In the early 1980s, with the spread of car stereos, the term City Pop (シティーポップ Shitī Poppu?) came to describe a type of popular music that had a big city theme. Tokyo in particular inspired many songs of this form, but more especially the 1960s reverb-drenched wall of sound production styles made famous by studio auteurs Phil Spector and Brian Wilson. During this time, music fans and artists in Japan were influenced by album-oriented rock (especially Adult contemporary) and crossover (especially Jazz fusion). Although City Pop was affected by New Music, the rock band Happy End was considered one of its originators.

The popularity of City Pop declined when the Japanese asset price bubble burst in 1990. Its musical characteristics (except its "cultural background") were inherited by Shibuya-kei musicians such as Pizzicato Five and Flipper's Guitar.