Product Description
Original release 1975. Sugar Babe's only album, considered a masterpiece. Sugar Babe featured Tatsuro Yamashita, Taeko Onuki, Kunio Muramatsu, Kikuo Wanikawa, and Akihiko Noguchi with the band later joined by Ginji Ito, Jiro Terao, and Hiroshi Uehara. Kayokyoku (Showa Era popular music) during the 70s mainly consisted of the jazz influenced Mood Kayo, the disco/bubblegum style idol music, and the blues influenced hard rock and folk rock. While Kayo inherently has a blend of Western and Japanese musical scales, a majority of pop songs were produced to lean more towards Japanese sensibilities, with not much variety. Despite this there was a movement to push the boundaries of how musicians made music in Japan with the advent of New Music which started with music acts such as Happy End, Tin Pan Alley and Yumi Arai and culminated with the band Sugar Babe, and their 1975 release, Songs.
Sugar Babe was a soft rock band formed in Tokyo, Japan in 1973 and split up in 1976. The core of the band featured the pre-solo debut of Tatsuro Yamashita, Taeko Ohnuki and Kunio Muramatsu. The group made its live performance debut in 1973 at the farewell concert for the rock group Happy End. Sugar Babe focused on playing melodic, well-crafted tunes heavily influenced by American pop from the 60s and 70s and soul music. Coupled with romanticized lyrics about city life, all these elements lead to the creation of this album which laid the groundwork for what would later be known as City Pop.
Side A
1. SHOW
2. DOWNTOWN:
3. Mirage Town (Shinkirou no Machi)
4. World of Wind (Kaze no Sekai)
5. Always Sighs (Tameiki Bakari)
Side B
6. As Usual (Itsumo Doori )
7. Lovely Melody (Suteki na Melody
8. Somehow Today (Kyou wa Nan daka)
9. The Rain Has Filled The Palms of My Hands (Ame wa Te no Hira ni Ippai)
10. Days Gone "60's Dream" (Sugi Sarishi Hibi)
11. SUGAR
