Tatsurō Yamashita
山下 達郎
Born	Tatsurō Yamashita (山下 達郎) (1953-02-04) February 4, 1953[1] Ikebukuro, Toshima, Tokyo, Japan[1]
Nationality	Japanese
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter, record producer
Years active	1975–present
Spouse	Mariya Takeuchi ​ (m. 1982)​
Children	1
Musical career
Genres	City pop disco funk kayōkyoku R&B soft rock soul
Instrument(s)	Vocals, guitars, piano, keyboards, drums, percussion
Labels	AIR, Moon, Niagara, RCA, RVC, Warner Music Japan, EastWest Japan, MMG
Website	tatsuro.co.jp
Signature

Tatsurō Yamashita (山下 達郎, Yamashita Tatsurō, born February 4, 1953), occasionally referred to as Tatsu Yamashita^[2] or Tats Yamashita,^[3] is a Japanese singer-songwriter and record producer, who is known for pioneering the city pop style of music.^[4][5][6]

His most well-known song is "Christmas Eve", the best-selling single song released in Japan in the 1980s. This appeared on the Japanese singles chart for over 35 consecutive years.^{[7][8][9][10]}

He is known for his collaborations with his wife, singer Mariya Takeuchi, on many songs including "Plastic Love",^[11] as well as with American songwriter Alan O'Day with whom he wrote songs like, "Your Eyes," "Magic Ways," "Love Can Go the Distance," and "Fragile" (which was interpolated by American rapper Tyler, the Creator in "Gone, Gone / Thank You").^[12] He is sometimes referred to as the "king" of city pop.^[13][14][15]

Yamashita is considered an important contributor to Japanese music and ranked by HMV Japan as sixth in the Top 100 Japanese Artists.^[15][16][17]

Career

Yamashita was a member of the band Sugar Babe^[18] with musicians Taeko Onuki and Kunio Muramatsu, who released their only album Songs in 1975.^[19][1] After the group disbanded in 1976, Yamashita signed to RCA and launched his career, releasing the solo album Circus Town the same year. Also in 1976, he teamed up with Eiichi Ohtaki, the producer of Sugar Babe,^[20] and Sugar Babe member Ginji Ito to release Niagara Triangle Vol. 1 which was cited by MTV as one of the finest collaborative efforts of that period.^[21] His 1979 award-winning album Moonglow gained moderate success,^[22] but his 1980 song Ride on Time peaked at No. 3 on the Japanese Oricon and the same-titled album topped the chart subsequently,^[23][24][16] propelling him to stardom.^[1]

Tatsuro's music has been regarded as a symbol of Japanese outdoor music, as represented by Ride on Time and For You in the early 1980s.^[25][26][27]

In 2011, Yamashita's newly-released album Ray of Hope topped the weekly Oricon Albums Chart, making him the fourth singer to have topped the chart at least once per decade for four decades running.^[28][29]

He has been called a "sound craftsman" because of his commitment to music-making.^[30][31] In addition to the vocal backing chorus, he handles everything from guitar arrangement, computer programming, synthesizer, and percussion by himself. Some of his songs are performed entirely by himself. He is considered by his fans to be particularly good at rhythm guitar cutting. His music is heavily acoustic, but he also appears to have a wide range of knowledge about analog and digital recording due to utilizing the latest technology in music.

"Christmas Eve", Yamashita's best-known song in Japan and the best-selling Japanese single of the 1980s.^[7][8][9], first appeared on his 1983 album Melodies. It topped the charts in 1990 and has since ranked in the top 100 on the Japanese charts every Christmas season. The song was most famously a commercial song for JR Central's "Xmas Express."^[32] It has sold nearly 2 million copies since its release and continues to be sold in small quantities as a limited edition every Christmas season.

As a solo artist, Yamashita has released 13 original studio albums, five cover albums, two live albums, multiple compilations, and over 50 singles. He is the most commercially successful Japanese male solo recording artist in the history of the Japanese album chart, selling approximately 9 million albums in total.^[33][34] He has also composed for films and television commercials, and worked on records by other artists. Yamashita frequently collaborated with Alan O'Day, who wrote the English lyrics for some of his most popular songs. He has also collaborated with his wife Mariya Takeuchi, whom he married in 1982. They have one daughter.^[35]

Controversy

Kiyoshi Matsuo, a Japanese record producer, who had mentioned Johnny Kitagawa's sexual harassment allegations in various media, had his management contract terminated in the middle of the period by Smile Company, to which he had belonged. He stated that Yamashita and his wife Mariya Takeuchi, who also belong to the company, agreed with the company's policy.^[36][37][38]

Discography

Awards

Notes

References

External links

• Tatsuro Yamashita discography at Discogs
• Official website (Japanese)
• Artist Page in Warner Music Japan
• An account of Christmas Eve (Made in Japan ONLY) (in English)