WTBU 89.3FM Boston

The setting: Tokyo late 1970s, a city booming both economically and musically. Walkmans, cars cassette decks and FM stereos ruled the streets while synthesizers and drum machines provided the music. The music evolved with the technology and western influences like R&B, funk and boogie were being broadcast all around the airwaves. This was the birth of citypop, a genre so encompassing yet so specific to its time. Yet citypop laid dormant, relegated to a small footnote in Japan’s history. Until now. Join us on a musical quest to rediscover what citypop was, its artists, and how citypop is still alive and present in today’s online sphere.