Group · 1973–1976 · Tokyo [35.69, 139.69]
Sugar Babe
A short-lived but pivotal band active from 1973 to 1976, Sugar Babe brought together a young Tatsuro Yamashita and Taeko Onuki around tight harmonies and American soft-rock influence. Their sole album "Songs" (1975) flopped commercially but became a foundational text for the city pop generation that followed. The band's breakup released its members into the solo careers that would define the genre.
Evidence2
- Wikidata: Sugar BabeWikidata
www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11307978
accessed 2026-06-04
- MusicBrainz: SUGAR BABEMusicBrainz
musicbrainz.org/artist/08614e29-9470-4547-9d2c-d13287727173
accessed 2026-06-04
Connections3
collaborates with → Tatsuro Yamashita
Tatsuro Yamashita co-founded Sugar Babe and was its principal songwriter, shaping the band's harmony-rich, American-influenced pop. The experience seeded the studio approach he would later perfect as a solo artist. His path out of the band is one of the genre's founding storylines.
collaborates with → Taeko Onuki
Taeko Onuki was a founding member of Sugar Babe alongside Tatsuro Yamashita, contributing vocals and songwriting to the band's brief run. When the group dissolved she pursued a more art-pop solo direction that broadened the genre's palette. The band was the shared starting point for two of city pop's defining voices.
collaborates with → Songs (Sugar Babe)