Yellow Magic Orchestra
Yellow Magic Orchestra | |
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Past members | |
Website | ymo |
Yellow Magic Orchestra (abbreviated to YMO) was a Japanese
The three members were veterans of the music industry before coming together as YMO, and were inspired by eclectic sources, including the electronic music of Isao Tomita and Kraftwerk, Japanese traditional music, arcade games, funk music, and the disco productions of Giorgio Moroder. They released the surprise global hit "Computer Game" in 1978, reaching the UK Top 20 and selling 400,000 copies in the U.S. For their early recordings and performances, the band was often accompanied by programmer Hideki Matsutake.[10] The group released several albums before pausing their activity in 1984. They briefly reunited several times in subsequent decades before Takahashi and Sakamoto's deaths in 2023.
History
1976–1978: early years and formation
Prior to the group's formation, Sakamoto had been experimenting with
Sakamoto first worked with Hosono as a member of his live band in 1976, while Yukihiro Takahashi recruited Sakamoto to produce his debut solo recording in 1977 following the split of the Sadistic Mika Band. Hosono invited both to work on his exotica-flavoured album Paraiso, which included electronic songs produced using various electronic equipment. The band was named "Harry Hosono and the Yellow Magic Band" as a satire of Japan's obsession with black magic at the time,[16] and in late 1977 they began recording Paraiso, which was released in 1978.[17] The three worked together again for the 1978 album Pacific, which included an early version of the song "Cosmic Surfin".[18]
Hosono and Sakamoto also worked together alongside
While Sakamoto was working on Thousand Knives, Hosono began formulating the idea of an instrumental disco band which could have the potential to reach success in non-Japanese-language territories, and invited Tasuo Hayashi of Tin Pan Alley and Hiroshi Sato of Huckleback as participants, but they declined.[22] Hosono, Sakamoto and Takahashi eventually collaborated again to form the Yellow Magic Orchestra and they began recording their self-titled album at a Shibaura studio in July 1978.[23]
1978–1983: National and international success
The band's 1978 self-titled album Yellow Magic Orchestra was successful and the studio project grew into a fully fledged touring band and career for its three members. The album featured the use of computer technology (along with synthesizers) which, according to Billboard, allowed the group to create a new sound that was not possible until then.[24] Following the release of the album Yellow Magic Orchestra, a live date at the Roppongi Pit Inn was seen by executives of A&M Records of the USA who were in the process of setting up a partnership deal with Alfa Records. This led to the YMO being offered an international deal, at which point (early 1979) the three members decided the group would be given priority over their solo careers. The most popular international hit from the album was "Firecracker", which would be released as a single the following year and again as "Computer Game", which became a success in the United States and Europe.[citation needed]
Following an advertising deal with
Making abundant use of new synthesizers, samplers, sequencers, drum machines, computers and digital recording technology as it became available, as well as utilizing cyberpunk-ish lyrics sung mostly in English, they extended their popularity and influence beyond Japan.[4][6][7]
Their second album
Solid State Survivor went on to sell over 2 million records worldwide.[29] By 1980, YMO had become the most popular group in Japan, where they were performing to sold-out crowds. Their first live album Public Pressure set a record in Japan, topping the charts and selling 250,000 copies within two weeks, while their next studio album X∞Multiplies had 200,000 pre-orders before release.[6] The same year, their albums Solid State Survivor and X∞Multiplies held the top two spots on the Oricon charts for seven consecutive weeks, making YMO the only band in Japanese chart history to achieve this feat.[30]
The 1980 song "Multiplies" was an early experiment in electronic ska.[31] X∞Multiplies was followed up with the 1981 album BGM. "Rap Phenomena" from the album was an early attempt at electronic rap.[32]
They also had similar success abroad, performing to sold-out crowds during tours in the United States and Europe.
1984–1993: breakup and brief reunion
The band had paused their group activities by 1984. After the release of their musical motion picture Propaganda, the three members had returned to their solo careers. They were careful to avoid saying they had "split up", preferring to use the Japanese phrase meaning "spreading out" (散開, sankai), and the trio continued to play on each other's recordings and made guest appearances at live shows. Takahashi, in particular, would play the band's material in his concerts. Meanwhile, Sakamoto would gain international success for his work as a solo artist, actor, and
Yellow Magic Orchestra released a one-off reunion album, Technodon, and credited it to 'NOT YMO' (YMO crossed out with a calligraphy X) or YMO in 1993.[citation needed] Instead of traditional vocals, about half of it features field audio recordings and samples of authors and scientists reading their work.[citation needed] During their brief reunion in the early 1990s, they continued to experiment with new styles of electronic music, playing an instrumental role in the techno and acid house movements of the era.[37]
2002–2023: post-breakup and reformation
This section needs additional citations for verification. (February 2011) |
The early 2000s saw Hosono and Takahashi reunited in a project called Sketch Show. On a number of occasions Ryuichi Sakamoto has joined in on Sketch Show performances and recording sessions. He later proposed they rename the group Human Audio Sponge when he participates. Barcelona performance at Sonar festival and Wild Sketch Show DVDs chronicle these reunions, and include a tongue-in-cheek Japanese text-only history of the group that spans to 2036.
The band have reunited in 2007 for an advertising campaign for
In August 2007, the band once again reformed, taking the name HASYMO or HAS/YMO, combining the names of Human Audio Sponge and Yellow Magic Orchestra. Their first single under this name, "Rescue", was written for the film
In August 2009, the band played the World Happiness festival in Japan, featuring many Japanese artists. The band closed the night, and confirmed that "Yellow Magic Orchestra" was their official name, dropping the HASYMO title. They opened with a cover of "Hello, Goodbye" and performed old YMO songs along with their newer songs.[38]
In August 2010, YMO once again closed their World Happiness festival. They added classic songs from their back catalog into their set list. They also covered "
In 2012, Sakamoto helped organize the No Nukes 2012 festival held in the Makuhari Messe hall in Chiba, Japan, on July 7 and 8, 2012.[42] Among the many artists performing, Kraftwerk closed the July 7 concert, with YMO performing on both days, closing the July 8 concert.[43] YMO also headlined their World Happiness festival on August 12, 2012.[44] After these performances, the band once again went quiet; though no formal announcement was made of a hiatus or breakup, the band ultimately did not reconvene for further recordings or headlining concerts.
On June 23, 2018, Hosono played his debut UK solo concert at the Barbican Centre in London; Takahashi and Sakamoto joined him on stage to perform "Absolute Ego Dance", marking the final time that the three would appear together in public. (The band featured in Hosono's second and third "Yellow Magic Show" on Japanese TV, both recorded in 2019; their appearance in the third was in front of a live audience, but Sakamoto appeared via prerecorded video.)
2023: Takahashi and Sakamoto's deaths
On January 11, 2023, Takahashi died at the age of 70, following a case of pneumonia. He had undergone surgery to remove a brain tumor in 2020 but continued to have health troubles that interfered with his musical activities in the intervening years.[45][46][47][48] That same year, Sakamoto died on March 28 at the age of 71, following a lengthy battle with cancer; leaving Hosono as the last surviving member of the group.
Musical style and development
While their contemporaries in
The band also drew from a wider range of influences than had been employed by Kraftwerk.
Sampling
Their approach to
Instruments
The band often utilized a wide variety of state-of-the-art
They were also the very first band to utilize the
At the time, Billboard noted that the use of such computer-based technology in conjunction with synthesizers allowed YMO to create new sounds that were not possible until then.[24] Yellow Magic Orchestra was also the first computer-themed music album, coming before Kraftwerk's Computer World (1981) by several years.[70] As a result of such innovations, YMO were credited at the time for having "ushered in the age of the computer programmer as rock star."[6]
Other electronic equipment used by the group included the
Legacy
The band has been described as "the original
Various cover versions of "
In
Electronic music
YMO were pioneers of
YMO are considered pioneers in the field of popular electronic music, and continue to be remixed or sampled by modern artists,[4] including experimental artist Yamantaka Eye, electronica group LFO, jungle band 4hero, electrolatino artist Senor Coconut, ambient house pioneers The Orb and 808 State,[11] electronic music groups Orbital[27] and The Human League,[78] hip hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa,[3] and mainstream pop musicians such as Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Greg Phillinganes,[27] Eric Clapton, Mariah Carey, and Jennifer Lopez.[81]
YMO also influenced
In the 1990s, YMO influenced
YMO's success with music technology encouraged many others, with their influence strongly felt in the British electronic scene of the early 1980s in particular.[29] They influenced many early British synthpop acts, including Ultravox, John Foxx, Gary Numan, Duran Duran,[16] Depeche Mode,[4] [failed verification] Camouflage,[4][89] OMD, The Human League,[49] Visage,[90] and Art of Noise,[91] as well as American rock musicians such as Todd Rundgren.[16]
"Technopolis", a tribute to Tokyo as an electronic mecca that used the term "techno" in its title, foreshadowed concepts that Juan Atkins and Rick Davis would later have with Cybotron.[31]
Hip hop
The band was popular with the emerging
YMO's use of video game sounds and bleeps also had a particularly big influence on 1980s hip hop[98] and pop music.[49] Beyond electro acts, "Computer Game / Firecracker" was also sampled by a number of other later artists, including 2 Live Crew's "Mega-Mixx II" (1987),[77] De La Soul's "Funky Towel" (for the 1996 film Joe's Apartment),[99] Jennifer Lopez's "I'm Real" (2001), and the original unreleased version of Mariah Carey's "Loverboy" (2001).[81]
Japan
The band has also been very influential in its homeland Japan, where they had become the most popular group during the late 1970s and 1980s.[16] Their albums Solid State Survivor and X∞Multiplies held the top two spots on the Oricon charts for seven consecutive weeks in 1980, making YMO the only band in Japanese chart history to achieve this feat.[30] Young fans of their music during this period became known as the "YMO Generation" (YMO世代, YMO Sedai).[100]
The band significantly affected Japanese pop music, which started becoming increasingly dominated by electronic and computer music due to YMO's influence.[53] YMO were one of the most important acts in Japan's "New Music" movement and paved the way for the emergence of contemporary J-pop in the 1980s.[101] They also inspired early ambient techno artists such as Tetsu Inoue,[102] and the classical music composer Joe Hisaishi.[103] The manga author Akira Toriyama, creator of Dragon Ball and Dr. Slump, cited Yellow Magic Orchestra as his favorite music band in a 1980 interview.[104]
Video games
YMO also influenced many
Discography
- Yellow Magic Orchestra (1978)
- Solid State Survivor (1979)
- ×∞ Multiplies (also known as Zoshoku, 1980)[n 1]
- BGM (1981)
- Technodelic (1981)
- Naughty Boys (1983)
- Service (1983)
- Technodon (credited to
YMO, 1993)
Notes
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External links
- YMO (in Japanese)
- Yellow Magic Orchestra discography at Discogs
- Yellow Magic Orchestra at IMDb
- Official Facebook website
- Official MySpace website