At a glance
- Artist
- Tatsuro Yamashita
- Released
- 1980
In the issue
It's the commercial peak of city pop, embodying the genre's expensive sound at Japan's height of economic confidence.
Commercial peak of city pop with title track reaching No. 3 and album topping Oricon charts, becoming Walkman-era anthem. Used in a Maxell cassette commercial, the title track became synonymous with the bubble economy's technological optimism—the promise that music could accompany you anywhere. Opening with a drum fill that could have come from a Toto record—tight, articulate, recorded with the kind of separation that only good studios and good engineers could achieve—the album captured something specific: the sleek propulsion of a country that believed technology would deliver leisure. Sleek, propulsive, immaculately produced, it embodied city pop's expensive sound and aspirational aesthetic at the moment when Japan's economic confidence was at its peak.
How it was made
Recorded in 1980 at studios in Tokyo and Los Angeles, Ride on Time represented Yamashita's commercial breakthrough and city pop's arrival as a mainstream force. The title track's funk-influenced groove and sophisticated production reached No. 3 on Oricon. The album topped the charts and sold over 500,000 copies. Yamashita played most instruments himself, layering tracks to achieve the clarity and separation he'd learned from American studio techniques. The album's sound was expensive: multiple studios, extensive session time, the best equipment available. Bubble economy prosperity was reshaping record production budgets. Critics recognized Ride on Time as setting new standards for Japanese pop production, with sonic quality that matched or exceeded American soft rock and AOR releases. The album's success proved Japanese audiences would support sophisticated, internationally competitive pop music. It opened doors for other city pop artists and established the genre's commercial viability.
Find a copy
More by Tatsuro Yamashita in the issues
- Circus Town1976
- Melodies1983