Yellow Magic Orchestra | |
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 YMO after playing a2008 concert in London. From left to right:Ryuichi Sakamoto,Yukihiro Takahashi,Haruomi Hosono | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as |
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| Origin | Tokyo, Japan |
| Genres | |
| Discography | Yellow Magic Orchestra discography |
| Years active |
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| Labels | |
| Past members | |
| Website | ymo |
Yellow Magic Orchestra (abbreviated toYMO) was a Japaneseelectronic music band formed in Tokyo in 1978 byHaruomi Hosono (bass, keyboards, vocals),Yukihiro Takahashi (drums, lead vocals, occasional keyboards) andRyuichi Sakamoto (keyboards, vocals).[4] The group is considered influential and innovative in the field of popular electronic music.[4][5] They were pioneers in their use of synthesizers,samplers,sequencers,drum machines, computers, anddigital recording technology,[4][6][7] and effectively anticipated the "electropop boom" of the 1980s.[8] They are credited with playing a key role in the development of several electronic genres, includingsynthpop,J-pop,electro, andtechno, while exploring subversive sociopolitical themes throughout their career.[9]
The three members were veterans of themusic industry before coming together as YMO, and were inspired by eclectic sources, including the electronic music ofIsao Tomita andKraftwerk,Japanese traditional music,arcade games,funk music, and thedisco productions ofGiorgio Moroder. They released the surprise global hit "Computer Game" in 1978, reaching the UK Top 20 and selling 400,000 copies in the U.S. For their early recordings and performances, the band was often accompanied by programmerHideki Matsutake.[10] The group released several albums before pausing their activity in 1984. They briefly reunited several times in subsequent decades before Takahashi and Sakamoto's deaths in 2023.
Prior to the group's formation, Sakamoto had been experimenting withelectronic music equipment at theTokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, which he entered in 1970, including synthesizers such as theBuchla,Moog, andARP.[11] The group leader Haruomi Hosono had been using anAce Tonerhythm machine since early in his career in the early 1970s.[12] Following the break-up of his bandHappy End in 1972, Hosono became involved in the recording of several earlyelectronic rock records, includingYōsui Inoue'sfolkpop rock albumKōri no Sekai (1973) andOsamu Kitajima'sprogressivepsychedelic rock albumBenzaiten (1974), both of which utilized synthesizers, electric guitars, electric bass, and in the latter,electronic drums, andrhythm machines.[13][14] Also around the same time, the band's future "fourth member"Hideki Matsutake was the assistant for the internationally successful electronic musicianIsao Tomita. Much of the methods and techniques developed by both Tomita and Matsutake during the early 1970s would later be employed by Yellow Magic Orchestra.[10][15]
Sakamoto first worked with Hosono as a member of his live band in 1976, whileYukihiro Takahashi recruited Sakamoto to produce his debut solo recording in 1977 following the split of theSadistic Mika Band. Hosono invited both to work on hisexotica-flavoured albumParaiso, which includedelectronic songs produced using various electronic equipment. The band was named "Harry Hosono and the Yellow Magic Band" as a satire of the idyllic perception of pacific and Hawaiian music America had been obsessed with[16] and in late 1977 they began recordingParaiso, which was released in 1978.[17] The three worked together again for the 1978 albumPacific, which included an early version of the song "Cosmic Surfin".[18]
Hosono and Sakamoto also worked together alongsideHideki Matsutake in early 1978 for Hosono's experimental "electro-exotica"fusion albumCochin Moon, which fused electronic music withIndian music, including an early "synthraga" song "Hum Ghar Sajan".[19] The same year, Sakamoto released his own solo album,The Thousand Knives of Ryuichi Sakamoto, experimenting with a similar fusion between electronic music andtraditional Japanese music in early 1978. Hosono also contributed to one of Sakamoto's songs, "Thousand Knives", in the album.[20]Thousand Knives was also notable for its early use of themicroprocessor-basedRoland MC-8 Microcomposermusic sequencer, with Matsutake as itsmusic programmer for the album.[21][22]
While Sakamoto was working onThousand Knives, Hosono began formulating the idea of an instrumental disco band which could have the potential to reach success in non-Japanese-language territories, and invitedTasuo Hayashi ofTin Pan Alley andHiroshi Sato ofHuckleback as participants, but they declined.[22] Hosono, Sakamoto and Takahashi eventually collaborated again to form the Yellow Magic Orchestra and they began recording their self-titled album at aShibaura studio in July 1978.[23]
The band's 1978 self-titled albumYellow Magic Orchestra was successful and the studio project grew into a fully fledged touring band and career for its three members. The album featured the use of computer technology (along with synthesizers) which, according toBillboard, allowed the group to create a new sound that was not possible until then.[24] Following the release of the albumYellow Magic Orchestra, a live date at the Roppongi Pit Inn was seen by executives of A&M Records of the USA who were in the process of setting up a partnership deal with Alfa Records. This led to the YMO being offered an international deal, at which point (early 1979) the three members decided the group would be given priority over their solo careers. The most popular international hit from the album was "Firecracker", which would be released as a single the following year and again as "Computer Game", which became a success in the United States and Europe.[citation needed]
Following an advertising deal withFuji Cassette, the group sparked a boom in the popularity of electronic pop music, called "technopop" in Japan,[16][6] where they had an effect similar to that ofthe Beatles andMerseybeat in 1960s Britain.[16] For some time, YMO was the most popular band in Japan.[16] Successful solo actAkiko Yano (later married to Sakamoto) joined the band for its live performances in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but did not participate in the studio recordings. On the other hand, the YMO trio contributed to her own albums and became part of her live band, during these same years.[citation needed] Legendary English guitaristBill Nelson, who had disbandedBe-Bop Deluxe andRed Noise to more recently exploreElectropop himself, likewise played on YMO'sNaughty Boys (1983), its non-vocals variantNaughty Boys Instrumental (1984) and subsequent soloYukihiro Takahashi projects, before featuring the latter on two of Nelson's own UK based releases.
Making abundant use of new synthesizers,samplers,sequencers,drum machines, computers and digital recording technology as it became available, as well as utilizingcyberpunk-ish lyrics sung mostly in English, they extended their popularity and influence beyond Japan.[4][6][7]
Their second album,Solid State Survivor, released in 1979, was YMO's pinnacle recording in Japan, winning the 1980 Best Album Award in theJapan Record Awards. It featured English lyrics byChris Mosdell, whose sci-fi themes often depicted a human condition alienated by dystopic futures, much like the emergingcyberpunk movement in fiction at that time. One of the album's major singles, and one of the band's biggest international hits, was "Behind the Mask", which YMO had first produced in 1978 for aSeikoquartzwristwatch commercial,[25] and then forSolid State Survivor with lyrics penned byChris Mosdell. The song was later revised byMichael Jackson, who added new lyrics and had intended to include it in his albumThriller.[26] Despite the approval of songwriter Sakamoto and lyricistChris Mosdell, it was eventually removed from the album due to legal issues with YMO's management.[27] Jackson's version was never released until his first posthumous album,Michael, though his additional lyrics were included in later cover versions of the song byGreg Phillinganes,Eric Clapton, andRyuichi Sakamoto himself in his 1986 solo releaseMedia Bahn Live.[citation needed]Solid State Survivor included several early computerizedsynth rock songs,[6][28] including a mechanizedcover version of "Day Tripper" by the Beatles.[28]
Solid State Survivor went on to sell over 2 million records worldwide.[29] By 1980, YMO had become the most popular group in Japan, where they were performing to sold-out crowds. Their first live albumPublic Pressure set a record in Japan, topping the charts and selling 250,000 copies within two weeks, while their next studio albumX∞Multiplies had 200,000 pre-orders before release.[6] The same year, their albumsSolid State Survivor andX∞Multiplies held the top two spots on theOricon charts for seven consecutive weeks, making YMO the only band in Japanese chart history to achieve this feat.[30]
The 1980 song "Multiplies" was an early experiment in electronicska.[31]X∞Multiplies was followed up with the 1981 albumBGM. "Rap Phenomena" from the album was an early attempt at electronic rap.[32]
They also had similar success abroad, performing to sold-out crowds during tours in the United States and Europe.[6] The single "Computer Game" had sold 400,000 copies in the United States[6] and reached No. 17 in the UK Charts. The group also performed "Firecracker" and "Tighten Up" live on theSoul Train television show. At around the same time, the 1980 song "Riot in Lagos" by YMO member Sakamoto pioneered the beats and sounds ofelectro music.[3][33] The band was particularly popular with the emerginghip hop community, which appreciated the group's electronic sounds, and inthe Bronx where "Firecracker" was a success and sampled in the famousDeath Mix (1983) byAfrika Bambaataa.[3][34] Meanwhile, in Japan, YMO remained the best-selling music act there up until 1982.[35]
The band had paused their group activities by 1984. After the release of their musical motion picturePropaganda, the three members had returned to their solo careers. They were careful to avoid saying they had "split up", preferring to use the Japanese phrase meaning "spreading out" (散開,sankai), and the trio continued to play on each other's recordings and made guest appearances at live shows. Takahashi, in particular, would play the band's material in his concerts. Meanwhile, Sakamoto would gain international success for his work as a solo artist, actor, andfilm composer,[36] winningGrammy,Oscar, andGolden Globe awards.[28]
Yellow Magic Orchestra released a one-off reunion album,Technodon, and credited it to 'NOT YMO' (YMO crossed out with a calligraphy X) orYMO in 1993.[citation needed] Instead of traditional vocals, about half of it features field audio recordings and samples of authors and scientists reading their work.[citation needed] During their brief reunion in the early 1990s, they continued to experiment with new styles of electronic music, playing an instrumental role in thetechno andacid house movements of the era.[37]
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The early 2000s saw Hosono and Takahashi reunited in a project calledSketch Show. On a number of occasions Ryuichi Sakamoto has joined in on Sketch Show performances and recording sessions. He later proposed they rename the group Human Audio Sponge when he participates. The groups Barcelona performance at Sonar festival and Wild Sketch Show DVDs chronicle these reunions, and include a tongue-in-cheek Japanese text-only history of the group that spans to 2036.
The band have reunited in 2007 for an advertising campaign forKirin Lager which lampooned their longevity and charted No.1 on various Japanese digital download charts (includingiTunes Store chart) with the song "Rydeen 79/07", released on Sakamoto's new labelcommmons. Recently performing live as Human Audio Sponge; Hosono, Sakamoto, and Takahashi did a live performance together as Yellow Magic Orchestra for theLive Earth,Kyoto, event on July 7, 2007, which raised money and awareness of a "climate in crisis".
In August 2007, the band once again reformed, taking the name HASYMO or HAS/YMO, combining the names of Human Audio Sponge and Yellow Magic Orchestra. Their first single under this name, "Rescue", was written for the filmAppleseed EX Machina. They released a new two song single titled "The City of Light/Tokyo Town Pages" on August 6, 2008. HASYMO played two live concerts in Europe in the summer of 2008, one at theRoyal Festival Hall, London on June 15, as part of theMeltdown festival of music curated byMassive Attack and another inGijón, Spain, on the 19th. Although the primary YMO members (Yukihiro Takahashi, Haruomi Hosono, and Ryuichi Sakamoto) were effectively known as HASYMO and played both these concerts, these concerts were billed simply as "YMO" but featured only 4 YMO songs in each concert while the rest of the concert featured Sketch Show, HASYMO music and members' solo works.
In August 2009, the band played the World Happiness festival in Japan, featuring many Japanese artists. The band closed the night, and confirmed that "Yellow Magic Orchestra" was their official name, dropping the HASYMO title. They opened with a cover of "Hello, Goodbye" and performed old YMO songs along with their newer songs.[38]
In August 2010, YMO once again closed their World Happiness festival. They added classic songs from their back catalog into their set list. They also covered "Hello, Goodbye" and "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)".[39] In January 2011,KCRW announced for their World Festival concert series that Yellow Magic Orchestra will perform at theHollywood Bowl on June 26, 2011.[40] Not long after, a concert for June 27, 2011, atThe Warfield was added.[41] It was announced in February that YMO would perform at the Fuji Rock festival in July and the World Happiness festival 2011 on August 7.
In 2012, Sakamoto helped organize theNo Nukes 2012 festival held in theMakuhari Messe hall inChiba, Japan, on July 7 and 8, 2012.[42] Among the many artists performing,Kraftwerk closed the July 7 concert, with YMO performing on both days, closing the July 8 concert.[43] YMO also headlined their World Happiness festival on August 12, 2012.[44] After these performances, the band once again went quiet; though no formal announcement was made of a hiatus or breakup, the band ultimately did not reconvene for further recordings or headlining concerts.
On June 23, 2018, Hosono played his debut UK solo concert at theBarbican Centre in London; Takahashi and Sakamoto joined him on stage to perform "Absolute Ego Dance", marking the final time that the three would appear together in public. (The band featured in Hosono's second and third "Yellow Magic Show" on Japanese TV, both recorded in 2019; their appearance in the third was in front of a live audience, but Sakamoto appeared via prerecorded video.)
On January 11, 2023, Takahashi died at the age of 70, following a case of pneumonia. He had undergone surgery to remove a brain tumor in 2020 but continued to have health troubles that interfered with his musical activities in the intervening years.[45][46][47][48] That same year, Sakamoto died on March 28 at the age of 71, following a lengthy battle with cancer; leaving Hosono as the last surviving member of the group.
While their contemporaries inDüsseldorf, and later Detroit, were using synthesizer technology to create bleakdystopian music, YMO introduced a more "joyous and liberating" approach to electronic music. According to Sakamoto, they were "tired" of Japanese musicians imitatingWestern andAmerican music at the time and so they wanted to "make something very original from Japan."[49] Kraftwerk was particularly an influence on Sakamoto, who heard the band in the mid-1970s and later introduced them to his fellow band members.[49] They were impressed with Kraftwerk's "very formalized" style but wanted to avoid imitating their "very German" approach. He described Kraftwerk's music as "theoretical, very focused, simple and minimal and strong".[50] Their alternative template for electronic pop was lessminimalistic, made more varying use of synthesizer lines, introduced "fun-loving and breezy" sounds,[51] and placed a strong emphasis onmelody[49] in contrast to Kraftwerk's statuesque "robot pop".[52]
The band also drew from a wider range of influences than had been employed by Kraftwerk.[31] These influences on YMO includedJapanese electronic music (such asIsao Tomita),[53] traditionalJapanese music, experimentalChinese music (of theCultural Revolution era),[49]Indian music (such asRavi Shankar andBollywood music),[19] arcade game samples,[16][54] Americanrap,[32]exotica,[31]Caribbean ska,[31]Giorgio Moroder's disco work,[4] the Beatles,the Beach Boys and their leaderBrian Wilson,[55]Van Dyke Parks,[citation needed] classical music,[11]animal sounds,[56] andnoise.[57] Sakamoto has expressed that his "concept when making music is that there is no border between music and noise."[57]
Their approach tosampling music was a precursor to the contemporary approach of constructing music by cutting fragments of sounds andlooping them using computer technology.[58] Their 1978 hit "Computer Game / Firecracker", for example, sampledMartin Denny's 1959exotica melody "Firecracker"[16] andarcadegame sounds fromSpace Invaders andCircus.[16][54] According toThe Vinyl District magazine, they also released the first album to feature mostly samples and loops (1981'sTechnodelic).[59] The pace at which the band's music evolved has been acknowledged by critics. According toSF Weekly, YMO's musical timeline has gone from "zany exotica-disco spoofs" and "bleeps and blips" in the 1970s to "sensuousmusique concrète perfected" in their 1983 albumsNaughty Boys andService.[49]
Technodelic (1981) was produced using theLMD-649, aPCM digitalsampler thatToshiba-EMIsound engineer Kenji Murata custom-built for YMO.[60] Soon afterTechnodelic, the LMD-649 was used by YMO-associated acts such asChiemi Manabe[61] andLogic System.[62]
The band often utilized a wide variety of state-of-the-artelectronic music equipment immediately as they were made available.[22][23] The group leader Haruomi Hosono had already been using anAce Tonerhythm machine since early in his career in the early 1970s.[12]Yellow Magic Orchestra and Ryuichi Sakamoto'sThousand Knives were one of the earliestpopular music albums to utilize theRoland MC-8 Microcomposer, which was programmed byHideki Matsutake during recording sessions.[21][23] Roland called the MC-8 a "computer music composer" and it was the first stand-alonemicroprocessor-basedmusic sequencer.[63][64][65] It also introduced features such as akeypad to enter note information and 16KB ofRAM which allowed a maximum sequence length of 5200 notes, a huge step forward from the 8–16step sequencers of the era.[64] While it was commercially unsuccessful due to its high price,[64] the band were among the few bands at the time to utilize the MC-8, which they described as, along with itsmusic programmer Hideki Matsutake, an "inevitable factor" in both their music production andlive performances.[10] "Behind the Mask" (1979) made use of synthesizers for the melodies and digitalgated reverb for thesnare drums.[22]
They were also the very first band to utilize theRoland TR-808 Rhythm Composer, one of the first and most influential programmable drum machines, as soon as it was released in 1980.[66] While the machine was initially unsuccessful due to its lack of digital sampling that the rivalLinn LM-1 offered, the TR-808 featured various unique artificial percussion sounds,[66] including adeep bass kick drum,[67][68] "tinnyhandclap sounds",[68] "the tickysnare, the tishyhi-hats (open and closed)", and "the spaceycowbell",[66] which YMO utilized and demonstrated in their music, as early as its year of release in 1980, paving the way for the TR-808's mainstream popularity several years later,[66][67] after which it would be used for more hit records than any other drum machine[69] and continue to be widely used through to the present day.[66]
At the time,Billboard noted that the use of such computer-based technology in conjunction withsynthesizers allowed YMO to create new sounds that were not possible until then.[24]Yellow Magic Orchestra was also the first computer-themed music album, coming before Kraftwerk'sComputer World (1981) by several years.[70] As a result of such innovations, YMO were credited at the time for having "ushered in the age of the computer programmer as rock star."[6]
Other electronic equipment used by the group included theLMD-649sampler (seeSampling above),[60]Roland MC-4 Microcomposer sequencer,[22]Pollard Syndrumelectronic drums,[23]Roland VP-330 andKorg VC-10vocoders,[23][22]YamahaCS-80 andDX7 synthesizers,[71][22]KorgPS-3100 and PS-3300 synthesizers,[23][22]Moog III-C andPolymoog synthesizers, andARP Odyssey,Oberheim Eight Voice, andE-mu Emulator synthesizers.[22]Electric instruments were also used, theFender Rhodes piano andFender Jazz Bass.[23]
The band has been described as "the originalcyberpunks"[72] and their early work has been described as "proto-techno" music.[73][74] By the 1990s, YMO were also frequently cited as pioneers ofambient house music.[4] YMO also popularized a style oflive performance that eschewed human movement in favour of electronics such asrhythm boxes and samplers.[75] They also influenced theNew Romantic movement,[75][failed verification] including British bandsDuran Duran[16] andJapan, whose memberSteve Jansen was influenced by drummer Takahashi,[76] while lead memberDavid Sylvian was influenced by Sakamoto, who would later collaborate with Sylvian.[76]
Various cover versions of "Kimi ni Mune Kyun" (1983) have also been produced by other artists,[77] includingThe Human League in 1993 ("YMO Versus The Human League")[78] andAsako Toki in 2006.[77] In 2009, a cover of "Kimi ni Mune Kyun" was used as theending theme song for theanime adaptation ofMaria Holic, sung byAsami Sanada,Marina Inoue, andYū Kobayashi, thevoice actresses of the main characters. In 2015, in the animeSound! Euphonium, episode 5, the song "Rydeen" is played by Kitauji highschool's orchestra. The popularanime seriesDragon Ball Z also paid homage to the band with the song "Solid State Scouter" as the theme song of the 1990 TV specialDragon Ball Z: Bardock – The Father of Goku.
InHMV Japan's list of top 100 Japanese musicians of all time, YMO were voted second place, behind onlySouthern All Stars, apop-rock band who remain largely unknown outside Japan.[79] In 2006,Senor Coconut paid tribute to the band with hisYellow Fever! album.[7]
YMO were pioneers ofsynthpop, a genre which emerged at the start of the 1980s. In 1993, Johnny Black ofHi-Fi News, in a review for the recordHi-Tech/No Crime, described YMO as "the most adventurous and influentialelectro-techno-dance technicians the world has produced" and further argued that "without them (andKraftwerk) today's music would still sound like yesterday's music."[5] In 2001, Jason Ankeny of theAllmusic Guide to Electronica described YMO as "a seminal influence on contemporary electronic music – hugely popular both at home and abroad" and placed them "second only to Kraftwerk as innovators of today's electronic culture."[80]
YMO are considered pioneers in the field of popular electronic music, and continue to beremixed orsampled by modern artists,[4] includingexperimental artistYamantaka Eye,electronica groupLFO,jungle band4hero, electrolatino artistSenor Coconut,ambient house pioneersThe Orb and808 State,[11] electronic music groupsOrbital[27] andThe Human League,[78] hip hop pioneerAfrika Bambaataa,[3] and mainstream pop musicians such asMichael Jackson,Quincy Jones,Greg Phillinganes,[27]Eric Clapton,Mariah Carey, andJennifer Lopez.[81]
YMO also influencedtechno music,[82] including its pioneersJuan Atkins,Kevin Saunderson, andDerrick May,[83] who cited YMO as an important influence on their work alongside Kraftwerk.[84] YMO continued to influence later techno musicians such asSurgeon,μ-Ziq, andCosmic Baby.[4] "Technopolis" (1979) in particular is considered an "interesting contribution" to the development ofDetroit techno and the groupCybotron.[31] "Computer Game" (1978) also influenced Sheffield'sbleep techno music; theWarp record,Sweet Exorcist's "Testone" (1990), defined Sheffield's techno sound by making playful use of sampled sounds from "Computer Game" along with dialogues from the filmClose Encounters of the Third Kind (1977).[85] "Computer Game" (1978) was later included inCarl Craig's compilation albumKings of Techno (2006).[86]
In the 1990s, YMO influencedambient house pioneers such asThe Orb and808 State,[11] as well asUltramarine and other ambient/house artists.[4] This resulted in the release of the tribute remix albumYellow Magic Orchestra: Hi-Tech/No Crime in 1993,[4] by leadingambient,house and techno musicians at the time, including The Orb, 808 State, and Orbital.[87] The music YMO produced during their comeback in the early 1990s also played an instrumental role in the techno andacid house movements towards the end of the 20th century.[37] The band's use oforiental musical scales and video game sounds has continued to be an influence on 21st-centuryelectronica acts such asDizzee Rascal,Kieran Hebden,[16] andIkonika.[88]
YMO's success with music technology encouraged many others, with their influence strongly felt in theBritish electronic scene of the early 1980s in particular.[29] They influenced many early British synthpop acts, includingUltravox,John Foxx,Gary Numan,Duran Duran,[16]Depeche Mode,[4][failed verification]Camouflage,[4][89]OMD, The Human League,[49]Visage,[90] andArt of Noise,[91] as well as American rock musicians such asTodd Rundgren.[16]
"Technopolis", a tribute to Tokyo as an electronic mecca that used the term "techno" in its title, foreshadowed concepts thatJuan Atkins andRick Davis would later have withCybotron.[31]
The band was popular with the emerginghip hop community, which appreciated the group's new electronic sounds, and inthe Bronx whereFirecracker was a success and sampled in the famousDeath Mix byAfrika Bambaataa.[3][34] Afrika Bambaataa's influential song "Planet Rock" was partly inspired by YMO.[92][93] The "terse videogame-funk" sounds of YMO's "Computer Game" would have a strong influence on the emergingelectro and hip hop genres.[11] Sakamoto's "Riot in Lagos" was cited byKurtis Mantronik as a major influence on his early electro hip hop groupMantronix;[94] he included both "Computer Game" and "Riot in Lagos" in his compilation albumThat's My Beat (2002) which consists of the songs that influenced his early career.[95] The song was also later included inPlaygroup'scompilation albumKings of Electro (2007), alongside later electro classics such asHashim's "Al-Nafyish" (1983).[96] The 1980 release of "Riot in Lagos" was also listed byThe Guardian in 2011 as one of the 50 key events in the history ofdance music.[97]
YMO's use ofvideo game sounds andbleeps also had a particularly big influence on 1980s hip hop[98] and pop music.[49] Beyond electro acts, "Computer Game / Firecracker" was also sampled by a number of other later artists, including2 Live Crew's "Mega-Mixx II" (1987),[77]De La Soul's "Funky Towel" (for the 1996 filmJoe's Apartment),[99]Jennifer Lopez's "I'm Real" (2001), and the original unreleased version ofMariah Carey's "Loverboy" (2001).[81]
The band has also been very influential in its homeland Japan, where they had become the most popular group during the late 1970s and 1980s.[16] Their albumsSolid State Survivor andX∞Multiplies held the top two spots on theOricon charts for seven consecutive weeks in 1980, making YMO the only band in Japanese chart history to achieve this feat.[30] Young fans of their music during this period became known as the "YMO Generation" (YMO世代,YMO Sedai).[100]
The band significantly affected Japanese pop music, which started becoming increasingly dominated by electronic and computer music due to YMO's influence.[53] YMO were one of the most important acts in Japan's "New Music" movement and paved the way for the emergence of contemporaryJ-pop in the 1980s.[101] They also inspired earlyambient techno artists such asTetsu Inoue,[102] and theclassical music composerJoe Hisaishi.[103] Themanga authorAkira Toriyama, creator ofDragon Ball andDr. Slump, cited Yellow Magic Orchestra as his favorite music band in a 1980 interview.[104]
YMO also influenced manyvideo game composers and significantly affected the sounds used in much of thechiptune andvideo game music produced during the8-bit and16-bit eras.[70] In 1994, four video game composers employed atNamco formed aparody band calledOriental Magnetic Yellow (OMY), producing parody cover versions of various YMO records, consisting ofShinji Hosoe as Haruomi Hosonoe,Nobuyoshi Sano as Ryuichi Sanomoto, Takayuki Aihara as Takayukihiro Aihara, and Hiroto Sasaki as Hideki Sasatake.[105]
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