YMO | Behind The Mask

Music Nov 20, 2012 1 Comment

“Most Western listeners consider Germany’s Kraftwerk or Ohio’s Devo to be the originators of synthetic pop, but the true godfathers of electro are Japan’s Yellow Magic Orchestra.Back in the late ’70s, YMO combined tools like the Roland TR-808 programmable drum machine (it was the first band to use it) and the Polymoog synthesizer to fashion a uniquely Japanese sound. While Teutonic peer Kraftwerk was rigid and robotic, YMO was capricious and quirky, deploying samples from arcade games like Space Invaders and Circus in their debut single, “Firecracker,” which sold 400,000 copies in the United States alone. YMO songs were even covered in ’80s Sega games, which helped pave the way for chiptune and electro acts like Crystal Castles. Meanwhile, DJ Afrika Bambaataa borrowed from YMO as hip hop was blooming. The band’s Beatles-level clout in Japan led other Nipponese acts like Ippu-Do and P-Model to go heavy on the synth, shaping what would become modern-day J-pop.” – Wired.

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Andrew Frost

One Comments

  1. George YMO NERD Shaw

    Still have a few YMO vinyls from the 80s around the house. Love those guys but never saw them live. Eric Clapton covered Behind the Mask. Enough nerdy trivia.

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