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The story
Singer-songwriter Tatsuro Yamashita (73) appeared via audio on the October 11 broadcast of ABC/TV Asahi’s “EIGHT-JAM,” giving his first long-form interview in four years and discussing YMO (Yellow Magic Orchestra). On 5ch, a thread sparked wide-ranging discussion covering musical topics like Isao Tomita’s influence, Yukihiro Takahashi’s drumming, and Ryuichi Sakamoto’s synthesizer work, as well as diverging opinions on Yamashita’s own career achievements.
Tatsuro Yamashita on legendary techno unit YMO: “Why they were so amazing,” “People like that are rare”
Mon, Oct 12, 12:19
Singer-songwriter Tatsuro Yamashita (73) appeared via audio on the October 11 broadcast of ABC/TV Asahi’s “EIGHT-JAM” (Sundays, 11:15 PM), giving his first long-form interview in four years.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
He was making a living through music.
There was even an era when just that was hard to pull off.
Tatsuro Yamashita set to appear on "EIGHT-JAM" on the 11th, talks about his live album "JOY 2," his first in 37 years
https://hayabusa9.5ch.io/test/read.cgi/mnewsplus/1791182616/125-
Honestly there are plenty of his songs people have heard, and besides — most people who stay active for half a century leave behind nothing at all.
By that logic Hamasho (Shogo Hamada) is just a one-hit wonder too, cashing in on one song.
What he created was more about sound and style than individual songs — in a way that's a bigger achievement than leaving behind one big hit.
Turns out it's a story about him surrendering to them.
Isao Tomita looms large in the synth world — YMO's formation also had backing from Tomita's camp. There was also the groundbreaking leap in digital gear, and they got ahead of that curve. My guess is Hosono originally just wanted to do something simpler, a fusion-ish thing with synths — but then a genius named Sakamoto turned out to be way beyond anyone's expectations.
Before YMO, Ryuichi Sakamoto put out an album called 'Thousand Knives' that was built entirely around synth sound.
It's not so much that they sound the same — even knowing both the title and the song, they just don't line up in your head. You hear the song and think 'wait, what's this one called again?' Someone says the title and you think 'wait, how did that one go again?'
It's just a reference to a Godard film title — 'La Chinoise' ('The Chinese Girl').
He was a great drummer.
All three members of YMO were actually bad with machines — the technical side was handled by Matsutake (a disciple of Isao Tomita).
Yeah, that tracks — none of them come off as machine geeks. Tomita, meanwhile, had already put out a synth version of Star Wars back around '77, so he was way ahead of his time.
Background and Key Points of the Discussion
YMO was formed in 1978 by Haruomi Hosono, Yukihiro Takahashi, and Ryuichi Sakamoto as a techno unit, and as the thread touches on, it’s a lesser-known fact that the actual equipment operation was handled by Hideki Matsutake, a disciple of Isao Tomita. Before YMO formed, Ryuichi Sakamoto had already pursued synth sounds on his album “Thousand Knives,” showing that YMO’s sound didn’t spring up out of nowhere. Opinions split over how to rate Yamashita’s own career, with some arguing he has no signature song besides “Christmas Eve” and others countering that he has plenty of other hits. There’s also lingering tension from 2023, when Yamashita made remarks defending the founder of the former Johnny’s talent agency even after the agency’s sexual abuse scandal came to light — a divide that shows up in this thread too. That said, posts amounting to insults about appearance or discriminatory language have been excluded from this article.
*This article is compiled by excerpting and summarizing the 5ch (Geisokuho+) thread “[TV] Tatsuro Yamashita on legendary techno unit YMO: “Why they were so amazing,” “People like that are rare”.”
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