Tatsuro Yamashita – Greatest Hits! Of, 1982 Air Records – RAL-8803, Japan Vinyl LP
One of the most influential compilations from the king of city pop himself. Yamashita might have played a major role in the revival of City Pop, but he also played a major role in its creation. One of the first groups to explore this sound in the mid 70s was a band called Sugar Babe, whose sole album, 1975’s Songs, became one of the blueprints for the genre. This group, led by none other than Tatsuro Yamashita himself, never achieved popularity in a musical landscape still dominated by the folk-rock and hard rock of the early 1970s, breaking up one year later in 1976. Sugar Babe’s jazzy, Steely Dan-inspired, melodic soft-rock seemed to be just a hair too ahead of domestic tastes. However, RCA records apparently saw something in the young Yamashita, signing him to a multi-album deal as a solo artist.
Yamashita would go on to record six studio albums for RCA, with his 5th album Ride on Time becoming the runaway smash hit of 1980, topping the charts and saving a musical career he reportedly almost abandoned.
This compilation album consists of Yamashita's songs mostly included on his previous six albums ranging from Circus Town to For You. The only song not included in any album is Amaku Kiken na Kaori which is only released as a single and a re-recording of Funky Flushin'. According to Yamashita, "Greatest Hits" is just a mundane joke that I thought of as a western music lover."
ORIGIN : Japan
LABEL : Air Records – RAL-8803
CONDITION OF COVER & BOOKLET: EX+
CONDITION OF RECORD : EX+
RECORD GRADING DEFINITIONS
MINT: Never opened, still in original shrink wrap.
NM: Opened, appears unplayed.
EX: A few very light surface hair-line marks with no major deterioration to the sound quality.
VG: A few light scratches and/or scuffs creating audible background noise. There is no skipping or jumping on this record unless indicated in the condition description.
A plus or minus (+ or -) denotes slightly better or slightly less than a grade, eg. VG+.
Each record has been cleaned and played to ensure the accuracy of the following grading
