#yamashitatatsuro — Public Fediverse posts on home.social

Yamashita Tatsuro (山下達郎) – For You (1982, Japan)

[This guest post was written by wbwolf about number 94 on The List; the album was also submitted by wbwolf. Note: This review lists Japanese names family name first, following Japanese convention.]

It was first called New Folk, then just New Music. It was the label that the press applied to this new group of musicians that emerged in the early 1970s. They worked outside of the production system that had grown in strength in the 1960s. Initially they released music on small, newly formed independent labels. Collectively, the musicians were more interested in emulating Western rock bands, by writing and producing their own music, rather than having some production company write their music and choreograph television appearances. If they appeared on television, it was on their own terms. Most importantly, they wanted to make rock music in a Japanese context.

In this environment, Yamashita Tatsuro’s first release was a self-released collection of Beach Boys covers in 1972. Not long after, he became part of former Happy End singer Ohtaki Eiichi’s Niagara group. One of the key features about the New Music scene, especially in the 1970s, is musicians would work on each other’s projects, including Hosono Haruomi’s Tin Pan Alley. (Hosono was also in Happy End.) Yamashita made a name as an arranger, musician and songwriter. By the time Yamashita and Ohnuki Taeko formed the band Sugar Babe and released “Songs” in 1975, a new term emerged: city pop.

City pop, much like New Music before it, is a loose term referring to music that would appeal more to urbanites: heavily Western influenced, incorporating AOR, soft rock, fusion, disco, R&B and funk. In a sense, it ran in parallel with, and complimented, the West Coast soft rock sound that would be later dubbed yacht rock. Both city pop and yacht rock drew on similar influences, and there are multiple instances of city pop musicians recording in the United States.

In 1976, Yamashita went solo starting release albums on RCA. His first album was recorded in New York. Initial releases sold modestly, but started to pick up when he transferred to the newly formed Air sub-label in 1979, with a real breakthrough was went the title track for 1980s “Ride On Time” was used in a Maxell commercial.

But his sixth album “For You” from 1982 remains Yamashita’s best selling album. It’s still an album that is sought out by collectors of city pop, with recent reissues selling out quickly. Perhaps, because buying a physical copy is the only way to get the album; Yamashita is famously reluctant to make his music available via streaming services, and will block YouTube uploads.

The album experience starts with the cover: a brightly colored, slightly surreal illustration of a Southern California business, with a small picture of Yamashita standing on the sidewalk. Illustrator Suzuki Eizin along with Nagai Hiroshi (who did the equally iconic “A Long Vacation” by Ohtaki Eiichi cover in 1981) helped define the city pop visual style bright colors and lineless shapes. It’s an artistic match to the bright, sunny music contained inside.

The album starts with the one-two punch of “Sparkle” and “Music Book”. “Sparkle” is a sweeping uptempo track built around a strummed guitar riff. “Music Book” is a bit slower, but just as dense and with a satisfying groove. Most of the lyrics, including the first two and “Love Talkin’ (Honey It’s You)”, were written by Yamashita’s long time collaborator Yoshida Minako, a performer in her own right. However, the third track “Morning Glory” was written by Yamashita alone. It was originally written for Takeuchi Mariya, whom he married in 1982, for her 1980 album “Miss M”, partially recorded in Los Angeles.

It was on that trip that he first met songwriter Alan O’Day. The two would work together through the mid 80s, starting first with the lyrics to the album closer “Your Eyes”. Later they would collaborate on an all English language soundtrack for “Big Wave” in 1984, with one half original songs, and other half Beach Boys covers.

This is a bright sunny album for summer, or any time you want to have your spirits lifted.

[Alt text for accompanying image: The artwork is a cartoon-type illustration of a street scene with a shop of some sort on the side, the signs “Radio Service”, “turner’s” and “-smith -made” visible. Some palm-type trees are in the background with a bright blue sky. A person with long black hair wearing jeans, a brown jacket, and a yellow shirt stands beside the shop. The album name is in the top left corner in white font, with the artist’s name directly beside in smaller font.]

#1001OtherAlbums #1980s #cityPop #Japan #TatsuroYamashita #YamashitaTatsuro