The success of Happy End’s album proved Japanese-language rock was sustainable.

Prior to this time, most or all of the rock music played in Japan was in English, as it wasn’t considered sustainable to do so in Japanese. Specifically, the debut album from Happy End marked a turning point in Japanese rock that came to be known as the “Japanese-language Rock Controversy”, a series of debates about what language rock music should use in Japan. Prior to Yellow Magic Orchestra, however, Hosono had been in a band called Happy End from 1969 to 1972, which was also an important band for the music industry in Japan. Haruomi Hosono is credited with being the ultimate orchestrator of the band’s formation. Read this next: The amazing history of Ryuichi Sakamoto: 9 landmark moments that colour the genre-defying artistīefore we dig into the first album from Yellow Magic Orchestra, there’s something you have to understand about the members of the band if you wish to have any chance at understanding how they became so successful each member of the band was well-established in their musical careers before the magical randomness of the universe brought them together. “Hip hop? Hip how?” you ask? Well, come with me and I’ll show you while I take you on a tour of The Amazing History of the Yellow Magic Orchestra. They have influenced several electronic genres such as synthpop, electro and techno, which is before you even mention their influence on old school hip hop. The incredible trajectory of popularity left in its wake eight studio albums, countless legendary live shows, a film, and several musical genres that hardly existed (if at all) before Yellow Magic Orchestra put their heads together and tried every combination of bleeps and bloops they could until they found that perfect Yellow Magic Orchestra sound.

The resulting album led not only to an explosion of local success but international recognition that saw the trio touring the world and developing storied careers as a group and individually. In 1978, Haruomi Hosono, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Yukihiro Takahashi got together for what was originally a one-off recording session for a project. Yellow Magic Orchestra are made of a trio of musical geniuses that were established musicians before they ever sat down together in a recording studio.

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