Taeko Onuki
Born
Ōnuki Taeko (大貫 妙子)

(1953-11-28) November 28, 1953[1]
Suginami, Tokyo, Japan
Occupations
  • Singer
  • Singer-songwriter
  • Composer
Musical career
Genres
Instrument(s)
  • Vocals
  • Guitar
  • Keyboard
  • Piano
Years active1971–present
Websiteonukitaeko.jp

Taeko Onuki (大貫 妙子, Ōnuki Taeko, born November 28, 1953) is a Japanese singer and songwriter.[2][3] She is influential in the city pop genre.[4][5][6]

Early life and career

Taeko Onuki was born in Suginami Ward, Tokyo, in 1953. Her father was Kenichiro Onuki, a member of the Japanese Special Attack Units during the Second World War.[7]

In 1973, she formed Sugar Babe with musicians Tatsuro Yamashita and Kunio Muramatsu.[1] Because the dominant music style at the time was hard rock, audiences did not respond too warmly, and the group disbanded three years later.[4] In 1976, Onuki began her solo career by releasing the album Grey Skies, which carried the same sound as Sugar Babe. Her second, landmark album Sunshower was released the following year in 1977 and had a much different style, mixing pop music and jazz. In 1978 she released her third album, Mignonne, in which she worked with producer Eji Ogura, but the sales-focused process was difficult for her and the album didn't sell as expected.[4] She took a two year break from music afterwards. Beginning from 1980, she released her “Europe” trilogy of albums: Romantique, Aventure and Cliché, taking on a more electronic sound.[4]

Later career

In 1998, she won the 21st Japan Academy Award for Best Music Award in the movie "Tokyo biyori".

From October 5, 2005, she served as Wednesday navigator (DJ) of the program " NIGHT STORIES " " THE UNIVERSE " of FM radio station J-WAVE in Tokyo.

On November 2, 2006, the soundtrack for the Game Boy Advance game Mother 3 was released, featuring the song "We miss you ~ The theme of love ~", which Onuki sang. She also sang the theme song for Animal Crossing: The Movie based on Nintendo's Animal Crossing video game series.[8]

In 2009, Onuki covered Eiichi Ohtaki's song "Kimi wa Tennen Shoku" for the album A Long Vacation.[9]

In 2020, the movie Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop was released, for which Onuki sang the insert song "YAMAZAKURA".[10]

On March 11, 2022, Onuki participated in the Shuichi "Ponta" Murakami tribute concert "One Last Live", performing "Tokai" and "Mon doux Soleil".[11]

Discography

Albums

Studio Albums
Title Year Label
GreySkies 1976 Panam/Crown
Sunshower 1977
Mignonne 1978 RCA/RVC
Romantique 1980
Aventure 1981
Cliche 1982
Signifie 1983 Dear Heart/RVC
Cahier 1984
Copine 1985 Dear Heart/MIDI
Comin' Soon 1986
A Slice of Life 1987
Purissima 1988
New Moon 1990
Drawing 1992 Eastworld/Toshiba EMI
Shooting Star in the Blue Sky 1993
Tchou 1995
Lucy 1997
Attraction 1999
Ensemble 2000
Note 2002
One Fine Day 2005
UTAU (with Ryuichi Sakamoto) 2010
Tint (with Ryota Komatsu) 2015 Universal Music Japan
Self-Cover Albums
Title Year Label
Pure Acoustic 1996 Eastworld/Toshiba EMI
Boucles d'oreilles 2007 SMDR GT Music
Live Albums
Title Year Label
LIVE '93 Shooting Star in the Blue Sky 1996 Eastworld/Toshiba EMI
TAEKO ONUKI meets AKIRA SENJU 〜Symphonic Concert 2016 2016 Pony Canyon
Pure Acoustic 2018 2018 Columbia
Soundtracks
Title Year Label
Africa Dobutsu Puzzle 1987 Dear Heart/RVC
Tokyo Biyori 1997 Eastworld/Toshiba EMI
Tokyo Oasis 2011 VAP

References

  1. 1 2 "大貫妙子". tower.jp. Tower. August 1, 2016. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
  2. ↑ "大貫妙子 Taeko Onuki / profile". onukitaeko.jp. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Taeko Ohnuki". discogs. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 St. Michel, Patrick (December 22, 2017). "Taeko Onuki of Sugar Babe on Her Journey in Japanese Music". Red Bull Music Academy. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
  5. ↑ "シティポップの金字塔、大貫妙子『SUNSHOWER』アナログレコード再プレス決定". Ototoy. February 22, 2019. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
  6. ↑ 金子, 厚武 (July 1, 2016). "大貫妙子が語る、何かを成すのではなく未来へ繋げるという人生観". Cinra. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
  7. ↑ "鴻上尚史さんのベストセラー『不死身の特攻兵』が生まれたワケ". J-CAST BOOKウォッチ. August 6, 2018. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
  8. ↑ 劇場版 「どうぶつの森」 / 主題歌 (in Japanese). doubutsunomori-movie.jp. Archived from the original on January 22, 2007. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
  9. ↑ "大滝詠一の歴史的名盤『A LONG VACATION』、女性が歌って"秋サウンドに"". Oricon (in Japanese). October 23, 2009. Retrieved April 15, 2018.
  10. ↑ "サイダーのように言葉が湧き上がる / MUSIC / ARTIST" (in Japanese). Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  11. ↑ "村上"ポンタ"秀一トリビュート ～One Last LIVE～". Wowow. Retrieved June 5, 2022.
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