Tatsuro Yamashita

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Tatsurō Yamashita
山下 達郎
Born	Yamashita Tatsurō (山下 達郎) (1953-02-04) February 4, 1953 (age 68)[1] Ikebukuro, Toshima, Tōkyō-to, Japan[1]
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, record producer
Spouse(s)	Mariya Takeuchi ​ (m. 1982)​
Children	1
Musical career
Genres	Rock, pop, kayōkyoku, city pop, soul, R&B, disco
Instruments	Vocals, guitars, piano, keyboards, drums, percussion
Years active	1973–present
Labels	AIR, Moon, Niagara, Elec, RCA, RVC, Warner Music Japan, Nippon Columbia, EastWest Japan, MMG
Associated acts	Sugar Babe, Mariya Takeuchi, Haruomi Hosono, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Eiichi Ohtaki
Musical artist
Website	tatsuro.co.jp
Signature

Tatsurō Yamashita (山下 達郎, Yamashita Tatsurō, born February 4, 1953), occasionally credited as Tatsu Yamashita^[2] or Tats Yamashita,^[3] is a Japanese singer-songwriter and record producer who helped pioneer the style of Japanese adult-oriented rock/soft rock dubbed "city pop".^[4][5] Yamashita has been producing the majority of his music during the 1970s–present time and is considered an important contributor to Japanese music. ^[6][7] He has also collaborated with his wife Mariya Takeuchi, another Japanese singer.^[8]

He is also known for the song "Christmas Eve", which initially appeared on his album Melodies in 1983 and later became a hit throughout the decades.^[9][10] It is considered one of the standard Japanese Christmas songs, winning the Special Prize at the 45th Japan Record Awards 20 years after its release.^[11] In 2007, Rolling Stone Japan ranked his album Spacy number 14 on a list of the greatest Japanese rock albums of all time.^[12]

He is also called a "sound craftsman" because of his commitment to music making and his unique production attitude.^{[13] [14]}In addition to vocal backing chorus, he handles everything from arrangement to guitar, computer programming, synthesizer, and percussion by himself. Some songs are all performed by one person. He is particularly good at guitar rhythm cutting. It has a strong acoustic style, but has a wide range of know-how covering from analog to digital due to its policy of utilizing the latest technology.

Career[]

In 1973, Yamashita formed the band Sugar Babe with musicians including Taeko Ohnuki and Kunio Muramatsu, and released their sole album Songs two years later in 1975.^[15][1] After the group disbanded in 1976, Yamashita signed to RCA and launched his own career, with release of the solo album Circus Town the same year. Also the same year he teamed up with Eiichi Ohtaki, who was the producer of Sugar Babe,^[16] and brief Sugar Babe member Ginji Ito to release an album titled Niagara Triangle Vol. 1 that was cited by MTV as one of the finest collaborative efforts from that period.^[17] His 1979 award-winning album Moonglow gained moderate success,^[18] but his 1980 song "Ride on Time" peaked at No. 3 on the Japanese Oricon and the same-titled album topped the chart subsequently,^[19][20][7] propelling him to stardom.^[1]

As a solo artist, Yamashita has released 13 original studio albums,5 cover albums (ex."on the street corner" series), 2 live albums, multiple compilations and over 50 singles. He has been one of the most commercially successful Japanese male solo recording artists in the history of the Japanese album chart, selling approximately 9 million albums in total.^[21][22] He has also composed for films and television commercials, and worked on records by other artists. He is particularly successful as a musical collaborator for Mariya Takeuchi, whom he married in 1982. They have one daughter.^[23]

Discography^[24][]

Original Studio albums[]

Original Studio Albums Before His Solo Career[]

Cover Albums[]

Compilation Albums[]

Live albums[]

Singles[]

The history of the reissue of "Christmas Eve"[37]

Unofficial albums[]

Other releases[]

Following materials are not marketed to the record retailers, though they have been available via mail order to his official fan club.^[42]

Awards[]

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)^{[permanent dead link]} (in English)