Yellow Magic Orchestra
The Yellow Magic Orchestra ( YMO ) is a Japanese music trio that specializes in electro pop . This genre was significantly influenced by them at the end of the 1970s. In their Asian homeland they enjoy a similar reputation as pioneers of electronic music, such as the Kraftwerk group in Europe and North America. The members are Haruomi Hosono ( bass ), Yukihiro Takahashi ( drums ) and Ryuichi Sakamoto ( keyboard ). Guitarist Kazumi Watanabe was a guest on the 1979 world tour .
Career
The early years
The band was originally founded in 1978 as a one-man studio project by Haruomi Hosono in Tokyo . The other two members were initially just session musicians. The real idea behind the project was to produce an album that combined Exotica sounds with modern electronic music. The debut album was also very successful, which was not least due to the excellent production, and the studio project turned into a full-blown touring band and a remarkable career.
In 1976 Sakamoto first worked with Hosono in his live band when Takahashi recruited him in 1977 to produce his solo album. Hosono then brought both of them on board to complete his album “Paraiso”. This collaboration then led to the YMO project. After the release of their debut Yellow Magic Orchestra , the band performed at the Roppongi Pit Inn nightclub in Tokyo, where American managers of the record label A&M Records became aware of them. A&M wanted to discuss a merger with Alfa Records in Tokyo at the time. In this way, YMO were now offered an international deal, so that the three members decided to give the project priority over their solo careers.
Successes and dissolution
Through an advertising campaign with Fujifilm , the group triggered a boom in electronic pop music in Japan ( called technopop there), comparable to that triggered by the Beatles and the Merseybeat in England in the 1960s . Even today you can see from the haircut of Japanese business people (techno cut) how great the influence of Yellow Magic Orchestras was on the Japanese fashion world. The band made this short haircut socially acceptable there. With the use of more and more modern synthesizers , samplers , sequencers and digital recording technology, as well as the texts mostly written in English that were reminiscent of cyberpunk , YMO also became known outside of Japan. They are recognized as pioneers there, too, and their music is continuously remixed and sampled.
Solid State Survivor from 1979 marked the final breakthrough in Japan and was named best album at the Japan Record Award . The most successful single from the album and YMO's biggest international hit, Behind the Mask , was later reworked by Ryuichi Sakamoto for a solo release in 1987.
In 1984, after the release of their soundtrack "Propaganda", the band members returned to their solo careers, but continued to play together there and continued to appear on TV shows. Among other things, in order to prevent legal disputes, they released the album Technodon in 1993 , this time under the name YMO . For the tour that followed they were announced as Not YMO .
Discography
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- 1979: Yellow Magic Orchestra , A&M
- 1979: Solid State Survivor , Alfa
- 1980: X∞ Multiplies , A&M
- 1981: BGM , A&M
- 1981: Technodelic , Alfa
- 1981: Public Pressure , Alfa
- 1983: Naughty Boys
- 1983: Naughty Boys instrumental
- 1983: service
- 1993: Technodon
- 2003: UC YMO: Ultimate Collection
- 2011: YMO (Best Of)
- 2018: New Dance
