Plastic Love

"Plastic Love" (プラスティック・ラブ, Purasutikku Rabu) is a song released by Japanese singer Mariya Takeuchi. The song was included on Takeuchi's number-one hit album, Variety (1984), and also released as a single a year later.[1]

"Plastic Love"
Single by Mariya Takeuchi
from the album Variety
ReleasedNovember 19, 1984 (1984-11-19)
Genre
Length4:51
LabelMoon Records
Songwriter(s)Mariya Takeuchi
Producer(s)Tatsuro Yamashita

The single, embodying the city pop style, was moderately received and sold around 10,000 copies.[2] In 2017, the song saw a resurgence internationally when an eight-minute remix of the song was uploaded to YouTube, quickly garnering more than 24 million views, before a copyright claim over the album art unintentionally led to its removal.[3][4][5] It was subsequently restored in 2019 and has garnered over 50 million views.

Production and release

"Plastic Love" was written and performed by Takeuchi and produced by her husband, Tatsuro Yamashita.[1] In an interview with The Japan Times, Takeuchi remarked: "I wanted to write something danceable, something with a city pop sound... [the lyrics] tell the story of a woman who lost the man she truly loves."[3] Yamashita also played guitar for the song, while Yasuharu Nakanishi played electric piano, Kōki Itō played bass guitar, and Jūn Aoyama played drums.[6]

The song was first released on Takeuchi's number-one hit album, Variety (1984). The single was Takeuchi's twelfth single to be released.[7]

Twelve-inch single

A twelve-inch single was released on March 15, 1985, which included an "extended club mix" and "new re-mix" of the song and reached 86th on the Oricon Singles Chart.[5][8]

No.TitleLength
1."Plastic Love" (Extended Club Mix)9:15
2."Plastic Love" (New Re-Mix)4:51
Total length:14:06[9]
Chart (1985) Peak
position
Japan (Oricon Singles Chart)[5] 86

Resurgence

On July 5, 2017, an eight-minute fan-made remix of "Plastic Love" was uploaded to YouTube by a user known as "Plastic Lover". The video showed a cropped version of the cover of Takeuchi's earlier single "Sweetest Music", taken by Los Angeles-based photographer Alan Levenson.[3][4] Coinciding with the vaporwave genre's rise in popularity,[10][11] the video spread rapidly throughout YouTube through the platform's recommendations algorithm.[3][12] Its spread was also aided by internet memes, discussions on Reddit, and fan art of the "Sweetest Music" cover on platforms such as DeviantArt.[3][6] The video garnered 24 million views before being taken down for a copyright dispute with Levenson, but was then restored in 2019 with credit given to Levenson in the video description.[5]

Ryan Bassil of Vice noted that the song is "a rare tune that doesn't exactly need words to expertly describe a specific, defined feeling – one of lust, heartbreak, love, fear, adventure, loss, all caught up in the swirling midst of a night out on the town" and called the song "the best pop song in the world".[13]

On May 16, 2019, a 90-second long official music video produced by Kyōtaro Hayashi was released on YouTube.[5] Multiple cover versions of "Plastic Love" also exist, including by Tofubeats,[6] Friday Night Plans[14] and Chai.[15]

References
  1. "1984年5月7日竹内まりや『VARIETY』がオリコン・アルバム・チャート1位を記録～世界的に再評価されている「プラスティック・ラブ」収録" (in Japanese). Nippon Broadcasting System. May 7, 2019. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  2. "「臼井孝のヒット曲探検隊 ～アーティスト別 ベストヒット20」 デビュー40周年を迎えた 竹内まりやのヒットを探る". OK Music (in Japanese). November 22, 2018. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  3. St. Michel, Patrick (November 17, 2018). "Mariya Takeuchi: The pop genius behind 2018's surprise online smash hit from Japan". The Japan Times. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  4. Nevarez, Leonard (June 5, 2019). "the curious case of Mariya Takeuchi's Plastic Love: guest blog by Thomas Calkins". Musical Urbanism. Vassar College. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  5. "Mariya Takeuchi's "Plastic Love" gets music video after 35 years". Arama! Japan. May 17, 2019. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  6. "tofubeats - Plastic Love". Mikiki (in Japanese). Tower Records Japan. January 24, 2019. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  7. "シングル・ディスコグラフィー [Part 1]（1978-1989）". Mariya Takeuchi Official Website (in Japanese). Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  8. "竹内まりや - PLASTIC LOVE(12inch)". Warner Music Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  9. "竹内まりや - Plastic Love". Clubberz Records. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  10. Blistein, Jon (May 2, 2019). "City Pop: Why Does the Soundtrack to Tokyo's Tech Boom Still Resonate?". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  11. Lee, Giacomo (July 12, 2019). "From Vaporwave to Future Funk: Night Tempo artists talk Japanese aesthetics of cuteness and City Pop". Digital Arts. International Data Group. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
  12. Marshall, Colin (October 3, 2018). "How Youtube's Algorithm Turned an Obscure 1980s Japanese Song Into an Enormously Popular Hit: Discover Mariya Takeuchi's "Plastic Love"". Open Culture. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  13. Bassil, Ryan (June 13, 2018). "An 80s Japanese Track Is the Best Pop Song in the World". Vice. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  14. Keith, James (November 15, 2019). "Tokyo's Friday Night Plans Combine Jazz, R&B And Experimental Pop On 'Complex' EP". Complex. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  15. "CHAIが〈Sub Pop〉と契約 第1弾シングル「Donuts Mind If I Do」ゲリラ・リリース". Spincoaster (in Japanese). October 2, 2020. Retrieved October 2, 2020.
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