Dropping the needle…
Featured articles
Full articles on the records that defined the sound, with track listings, personnel and references. For the complete catalogue, see the album index.
Hosono House is the first solo studio album by Haruomi Hosono, released on 25 May 1973 and recorded at his home in Sayama, Saitama.…
Misslim is the second studio album by Yumi Arai (later Yumi Matsutoya), released on 5 October 1974. Arranged by Masataka Matsutoya with the Tin Pan Alley circle, it reached No. 8 on the Oricon LP chart and stayed on it f…
Songs is the only studio album by the Tokyo band Sugar Babe, released on 25 April 1975 as the first record on Eiichi Ohtaki’s Niagara label. Little noticed at the time, it is now widely cited as the starting point of cit…
Cobalt Hour is the third studio album by Yumi Arai, later Yumi Matsutoya, released on 20 June 1975. Backed by the Tin Pan Alley circle and with a chorus of Hi-Fi Set, Minako Yoshida, Taeko Ohnuki and Tatsuro Yamashita, i…
Tropical Dandy is the second solo album by Haruomi Hosono, released on 25 June 1975. It launched the exotica-tinged “tropical” style that defined his mid-1970s work, continued on Bon Voyage co. and Paraiso.…
Sunshower is the second solo album by Taeko Ohnuki (now Onuki), released on Panam on 25 July 1977. Arranged entirely by Ryuichi Sakamoto and anchored by Stuff drummer Chris Parker, it sold poorly on release but is now re…
Go Ahead! is the third studio album by Tatsuro Yamashita, released by RCA in December 1978. Written off by some at the time as disorganised, it introduced the eclectic approach that shaped his later records, and its trac…
Mignonne is the third studio album by Taeko Onuki (credited as Ohnuki), released on 21 September 1978 — her first for RCA/RVC. It contains “4:00 A.M.”, now her most-streamed song.…
Paraiso is Haruomi Hosono’s fourth solo album, released on Alfa on 25 April 1978. Credited with the Yellow Magic Band, it closed his tropical trilogy and pointed toward Yellow Magic Orchestra.…
Moonglow is the fourth studio album by Tatsuro Yamashita, released on 21 October 1979. It was his first LP on the Air label — and the first studio album Air ever issued — and won Best Album at the 22nd Japan Record Award…
Pocket Park is the debut album by Miki Matsubara, released on 21 January 1980 on Canyon’s See･Saw label. It collects her breakthrough single “Mayonaka no Door (Stay with Me)” and reached No. 13 on Oricon.…
Ride on Time is the fifth studio album by Tatsuro Yamashita, released on 19 September 1980. Riding the success of its title track, a hit through a Maxell cassette commercial, it became his first No. 1 album and turned hi…
A Long Vacation is the sixth studio album by Eiichi Ohtaki, released on 21 March 1981. Wrapped in Hiroshi Nagai’s poolside illustration and steeped in Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound, it sold over a million copies, won Best…
For You is the sixth studio album by Tatsuro Yamashita, released on 21 January 1982. Opening with “Sparkle” and housed in Eizin Suzuki’s sunlit illustration, it topped the Oricon LP chart and is widely considered the hig…
Awakening is an album by keyboardist Hiroshi Sato, released by Alfa Records in June 1982 and credited as “featuring Wendy Matthews”. Built largely on an early Linn LM-1 drum machine, it is prized by collectors as one of …
Pearl Pierce is the thirteenth original album by Yumi Matsutoya, released by Toshiba EMI on 21 June 1982. It reached No. 1 on the Oricon weekly chart and ranked ninth for the year.…
Fuyū Kūkan (浮遊空間, “Floating Space”) is the third album by Tomoko Aran, released by Warner-Pioneer on 28 May 1983. Its track “Midnight Pretenders” became one of the most sampled songs of the city pop revival, most famousl…
Melodies is the eighth studio album by Tatsuro Yamashita, released on 8 June 1983 as his first LP on the Moon label; it topped the Oricon chart and contains “Christmas Eve”.…
Aqua City is the debut album by S. Kiyotaka & Omega Tribe, released by Vap on 21 April 1983; it reached No. 4 on the Oricon chart.…
Variety is the sixth studio album by Mariya Takeuchi, released on 25 April 1984 on Moon Records. The first album she wrote entirely herself, it was produced by Tatsuro Yamashita, topped the Oricon chart and contains “Pla…
Big Wave is a 1984 album by Tatsuro Yamashita, recorded as the soundtrack to the surf film Big Wave directed by Walter McConnelly. It reached No. 2 on the Oricon LP chart and sold more than 450,000 copies.…
Each Time is a 1984 album by Eiichi Ohtaki, his only No. 1 album and the last he released before his death in 2013. Generally treated as a companion to A Long Vacation, it was issued without any singles.…
Pocket Music is the eighth studio album by Tatsuro Yamashita, released on 23 April 1986. His first studio album since Big Wave, it topped the Oricon chart and finished tenth for the year.…