Bright cityscapes, seaside resorts, youthful summers and endless possibilities. These ideas are often associated with “city pop,” a particularly bubbly take on funk, disco and dance pop that emerged out of Japan’s economic heyday in the 1980s. One artist who played a big part in shaping how that period of optimism and luxury is remembered in song is Kiyotaka Sugiyama, the frontman for the group Omega Tribe.
“We recorded our debut album in 1983, and everything was kind of going toward the bubble era. People were looking forward to the brighter future about to arrive,” the 62-year-old singer/songwriter says about his early years in the music industry. “There was very little worry or fear about what was coming. Pastel colors were everywhere.”
Decades later, Sugiyama’s work, both as vocalist for Omega Tribe (which also features Keiichi Hiroshi, Toshitsugu Nishihara, Takao Oshima, Shinji Takashima and Kenji Yoshida) and as a solo act, continues to offer bright-hued escapes. Ahead of Omega Tribe’s 40th anniversary in 2023, music label VAP is releasing remastered versions of the band’s albums, starting with what the label has called a “remix” of their 1983 debut album “Aqua City” this past September. The group’s original producer Tetsuji Hayashi stepped up to oversee the project.