SONGS

Seen through a light-mellow lens, this is city pop’s point of liftoff. The sweet chords and open harmonies of American pop, together with grooves shaped by R&B and soul, coexisted naturally as part of the band’s very makeup—that was what made them new. Taking the initiative was, needless to say, the young Tatsuro Yamashita. Nor should we forget Taeko Onuki, expressing her individuality with cool restraint from a step behind, or Kunio Muramatsu, the linchpin of the playing. Ginji Ito, who officially joined after the album’s release, is also credited as co-writer on four songs. This was the first release on Eiichi Ohtaki’s Niagara label, co-produced by Ohtaki and Yamashita. Even so, the elder master remained firmly in a supporting role, effectively entrusting the record to Yamashita’s talent.

A1 bursts loose with the unruly soul of a garage band, while A2 has become a J-pop classic. What is that fluttering thrill in A3? Its lovely vocal cools the rush of emotions that can no longer be contained. Taeko Onuki—Tarbo—liked it enough to remake it herself on Romantique in 1980. B3 makes your hips rise with its boldly bouncing bass, and B6 is tropical party soul; both are outrageously cool. Sugar Babe’s ‘11 songs,’ preserved on the band’s only album, remain an eternally fresh masterpiece. Only a youth that refuses to flatter its era can cross the wall of time. The fact that the hallmarks of city pop were already present here shows just how new Tatsuro Yamashita was.