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      in Movies

      Miho Nakayama, Japanese Music and Movie Star, Dies at 54

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      A top-selling pop singer as a teenager in the 1980s, she also had an award-winning career as a dramatic actress.Miho Nakayama, a reigning J-pop star of the 1980s who broke through to become a critically acclaimed dramatic actress and gained international attention for her starring role in the sentimental Japanese drama “Love Letter,” died on Friday at her home in Tokyo. She was 54.Ms. Nakayama was found dead in a bathtub, according to a statement from her management company. The statement added, “We are still in the process of confirming the cause of death and other details.”The Japan Times reported that Ms. Nakayama had canceled an appearance at a Christmas concert in Osaka, Japan, scheduled for that same day, citing health issues.Ms. Nakayama — known by the affectionate nickname Miporin — rocketed to fame in 1985, becoming one of Japan’s most successful idols, as popular young entertainers there are known, with the release of her first single, “C.” That same year, she took home a Japan Record Award for best new artist.She exploded on both the big and small screens that same year with starring roles in the comedy-drama series “Maido Osawagase Shimasu” (roughly, “Sorry to Bother You All the Time”) and the film “Bi Bappu Haisukuru” (“Be-Bop High School”), an action comedy set on a dystopian campus filled with uniformed schoolgirls and brawling schoolboys.Such stories were popular teenage fare at the time, as evidenced by her subsequent role in “Sailor Fuku Hangyaku Doumei” (“The Sailor Suit Rebel Alliance”), a television series that made its debut in 1986, in which Ms. Nakayama played a member of a group of martial arts-savvy girls who squared off against wrongdoers at a violence-marred high school.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      1984: The Year Pop Stardom Got Supersized

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      Forty years ago, the chemistry of pop stardom was irrevocably changed. Nineteen eighty-four was an inflection point: a year of blockbuster albums, career quantum leaps, iconic poses and an enduring redefinition of what pop success could mean for performers — and would then demand from them — in the decades to come.The indelible albums of 1984 were turning-point releases: Prince’s “Purple Rain,” Madonna’s “Like a Virgin” and Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.” among them. Tina Turner reintroduced herself as a bruised but resilient survivor on “Private Dancer.” And Van Halen proved that hard rock could mesh with pop — even synth-pop — on “Jump.” These were pivotal statements from established acts who were decisively multiplying their impact.Those blockbusters were propelled by an unlikely convergence of artistic impulses, advancing technology, commercial aspirations and popular taste, all shaped by the narrow portals of the pre-internet media landscape. The eye-popping novelty of music videos, the dominance of major record labels and the cautious formats of radio stations still made for a limited, recognizable mainstream rather than the infinitude of choices, niches, microgenres and personalized recommendation engines that the internet opened up. It was a peak moment of pop-music monoculture. Listeners in the 1980s absorbed hits that felt like ubiquitous earworms: the fanfare-like synthesizer riff of “Born in the U.S.A.,” the saxophone cushioned by synthesizers in George Michael’s “Careless Whisper,” the drone and percussion and bawled vocals of “Shout” by Tears for Fears. Younger generations have definitely heard and seen their repercussions, whether or not they’ve played back the originals. The sounds and lessons of 1984 have been durable and widely recycled by countless synthesizer-pumped 21st-century hitmakers, among them the Weeknd (“Blinding Lights”) and Sabrina Carpenter (“Please Please Please”). More

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      Is the Real ‘Wicked’ Movie the Press Tour?

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      Subscribe to Popcast!Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon MusicThe film adaptation of the Broadway musical “Wicked” has been long in the works and perhaps anticipated for even longer. Starring Ariana Grande (billed as Ariana Grande-Butera) as Galinda and Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, it is an ornate adventure that serves as a sort of prequel to “The Wizard of Oz.” (It is also the first of two films; the second one will be released next November.)Grande and Erivo have been praised for their performances onscreen, but they have also been performing in a parallel show, making viral magic on the press tour. The result has been a film rollout that at times feels louder than the film itself.On this week’s Popcast, a conversation about how “Wicked” survived the transition from stage to film, how Grande and Erivo inscribed new narrative into their roles, and how the real film may well be Grande and Erivo’s public appearances.Guest:Joe Coscarelli, The New York Times’s pop music reporterConnect With Popcast. Become a part of the Popcast community: Join the show’s Facebook group and Discord channel. We want to hear from you! Tune in, and tell us what you think at popcast@nytimes.com. Follow our host, Jon Caramanica, on Twitter: @joncaramanica.Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. More

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      in Music

      Cash App Wades Into the Exclusive World of Presale Concert Tickets

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      Legacy credit cards and banks aren’t the only banking options to come with perks for premium access to events anymore.When Kendrick Lamar and SZA announced a joint tour this week, there were no American Express, Citibank or Capital One presale codes in sight. Instead, fans reached for the digital payments platform Cash App, and some even dropped their handles across social media in hopes that someone would donate to their ticket funds.Legacy brands aren’t the only banking options to come with such perks as early access to performances anymore.For their Grand National tour, which will be debuting in the spring, SZA and Lamar partnered with Cash App for early access, the latest move by the payment platform to try to open up what has become an exclusive ticket-access process.The “Grand National Tour” poster for the tour of Kendrick Lamar and SZA, featuring Cash App as one of the partners. “Everyone should have access to the financial system, and that includes the rewards that come along with premium credit cards,” said Catherine Ferdon, the chief marketing officer for Cash App. “Most artists don’t really care what their fans’ credit score is or if they carry a luxury credit card in their wallet. They care that their fans love their music and can get access to it easily.”Generally, the credit cards that grant access for concert presales come with “pretty significant barriers to entry,” Ms. Ferdon said, including high annual fees, credit score requirements, and qualifying for a high credit limit. Cash App acts like a prepaid debit card and does not require users to have a bank account or credit approval. A physical Cash App card was required for the presale.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Dick Van Dyke, Approaching 99, Dances in Coldplay’s Latest Video

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      In the clip, which was filmed in October, Van Dyke sings, dances barefoot and offers meditations on aging, family and love.Dick Van Dyke, the lithe and witty nonagenarian whose career spans more than seven decades, has added yet another role to his lengthy résumé: music video star.Dancing barefoot in the backyard of his Malibu, Calif., home, Van Dyke, 98, is the focus of Coldplay’s latest music video, “All My Love.”Van Dyke, who starred on “The Dick Van Dyke Show” from 1961 to 1966 and danced his way through “Mary Poppins” 60 years ago, pulls out some of his signature dance moves while the band’s frontman Chris Martin plays an upright piano.The video, directed by Spike Jonze and Mary Wigmore, was filmed in October. A directors’ cut that lasts more than seven minutes came out on Friday; a shorter version will be released Dec. 13 on Van Dyke’s 99th birthday.Van Dyke, who is introduced with a title card noting that he was born in 1925, gamely pokes fun at his age, including when a voice asks him to close his eyes and think of the people who meant something to him. He does, and then opens them. “I’m too old for this — I’ll pass out and go to sleep,” he says, adding, with a mischievous chuckle, “I’ll take a nap!”Martin said Thursday on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” that it was his and Jonze’s idea to cast Van Dyke in the video. Martin said that he and Van Dyke are neighbors, and that they had met several years ago.“This really may be the most fun thing I’ve ever done,” Martin said of the video. “It makes me so grateful. It’s a big deal for me.”In the video, photographs of Van Dyke’s family and from his long career — including a picture with Mary Tyler Moore, his co-star on the “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” and “Mary Poppins” memorabilia — flash on the screen. Van Dyke, in a suit and tie but no shoes, dances and shows of some of his old comic moves.Many scenes show his wife, Arlene Silver, and his family gathered around him. And at times he grows thoughtful, meditating on aging, family and love. “I’m acutely aware that I’m, you know, could go any day now but I don’t know why it doesn’t concern me,” Van Dyke says. “I’m not afraid of it. I have that feeling, totally against anything intellectual, that I’m going to be all right.”Van Dyke adds that he had been lucky to be able to “play and act silly” for a living. More

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      Beyond the Blockbusters, 7 Key Songs From 1984

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      The Pointer Sisters, Minutemen and more sounds from a landmark year in pop music.The Pointer SistersAaron Rapoport/Corbis, via Getty ImagesDear listeners,If you’re halfway decent at math, you know that it is currently the 40-year anniversary of 1984 — which is not only the name of a George Orwell novel and a Van Halen album, but a particularly pivotal moment in popular music. This week, we’re running a few articles that look back at the music of 1984, beginning with a sharp, well-reported piece by Ben Sisario about the way a number of ’70s rockers (ZZ Top, Don Henley and Yes among them) rebooted their sounds and images for the brave new world of the 1980s.Most retrospectives of the year focus on the big names and the blockbuster albums: Prince’s “Purple Rain,” Madonna’s “Like a Virgin,” and Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.,” to name a few. For today’s playlist, though, I wanted to spotlight some more under-the-radar releases from that year. It was also a watershed time in underground rock, moody new wave and synth-heavy dance music, and accordingly this collection features tracks from the Replacements, Echo & the Bunnymen and the Pointer Sisters, among others. While the A-listers are the shorthand for the year’s familiar sound and aesthetic, let this playlist remind you that 1984 was also a year with many different soundtracks. Here’s one of many.I don’t wanna tame your animal style,LindsayListen along while you read.1. The Replacements: “Favorite Thing”Let’s kick things off with a propulsive track from one of my favorite 1984 releases, the Replacements’ “Let It Be.” While it’s difficult to pick just one song from such a great album, the raucous “Favorite Thing” contains what I consider one of its best moments: that bridge where the guitars drop out and the bassist Tommy Stinson briefly gets the spotlight — at least before Paul Westerberg ratchets the noise back up with a blisteringly howled, “Bar nothing!”▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube2. Minutemen: “The Glory of Man”Another of my favorite 1984 albums (and another from which it is very difficult to pick just one track, given that there are 45 of them on the original LP) is the San Pedro, Calif. punk band Minutemen’s sprawling double album “Double Nickels on the Dime.” I’ll go with this jaunty rocker — driven by the interplay between Mike Watt’s squiggly bass line and D. Boon’s blurts of guitar — because it contains one of my favorite Minutemen lyrics, “I live sweat, but I dream light-years.” Words to live by.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      in Music

      9 New Songs From Rosé, Bad Bunny and More

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      Hear tracks by Sky Ferreira, Bad Bunny, Sakura Tsuruta and others.Every Friday, pop critics for The New York Times weigh in on the week’s most notable new tracks. Listen to the Playlist on Spotify here (or find our profile: nytimes) and at Apple Music here, and sign up for The Amplifier, a twice-weekly guide to new and old songs.Rosé, ‘Toxic Till the End’Born in New Zealand, and skillful and disciplined enough to join the K-pop group Blackpink, Rosé is the epitome of an international pop strategist. “Toxic Till the End,” sung entirely in English, is from her solo debut album, “Rosie,” and it’s an indictment of an ex who was “jealous and possessive, so manipulatin’ / Honestly impressive, you had me participatin’.” It uses every device at her disposal, drawing directly from the Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff synth-pop playbook. Keyboard arpeggios lead to an arena-ready march, a breathy reconsideration, a shout that “You wasted my prettiest years!,” an acoustic moment and a big angry finish. Women’s rage at bad boyfriends is real — and commercial, too.Sky Ferreira, ‘Leash’A tsunami of grungy distortion opens “Leash,” a song Sky Ferreira wrote for the thriller “Babygirl.” It’s her first release since leaving Capitol Records, which released her lone album, “Night Time, My Time,” in 2013; she has said her long-in-the-making second album, “Masochism,” will arrive in 2025. “Leash” could easily segue out of Ferreira’s debut, as she fortifies her pop melodies with armadas of guitars, keyboards, drums and backup vocals. She sings about submission and surrender — “Wanna be caught, go down in flames” — but the heft and crunch of the music insist on her power.Bruses, ‘Coma Party’We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      The Year in Pop: Hits Without Stars, Stars Without Hits

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      This past spring, Tommy Richman got famous off a TikTok.Well, not famous exactly. Popular. Let’s say popular. Tommy Richman got popular off a TikTok.Or maybe that’s not quite right either. How about: This past spring, a snippet of a song used in a video on TikTok catapulted Richman, a young soul singer with some promising earlier releases, onto the path to fame.The snippet was of “Million Dollar Baby,” a deliciously saccharine pop-funk thumper, and the TikTok it soundtracked was a loose clip of Richman and his friends having a fantastic time in the studio one night — a warm little bolt of you-shoulda-been-there fun. This was in April, and before long, the clip had millions of views, and the audio was inescapable. Eventually, it appeared in over nine million videos on the app. Radio play followed quickly, leading to a No. 2 debut for the song on the Billboard Hot 100, followed by a few months in the Top 10.Stardom secured, right? Not quite. While “Million Dollar Baby” is one of this year’s defining singles, Richman remains largely a cipher. He hasn’t done many interviews; he had a needless social-media kerfuffle over how people taxonomize his sound; and his debut studio album, “Coyote” — which pointedly and stubbornly did not include “Million Dollar Baby” or its follow-up cousin, “Devil Is a Lie” — arrived with a whisper in September, and disappeared even more quietly.Tommy Richman’s “Million Dollar Baby” blew up on TikTok and hit the Hot 100, but didn’t appear on his debut studio album.Craig Barritt/Getty ImagesThis isn’t to consign Richman to pop’s deep bin of one-hit wonders. If anything, the current pathway for breakout successes, especially via TikTok, is more insidious than that. Viral smashes like “Million Dollar Baby” often feel like hits without stars — potent for soundtracking and sticking to content made by others rather than attached to the artist who actually created it.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More