Back to the futureLet's start a City Pop Revival

01/12/2023

Back to the future
Let’s start a City Pop Revival

Back to City Pop Introducing Masayoshi Takanaka

Our favourite narcotic of the moment: Pop-soul-jazz from the 70s and early 80s – a cosmos full of inspired, masterful craftsmanship as well as naïve failure.

Not all that glitters is gold, but the treasures you come across are worth the search. Kicking-off this little City Pop Revival with a series of compact artist features. Part 1 introduces Masayoshi Takanaka, a Tokyo born guitarist – enjoy the ride!

Masayoshi Takanaka, born in Tokyo in 1953, was one of the most influential musicians who shaped the city pop genre of the late 1970s and 1980s.

He began his professional career in 1971 by playing guitar and bass guitar in the prog rock band “Flied Egg” with Hiro Tsunoda and the late Shigeru Narumo. In 1972, he joined “the Sadistic Mika Band” as a guitarist.

In 1976, he released his first solo album, “Seychelles”. Throughout the late ’70s and ’80s, Takanaka continued his output, releasing over twenty albums and singles under Kitty Records. “Rainbow Goblins” released in 1981 became his signature album.

Takanaka has collaborated with several other musicians, notably Lee Ritenour, Santana, Narada Michael Walden, Sheila E. in both live acts and albums. In 2000, he formed his own personal record label, Lagoon Records.

Since then, he has energetically been carrying out nationwide tours in Japan every year; in November 2021 he celebrated his golden anniversary with the “Rainbow Goblins Final” concert at the Nippon Budokan.

(The photos featured here show the Takanaka album “An Insatiable High” in a promo pressing from 1977)