Across the decades there have been a multitude of genres that were born due to some specific circumstances, taking upon a specific sound, attitude, and characteristics that would mold the particular style of music into a world of its own. These usually don't manage to last outside of their main time period, or at least not in the same light as they were hold in during their most popular days (genres like progressive rock or thrash metal are examples of this), or simply stayed condensed on a particular country, unable to reach abroad until decades later with the help of the ever rising internet music culture. The last one can be explained with one of the most iconic musical movements originated in Japan during the mid 70's, becoming a staple and key component in the way j-pop would shape itself in the future, with some of its landmark albums gathering attention decades after their release. Indeed, City Pop was a product of its time, a need for the Japan of that era to provide more upbeat music, contrasting the tone of the social issues that were going on around that time, being heavily influenced by surf pop acts such as The Beach Boys, as well as American and European pop styles that were rising during the 60's and mid 70's.
During these decades of heavy psychedelia and big musical movements, Japan, as well as many other countries in the world, looked to adapt these big American and European movements in their own way, and City Pop is a good example of this. Rather than it being a unique style of pop music, it was more of a blend of various influences, leading to these early styles of popular Japanese pop music. The different artists that would pioneer the genre would do so trying to imitate the surf rock/pop, different branches of pop rock, and baroque pop movements, be it writing their own songs (with groups like Happy End or artists like Takeshi Terauchi) or covering the artists that captivated their attention. The roots of early City Pop originate from this. On the one hand, artists from japan who were already dipping their toes into these branches of pop music would be part of some big projects from early on in the genre, and on the other hand, artists would start at their young age, covering their favorite music on self-recorded and self-produced albums with the help of friends. And Tatsuro Yamashita, one of the biggest and most important artists to come out of the genre, had his early musical steps in this style.
Born in a family that relied in small commercial and food related businesses, in the middle of an economical and political depression that started in the late 50's, Tatsuro would show interest in music due to the TV and Radio programs that his parents would watch and listen to, until getting into small music groups forming on his school, where he was introduced to The Ventures (which along side The Beatles and The Beach Boys is considered as one of the most influential groups for Japanese rock and pop), leading to a love for songwriting and pop music. When he was just 13 years old, he started his first band, a pop quartet where he played drums, with a style inclined to vocal choirs made up of all the members engaging in vocal duties, something unusual at the time. Due to many complications with his education, and slowly getting more inclined towards dedicating himself fully to his music, he leaves his university studies in 1972, having some rather difficult years before getting recognized with Sugar Babe. His first official musical steps, his first attempts at producing a full studio effort, take place during this time, right after he leaves university, with the independent release of Add Some Music To Your day that same year.
This first musical effort would take place with the same band that he had started with friends when he was in school. Tatsuro had to leave the band due to changing schools, but he would come back to rejoin his old friend Susumu Namiki in 1969, slowly building up to a stable lineup in 1972, with most of the members being between 19 and 20 years of age, consisting of the inclusion of Shinichi Takekawa and Kikuo Ogawa, and taking the name of "Add Some Music To Your Day" (name that was taken from a song belonging to The Beach Boys' album Sunflower). With the help of a YES Machine (a multipurpose mixing board released by Yamaha during that time, which allowed groups to try and record their music on stereo recording quality, facilitating many things that were difficult for homemade independent recordings at the time). The band used a simple setup of guitar, bass, drums, and the electronic keyboard, changing roles depending on the song, but with an obvious heavy inclination towards vocal driven pop songs from abroad. Since they still found hard for a group to compose their own songs due to creative clashings, they were inclined to record a collection of different covers from their favorite artists. Recording of the album would take two months. Every member would record their respective parts almost separately, with Susumu focusing on the mixing and production, doing what they could while almost exceeding their budget in the printing of the private pressings that were made available at first (with the cover being kept in black and white due to these budget issues).
Add Some Music To Your Day was a rather straight forward project, being a collection of different cover songs that shared a tone and an approach in common. The covers themselves give little to talk about, being somewhat close renditions to the original versions, but the reason of why this is taken more as a Tatsuro Yamashita project instead of a full quartet is due to the fact that the moments where the band would shine as a whole would be on the songs where Tatsuro's voice and production decisions would become the spotlight of the album. The first half was full of Beach Boys covers (something that Yamashita and Susumu were mostly inclined to), and the second half picked between a variety of songs from different artists (where it was all more a collection of favorite tracks from all the members), but that followed the same spirit of the vocal choir with the catchy instrumentals, aiming for a collection of pop songs that, despite not getting to the level of the original renditions, would present a lot of elements that Tatsuro would expand, or tackle on his own particular way, on his later solo projects in many different ways. It shows a young artist getting inspiration from his influences, showing particular ways, be it instrumentally or vocally, to approach the songs, taking a personality that would be molded more and more with future releases.
Some iconic elements from all Tatsuro albums can be found here. From the soft pop rock driven style of songs, found on Don't Worry Baby. The acapella driven track renditions, finding their roots in the versions of And Your Dreams Come True and Why Do Fools Fall In Love, where Tatsuro shows the range that he can accomplish in contrast to other songs on the project. The soft and sweet love ballads, where Tatsuro's vocals take the spotlight and shine due to his captivating vocals, having its first incarnation in the beautiful and great version of Your Summer Dream. Different versions of a song being implemented in the same track, taking different styles, such as both popular renditions of Love's Made A Fool Of You. It can all be found here. Different Ideas, songwriting styles, ways of arranging the instruments on the mix, the vocal approach on the final performances, most things that would be important for Yamashita's career would be found here. Moreover, these things would not only be related to the music, but also to the way things would evolve in the future. Aside from the main quartet, the band would get the help of many different musicians, friends from the main members, in order to get a much more complete studio experience by adding some extra vocal or instrumental performances. Among all these guest musicians, Kunio Muramatsu would be the one to get a better relationship with the members of the group. Along side Kikuo and Tatsuro, they would get to know other musicians, most notably Taeko Onuki and Akihiko Noguchi, in order to form Sugar Babe after the breakup of Add Some Music To Your Day, marking one of the first major steps in the molding of City Pop at the time.
Add Some Music To Your Day is far from being a perfect or well polished project, but it does hold a huge importance in the way things would unravel in the career of Tatsuro Yamashita, and of City Pop as a whole. The sound quality is barely above poor standards, but one can tell that for a self-mixed/produced effort, it was done with pure passion and love for the music that was being performed. And even then, the sound quality works surprisingly well for most of the experience, adding to that homemade and passionate feeling that the renditions seem to convey for the most part. As is the case with most covers albums, most of these don't hold a candle to the original versions (except for Your Summer Dream, which can be taken as the highlight of the album, with even Tatsuro performing it live), but it is still a highly charming and enjoyable album as a whole. The English vocals don't end up suiting the band on the best ways, but one gets used to it and finds their appeal and their charm after listening to a couple of tracks. It is very straight forward, but even in that nature, it would present the roots of ideas that would flourish in such wonderful ways in future solo Tatsuro albums (and the importance is such, that the album was really demanded by fans, being reissued in 1992 for the official Tatsuro fan club). The sales for this album were poor, but the ones that bought it would be immediately captivated by some elements on it, with Ginji Ito discovering it and showing it to Eiichi Otaki, who was then part of Happy End, and who would get involved with Sugar Babe as a producer. Tatsuro's love for this style of music would certainly be the spark that would keep being present throughout his career, with albums like Big Wave or covering tracks like God Only Knows on his concerts, and it all had its roots on this project, made with good friends and a high spirit.
It is an extremely sweet and lively experience, lead by a group of young boys who were aspiring to pay tribute to the artists that made them fall in love with music. And regardless if the renditions are not perfect, or if the sound quality isn't the best, it certainly deserves a listen, just to experience such a charming and captivating spirit being provided. All it asks you to do is to get immersed in the love that was put into it, and to just add some music to your day.
Overall Rating: 6/10
Favorite Track: Your Summer Dream
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