Downtown by EPO - 1980

Back in 1975, a band called Sugar Babe, featuring Tatsurō Yamashita, Taeko Ōnuki, and Kunio Muramatsu, released an album simply titled SONGS. Though it would later be hailed as a turning point in Japanese pop and serve as ground zero for the City Pop genre, the album initially flopped. Within a year, Sugar Babe had disbanded.

Fast forward to 1978 in a small café in Mishuku, Setagaya. RCA producer Shigeki Miyata meets an aspiring singer-songwriter named Eiko Satō (佐藤栄子). She went by her childhood nickname, EPO, a moniker that stuck ever since a tongue-twisted “Eko-chan”(えーこちゃん) came out as “Epo-chan”(エポ ちゃん). EPO and Miyata talked for hours about her love for Sugar Babe. That conversation convinced Miyata they should make an album together, planting the seed for EPO’s debut, Down Town.

At RCA, EPO was promoted as “the next Mariya Takeuchi”, part of the so-called “Three Daughters of RCA” alongside Ōnuki and Takeuchi herself. During her debut, EPO described her style as “Yellow Pop”—a unique hybrid that was neither rock nor kayōkyoku (traditional Japanese pop). Much like Sugar Babe, she sought to carve out her own space in Japanese music. Many songs on Down Town came directly from her notebooks, including compositions written in high school and lyrics inspired by her personal experiences. The album was produced by Miyata, with arrangements by Tetsuji Hayashi and Nobuyuki Shimizu. The backing chorus featured a remarkable lineup of RCA peers—Yamashita, Ōnuki, and Takeuchi—bringing EPO full circle to Sugar Babe's legacy.

Released on March 21, 1980, Down Town was accompanied by the titular single, which became her signature song, cemented when Fuji TV adopted it as the ending theme for the wildly popular variety show Oretachi Hyōkin-zoku, starring comedian & actor Beat Takeshi.

THE MUSIC

1. Down Town ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
2. Yakusoko Ha Ame No Naka (約束は雨の中)⭐⭐⭐⭐
3.  Klaxon ⭐⭐⭐⭐
4. Nichiyo Wa Bell Ga Narumaeni (日曜はベルが鳴る前に) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
5. Katarai (語愛) ⭐⭐⭐ 
6. Pop Music Suite⭐⭐⭐⭐
7. Asphalt・Hitori (アスファルト・ひとり)⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
8. Iiwake Wa Shinaikedo (言い訳はしないけど)⭐⭐⭐
9. Suiheisen Oikakete (水平線追いかけて)⭐⭐⭐⭐
10. Caffe Time ⭐⭐⭐

THE VERDICT

I’ll be honest—it took a while for this album to grow on me. When I first heard EPO’s rendition of "Down Town", I brushed it off as little more than a karaoke imitation of Sugar Babe’s original. But over time—especially after buying the vinyl—it crept into my head and became an earworm I couldn’t shake. What eventually won me over was the pairing of its minimalist, synthpop-inspired arrangement with EPO’s jazzy, cheerful voice. 

It's impossible not to get cheery while listening to this record. Tracks like "Yakusoku wa Ame no Naka" and "Suiheisen Oikakete" carry a bouncy, peppy energy that flows effortlessly from one song to the next, and EPO’s singing is a big part of what keeps that momentum alive. It’s easy to hear shades of Mariya Takeuchi in her vocal style, but EPO brings a little more swing that makes Down Town feel more like its own unique experience. "Asphalt Hitori"  is the real unsung hero on this album, continuing the time-honored City Pop tradition of being a near celebratory-sounding disco track with lyrics about loneliness, complete with infectious vocal harmonies and beautiful string arrangements.

Down Town is probably the most prototypical City Pop record you can think of, yet cements itself as a seminal album in its legacy, and proof that sometimes you really can reinvent the wheel. It’s a fun, spirited debut that firmly established EPO’s signature perky, energetic sound, which she would refine further on her follow-up, Goodies. Blending the genre’s 70s roots with the 80s sparkle & sheen, Down Town is both a great intro to City Pop and an endearing showcase of EPO’s charm.

Gold Digger~ With True Love~ by Toshiki Kadomatsu 1985

Following the momentum of the success After 5 Clash brought him, Toshiki Kadomatsu (角松敏生) buckled down to further develop his nighttime pop sound inspired by The New York clubbing scene with the release of 1985's Gold Digger~ With True Love~.  To accomplish his vision, Kadomatsu would co-produce this album with  Michael Brauer, a veteran music engineer who's worked with everyone from James Brown to Aerosmith. The album had a bigger emphasis on hip shop elements such as rap, spinning, and scratching, which were all relatively new to the Japanese pop scene at the time. The only other Japanese hip-hop-oriented album at that point was Motoharu Sano's Visitors in 1984. The record also featured talented musicians like the drumming legend Yogi Horton,  saxophonist Jake H. Concepcion, bassist Tomohito Aoki, and backing vocals by city pop singers Noriko Miyamoto and Yurie Kokubu. Gold Digger ended up being his first album to rank in the top 10 of the Oricon album charts.  

THE MUSIC

1. I Can't Stop The Night  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
2. Springin' Night  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
3. Move Your Hips All Night Long  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
4. Secret Lover ⭐⭐⭐⭐
5. Melody For You ⭐⭐⭐⭐
6. Tokyo Tower ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
7. Prajñā (Violence In The Subway) ⭐⭐⭐ 
8.  Mermaid Princess ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
9.  It's Too Late ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 
10.  No End Summer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

THE VERDICT

Kadomatsu upped the ante so much that comparing Gold Digger to his previous album, After 5 Clash, is like comparing A New Hope to Empire Strikes Back. Everything you loved about the first entry has been taken up to 11 with an edgier tone. Right off the bat, the record opens up with a woman walking into her significant other cheating on her, and promptly shooting him! A far cry from the sparkly opening guitar riffs we're used to hearing. I can't even think of a Rap album that begins so abruptly! Kadomatsu is basically letting us know that this is the type of party where you boogie like there's no tomorrow, and it definitely delivers with a frontload of consistent bangers, from the hedonistic opening track I Can't Stop the Night, to the funky and bouncy horn section in Springin' Night, to the sexy rocking of Move Your Hips All Night Long. There's definitely a heavier emphasis on hip-hop in this album with various record scratching and scrubbing littered throughout. Secret Lover takes cues from Austrian singer FALCO's hit single "Rock Me Amadeus" and Tokyo Tower features rap verses by Shahiem from the obscure hip-hop group The Infinity Rappers. There's also room for some more familiar City Pop territory, Mermaid Princess is easily one of Toshiki's best ballads, and the closing song, No End Summer is a quintessential nostalgic summer pop tune on par with anything from Tatsuro Yamashita's Big Wave album. Whether you're on the dance floor, or reminiscing at the beach,  Gold Digger~ With True Love~  Toshiki Kadomatsu at his peak in terms of pop music.