How one band shaped the sounds of Japan and beyond

The Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO) was founded by Haruomi Hosono, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Yukihiro Takahashi in 1978. In the early 1970s, Haruomi Hosono created the legendary band “Happy End” which became the cornerstone of rock music. Ryuichi Sakamoto studied musical composition at the Graduate School of Tokyo University of the Arts and is a musician deeply versed in contemporary and electronic music. Yukihiro Takahashi was a member of the “Sadistic Mika Band,” which debuted in England as well as Japan in the 1970s. He was also a fashion designer. Neither white or black magic, YMO created musical yellow magic.

YMO was founded to create stateless, exotic sounds on disco beats with computers and synthesizers. They were affected by the US Martin Denny, German Kraftwerk, and the Italian producer Giorgio Moroder. The first recording was Martin Denny’s “Firecracker” which they covered with computers and synthesizers. It starts with computer game sound effects and was released overseas as the “Computer Game.”

YMO actively used Roland’s micro computer “MC-8” since they were founded. Unlike sequencers, the MC-8 allows intricate control of tonal quality and rhythm, so Isao Tomita’s disciple Hideki Matsutake was invited as an expert for its operation. What amazed the developer at Roland was that YMO used this computer at their concerts when it was designed for recordings in studios. The backing tracks for YMO’s stages were not recorded beforehand but were auto-played in real-time with the MC-8. The MC-8 data was loaded from cassette tapes on stage by Hideki Matsutake. This made possible YMO’s intricate and variegated live performance.

The first album “Yellow Magic Orchestra” was released in 1978 and was soon noticed by the US A&M Records. The album was remixed in the US and sold worldwide in 1979. The art of the cover and promotion video for overseas sale were both designed by a US creator and the motif was oriental Japan seen from the west. The image was a combination of the old “Fujiyama/Geisha” and the new “Walkman/Semiconductor.” As their public image, the Yellow Magic Orchestra quoted the misunderstood oriental and caricatured image of Japan from 1979 to 1980.

Roland’s MC-8 and Moog’s gigantic modular synthesizer Moog lll-C supported YMO’s early music, and other multiple tonal qualities of synthesizers colored their music. For example, Moog’s Polymoog, Korg’s PS-3100, Oberheim’s Oberheim 8-Voice, Pollard’s syndrum. The Sequential Circuits’ Prophet-5, ARP’s Odyssey, and Roland’s Vocoder VP-330 which was the sound icon and characteristic voice of YMO must be remembered as contributing to the melody and bass. TOKIO!

YMO released their second album “Solid State Survivor” in 1979. Unlike their first album which was affected by exotic music and disco, this album was largely affected by post punk and the new wave. It contains the recording of “Rydeen” which was a big hit in Japan, “Behind the Mask” which was later remade by Michael Jackson, and The Beatles’ cover “Day Tripper.” This album sold over one million copies in Japan and after the release, YMO went on their first world tour.

During the four consecutive day performance at the Nippon Budokan in December 1980, YMO piloted an innovative electronic instrument. It was Roland’s unreleased Drum Machine TR-808. The TR-808 stimulated the reform of the world’s dance music in the coming years and YMO fully used it in their new album “BGM” in the spring of 1981. Also, in their following album “Technodelic” which was released in November 1981, the hand-made sampler LMD-649 was used. Hideki Matsutake joined in on the development of this machine. The “Technodelic” became an album remembered for its world’s first extensive usage of the sampler.

In 1983, YMO created their last studio album which leaned towards “pop music.” The three members of YMO each carried out avant-garde activities as YMO or solo while working on pop music. The works of the artisans gained international attention as unique Japanese pop music since the 21st century. YMO decided to break up in 1983. Their album “Naughty Boys” and the big Japan tour including their performance at the Nippon Budokan became a farewell gift to their fans.

From 1978 to 1983, YMO left a big mark on the history of Japanese culture but at the same time, they largely affected countries outside of Japan. Simply looking at their music, they won the respect of synthesizer pop artists of their generation. One of their goals was Kraftwerk and due to the influence of YMO, they later adopted the Japanese coined word “techno pop” for their album name. This was five years after the members of Kraftwerk and YMO went to the disco together from Kraftwerk’s performance in Japan. YMO’s hit single “Computer Game” has been sampled by many artists such as Jennifer Lopez.

After ending their activity in 1983, the three members of YMO each became active solo artists. Haruomi Hosono set his directions from electro music to ambient music. Ryuichi Sakamoto became a composer of film music in parallel with pop music and won the Academy Award for Original Music Score for Bernardo Bertolucci’s “Last Emperor.” Yukihiro Takahashi pursued the Japanese style pops J-POP. YMO regrouped ten years later in 1993.

In their regroup in 1993, YMO used both vintage electronic instruments from the 1970s to 1980s and digital equipment. They controlled their music with Macintosh computers. During the recording of the regroup album “Technodon,” it is needless to say that computer games on Macintosh were enjoyed as well. The regrouped YMO held a large concert in Tokyo Dome using computer graphic images.

Once in the 21st century, YMO used various names but found their way to YMO and regrouped again. In the beginning of 2005, they performed each other’s solo songs as well as songs from Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi’s unit “Sketch Show” based on electronica. They gradually shifted towards performing their former YMO songs. Also, they employed many young musicians and were eager to come together with other generations and carry on the music.

After regrouping again, YMO regularly held concerts in Japan and went on a short tour to Europe in 2008 and to the US in 2011. In both Europe (London, Gijón) and the US (Los Angeles, San Francisco), the generation that were long awaiting YMO since their world tour in 1980 and the young generation who recently came to know YMO as an electronic pop legend came together at the venue.

In 2013, YMO ended their regrouping activities but that does not mean they broke up. They still have a free but tight bond between them. From time to time, they regroup at public talks, television programs or at one’s solo concert where the other two participate as guests. In 2018, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Yukihiro Takahashi participated as guests at Haruomi Hosono’s London performance and played YMO’s 1979 “Absolute Ego Dance.”