"Tong Poo"(Eastern Winds) is one of the Yellow Magic Orchestra's early classics from their very first self-titled album in 1978. Composed by Ryuichi Sakamoto（坂本龍一）, the title came from Jean-Luc Godard's 1969 movie "Le Vent D'Est". Fusion is incorporated into the techno and Asian exotica to create this jazzy and ethereal soundscape. The above video is for the original version. A second version was created with Minako Yoshida's（吉田美奈子） breathy vocals included during the middle portion. For me, whenever I hear "Tong Poo", it just takes me back to those days listening to the band's audiotape on my cherry-red Sony double-cassette recorder.
It has only been within the last few months that I discovered that there was a version of "Tong Poo"with Sakamoto's former better half, Akiko Yano（矢野顕子）, providing actual vocals. It has less fusion and more Asian in it, but it doesn't take anything away from the song. Yano just adds that extra wonderful dimension to it through her delivery. Yano's cover version, by the way, appears on her 1980 album, "Gohan ga Dekita yo"（ごはんができたよ....Dinner's Ready).
Thank you very much for these other two versions of Tong Poo, I absolutely love the song, Akiko Yano's version was quite delightful as well. Keep up the solid work my friend.
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