Yutaka Kimura Speaks: Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）

 

For people who had mainly listened to music centering on American and British pop and rock, Taeko Ohnuki's European music approach must have sounded oddly fresh. "Romantique", "Aventure", "Cliché", "Signifie" and then "Copine" in 1985 followed the same road, but what is notable here is that most of the songs were created in Tokyo under that quasi-European sound. Some of the songs on "Cliché" were actually recorded in France, but the vast majority of them were made in Japan's capital alongside people such as Ryuichi Sakamoto（坂本龍一）. For that matter, you can say that they really were of the City Pop world. 

People become the most imaginative when they are heads-over-heels in love. They actually head off in the direction of the place of their desire that they only knew via their records, and so creating these songs while in thrall to their imagination everywhere can often take on a charm that is even bigger than recording them. When talking about City Pop, this is an extremely important element. Music of a refined Western taste that retains the scent of Tokyo...wouldn't this be the true essence of City Pop?

Another thing that can't be forgotten is the presence of Sakamoto. From "Romantique" to "Copine", it can be said that with him as the arranger and Ohnuki as the artist, it was a golden time. When he departed with his skill, the singer's European path could no longer move forward. 

After that, Ohnuki created pop masterpieces in the 90s with "Drawing" and "Shooting Star in the Blue Sky", and always kept up the quality and freshness of her works through working with these excellent sound creators of that time. 

The way to enjoy her City Pop is not just by listening to her as an artist, but also by focusing on her amazing behind-the-scenes work as a producer, arranger and musician.

The above comes from "Disc Collection Japanese City Pop Revised" (2020).