PL: When I got the message that it was taken down by Alan, I thought it was an error or that he was a troll, because I couldn’t find any information about him on YouTube. It’s been over thirty years, but “Plastic Love” is finally getting the love it really deserves.Plastic Lover, how did you react after your video got taken down? Yesoung Japanese groups like Chai and Eill are also record covers of the track. But now looking at YouTube’s comment section for Plastic Love, a lot of viewers don’t seem to really care what language it’s in.”Ī new generation of music fans – at home and abroad – continues to discover the song. “Since it was largely performed in Japanese, we thought it would be impossible to go abroad. “It never occurred to me to try work in the West,” Takeuchi told The Japan Times, looking back on when “Plastic Love” originally debuted.
The newly uploaded music video, which doesn’t feature Takeuchi, is full of urban pop vibes. in 2019, a short version was released on YouTube, once again illustrating how record labels in Japan have been slow to fully embrace the power of the video channel.
The record company is also (finally!) releasing the full version of the song’s music video on YouTube. Levenson’s photo has become so closely associated with the song that Warner Music used it for the 12-inch reissue it released this month. Just put my name on it and I’ll stop striking.’ We were pleased to see it restored exactly with all comments intact.” “I found out that Plastic Lover wasn’t making any money, and people were angry,” Levenson said. YouTube user plastic lover-an anonymous student-and Levenson were in touch through other people about using the photo. “I clicked on the link, and it came up with a big page that said ‘Struck by Alan Levenson’,” said the photographer, who was immediately inundated with nasty hate mail. Months after the original strike request, it finally went through. Levenson’s lawyer advised him to stop the YouTube video to see if people cared. It was a great photo used without permission.
Originally for another Takeuchi single, the now iconic portrait was taken by an American photographer Alan Levenson. That is, until a copyright complaint over the thumbnail photo caused the track to disappear. Ash Pitchfork notes, the unofficial upload, posted on a channel called Plastic Lover, garnered more than 24 million views. Decades after its original release, seemingly out of nowhere, an expanded version of the song went viral on YouTube in 2017. The song’s comeback in November is not the first revival of ‘Plastic Love’. “No matter how many other guys would chase her, she couldn’t shake the feelings of loneliness that caused the loss.”īut when a 12-inch single was released in Japan in March 1985, it only reached #86 on the Japanese charts however, the album it appeared on, Variety, was a number one hit. I wanted to write something with 16 beats and lyrics to show what life in a city was like.” According to Takeuchi, the lyrics are about a woman who lost her true love. “I also wanted to write something danceable, something with an urban pop sound. “I wanted to write a rock song, a folk song, a country song,” she added. “I was writing songs at the time because it was fun for me.” (Full Disclosure: I’m a columnist at The Japan Times.) “I was pregnant with a child at the time, so it wasn’t like I was really able to enjoy the bubble-age excess in the same way that others could,” Takeuchi said. “Plastic Love”, written and sung by Mariya Takeuchi, is pure “city pop”, a loosely defined, light-hearted genre that is described as “music made by city dwellers, for city dwellers.” Few things are more reminiscent of the boisterous bubbly era of 1980s Japan than urban pop music. acto Warner Music Japan, the reissued 12-inch single also broke the top ten of the country’s sales charts for the first time. This month, more than three decades after its original release, the song’s full official video was finally uploaded to YouTube. Recorded in 1984, “Plastic Love” is the song that continues to make comeback after comeback. The official music video reminds me of those overwrought karaoke videos played in Japanese karaoke parlors, which suits the atmosphere.