YMO on the brain

Yesterday, I was writing about all those wonderful pop songs from America and Canada on the radio back in the 70s and 80s that helped me slide right in when it came to the City Pop and J-AOR genres. Well, today, I'm going to finish up with a list that showed that turnabout was indeed fair play.

I had watched Yellow Magic Orchestra's amazing "Firecracker" music video on an episode of "Japanese Panorama" on the multicultural channel here in Toronto some time before I left for my 1981 summer trip to Japan, and then also heard the even greater "Rydeen". Also during and after the trip, I became aware of the examples of techno kayo on display.

Before that, back in junior high school, I listened to an album of computer music (circa 1969) at my library when LPs could be heard back then in such a place, and it was nothing but a series of bleeps and bloops in some sort of very rough arrangement. It was kinda like seeing bits of paper in a suspension of water and calling it a sheet. Perhaps the iconic theme from "Doctor Who" had been the only example of technologically-created pop music that I had known that could be heard as a proper song.

YMO changed all that. Although I wouldn't figure it out for years, I realized that the first album by Haruomi Hosono, Yukihiro Takahashi and Ryuichi Sakamoto（細野晴臣・高橋幸宏・坂本龍一）was translating some old genres of music via all of these synthesizers and other technology into something splendid. I've mentioned it in other articles of YMO and techno kayo before, but I was getting YMO on the brain. Basically, along with the fact that I was falling in love with kayo kyoku in general, my ears were also on the hunt for anything electronically and musically bleepy and bloopy.

This influence from Japan had a hand then in also shaping my interests in Western music which was finally blossoming. And the timing was perfect since it was also the time of New Wave. My list this time will be somewhat shorter, though.

Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five - The Message (1982)
Michael Jackson  - Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' (1983)

Yep, I believe that my YMO on the brain started with the above two songs, specifically the intros for both the classic "The Message" and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'". Those intros were used for background using for a radio ad midway "Sounds of Japan" broadcasts and during public service announcements for "Japanese Panorama" respectively. I naively got excited that these were actually YMO products. It would be some time before I finally got to hear the entirety of either song and enjoy them both (I do have my "Thriller" album). When I look upon that realization now, I feel like slapping myself silly with a Casio portable keyboard.

However, YMO on the brain also did get me to discover some great songs in their entirety right from the get-go.

The Human League - Don't You Want Me (1981)

Man, did this song get the heavy airplay! And it was worth it...those booming synths and New Wave-y cosmetics. A waitress in a cocktail bar? This was a musical mystery that I was more than willing to explore over and over.

Depeche Mode - People Are People (1984)

When the first music video shows came onto TV, such as the local "Toronto Rocks" on CITY-TV, Depeche Mode was one band which became about as regular as the aunt coming over for dinner. My favourite song by Martin Gore and the gang is "Strangelove", but I did hear some of their earlier stuff such as "People Are People". Nope, their technopop was nothing like YMO's technopop but it was great to hear on the radio and on the dance floor.

Spoons - Nova Heart (1982)

But it wasn't all about the British coming. Canada (specifically, Burlington, Ontario) had its own Spoons. There were a number of hits by this New Wave band that I enjoyed such as "Romantic Traffic" and "Tell No Lies", but when it comes to representing this band, I will always remember "Nova Heart". It's beautiful and haunting, and bassist Sandy Horne will never age in my eyes.

Pet Shop Boys - West End Girls (1984)

Listening to "West End Girls" on "The Top 6 at 6" on CFTR 680 while in the car has remained one of my distinct memories of the 1980s. And even up to the present day, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe have been the gifts that keep on giving. The intro to "West End Girls" is one of the truly classic openings to a song that I've heard. It sounds like the beginning to an especially cool super spy novel.

Naked Eyes - Always Something There To Remind Me (1983)

The crazy thing about "Always Something There To Remind Me" was that I used to hear...and enjoy the original instrumental version by Burt Bacharach and Hal David on radio all the time. Then this UK duo Naked Eyes came up with this synthpop cover including an epic crash of synthesizers heralding a Most Important Example of Pomp and Circumstance, and now I can only be reminded of Naked Eyes' version.

There are a few more that I can mention but I will keep it to this short list.

Going back to Yellow Magic Orchestra and the techno kayo...of course, what I heard in Japan back in 1981 and what I heard in Canada in the years since are very different, but YMO and their brand of synthesizer music opened the door to a new and bop-worthy way of aural enjoyment that didn't have any borders. I will always be grateful for that.