Kiyotaka Sugiyama

Overview

Kiyotaka Sugiyama (杉山清貴, born July 17, 1959 in Isogo-ku, Yokohama) is a Japanese singer-songwriter and one of the defining voices of city pop. With a clear, refreshing high-tone voice, he sang of marine resorts and glittering urban lifestyles, rising to popularity from the eve of Japan's bubble economy through its peak. He is best known as the lead vocalist of S. Kiyotaka & Omega Tribe (1983–1985), and after going solo in 1986 he continued to score hits with the same musical sensibility. Thanks to the global city pop boom since 2020, his music has found a growing overseas audience; as of May 2023 he was listened to more in the United States than in Japan. He has released 27 solo albums, and his debut solo album Beyond… (1986) reached No. 1 on the Oricon charts.

Career

Early life and amateur years

Sugiyama grew up with a police officer father and a mother who taught Japanese dance and tokiwazu at home. He learned shamisen from her as a child and dreamed of becoming a manga artist, but in fourth grade the Beatles changed everything. He idolized George Harrison and his Fender Stratocaster, and was also influenced by Japanese folk artists such as Takuro Yoshida and Yosui Inoue. He wrote his first original song in junior high, formed a Beatles cover band called Vampire in his second year, and in high school became the vocalist of the band LAMB after being invited by Kyoichi Shiino. After graduating he worked at a live house and lived on his own, following his father's advice to chart his own path.

S. Kiyotaka & Omega Tribe (1980–1985)

In 1979 he joined Cutie Panchos as lead vocalist. The band won an award at the 19th Yamaha Popular Song Contest in 1980 with "Gospel no Yoru" but did not place at the 20th. Although offered a major debut, Sugiyama declined because he was not satisfied with the band's original material; Koichi Fujita of Triangle Production kept watching the group and eventually brought them in. Under Fujita's terms, songs would be supplied by the record company and top-tier session musicians would handle the recordings, and the band was renamed S. Kiyotaka & Omega Tribe. They debuted on VAP in April 1983 with "Summer Suspicion" and followed with hits including "Kimi no Heart wa Marine Blue" (1984), "Futari no Natsu Monogatari -Never Ending Summer-" (1985) and "Silence ga Ippai" (1985). The band disbanded at the end of 1985, at the peak of its popularity, after the single "Glass no Palm Tree" and the album First Finale, partly due to discontent over session musicians handling the recordings.

Solo career

Sugiyama debuted as a solo artist in May 1986 with "Sayonara no Ocean", which sold 200,000 copies, followed by the debut album Beyond…, which hit No. 1 on the Oricon Albums Chart. The next single, "Saigo no Holy Night", reached No. 2. That year he also appeared in the film Aidoru o Sagase, playing Momoko Kikuchi's brother. "Mizu no Naka no Answer" and "Shade" (1987) and "Kaze no Lonely Way" (1988) all hit No. 1 on the Oricon Singles Chart. In 1988 he released "Boys of Eternity" as the theme of the OVA Shonan Bakusozoku 4, and in 1989 he wrote "Last Train" for Carlos Toshiki & Omega Tribe's album Be Yourself.

On May 30, 1990, he moved to Warner Pioneer (now Warner Music Japan) and released his fifth album Sprinkle, which reached No. 1. In the 1990s he made Hawaii a second base, traveling between there and Japan, and from 1996 he performed annually at Hibiya Open-Air Concert Hall during tours. He returned to VAP in 2000, later leaving Horipro to found Masterwork Co., Ltd., which became Island Afternoon Co., Ltd. In 2004 he reunited with Omega Tribe members for a concert for the first time.

In 2013, for his 30th debut anniversary, he moved to King Records and released the self-cover album I Am Me. In 2016, his 30th solo anniversary, he performed at Hibiya Open-Air Concert Hall and released OCEAN, followed by Driving Music (2017) and MY SONG MY SOUL (2018). In 2018 he also joined the Omega Tribe 35th anniversary national tour alongside a solo tour. In 2019 he released the live album The Open Air Live "High & High 2018" Complete and made his first appearance at Momoiro Uta Gassen. Rainbow Planet (2020) was his first album in three years, though a tour was postponed due to COVID-19. In December 2020 he relaunched his fan club as "Island afternoon online" on the Fanicon platform, and on December 27 held "High & High 2020 Special Edition in Winter" at Tokyo International Forum Hall C, his first full-band show since 2016, broadcast live on WOWOW.

In 2022 came the 35th anniversary editions of beyond... and realtime to paradise, plus the 35(+3) SUMMERS single collections (VAP and Warner Music Japan editions). In 2023, the 40th anniversary of his debut, he released the singles "Nightmare" and "Too good to be true/Nightmare", the album FREEDOM, and the compilation All Time Best.

Musical style

Sugiyama is regarded as one of the artists who shaped city pop's image, pairing newer synthesizer sounds with his clear high voice and themes of the sea, resorts and urban glamour. His influences include the Beatles and Western rock, Japanese folk rock (Takuro Yoshida, Yosui Inoue), American rock such as Santana, and The Doobie Brothers during his Cutie Panchos days, along with R&B and Otis Redding. His early trademark look of Wellington sunglasses and soft suits was part of an image strategy created by Omega Tribe producer Koichi Fujita. He now lives in Kamakura.