Yellow Magic Orchestra
Japan, 1978–2012
Japanese trio of Haruomi Hosono, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Yukihiro Takahashi, formed in 1978. Their sequenced, precise electronic pop was widely sampled and anticipated house, techno and hip-hop production.
MusicRoots documents 5 artists who influenced Yellow Magic Orchestra and 1 artist Yellow Magic Orchestra influenced in turn. Every connection cites a published source.
Who influenced Yellow Magic Orchestra?
- Haruomi Hosono — Hosono founded Yellow Magic Orchestra and brought to it the synthetic exotica he had been developing alone - the concept the band was built on.
- Ryuichi Sakamoto — Sakamoto's conservatory training and harmonic sophistication are the other half of Yellow Magic Orchestra's sound.
- Kraftwerk — YMO built technopop on Kraftwerk — the man-machine template the Tokyo trio localized and accelerated.
- Martin Denny — YMO's debut opens with a cover of Martin Denny's 'Firecracker' — Hosono's exotica obsession is the band's founding concept, its ironic tropical exotica.
- Giorgio Moroder — Moroder's sequenced disco was the other electronic pole of YMO's sound — the four-on-the-floor machine pulse under their pop.
Which artists did Yellow Magic Orchestra influence?
- Ken Ishii — Ishii came up on 1980s Japanese technopop, Yellow Magic Orchestra above all, before Detroit techno changed his direction - and their artfulness still figures in his music.