinyl remastered ones, so that youtube cant take Yamashita away from me again!
Thank you!! Interesting take, I hadn't thought of that. I hear a lot of Masayoshi Takanaka in mariokart themes aha I was wondering where I had heard that name! Watanabe's Round Trip is a great album-features Chick Corea on keys. I haven't had a record player since I moved to Central America-miss it every single day. I would love to be spinning some Yamashita right now!
Thank you for your comment! I'll definitely check out those recommendations. I'm a big fan of Japanese jazz, funk, and fusion from that era, but I haven't listened to a lot of rock yet-so it's useful to have some names to look for!
This video is so well created and has a very personal perspective on the topic. I hope you're ready to blow up on TH-cam! I can't wait for your next video.
The correct way to distinguish City Pop, actually started in the mid-'70s when New Music already booming. For example, it was written in Soryo Tomoko's Obi "City Lights by The Moonlight". City Pop is one of the microgenres under New Music『ニューミュージック』 from the family genre of Kayokyoku『歌謡曲』, and it revolutionized AOR style after Mood-Kayo 『ムード歌謡』. The marketing term already started in the mid-'70s as City Pop and City Music. There was a radio show called Tobidase! Pop City, was mentioned in Let's Go Young, Oricon Weekly, and The Best Ten. But the true music of city pop isn't what this generation emphasizes for 80s Japanese music. For example, it isn't about the album artwork. As you mentioned at 5:36 and 7:25 not all of them are city pop, Besides Mari Iijima, Kikuchi Momoko, and Matsuda Seiko are Idol Kayoukyoku 『アイドル歌謡曲』not city pop (and there is no such thing as Idol-city pop, it was artificially (or peer pressured) by internet era). Once again City Pop is a microgenre for genre style Adult Oriented music in the style of lyrics and ballads. It was a lot but I will give you an example of true city pop based on the 70s and 80s. - Minami Yoshitaka, known as a city pop singer, for example, mentioned in 1982 (Showa 57) in Oricon Weekly as Sophisticated City Pop. - Inagaki Junichi, for example in omnibus extension from Monthly Heibon magazine 1982 (Showa 57) inside New Hit Album "New Music Best Hit Folk & Rock Song Book". - S.Kiyoataka and Omega Tribe (1986), for example, was mentioned in Monthly Myojo 1986 (Showa 61) magazine under extension omnibus of Young Song, as "New wind of City Pop". - Tatsuhiko Yamamoto, mentioned by the host in Let's Go Young, broadcasted 1982 (Showa 57). by Tagawa Yosuke "Who are City Pop singer?" There was a lot but I am too lazy to type it in English (not my major language). After you know the singer what I mentioned above and dig deeper, maybe you will know the true music of city pop.
What an insightful and well-researched comment! Glad to see someone is as obsessive over genre definitions as I am! This serves as a great timeline for some of the first contemporary uses of the term City Pop. I love the study of genre origins, especially the intersection of the actual musical style as it develops and its broader cultural ontology. In musicology(I'm not a musicologist, but I have studied musicology academically to an admittingly pedestrian degree) genre is not always defined historically-although there is still frothing contention over a strong definition of genre in general. In this video I am a prisoner of the colloquial. The definition of City Pop seems to have gone through several rounds of renegotian. One of which certainly occurred in the early 2000's with music writers like Yutaka Kimura who were looking back at music from this period and finding commonalities in the larger musical cannon of the 70's and 80's. With the influence of these cultural critics and music writers, the City Pop "Tent" certainly grew to include music that wouldn't orinally have been referred to as such. This negotiation process is important to how we understand genre in everyday life-but does this, or rather, should this be part of our categorization? I think so. I like Pablo Mendoza-Halliday's breakdown of genre, in which he bridges different perspectives one can have about genre itself-is it a cognitive category, simply a taxonomic class, or a part of a cultural unit? For Mendoza-Halliday they are a cycle that can lead to the transformation and reconfiguration of genre. I thought about sticking to a more historical construction for City Pop(at least in the historical context section) but felt it might undermine my role as an evangelist of the music itself. I also didnt want to catagorize the renegotion of the genre that is happening right now (the city pop craze on the internet)as somehow impure or ruining the original taxonomic understanding of the genre. Especially with the understanding that conceptions and limits of genre can and often do form retroactively. Country music, disco, soooo many sub-genres of Jazz. City Pop has taken on a broader meaning among western and Japanese listeners-and it seems like this happened in phases-some of which occured before our current internet-based boom. Which as a fan can be frustrating at times, because the historical components which helped form a certain genre can get smoothed over or even ignored. Something I think I am at least partly guilty of in this video. Also, you may have already read it(judging by your fantastic knowledge of the genre and its history!) but I'd highly recommend the article "Intermediality and the discursive construction of popular music genres: the case of ‘Japanese City Pop’" by Moritz Sommet. I feel like it makes for a good bridge between our perspectives! Anyway, I could go on about genre and its many understandings for a boring amount of time! Thanks for watching the video and contributing to the conversation!
@@CharcuterieSound Well... Thank you :D Actually, I am not obsessive about this genre, I am just an ordinary Showa Retro and Showa Kayo fan. But this topic/trend or virality got my notice since my friend defined the Onyanko Club as city pop and after that, my friends came to my house to see my Showa-era magazines and consult with me deeper about Showa Era. I already read Moritz Sommet's paper since one of my friends asked me about his article. (another example by Van Paugam, some of Vice and Pitchfork music journalists). This made me face-palming myself to read like... "Where the hell did they get this information?". Turns out their references are based on the Heisei-era media and their own feeling. hey "...car stereo music", "genre of bubble era", "It is the 80s and Japan. so it is city pop", "Look! palm trees, orange tone, and purple shadow", "It remixes by Night Tempo which is now city pop" Well... It's getting out of hand. When I came back to my regular kayokyoku bar in Osaka (right before COVID in 2019) we were making small bets between customers and the barkeep. The owner got annoyed with this "city-pop" thing which led him to say, "This city pop! That city pop! What else? Masashi Sada City Pop?". Me and my friends started the challenge, "Probably Enka will be City Popped next" and laughed. Turns out the wishes do come true. In 2023 there was a compilation album by Universal Music called City Pop Essentials Enka. Sadly the bar closed due to the impact of COVID in 2020. But we still mocking him via Line group. Sorry for chit-chatting, Actually, I want to tell more about the wide variety of hougaku. From ryukoka, entering the Meiji Restoration (which started the rebellious genre of enka because yougaku influenced) but it led to the Kayokyoku through Taisho to Showa era. It is hard to type properly in English (not my major language). Here I have some video (just uploaded for you) that used to get terminated by some music journalist idiot I debated on the internet (maybe it will affect their credibility), common by me haha... especially my comment got deleted by whom-they-called-themself as city pop expert lol. th-cam.com/video/qR8krOz5lG4/w-d-xo.htmlsi=Zvb4BwPRuHgRJRrA th-cam.com/video/59RzCDZEp14/w-d-xo.htmlsi=1gXtxd2uNuBuP9Ki
Well, I definitely won't delete your comment! Sorry to hear about your regular bar closing-I'm still mourning the loss of my favorite pub. I see what you're saying about the expanding definition of City Pop. That can be frustrating-the people making that enka compilation are probably just cashing in on a trend. My point, and I think Sommet's point as well is that these Heisei period writers began to influence the definition of City Pop. A legacy we still live with today. I'm not an expert though, just a guy who likes music. I appreciate you answering so thoroughly in a language not native to you. Your chit chat has me excited to dig deeper and learn more about the rich history of different Japanese musical styles! I will check out those videos and sink deeper into my growing showa era nerdom.
Hello. After listening to shit-ton of City Pop for years and as a huge fan of Yamashita and Mariya Takeuchi, I stumbled upon your video and by the end of it you had me in tears because I finally understood why I love it so much and almost have and obsession with it. I'm the kind of person who (unfortunately I would say) prefers to live in fantasy rather than in reality. I spend a great part of my days daydreaming and thinking about different scenarios where I don't have nothing to worry about, where I just live my life without having any fears and of course having a blast with my family and friends. Everything is already resolved, my life is fulfilled, and that is exactly what City Pop evokes in me, like some kind of a very powerful booster to my fantasies. Sadly for me, I live with constant fear and anxiety. The expectations about my country (Mexico) are not very good, every year it is harder to make a living here and constant issues like inflation, insecurity or environmental crisis just seem to grow up more and more to the point I am no longer sure if I will have a bright future like my parents or my grandparents did back in the day. So yes, I do consider listening to City Pop as a form of "escapism" of my life whose expectations seems to vanish more and more in the horizon everyday. Still, I try to do my best everyday, I'm far from being perfect and I make a lot of mistakes (I will keep making them until death) but I try to go to bed everyday with the mindset that I did something good this day, even if it was small and that everything that I do everyday will hopefully give me that fulfilled live I ever whished for. I still have faith in humanity and in God that there will be a good outcome for all of us. I really liked your video and hopefully a lot more people will watch and get to know more about this fascinating music genre that everyone should take a listen to at least once in their lifetimes, may God bless you and thanks for making this great content, I hope to watch more of you in the future. Greetings!
Thank you for your moving and courageously vulnerable comment. I can only speak for myself-and my own experience, but I've always found escapism in moderation to be a healthy coping mechanism. That being said, I can always tell when I'm slipping a little too far into fantasy. Connecting with the small pleasures in life has helped immensely, but I also try and remind myself that change and progress can be incremental, slow, and non-linear. Hope you're having a good week, you got this! Cheers!
@@CharcuterieSoundThanks, by the way, I forgot to mention the fact that Yamashita played the guitar in Sato's "Say Goodbye", which could be the reason why that song has that "funkier" rhythm to it compared to the rest of the songs in the album.
Excellent video! I recently moved to a place that's close to a few very good 2nd hand record stores. So I have been researching different music genres hoping to better make use of these neighborhood stores, which is how I came across your channel. Your videos are very helpful and well-made, I hope your channel continues to grow and reach more attention as you totally deserve :)
3:21 Harry Hosono and Tatsuro Yamashita started to write their own songs and tend to more western style music after watching the famous Budokan concert in 1966. Thus the Happy End was born.
Nice video - I don't know how about 12 months ago I started hearing City Pop - Maria Takeuchi - plastic love has become the song of my marriage. Flying Beagle also is listened to. Nice work new subscriber here.
I think that Plastic Love is how a lot of people are introduced to City Pop, such an ear worm. I plan on doing a Japanese Jazz and Fusion video in the future, and Flying Beagle would make a great recommendation!
This is true, but some Japanese sources do start to use the term "City Pop" -especially later in the 80s. Seems to have started as a marketing term. Also, intrestingly enough, some sources I found from the mid 80s were still using the term Kayōkyoku to describe japanese pop music in general.
great video! i personally got into city pop from a japanese voice actress who debuted as solo artist with a city pop style on her music, i enjoyed them so that led me to looking for more of the genre. I'll definitely check some of the recommendations you left that i'm not familiar with yet.
@@CharcuterieSound Her name is Ai Furihata (降旗愛). She has some original songs as well as covers of some popular City Pop songs, so i got engaged form them
What a great video !!! I did notice about the Japanese city Pop albums they use of all the elements of the sea,beach,palm trees convertible cars and some the contemporary buildings. Now I can totally tell 1980's was something there in Japan. I was born in 1990 and grew up in Taiwan. I do still have some memories about the sounds of Japan. I thought the type of the music called Japanese Disco before I learned the true name called City Pop 😆 I prefer the origin vinyl records personally. And now, more and more showa music was perfectly retro with future funk, lofi, and many kind of styles. They all bring up my days and I crash on them. ❤
That's awesome! That's funny because there is also some great Japanese disco-plus, disco didn't die the way it did in the West, so you still hear its influence well into the 80s(which is super cool to me). What was the Taiwanese music scene like when you were a kid?
I'll have to check them out! Do you have any other Brazilian artists that the rest of the world should know about? I love Brazillian music, but I feel like an outsider, just scratching the surface.
Japanese people who like MPB pass by 😀 Brazil is the country in the world where the largest number of Japanese people live, other than Japan, so that may be another reason.🤔 Also, Ed Motta's album ``AOR'' released in 2014 was originally titled ``Adult Oriented Rock,'' which was coined in Japan to describe a genre such as Bobby Caldwell.😊
I’ve already commented but you did some extensive research to put this together. I can tell it was a labor of love though. But you did a very detailed time line of the initial start and the influential’s of the genre. I actually wonder if it might come back around in an updated second wave. Certainly creative musicians in Japan are aware of the new found focus on City Pop.
Thank you! And there is somewhat of a revival happening. Some artists(including Japanese artists) are mixing city pop into dance music which is usually referred to as 'Future Funk', while others are making more faithful nods to that era with fully original music. Only time will tell what happens next!
Would love a video on asian hip-hop in general, since some people only see it in only of terms of Kpop and Jpop (not that it is a bad genre to listen too), if you are interested.
That's a cool idea! I have to admit, Korean and Japanese hip-hop is a blind spot for me-I've started to see more of it recommended though, so it's only a matter of time before I fall deep into that wormhole.
Great video! The only problem with city pop is that it's so hard to get on streaming services and even on bandcamp. Also - what do you think of midnight cruisin' by Kingo Hamada?
Right? There are so many artists I'd love to loop into my cooking playlists aha. Vinyl is the way for a lot of these groups, it seems-makes me wish I had lugged my record player when I moved abroad! That's actually one of the very first city pop albums I discovered! It's so groovy. I should have recommended it!
Is city pop a part of the post disco genre influenced by the brit jazz-funk wave lynx level 42 shakatak ? Anyway a great contribution in the very soul of music inspired by the metropolitan blues
Listen to it trips u with a nostalgic reminiscing memories that u never had, specially the xmas song of yamashita now if ur living in u.s it will replace the all time xmas of mariah carey and stick with citypop xmas
Thanks for the recommendation, as Christmas songs go, that one's pretty great! I'm not American, but I'm pretty sure the entire English speaking world has heard that Mariah song a few too many times...
8 หลายเดือนก่อน
Nice documentary. Had to share that youtube's automatic stranslation misheard the genre as "city poop"
It's a shame that a documentary talking about music did not feature even a short clip of the music talked about. Anyone who has no idea of what city pop is about still have no idea of what this music is about after watching this documentary
Unfortunately, because of this platform's copyright stringency, I am prevented from playing examples of the music-which can result in a copyright strike. My hope is that with some insight and analysis, I can still add some value-Rolling Stone magazine is a notoriously quiet medium, but they still manage to talk about music in a compelling way! Still, I wish I could include even short audio samples with some peace of mind. Thanks for the comment!
I find that being in my late 60s. Living in Southern California and coming of age to Disco music and that scene. Hearing Tokyo/City pop made me think hold on why have we not heard this and why did it not hit here? Well from a timeline perspective Disco was slowly fading here kind of at the time this music hit Japan. Maybe I’m not exactly right on the timeframe but it’s like a missing piece here in the US. Myself as a baby boomer see it as a more complex and intricate extension of disco. It’s perplexing in a sense that it hits here about 40 years later. Also funny it’s a Gen Z and Baby Boomer thing generally speaking. Other groups seem to not latch on to it as much.
Thank you for your perspective on that period! I find it interesting that disco died in the west, but continued going strong in some parts of Europe, Asia and Africa-even morphing into new more hybrid styles like Italo Disco in Italy. It's kind of like a parallel world where Disco Demolition night and "Disco Sucks" bumper stickers never happened!
Maybe-has the fast tempo, the four on the floor, and the party-all-night ambiance. I don't really know too much about techno's origins, actually, so I'll have to look into that!
Please listen; covers of Plastic Love; ALICE (CITYBOSSA), FRIDAY NIGHT PLANS (live at studio tanta), AGA 'the RED video' in Japanese, Cantonese, and English. Or by; HAYOUNG (OF FROMIS _ 9).
Just made me laugh a little when you showed the synth and drum machine, because they are from two American companies, probably should have gone for something from Korg, Roland or Yamaha. I am enjoying the video however, so thanks for this
This guy knows his gear! Good catch! You do hear OB-8s and Linndrum stuff on Japanese pop tracks, but you'll definitely find more DX7s and the like. Thanks for the watch!
@@CharcuterieSound Very interesting video, had not heard of City Pop until about a year ago and I had no idea it had made a come back or the history so a really great watch thanks
When I went to Japan last september, I bought Junko Ohashi's vinyl album "Magical" as a souvenir from Japan. I really like city pop because it's a music that makes me feel different things from what I'm used to with other types of music.
Thanks so much. Those kind words mean a lot at this stage! The train doesn't stop here, I should have a new video out this coming week. Really appreciate the early sub-won't forget it! That's funny-in my first draft, I had a bunch of J-Jazz fusion acts like Caseopea, Takanaka, and Himiko Kikuchi in the recos. I realized pretty quickly that those acts deserve their own video. I'll definitely do a follow-up at some point focusing on jazz fusion and funk!
to me call it "Japanese City-Pop" is kind of redundant because City-Pop (as a big container of different music genres and the historical context) is exclusively Japanese. Other countries experienced different contexts but due to laziness now everything that sounds remotely familiar like Japanese music from mid-70s and 80s is called City-Pop. I personally refuse the labels "Korean, Latin, French, Chinese, anywhere City-Pop"
I see your point. We are prisoners of the colloquial. The common understanding of City Pop has shifted a little, with some labeling 80s music from various countries as ______ City Pop. Although, it's worth mentioning that naming genres retroactively is nothing new. I think the City Pop moniker, as applied to other countries' music, is less about laziness and more about marketing on the part of the playlist uploader. Which is funny because the term City Pop began as marketing lingo. Personally, I chose to reference "Japanese City Pop" to add more semantic value for those new to this type of music. That being said, you'd never catch me being redundant. That being said, you'd never catch me being redundant. That being.... ;)
@@CharcuterieSound Don't get me wrong. I absolutely love your video... About 3 years and I created a FB group about Japanese music called "City-Pop and More Japanese Music Gems" with a Japanese friend who lived the Showa Era and had the chance to see live and meet some artists (Miki Imai, Yumi Matsutoya, amongst others) and we had to add the "only Japanese music" warning. Otherwise, it could happen like in other groups in which posts like "look guys, here's a compilation of Greek City-Pop!". Yeah, we're quite strict but that allowed the keep quality and give it a more Japanese perspective instead of just looking it from the Western point of view. Most of our top collaborators are Japanese, so I feel happy about it
That makes sense-moderating anything like that requires limits. Happens to me all the time when I think I've found a good bebop playlist, and then all of the sudden I'm hearing smooth jazz tracks.
I don't live in the USA, but you can definitely get a lot of this stuff on vinyl, cd, and, to a lesser extent, tape from internet retailers(although sometimes for silly prices). I've also heard that record stores in San Fran can be the best spots to find city pop records. But it's hard or impossible for some artists to buy digital copies. Thankfully, there are more artists that are putting their stuff on major streaming platforms these days - Takanaka has his whole discography on Spotify 🙌
Please listen Vinyl album A long vacation 大瀧詠一ＥＩＩＣＨＩ ＯＨＴＡＫＩ,蒼夜曲セレナーデ serenade single version and live video 尾崎亜美 Ami Ozaki great song serenade singleversion Base line great.livevideo piano only greatsongserenade
Well done intro to the genre! I'm glad you referenced the genre's inception, back during the "new music"/kayōkyoku era. I definitely would say those aren't very deep cuts, not that the songs on those albums aren't great, but I think there are far more interesting songs/albums out there. But it's good to get people interested, then they can dig deeper if they see it fit. It's just how I started 10 years ago by listening to Taeko Ōnuki and EPO.
Thank you! Definitely could have spent more time on kayōkyoku, but that could easily be its own video. Exactly, one day you're listening to Plastic Love, and the next you're scouring eBay for Tin Pan Alley bootlegs at 4am.
@@CharcuterieSound If you feel like diving in to an artist's discography that you might've not heard of, I really recommend you try Hiromi Iwasaki. I've posted a few of her LPs on my channel (she has a vast discography). She did quite a few citypop gems in the 70s, then weirdly switched to a more "new music" vibe at the beginning of the 80s. She also did some collaborations with LA artists witch really double down on AOR and soft rock that's ever present in citypop (Wishes - coming soon to the channel; and I Won't Break Your Heart - already on there). Same with Ami Ozaki, whom collaborated with David Foster on two of her albums - Hot Baby and Air Kiss, both on the channel :3
I didn't recognize her name, but now that I've seen the album artwork for Wishes, I've definitely ran into it somewhere. That sounds fascinating though-new subscriber incoming 👌
@@CharcuterieSound Ahoy there, welcome on board! It's safe to say you've also gained a subscriber here after watching your videos, keep up the great work! :3
![Chris Langan - The Interview THEY Didn't Want You To See - CTMU [Full Version; Timestamps]](/img/n.gif)
I'm Japanese, and I'm amazed at how well you researched the musical and social situation when City Pop was born in Japan.
Thank you! I really appreciate that!
One of the most apt comments about city pop in one of those playlists: "Things really have changed. These songs make you nostalgic for things that you did not even experience."
Nostalgia is a funny thing. It's a comfy feeling. Even with my own memories, I wonder how much I'm seeing through rose tinted glasses.
I’ve been hooked on Miki Matsubara, Anri, Mariyah Takeuchi, and Tetsuro Yamashita songs the last few months. Thanks for this video.
Аналогично!🎉❤ Я тоже кроме них уже никого и не слушаю.
I love japanese city pop before it came back .. good it come back to trends, is great music, I hope lots of people enjoy it again
I would argue that the city pop 'sound' never really went away. It just evolved with the times. Artists who were heavy in the scene, if they were still releasing music into the 90s, continued making records that perhaps had more contemporary influences like New Jack Swing or Shibuya-kei. But themes of city life, beach for example, never went away.
I agree-although, I think the sound went through such a rapid evolution that the popular musical aesthetic was markedly different after the early 90's. There are also several revivalist groups that are actively trying to cultivate the sound of this particular era(75-90). I also agree that the golden age of City Pop left its mark on the future of Japanese pop-this can make things a little blurry at the borders. That's the elusive thing about City Pop, though, it's almost a meta descriptor of genre like Motown.
One of the most common responses from an American Bandstand segment called "Rate a Record" was "it has a good beat and it's easy to dance to." City Pop songs flow like a gentle stream. People with no dancing skills can groove to City Pop. If dancing is really not one's style, people can have an intimate conversation without yelling. As contradictory as it sounds, Japan created great date music.
My first City Pop CD was 1997's Koi from Toko Furuuchi because getting Japanese contemporary music is difficult to get in the US. BTW, a hybrid of City Pop was contemporary Hawaiian Pop of the late 70s and early 80s from bands like The Fabulous Krush and The Ali'is.
What an interesting perspective! I hadn't thought of that. I have found some city pop that is intentionally dance-oriented, but you're right a lot of it is a loungier, more intimate kind of pop music. I'll definitely check out that Hawaiian scene as The Aliis ring a distant bell. Thanks for watching and commenting!
How this channel has fewer than 500 subs is beyond me. Great content!
Thank you! Maybe because I live in Central America? Not sure... but appreciate the kind words!
Plastic love literally just popped into my feed one day. That was a great day.
I never paid the attention into the genre until back in 2020, that TH-cam recommended me a music of the name "Plastic Love" by Mariya Takeuchi, the rest is history.....
Plastic Love has introduced so many people in the west to this awesome genre/era of music-so cool
City pop came to an end when the energy and optimism which inspired it came to an end. And that happened when Japan's economic boom came to an end for good, thanks to a series of economic measures forced upon the country - the Plaza Accord, Voluntary Export Restraints; and other trade restrictions which, taken together, had a far more lasting effect than the off-cited real estate crash of '89. The Japanese had 40 good years when they could look forward to the future. When it became apparent that those times weren't ever coming back, their mindset changed, for good.
Love stuff like this.
Great video!!! I love city pop. One other thing that I think draws a lot of people to it, is its similarity to video game music. Its just great music to have in the background while also being very nostalgic. I was on a video game sound track kick during covid and it led me to city pop. I'm currently into Sadao Watanabe, he makes me nostalgic for snes games I never played.
City pop also got mixed into the vinyl resurgence. I know I always had trouble locating Yamashita albums online, so I went out and bought the vinyl remastered ones, so that youtube cant take Yamashita away from me again!
Thank you!! Interesting take, I hadn't thought of that. I hear a lot of Masayoshi Takanaka in mariokart themes aha
I was wondering where I had heard that name! Watanabe's Round Trip is a great album-features Chick Corea on keys.
I haven't had a record player since I moved to Central America-miss it every single day. I would love to be spinning some Yamashita right now!
海外の皆さんはCity POPが好きな方多いですが、日本の80年代はCityPOP以外にもとても良い音楽があります。
大沢誉志幸
佐野元春
横山輝一
池田聡
稲垣潤一
日本の80年代ロックなら
BOØWY
BARBEE BOYS
サザンオールスターズ
とか他に良い曲沢山あるから、Spotifyでも聴けるから是非聴いて欲しいな(^^)
Thank you for your comment! I'll definitely check out those recommendations. I'm a big fan of Japanese jazz, funk, and fusion from that era, but I haven't listened to a lot of rock yet-so it's useful to have some names to look for!
This video is so well created and has a very personal perspective on the topic. I hope you're ready to blow up on TH-cam! I can't wait for your next video.
Thanks for the kind words-glad you enjoyed the video! Working on it!
I really enjoyed the commentary on how this genre reflected on the optimism of the time in Japan. Well done, dude.
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!
Great video! I love CItypop so much
The correct way to distinguish City Pop, actually started in the mid-'70s when New Music already booming. For example, it was written in Soryo Tomoko's Obi "City Lights by The Moonlight". City Pop is one of the microgenres under New Music『ニューミュージック』 from the family genre of Kayokyoku『歌謡曲』, and it revolutionized AOR style after Mood-Kayo 『ムード歌謡』. The marketing term already started in the mid-'70s as City Pop and City Music. There was a radio show called Tobidase! Pop City, was mentioned in Let's Go Young, Oricon Weekly, and The Best Ten. But the true music of city pop isn't what this generation emphasizes for 80s Japanese music. For example, it isn't about the album artwork. As you mentioned at 5:36 and 7:25 not all of them are city pop, Besides Mari Iijima, Kikuchi Momoko, and Matsuda Seiko are Idol Kayoukyoku 『アイドル歌謡曲』not city pop (and there is no such thing as Idol-city pop, it was artificially (or peer pressured) by internet era). Once again City Pop is a microgenre for genre style Adult Oriented music in the style of lyrics and ballads. It was a lot but I will give you an example of true city pop based on the 70s and 80s.
- Minami Yoshitaka, known as a city pop singer, for example, mentioned in 1982 (Showa 57) in Oricon Weekly as Sophisticated City Pop.
- Inagaki Junichi, for example in omnibus extension from Monthly Heibon magazine 1982 (Showa 57) inside New Hit Album "New Music Best Hit Folk & Rock Song Book".
- S.Kiyoataka and Omega Tribe (1986), for example, was mentioned in Monthly Myojo 1986 (Showa 61) magazine under extension omnibus of Young Song, as "New wind of City Pop".
- Tatsuhiko Yamamoto, mentioned by the host in Let's Go Young, broadcasted 1982 (Showa 57). by Tagawa Yosuke "Who are City Pop singer?"
There was a lot but I am too lazy to type it in English (not my major language). After you know the singer what I mentioned above and dig deeper, maybe you will know the true music of city pop.
What an insightful and well-researched comment! Glad to see someone is as obsessive over genre definitions as I am!
This serves as a great timeline for some of the first contemporary uses of the term City Pop.
I love the study of genre origins, especially the intersection of the actual musical style as it develops and its broader cultural ontology.
In musicology(I'm not a musicologist, but I have studied musicology academically to an admittingly pedestrian degree) genre is not always defined historically-although there is still frothing contention over a strong definition of genre in general.
In this video I am a prisoner of the colloquial. The definition of City Pop seems to have gone through several rounds of renegotian. One of which certainly occurred in the early 2000's with music writers like Yutaka Kimura who were looking back at music from this period and finding commonalities in the larger musical cannon of the 70's and 80's.
With the influence of these cultural critics and music writers, the City Pop "Tent" certainly grew to include music that wouldn't orinally have been referred to as such.
This negotiation process is important to how we understand genre in everyday life-but does this, or rather, should this be part of our categorization? I think so.
I like Pablo Mendoza-Halliday's breakdown of genre, in which he bridges different perspectives one can have about genre itself-is it a cognitive category, simply a taxonomic class, or a part of a cultural unit? For Mendoza-Halliday they are a cycle that can lead to the transformation and reconfiguration of genre.
I thought about sticking to a more historical construction for City Pop(at least in the historical context section) but felt it might undermine my role as an evangelist of the music itself. I also didnt want to catagorize the renegotion of the genre that is happening right now (the city pop craze on the internet)as somehow impure or ruining the original taxonomic understanding of the genre.
Especially with the understanding that conceptions and limits of genre can and often do form retroactively. Country music, disco, soooo many sub-genres of Jazz.
City Pop has taken on a broader meaning among western and Japanese listeners-and it seems like this happened in phases-some of which occured before our current internet-based boom.
Which as a fan can be frustrating at times, because the historical components which helped form a certain genre can get smoothed over or even ignored. Something I think I am at least partly guilty of in this video.
Also,
you may have already read it(judging by your fantastic knowledge of the genre and its history!) but I'd highly recommend the article "Intermediality and the discursive construction of popular music genres: the case of ‘Japanese City Pop’" by Moritz Sommet. I feel like it makes for a good bridge between our perspectives!
Anyway, I could go on about genre and its many understandings for a boring amount of time! Thanks for watching the video and contributing to the conversation!
@@CharcuterieSound Well... Thank you :D
Actually, I am not obsessive about this genre, I am just an ordinary Showa Retro and Showa Kayo fan. But this topic/trend or virality got my notice since my friend defined the Onyanko Club as city pop and after that, my friends came to my house to see my Showa-era magazines and consult with me deeper about Showa Era. I already read Moritz Sommet's paper since one of my friends asked me about his article. (another example by Van Paugam, some of Vice and Pitchfork music journalists). This made me face-palming myself to read like... "Where the hell did they get this information?". Turns out their references are based on the Heisei-era media and their own feeling.
hey "...car stereo music", "genre of bubble era", "It is the 80s and Japan. so it is city pop", "Look! palm trees, orange tone, and purple shadow", "It remixes by Night Tempo which is now city pop"
Well... It's getting out of hand.
When I came back to my regular kayokyoku bar in Osaka (right before COVID in 2019) we were making small bets between customers and the barkeep. The owner got annoyed with this "city-pop" thing which led him to say, "This city pop! That city pop! What else? Masashi Sada City Pop?". Me and my friends started the challenge, "Probably Enka will be City Popped next" and laughed. Turns out the wishes do come true.
In 2023 there was a compilation album by Universal Music called City Pop Essentials Enka. Sadly the bar closed due to the impact of COVID in 2020. But we still mocking him via Line group.
Sorry for chit-chatting, Actually, I want to tell more about the wide variety of hougaku. From ryukoka, entering the Meiji Restoration (which started the rebellious genre of enka because yougaku influenced) but it led to the Kayokyoku through Taisho to Showa era.
It is hard to type properly in English (not my major language).
Here I have some video (just uploaded for you) that used to get terminated by some music journalist idiot I debated on the internet (maybe it will affect their credibility), common by me haha... especially my comment got deleted by whom-they-called-themself as city pop expert lol.
th-cam.com/video/qR8krOz5lG4/w-d-xo.htmlsi=Zvb4BwPRuHgRJRrA
th-cam.com/video/59RzCDZEp14/w-d-xo.htmlsi=1gXtxd2uNuBuP9Ki
Well, I definitely won't delete your comment!
Sorry to hear about your regular bar closing-I'm still mourning the loss of my favorite pub.
I see what you're saying about the expanding definition of City Pop. That can be frustrating-the people making that enka compilation are probably just cashing in on a trend.
My point, and I think Sommet's point as well is that these Heisei period writers began to influence the definition of City Pop. A legacy we still live with today.
I'm not an expert though, just a guy who likes music.
I appreciate you answering so thoroughly in a language not native to you.
Your chit chat has me excited to dig deeper and learn more about the rich history of different Japanese musical styles!
I will check out those videos and sink deeper into my growing showa era nerdom.
Hello. After listening to shit-ton of City Pop for years and as a huge fan of Yamashita and Mariya Takeuchi, I stumbled upon your video and by the end of it you had me in tears because I finally understood why I love it so much and almost have and obsession with it.
I'm the kind of person who (unfortunately I would say) prefers to live in fantasy rather than in reality. I spend a great part of my days daydreaming and thinking about different scenarios where I don't have nothing to worry about, where I just live my life without having any fears and of course having a blast with my family and friends. Everything is already resolved, my life is fulfilled, and that is exactly what City Pop evokes in me, like some kind of a very powerful booster to my fantasies.
Sadly for me, I live with constant fear and anxiety. The expectations about my country (Mexico) are not very good, every year it is harder to make a living here and constant issues like inflation, insecurity or environmental crisis just seem to grow up more and more to the point I am no longer sure if I will have a bright future like my parents or my grandparents did back in the day. So yes, I do consider listening to City Pop as a form of "escapism" of my life whose expectations seems to vanish more and more in the horizon everyday.
Still, I try to do my best everyday, I'm far from being perfect and I make a lot of mistakes (I will keep making them until death) but I try to go to bed everyday with the mindset that I did something good this day, even if it was small and that everything that I do everyday will hopefully give me that fulfilled live I ever whished for. I still have faith in humanity and in God that there will be a good outcome for all of us.
I really liked your video and hopefully a lot more people will watch and get to know more about this fascinating music genre that everyone should take a listen to at least once in their lifetimes, may God bless you and thanks for making this great content, I hope to watch more of you in the future.
Greetings!
Thank you for your moving and courageously vulnerable comment.
I can only speak for myself-and my own experience, but I've always found escapism in moderation to be a healthy coping mechanism. That being said, I can always tell when I'm slipping a little too far into fantasy.
Connecting with the small pleasures in life has helped immensely, but I also try and remind myself that change and progress can be incremental, slow, and non-linear.
Hope you're having a good week, you got this!
Cheers!
@@CharcuterieSoundThanks, by the way, I forgot to mention the fact that Yamashita played the guitar in Sato's "Say Goodbye", which could be the reason why that song has that "funkier" rhythm to it compared to the rest of the songs in the album.
Wow! I can't believe I didn't know that-I can totally hear it now!
Very interesting video. Thanks a bunch 👍
Glad you enjoyed it!
Excellent video! I recently moved to a place that's close to a few very good 2nd hand record stores. So I have been researching different music genres hoping to better make use of these neighborhood stores, which is how I came across your channel. Your videos are very helpful and well-made, I hope your channel continues to grow and reach more attention as you totally deserve :)
Thanks for the motivating comment, Jerry! There's nothing like flipping through the crates at a used record store-a great way to find forgotten gems.
3:21 Harry Hosono and Tatsuro Yamashita started to write their own songs and tend to more western style music after watching the famous Budokan concert in 1966. Thus the Happy End was born.
This channel deserves more subscribers!!! Very informative!
Thanks, Porco!
Make City Pop Great Again. 😚
Nice video presentation. 😇
Amazing video! Love this genre and great recommendations!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Perfect video!
Thank you!
Nice video - I don't know how about 12 months ago I started hearing City Pop - Maria Takeuchi - plastic love has become the song of my marriage. Flying Beagle also is listened to. Nice work new subscriber here.
I think that Plastic Love is how a lot of people are introduced to City Pop, such an ear worm. I plan on doing a Japanese Jazz and Fusion video in the future, and Flying Beagle would make a great recommendation!
BTW, "City Pop" was called "New Music" in Japan
This is true, but some Japanese sources do start to use the term "City Pop" -especially later in the 80s. Seems to have started as a marketing term. Also, intrestingly enough, some sources I found from the mid 80s were still using the term Kayōkyoku to describe japanese pop music in general.
great video! i personally got into city pop from a japanese voice actress who debuted as solo artist with a city pop style on her music, i enjoyed them so that led me to looking for more of the genre. I'll definitely check some of the recommendations you left that i'm not familiar with yet.
Thanks for the watch-hope you enjoy the listening! Who's that artist?
@@CharcuterieSound Her name is Ai Furihata (降旗愛). She has some original songs as well as covers of some popular City Pop songs, so i got engaged form them
夜明けのマイウェイ、パープルモンスーンとか、ラブスコールもいいですよ。
Great script, editing and mixing video
Thank you!
Takanaka is the goat. Maybe not strictly city pop but still the goat of music
Guy has an almost perfect discography.
Great channel and great documentary. TH-cam brought me here.
What a great video !!! I did notice about the Japanese city Pop albums they use of all the elements of the sea,beach,palm trees convertible cars and some the contemporary buildings. Now I can totally tell 1980's was something there in Japan. I was born in 1990 and grew up in Taiwan. I do still have some memories about the sounds of Japan. I thought the type of the music called Japanese Disco before I learned the true name called City Pop 😆
I prefer the origin vinyl records personally. And now, more and more showa music was perfectly retro with future funk, lofi, and many kind of styles. They all bring up my days and I crash on them. ❤
That's awesome! That's funny because there is also some great Japanese disco-plus, disco didn't die the way it did in the West, so you still hear its influence well into the 80s(which is super cool to me).
What was the Taiwanese music scene like when you were a kid?
Momoko Kikuchi- "Mystical Composer" & "Night Cruising"....two of the best city pop songs ever! Momo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Put some respect on Tetsuji Hayashi's name. He made all her songs, not including her time in RAMU
Great pod cast , very informative
Glad you enjoyed it!
It's funny because in Brazil we had similar kind of songs like Tim Maia and Jorge Ben. Similar vibes to City Pop.
I'll have to check them out! Do you have any other Brazilian artists that the rest of the world should know about? I love Brazillian music, but I feel like an outsider, just scratching the surface.
Japanese people who like MPB pass by 😀
Brazil is the country in the world where the largest number of Japanese people live, other than Japan, so that may be another reason.🤔
Also, Ed Motta's album ``AOR'' released in 2014 was originally titled ``Adult Oriented Rock,'' which was coined in Japan to describe a genre such as Bobby Caldwell.😊
"dream in the street" is my favorite
The first and last songs from this album are my favorite!
Great video!! Just found your channel man, just recently got into city pop and cant stop listening to it 😂😂. Good ol TH-cam algorithm
Yeah, once it gets its hooks in you it's hard to stop listening! Glad you enjoyed it!
I’ve already commented but you did some extensive research to put this together.
I can tell it was a labor of love though.
But you did a very detailed time line of the initial start and the influential’s of the genre.
I actually wonder if it might come back around in an updated second wave.
Certainly creative musicians in Japan are aware of the new found focus on City Pop.
Thank you! And there is somewhat of a revival happening. Some artists(including Japanese artists) are mixing city pop into dance music which is usually referred to as 'Future Funk', while others are making more faithful nods to that era with fully original music. Only time will tell what happens next!
NGERRRIII 🔥🔥🔥 this video is so good! Keep creating good video. Hope for your best!!!
Thank you!
Two big reasons: the musical skill of the musicians was top notch and also even if the lyrics are schmaltzy we wouldn't know.
Aha I've dug up a ton of translations, and the lyrics range from schmaltzy to profound!
Awesome video man, definitely one of the best intro to city pop videos I've come across
Thanks! Appreciate it, goosebumps!
Would love a video on asian hip-hop in general, since some people only see it in only of terms of Kpop and Jpop (not that it is a bad genre to listen too), if you are interested.
That's a cool idea! I have to admit, Korean and Japanese hip-hop is a blind spot for me-I've started to see more of it recommended though, so it's only a matter of time before I fall deep into that wormhole.
Guaro Cacique, well done
Claro que sí👌
You picked the right subject to get me to sub. How did you know???🎸
Great job!
Thank you! Great minds stink alike 🧠
Great video! The only problem with city pop is that it's so hard to get on streaming services and even on bandcamp. Also - what do you think of midnight cruisin' by Kingo Hamada?
Right? There are so many artists I'd love to loop into my cooking playlists aha. Vinyl is the way for a lot of these groups, it seems-makes me wish I had lugged my record player when I moved abroad!
That's actually one of the very first city pop albums I discovered! It's so groovy. I should have recommended it!
I love a lot of j music including city pop
Is city pop a part of the post disco genre influenced by the brit jazz-funk wave lynx level 42 shakatak ? Anyway a great contribution in the very soul of music inspired by the metropolitan blues
I'm not sure how much City Pop was influenced by that scene-but there's definitely a similarity there!
My journey with City Pop began with a Japanese artist who brought the genre sounds to Korean in recent years: YOKIKA. She's brilliant.
Listen to it trips u with a nostalgic reminiscing memories that u never had, specially the xmas song of yamashita now if ur living in u.s it will replace the all time xmas of mariah carey and stick with citypop xmas
Thanks for the recommendation, as Christmas songs go, that one's pretty great! I'm not American, but I'm pretty sure the entire English speaking world has heard that Mariah song a few too many times...
Nice documentary. Had to share that youtube's automatic stranslation misheard the genre as "city poop"
That's too funny!
It's a shame that a documentary talking about music did not feature even a short clip of the music talked about. Anyone who has no idea of what city pop is about still have no idea of what this music is about after watching this documentary
Unfortunately, because of this platform's copyright stringency, I am prevented from playing examples of the music-which can result in a copyright strike. My hope is that with some insight and analysis, I can still add some value-Rolling Stone magazine is a notoriously quiet medium, but they still manage to talk about music in a compelling way!
Still, I wish I could include even short audio samples with some peace of mind.
Thanks for the comment!
I find that being in my late 60s. Living in Southern California and coming of age to Disco music and that scene.
Hearing Tokyo/City pop made me think hold on why have we not heard this and why did it not hit here?
Well from a timeline perspective Disco was slowly fading here kind of at the time this music hit Japan.
Maybe I’m not exactly right on the timeframe but it’s like a missing piece here in the US.
Myself as a baby boomer see it as a more complex and intricate extension of disco.
It’s perplexing in a sense that it hits here about 40 years later.
Also funny it’s a Gen Z and Baby Boomer thing generally speaking. Other groups seem to not latch on to it as much.
Thank you for your perspective on that period! I find it interesting that disco died in the west, but continued going strong in some parts of Europe, Asia and Africa-even morphing into new more hybrid styles like Italo Disco in Italy. It's kind of like a parallel world where Disco Demolition night and "Disco Sucks" bumper stickers never happened!
@@CharcuterieSound I feel it evolved to a degree to techno.
Maybe-has the fast tempo, the four on the floor, and the party-all-night ambiance. I don't really know too much about techno's origins, actually, so I'll have to look into that!
@@william-uc2oyhouse
Google Translate tends to recognise city-pop as city-poop / city-UNKO in Japanese.
Oh no aha
Please listen; covers of Plastic Love; ALICE (CITYBOSSA), FRIDAY NIGHT PLANS (live at studio tanta), AGA 'the RED video' in Japanese, Cantonese, and English. Or by; HAYOUNG (OF FROMIS _ 9).
Checked out each one. I've decided I'd like to live at studio tanta.
Just made me laugh a little when you showed the synth and drum machine, because they are from two American companies, probably should have gone for something from Korg, Roland or Yamaha. I am enjoying the video however, so thanks for this
This guy knows his gear! Good catch! You do hear OB-8s and Linndrum stuff on Japanese pop tracks, but you'll definitely find more DX7s and the like. Thanks for the watch!
@@CharcuterieSound Very interesting video, had not heard of City Pop until about a year ago and I had no idea it had made a come back or the history so a really great watch thanks
When I went to Japan last september, I bought Junko Ohashi's vinyl album "Magical" as a souvenir from Japan. I really like city pop because it's a music that makes me feel different things from what I'm used to with other types of music.
That's a pretty rare and expensive album these days(at least where I live), I'd hold on to that one! Jealous!
@@CharcuterieSound I'll hold on to it for sure don't worry !
Damn man, I finished this video and was shocked to see only 64 subscribers (well, call it 65 now) and
Thanks so much. Those kind words mean a lot at this stage! The train doesn't stop here, I should have a new video out this coming week. Really appreciate the early sub-won't forget it!
That's funny-in my first draft, I had a bunch of J-Jazz fusion acts like Caseopea, Takanaka, and Himiko Kikuchi in the recos. I realized pretty quickly that those acts deserve their own video. I'll definitely do a follow-up at some point focusing on jazz fusion and funk!
to me call it "Japanese City-Pop" is kind of redundant because City-Pop (as a big container of different music genres and the historical context) is exclusively Japanese. Other countries experienced different contexts but due to laziness now everything that sounds remotely familiar like Japanese music from mid-70s and 80s is called City-Pop. I personally refuse the labels "Korean, Latin, French, Chinese, anywhere City-Pop"
I see your point. We are prisoners of the colloquial. The common understanding of City Pop has shifted a little, with some labeling 80s music from various countries as ______ City Pop. Although, it's worth mentioning that naming genres retroactively is nothing new. I think the City Pop moniker, as applied to other countries' music, is less about laziness and more about marketing on the part of the playlist uploader. Which is funny because the term City Pop began as marketing lingo. Personally, I chose to reference "Japanese City Pop" to add more semantic value for those new to this type of music. That being said, you'd never catch me being redundant. That being said, you'd never catch me being redundant. That being.... ;)
@@CharcuterieSound Don't get me wrong. I absolutely love your video... About 3 years and I created a FB group about Japanese music called "City-Pop and More Japanese Music Gems" with a Japanese friend who lived the Showa Era and had the chance to see live and meet some artists (Miki Imai, Yumi Matsutoya, amongst others) and we had to add the "only Japanese music" warning. Otherwise, it could happen like in other groups in which posts like "look guys, here's a compilation of Greek City-Pop!". Yeah, we're quite strict but that allowed the keep quality and give it a more Japanese perspective instead of just looking it from the Western point of view. Most of our top collaborators are Japanese, so I feel happy about it
That makes sense-moderating anything like that requires limits. Happens to me all the time when I think I've found a good bebop playlist, and then all of the sudden I'm hearing smooth jazz tracks.
The danger is when you start to expand upon the fairly limited city pop canon and rapidly end up becoming a Showa era idol otaku.
Amor fati. My body pillow is in the mail.
Im a Weaboo nerd,im always looking for japanese yt channels,i cant scape from city pop
Sorry for hindering your escape!
Sadly , this music its not available to buy here in usa
I don't live in the USA, but you can definitely get a lot of this stuff on vinyl, cd, and, to a lesser extent, tape from internet retailers(although sometimes for silly prices). I've also heard that record stores in San Fran can be the best spots to find city pop records.
But it's hard or impossible for some artists to buy digital copies.
Thankfully, there are more artists that are putting their stuff on major streaming platforms these days - Takanaka has his whole discography on Spotify 🙌
You look like Dr. House before he got addicted to vicodin. That's a compliment, by the way.
Well... thank you! Not going to lie, I almost pinned this comment.
Please listen Vinyl album A long vacation 大瀧詠一ＥＩＩＣＨＩ ＯＨＴＡＫＩ,蒼夜曲セレナーデ serenade single version and live video 尾崎亜美 Ami Ozaki great song serenade singleversion Base line great.livevideo piano only greatsongserenade
Amazing.
@@CharcuterieSound I'm japaese.Ami ozaki serenade single version listen thank you recommend for listening great sound quality through a headset.
Well done intro to the genre! I'm glad you referenced the genre's inception, back during the "new music"/kayōkyoku era. I definitely would say those aren't very deep cuts, not that the songs on those albums aren't great, but I think there are far more interesting songs/albums out there. But it's good to get people interested, then they can dig deeper if they see it fit. It's just how I started 10 years ago by listening to Taeko Ōnuki and EPO.
Thank you! Definitely could have spent more time on kayōkyoku, but that could easily be its own video.
Exactly, one day you're listening to Plastic Love, and the next you're scouring eBay for Tin Pan Alley bootlegs at 4am.
@@CharcuterieSound If you feel like diving in to an artist's discography that you might've not heard of, I really recommend you try Hiromi Iwasaki. I've posted a few of her LPs on my channel (she has a vast discography). She did quite a few citypop gems in the 70s, then weirdly switched to a more "new music" vibe at the beginning of the 80s. She also did some collaborations with LA artists witch really double down on AOR and soft rock that's ever present in citypop (Wishes - coming soon to the channel; and I Won't Break Your Heart - already on there). Same with Ami Ozaki, whom collaborated with David Foster on two of her albums - Hot Baby and Air Kiss, both on the channel :3
I didn't recognize her name, but now that I've seen the album artwork for Wishes, I've definitely ran into it somewhere. That sounds fascinating though-new subscriber incoming 👌
@@CharcuterieSound Ahoy there, welcome on board! It's safe to say you've also gained a subscriber here after watching your videos, keep up the great work! :3