Non-VK Japanese 70's 80's and 90's Singers/Albums [Recommendations]

[Manji 卍 743]

Please,share here and discuss about 70's 80's and 90's (maybe early 2000) japanese singers and albums that you might know about

things different from the usual visual kei that we already know !

 

 

Edited January 10, 2019 by Manji 卍

[Manji 卍 743]

I've been feeling like living in a dull age,and music is one of the few things that keeps my days a little bit more enjoyable.

So,few days ago i decided to listen something different and randomly i ended up playing some 90's best album from T.M Revolution 

and i absolutely loved the atmosphere. It just felt nostalgic,like when i was a kid watching some animes with those catchy songs (good times)

So i thought: why not diving into this kind of music? i mean...i don't know nothing about the japanese music out of visual kei,

and think the old stuff is a good place to start and also the most interesting part:

 

here's some things i started listening these days

 

 

 

 

 

 

[monkeybanana4 1732]

Agree with you there  Listening to these oldie songs are so absolutely amazing. So much of my memories of old Japanese songs come from old animes like Evangelion with its opening song, "Cruel Angel's Thesis", sung by Yoko Takahashi and, of course, Moonlight Densetsu (Sailormoon). 

 

This showed up in my Youtube feed one day and I've loved her music ever since.

 

 

Also, it's a little late for the season, but she sang a popular Christmas song still played in Japan today.

 

This was used for Rurouni Kenshin, but I think the upbeat, jazzy tune make it a great song to listen to. (Rurouni Kenshin had lots of memorable and amazing artists sing for the anime, including T.M. Revolution with his "Heart of Sword" song. Judy and Mary is another group who sang the song, Sobakasu, for the series. You should definitely check them out.)

 

 

And this song was used in Yu Yu Hakusho. Great song

 

 

 

Also, Namie Amuro is a 90's artist I was first introduced through from the anime, Inuyasha, with her song, "Come."

 

 

I like her other songs as well. One of them is this song...

 

 

Another 90's artist I like is Aikawa Nanase. Here is one of her songs. 

 

 

And there's lots more including Do as Infinity and Every Little Thing. These two artist also have some great songs as well. (I was introduced to them through Inuyasha as well, lol.) Most of them are from animes, but it was how I got introduced to these cool musicians ^^;

Edited January 10, 2019 by monkeybanana4

[Jigsaw9 6783]

My huge favorite from the '80s is BOØWY who were total pop-rock perfection imo (but I am a rabid stan so...). They formed in 1981 with their first recording lineup being a 6-piece (complete with saxophonist), but their most long-lasting and most known material is from their glory days as a 4-member band. They toured their asses off, released a handful of albums and called it quits in 1988, by the time they were one of the biggest rock acts in Japan, later inspiring youngsters in the early '90s to start their own bands (a.k.a. the "band boom" in Japan).

 

Kyosuke Himuro is an explosive frontman with just the most awesome voice, and together with guitarist Tomoyasu Hotei they composed songs that were compact, streamlined, catchy yet creative. Tsunematsu Matsui is the stone-faced bass powerhouse and Makoto Takahashi is his smiley and energetic drummer counterpart, completing the rhythm section "Yin and Yang" (ok, this sounds kinda corny, but rly just watch them perform, they're total opposites in terms of stage presence but both awesome).

 

Here are some cool vids, hopefully they stay up (BOØWY's YT videos tend to get taken down fairly regularly):

 

"MARIONETTE" music video with animation produced by Gainax

Spoiler

 

 

"PLASTIC BOMB" live version from their 1987 Christmas gig

Spoiler

 

 

"NO. NEW YORK" awesome live version from their 2-day last live at Tokyo Dome

Spoiler

 

 

[Bear 1817]

 

 

 

 

One of my all-time favorite actresses and she just happens to be one of ny favorite singers ad well. She's just amazing.

[saiko 429]

I'll always love Masami Okui and Megumi Hayashibara. They've sung beautiful anison themes:

 

 

[yomii 834]

I tried to embed video but it didn't work so.....

Edited January 10, 2019 by yomii

[Manji 卍 743]

@Bear  just felt in love with her music,fantastic recommendation !

 

 

 

Edited January 11, 2019 by Manji 卍

[deedlitmurata 86]

Although I listen mostly vkei/jrock; I have some favorites in the Jpop space that I would totally recommend, and happen to be from the 80's and 90's. One of my favorite bands is TM Network, led by the legendary keyboardist Tetsuya Komuro and fronted by the sexy Utsunomiya Takashi, their most popular song is Get Wild, but sharing another one of my favorite songs first from their 1990 album "RHYTHM RED BEAT BLACK"  

 

 

Get wild (from 1987) for the sake of completion:

 

And another favorite of mine is access, led by the popular keyboardist Daisuke Asakura (he started as a roadie of TM network ) and he started his own unit in the early 90's, I love their concept and they're still around making great music, this is one song from a controversial trilogy of songs they released xD feel free to investigate more on it LOL, this is the second song of the trilogy called "Scandalous blue" released in 1994: 

 

 

[Bear 1817]

14 hours ago, Manji 卍 said:

@Bear  just felt in love with her music,fantastic recommendation !

 

 

 

 

 

Cool! If you're interested in exploitation movies I'd also recommend checking out a lot of her filmes. Starred in some of my all time favourite movies and movie-franchises. Female perfection!

[Arkady 396]

I'd check Yutaka Ozaki too he has many beautiful songs. My favorite is 15 no Yoru it's upbeat but yet so melanchonic. It even has the "classic 80's sax solo" without resulting stale.

Spoiler

 

 

Edited January 11, 2019 by Arkady

[robkun 4184]

Some of my favorites. Most of em are from the 80s, but fuck it XD.

 

 

UNICORN

 

PERSONZ (no preview window, but whatever lol):

http://sp.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm3309123

 

Chisato Moritaka:

 

Mimori Yusa:

 

PINK:

 

Koji Kikkawa:

 

The Roosterz:

 

PSY-S

 

SCUDELIA ELECTRO (Nico are total embed nazis, man lol):

http://sp.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm957036

 

D-PROJECT:

 

ZELDA:

 

ZARD:

 

DREAMS COME TRUE:

 

Miyuki Nakajima:

 

Spitz:

 

Mr.Children:

 

Mayumi Chiwaki:

 

BARBEE BOYS:

 

FEEL SO BAD:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Mi3HSBmk3WE

 

Ulfuls:

 

Yosui Inoue:

 

Edited January 11, 2019 by robkun

[YuyoDrift 1540]

I'll come back to this thread during the weekend, but are you wanting any genre? I used to dabble in everything 80/90's and can probably list a few albums.

I know there are some threads around here that listed some stuff before, but may need some digging to find them.

[VESSMIER 873]

I'm surprised that among all the citypop recommendations, nobody mentioned 山下達郎 (Tatsuro Yamashita) who has come out with some of the most solid citypop/synthfunk albums in the late 70s and 80s - well produced, great compositions and much less corny than most of what's come out of that genre (even though I love cheesy 80s music 😏).

 

 

 

I've also really been into japanese ambient from the 80s and 90s lately. 細野晴臣 (Haruomi Hosono) is one of the greats, I've especially enjoyed the following albums by him. Despite being really relaxing and tranquil, they have that dark edge and incorporate quite interesting instrumentation and effects. There's something about 花に水 (Watering a flower) for example that is quite psychedelic, it's mind-expanding, it reaches deep into your consciousness and lets you peek behind the curtain. Make of that whatever you will. Maybe you'll get a similar vibe!

Also, it really helped me with depression and anxiety lately.

 

 

 

And some other awesome albums I've discovered: