TPO Meets Linda Masters -- Rock the Hour

From Discogs

Well, if I'm going to jump and burrow down a rabbit hole, why not do it on a sunny Sunday afternoon? Plus, I also gotta shake off the post-lunch narcolepsy. All this began became I was scrounging around to sate my curiosity on other Japanese technopop bands; one can't survive simply on YMO alone. Then I found this 2025 album titled "Techno Kayō Vol. 1 - Japanese Techno Pop 1981 - 1989" which was produced in the Netherlands.

One track tugged at my ears and it was called "Rock the Hour" from the 1985 album "Linda". This was a collaboration that went by the moniker TPO Meets Linda Masters (getta load of that big 80s hair!). Neither band nor singer were familiar to me; from Gemini, I found out that Masters was an American chanteuse who was active in the 1980s synthpop and Hi-NRG scene, especially via Japan. TPO may have stood for Tiny Panx Organization and it was also active during the 1980s. Their membership included keyboardist Taku Iwasaki（岩崎工）who was involved with the technopop band FILMS and then much later got into the soundtrack for the 2013 anime "Gatchaman Crowds".

"Rock the Hour" isn't rock at all but it is a fascinating and catchy blend of City Pop and technopop with Masters' plaintive vocals that often get into some nice jazzy harmonies. It was noted that TPO had wanted to bridge the gap between YMO's technopop and the 80s dancefloor stuff, and "Rock the Hour" has been provided as one big example of this bridge. Plus, for all those pop culture nostalgia buffs, there is plenty of music (including orchestral hits) from those old-fashioned synths and drum machines. As well, I do love the design of the cover. The Memphis Group would be so proud.