Taeko Ohnuki: Tokai

I’ve learned about City Pop over the last few years because Faux Jr. is such a big fan. This Japanese style of pop music originated from the ’70s style of Japanese music called New Music, a Japanese version of Western pop music. City Pop took those origins and added disco, funk, soft rock, and R&B into a sound very similar to the Top 40 U.S. Billboard charts of the time. If one ignores the Japanese lyrics, City Pop sounds very similar to the American music of the period. Taeko Ohnuki recorded in various styles during the ’70s and ’80s, but never found the major success of some of her contemporaries. However, her 1977 album Sunshower is now recognized as an early classic of the City Pop style. The album is filled with groove-infested tracks such as “Tokai,” but also includes the beautiful ballad “Dare no Tame ni” and the experimental tune “Sargasso Sea.” City Pop artists had no chance of succeeding in America during the ’70s and ’80s, but albums like this one are often as interesting as the American pop music of the time, if not more so.

To learn more about Taeko Ohnuki, check out her website. To learn more about City Pop, check out the Wikipedia article.

To listen to all of the songs of the day, check out the Radio Faux Show Song of the Day playlist.

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