-
Future Days
Yesterday, I spoke with Ryuichi Sakamoto about one my very favorite bands, Yellow Magic Orchestra. Thanks to the Internet’s own yellow magic, our conversation is already available for the trolls.
And for you, too.
Have you heard Yellow Magic Orchestra? They just might be the best pop group ever.
Now, if you’re the kind of reader who’s suspicious of such shameless hyperbole (and huzzah for you if you are), then consider these crunchy, fact-like nuggets: In 1978, when YMO released their self-titled debut, there was nary a thing called synth pop. Five years later, after the group split, the Tokyo band’s bleeps and blips were firmly embedded in global pop music, where they’ve remained ever since. In that half decade, YMO’s sound matured at a pace rivaled only by the Beatles in the mid-’60s. Their debut’s zany exotica-disco spoofs quickly evolved into a sensuous musique concréte perfected on the last two albums of their classic period, 1983’s Naughty Boys and Service. For YMO’s members — Ryuichi Sakamoto, Haruomi Hosono, and Yukihiro Takahashi — it was quite a ride. The gleam of those times was vividly illustrated by this 2008 exchange in the Guardian:
“We were very big,” sighs Sakamoto, “that’s why I hated it. We were always followed by paparazzi.”
“Yes, and teenage girls,” says Hosono. “They would literally chase us down the street and rip our clothes to shreds.”
“I quite enjoyed that,” says Takahashi.
Read the entire post here.
—ANDREW STOUT About | Journalism | Tumblr | Twitter
