Plastic Love

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Plastic Love"
Plastic Love by Mariya Takeuchi 12-inch.png
Single by Mariya Takeuchi
from the album Variety
ReleasedNovember 19, 1984 (1984-11-19)
GenreCity pop
Length4:51
LabelMoon Records
Songwriter(s)Mariya Takeuchi
Producer(s)Tatsuro Yamashita

"Plastic Love" (プラスティック・ラヴ, Purasutikku Ravu) is a song by Japanese city pop singer Mariya Takeuchi, featured on her number-one hit album, Variety (1984). Upon its release as a single a year later,[1] it was moderately successful, selling around 10,000 copies.[2]

In 2017 "Plastic Love" saw a resurgence internationally when an eight-minute remix of the song was uploaded to YouTube. It quickly garnered more than 24 million views, before a copyright claim over the album art unintentionally led to its removal.[3][4][5] It was subsequently restored in 2019 and has garnered over 63 million views.

Production and release[]

"Plastic Love" was written and performed by Takeuchi and produced by her husband, Tatsuro Yamashita.[1] In an interview with The Japan Times, Takeuchi remarked: "I wanted to write something danceable, something with a city pop sound... [the lyrics] tell the story of a woman who lost the man she truly loves."[3] Yamashita also played guitar for the song, while Yasuharu Nakanishi played electric piano, Kōki Itō played bass guitar, and Jūn Aoyama played drums.[6]

The song was first released on Takeuchi's number-one hit album, Variety (1984). The single was Takeuchi's twelfth single to be released.[7]

Twelve-inch single[]

A twelve-inch single was released on March 15, 1985, which included an "extended club mix" and "new re-mix" of the song and reached 86th on the Oricon Singles Chart.[5][8]

No.TitleLength
1."Plastic Love" (Extended Club Mix)9:15
2."Plastic Love" (New Re-Mix)4:51
Total length:14:06[9]
Chart (1985) Peak
position
Japan (Oricon Singles Chart)[5] 86

Resurgence[]

On July 5, 2017, an eight-minute fan-made remix of "Plastic Love" was uploaded to YouTube by a user known as "Plastic Lover". The video showed a cropped version of the cover of Takeuchi's earlier single "Sweetest Music", taken by Los Angeles-based photographer Alan Levenson.[3][4] In an interview, Plastic Lover said that their video was a re-upload of a now-deleted video on YouTube.[10] Coinciding with the vaporwave genre's rise in popularity,[11][12] Plastic Lover's upload spread rapidly throughout YouTube through the platform's recommendations algorithm.[3][13] Its spread was also aided by internet memes, discussions on Reddit, and fan art of the "Sweetest Music" cover on platforms such as DeviantArt.[3][6] The video garnered 24 million views before being taken down for a copyright dispute with Levenson, but was then restored in 2019 with credit given to Levenson in the video description and thumbnail.[10][5] As of May 2021, the video had more than 63 million views.[10]

Ryan Bassil of Vice noted that the song is "a rare tune that doesn't exactly need words to expertly describe a specific, defined feeling – one of lust, heartbreak, love, fear, adventure, loss, all caught up in the swirling midst of a night out on the town" and called the song "the best pop song in the world".[14] Cat Zhang of Pitchfork reported that younger city pop fans commonly cite "Plastic Love" as their "gateway to the genre".[15]

On May 16, 2019, the short version of the official music video produced by Kyōtaro Hayashi was released on YouTube running 90 seconds long.[5] The full version, which runs approximately 5 minutes, is included in the DVD and Blu-ray release of "Souvenir the Movie" released on November 18, 2020.[16] Multiple cover versions of "Plastic Love" also exist, including by Tofubeats,[6] Friday Night Plans[17] and Chai.[18]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "1984年5月7日竹内まりや『VARIETY』がオリコン・アルバム・チャート1位を記録～世界的に再評価されている「プラスティック・ラブ」収録" (in Japanese). Nippon Broadcasting System. May 7, 2019. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  2. ^ "「臼井孝のヒット曲探検隊 ～アーティスト別 ベストヒット20」 デビュー40周年を迎えた 竹内まりやのヒットを探る". OK Music (in Japanese). November 22, 2018. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e St. Michel, Patrick (November 17, 2018). "Mariya Takeuchi: The pop genius behind 2018's surprise online smash hit from Japan". The Japan Times. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b Nevarez, Leonard (June 5, 2019). "the curious case of Mariya Takeuchi's Plastic Love: guest blog by Thomas Calkins". Musical Urbanism. Vassar College. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e "Mariya Takeuchi's "Plastic Love" gets music video after 35 years". Arama! Japan. May 17, 2019. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b c "tofubeats - Plastic Love". Mikiki (in Japanese). Tower Records Japan. January 24, 2019. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  7. ^ "シングル・ディスコグラフィー [Part 1]（1978-1989）". Mariya Takeuchi Official Website (in Japanese). Retrieved March 11, 2020.
  8. ^ "竹内まりや - PLASTIC LOVE(12inch)". Warner Music Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  9. ^ "竹内まりや - Plastic Love". Clubberz Records. Retrieved March 11, 2020.
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b c Zhang, Cat (May 18, 2021). "Talking to the Anonymous YouTuber and the Photographer Who Helped Mariya Takeuchi's "Plastic Love" Go Viral". Pitchfork. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  11. ^ Blistein, Jon (May 2, 2019). "City Pop: Why Does the Soundtrack to Tokyo's Tech Boom Still Resonate?". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  12. ^ Lee, Giacomo (July 12, 2019). "From Vaporwave to Future Funk: Night Tempo artists talk Japanese aesthetics of cuteness and City Pop". Digital Arts. International Data Group. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
  13. ^ Marshall, Colin (October 3, 2018). "How Youtube's Algorithm Turned an Obscure 1980s Japanese Song Into an Enormously Popular Hit: Discover Mariya Takeuchi's "Plastic Love"". Open Culture. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  14. ^ Bassil, Ryan (June 13, 2018). "An 80s Japanese Track Is the Best Pop Song in the World". Vice. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  15. ^ Zhang, Cat (February 24, 2021). "The Endless Life Cycle of Japanese City Pop". Pitchfork. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  16. ^ "souvenir the movie 〜MARIYA TAKEUCHI Theater Live〜 (Special Edition)". Warner Music Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  17. ^ Keith, James (November 15, 2019). "Tokyo's Friday Night Plans Combine Jazz, R&B And Experimental Pop On 'Complex' EP". Complex. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  18. ^ "CHAIが〈Sub Pop〉と契約 第1弾シングル「Donuts Mind If I Do」ゲリラ・リリース". Spincoaster (in Japanese). October 2, 2020. Retrieved October 2, 2020.
Retrieved from ""