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Yellow Magic Orchestra is the first album by Japanese electronic music band Yellow Magic Orchestra. Originally released in Japan in 1978, the album was re-released in the United States the following year with new cover art and without the closing track of "Acrobat". Both would later be re-issued in 2003 as a double-disc format, with the American version as the first disc.

Overview

The album was intended to be a one-off project for producer and bass player Haruomi Hosono and the two session musicians he had hired: drummer Yukihiro Takahashi and keyboard player Ryuichi Sakamoto. The trio were to recreate Martin Denny's 1959 exotica tune "Firecracker" with modern electronics, as a subversion of the exoticisation and Orientalism of the original tune, along with various original compositions also exploring themes of Asianness, exoticisation and Orientalism from a Japanese perspective.^[1] It was also the first album to utilize computer music technology (along with synthesizers) for music production, to create a new sound that was not possible until then.^[2] The album would eventually be called Yellow Magic Orchestra, as a satire of Japan's obsession with black magic at the time.^[1] The project proved highly popular, culminating in a career for the three musicians; one that would last until 1983, before successful solo careers and reunions over the decades to come.

Both "Computer Game" tracks proper contain the same audio and were made to sound as if both games were being played in the same room; each track being from the perspective of its titular arcade game unit: Circus and Space Invaders. Both Circus and Space Invaders, along with several other popular arcade video games, were also featured in the promotional film for "Tong Poo".

The titles for several songs on the B-side are based on Jean-Luc Godard film names. “Tong Poo” is the Cantonese title for Le Vent d'est. “La Femme Chinoise” is La Chinoise with “femme” (the French word for “woman”) added after the feminine definite article “la.” Finally, “Mad Pierrot” is an English translation of 気狂いピエロ ([Kichigai Piero] Error: {{nihongo}}: text has italic markup (help)), the title under which Pierrot le fou was released in Japan.

Release history

The album was first released in Japan in 1978. It was released in the US on 30 May 1979 by A&M Records on the Horizon label with a new mix by Al Schmitt, new cover art and a slightly different track listing. This "US version" was subsequently released in Japan on 25 July 1979 by Alfa. Promotional A&M copies were pressed on yellow vinyl.

"Firecracker" was released as a single under the name "Computer Game". As such, on early US pressings of the album, "Computer Game 'Theme from The Circus'" and "Firecracker" were combined as one track, while the firecracker sound effect at the end of the track was indexed by itself as "Firecracker". This was corrected on later pressings. US pressings also featured a more American-friendly mixing (highlighting a punchier equalization and heavy use of reverb.) Several of the segues on the second side of the album were edited differently, while "Bridge over Troubled Music" was given an additional electric piano solo over top of the introductory percussion.

Region	Date	Label	Format	Catalog
Japan	25 November 1978	Alfa Records	12" LP; cassette	LP: ALR-6012; cassette: ALC-1511
USA	30 May 1979	A&M Records, Horizon Records & Tapes	12" LP	SP-736, AMLH 68506
Japan	25 July 1979	Alfa Records	12" LP; cassette (US version)	LP: ALR-6020; cassette: ALC-1533

Track listing

Original pressing

Side one
No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
1.	"Computer Game 'Theme from The Circus (コンピューター・ゲーム —サーカスのテーマ—)"		Yellow Magic Orchestra	1:48
2.	"Firecracker (ファイアークラッカー)"		Yellow Magic Orchestra, Martin Denny	4:50
3.	"Simoon (シムーン)"	Chris Mosdell	Haruomi Hosono	6:27
4.	"Cosmic Surfin' (コズミック・サーフィン)"		Haruomi Hosono	4:51
5.	"Computer Game 'Theme from The Invader (コンピューター・ゲーム —インベーダーのテーマ—)"		Yellow Magic Orchestra	0:43

Side two
No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
1.	"Tong Poo (東風, tonpū, "east wind")"		Ryuichi Sakamoto	6:15
2.	"La femme chinoise (中国女, Chūgoku-onna)"	Chris Mosdell	Yukihiro Takahashi	5:52
3.	"Bridge over Troubled Music (ブリッジ・オーバー・トラブルド・ミュージック)"		Yellow Magic Orchestra	1:17
4.	"Mad Pierrot (マッド・ピエロ)"		Haruomi Hosono	4:20
5.	"Acrobat (アクロバット)"		Haruomi Hosono	1:12

US pressing

Side one
No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
1.	"Computer Game 'Theme from The Circus"		Yellow Magic Orchestra	1:48
2.	"Firecracker"		Yellow Magic Orchestra, Martin Denny	4:50
3.	"Simoon"	Chris Mosdell	Haruomi Hosono	6:27
4.	"Cosmic Surfin"		Haruomi Hosono	4:51
5.	"Computer Game 'Theme from The Invader"		Yellow Magic Orchestra	0:46

Side two
No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
1.	"Yellow Magic (Tong Poo)"		Ryuichi Sakamoto	6:17
2.	"La femme chinoise"	Chris Mosdell	Yukihiro Takahashi	5:55
3.	"Bridge over Troubled Music"		Yellow Magic Orchestra	1:18
4.	"Mad Pierrot"		Haruomi Hosono	4:21

Personnel

Ryuichi Sakamoto: keyboards, electronics, percussion, orchestration
Yukihiro Takahashi: vocals, drums, percussion, electronics
Haruomi Hosono: Bass, electronics, keyboards, arrangements
Chris Mosdell: Lyrics
Hideki Matsutake: Micro Composer programming
Shunichi Hashimoto: Vocal on "Simoon"
Masayoshi Takanaka: Electric guitar on "Cosmic Surfin" and "La femme chinoise"
Tomoko Nunoi: Additional vocals on "La femme chinoise" (credited as "Sexy Voice")
Minako Yoshida: Vocals on "Tong Poo" (US version)

Chart positions

Year	Release	Chart	Peak Position	Weeks	Total sales
1978	LP	Oricon LP Chart	20	73	18700
1978	Cassette	Oricon CT Chart	17	35	6300

Chart (1980)	Peak position^[3]
Billboard 200	81
R&B Albums	37

Firecracker / Computer Game

"Firecracker"

A sample of "Firecracker" from the 1978 album Yellow Magic Orchestra.

Problems playing this file? See media help.

The song "Firecracker" was released as a single twice in the United States, the first time in 1979 as "Firecracker", which became a major R&B hit in the United States.^[1] The following year, it was released again in the United States as the "Computer Game" single, which combined the "Computer Game" and "Firecracker" tracks together. The "Computer Game" single was an ever greater international success, entering the top 20 of the UK Single Charts^[4] and selling over 400,000 copies in the United States,^[5] where it was particularly popular with the emerging hip hop community which appreciated the new electronic sounds and in the Bronx where it was later sampled by pioneering hip hop artist Afrika Bambaataa in his famous 1983 debut album Death Mix (1983).^[6] The song was also sampled in a number of later songs, including 2 Live Crew's "Mega-Mixx II" (1988),^[7] Warp's "Testone" (1990),^[8] Jennifer Lopez's hit song "I'm Real" (2001), and the original unreleased version of Mariah Carey's "Loverboy" (2001).^[9]  

Chart positions

Chart (1980)	Peak position^[10]^[4]
UK Singles Chart	17
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	60
U.S. Dance Club Singles	42
U.S. R&B Singles	18

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Lewis, John (4 July 2008). "Back to the future: Yellow Magic Orchestra helped usher in electronica - and they may just have invented hip-hop, too". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 May 2011.
^ "Artists and producers strive for inroads overseas", Billboard, vol. 91, no. 20, p. 61, 26 May 1979, ISSN 0006-2510, retrieved 2011-05-29
^ "Yellow Magic Orchestra: Billboard Albums". Allmusic. Retrieved 2011-05-25.
^ ^a ^b "Computer Game (Theme From 'the Invaders')". chartstats.com. Retrieved 2011-05-28.
^ "Computer rock music gaining fans". Sarasota Journal: 8. August 18, 1980. Retrieved 2011-05-25.
^ Buckley, Peter (2003). The rough guide to rock. Rough Guides. p. 901. ISBN 1843531054. Retrieved 25 May 2011.
^ "Yellow Magic Orchestra". whosampled.com. Retrieved 2011-05-28.
^ Dan Sicko & Bill Brewster (2010), Techno Rebels (2nd ed.), Wayne State University Press, p. 76, ISBN 0814334385, retrieved 2011-05-28
^ "Mariah 'Ripped Off' Twice on Same Record". Fox News. April 4, 2002. Retrieved 2011-05-28.
^ "Yellow Magic Orchestra: Billboard Singles". Allmusic. Retrieved 2011-05-25.

[guardian_ymo-1] Lewis, John (4 July 2008). "Back to the future: Yellow Magic Orchestra helped usher in electronica - and they may just have invented hip-hop, too". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 May 2011.

[billboard_1979-2] "Artists and producers strive for inroads overseas", Billboard, vol. 91, no. 20, p. 61, 26 May 1979, ISSN 0006-2510, retrieved 2011-05-29

[3] "Yellow Magic Orchestra: Billboard Albums". Allmusic. Retrieved 2011-05-25.

[chartstats_game-4] "Computer Game (Theme From 'the Invaders')". chartstats.com. Retrieved 2011-05-28.

[sarasota-5] "Computer rock music gaining fans". Sarasota Journal: 8. August 18, 1980. Retrieved 2011-05-25.

[6] Buckley, Peter (2003). The rough guide to rock. Rough Guides. p. 901. ISBN 1843531054. Retrieved 25 May 2011.

[7] "Yellow Magic Orchestra". whosampled.com. Retrieved 2011-05-28.

[8] Dan Sicko & Bill Brewster (2010), Techno Rebels (2nd ed.), Wayne State University Press, p. 76, ISBN 0814334385, retrieved 2011-05-28

[9] "Mariah 'Ripped Off' Twice on Same Record". Fox News. April 4, 2002. Retrieved 2011-05-28.

[10] "Yellow Magic Orchestra: Billboard Singles". Allmusic. Retrieved 2011-05-25.

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@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
   Released    = 1978 November 25 |
   Recorded    =  |
-  Genre       = [[Synthpop]] |
+  Genre       = [[Electropop]], [[Exotica]], [[Synthpop]] |
   Length      =  37:35 <br />36:04 (US mix)|
   Label       = [[Alfa Records]] |
@@ Line 32: / Line 32: @@
   }}
 }}
-'''''Yellow Magic Orchestra''''' is the first album by [[Japan]]ese [[electropop]] band [[Yellow Magic Orchestra]]. Originally released in [[Japan]] in 1978, the album was re-released in the [[United States]] the following year with new cover art and without the closing track of "Acrobat". Both would later be re-issued in 2003 as a double-disc format, with the American version as the first disc.
+'''''Yellow Magic Orchestra''''' is the first album by [[Japan]]ese [[electronic music]] band [[Yellow Magic Orchestra]]. Originally released in [[Japan]] in 1978, the album was re-released in the [[United States]] the following year with new cover art and without the closing track of "Acrobat". Both would later be re-issued in 2003 as a double-disc format, with the American version as the first disc.
+==Overview==
-The album was intended to be a one-off project for producer and bass player [[Haruomi Hosono]] and the two session musicians he had hired: drummer [[Yukihiro Takahashi]] and keyboard player [[Ryuichi Sakamoto]]; the trio were to recreate [[Martin Denny]]'s hit "Firecracker", as well as other original compositions, with modern electronics. The project proved highly popular, culminating in a career for the three musicians; one that would last until 1983, before successful solo careers and reunions over the decades to come.
+The album was intended to be a one-off project for producer and bass player [[Haruomi Hosono]] and the two session musicians he had hired: drummer [[Yukihiro Takahashi]] and keyboard player [[Ryuichi Sakamoto]]. The trio were to recreate [[Martin Denny]]'s 1959 [[exotica]] tune "Firecracker" with modern electronics, as a [[subversion]] of the [[exoticisation]] and [[Orientalism]] of the original tune, along with various original compositions also exploring themes of [[Asian people|Asianness]], exoticisation and Orientalism from a Japanese perspective.<ref name="guardian_ymo">{{cite web|last=Lewis|first=John|title=Back to the future: Yellow Magic Orchestra helped usher in electronica - and they may just have invented hip-hop, too|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/jul/04/electronicmusic.filmandmusic11|work=[[The Guardian]]|accessdate=25 May 2011|date=4 July 2008}}</ref> It was also the first album to utilize [[computer music]] technology (along with [[synthesizer]]s) for music production, to create a new sound that was not possible until then.<ref name="billboard_1979">{{citation|title=Artists and producers strive for inroads overseas|work=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|date=26 May 1979|volume=91|issue=20|issn=0006-2510|page=61|url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=_iQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT61|accessdate=2011-05-29}}</ref> The album would eventually be called ''Yellow Magic Orchestra'', as a satire of Japan's obsession with [[black magic]] at the time.<ref name="guardian_ymo"/> The project proved highly popular, culminating in a career for the three musicians; one that would last until 1983, before successful solo careers and reunions over the decades to come.
-Both "Computer Game" tracks proper contain the same audio and were made to sound as if both games were being played in the same room; each track being from the perspective of its titular game unit - [[Circus (video game)|Circus]] and [[Space Invaders]]. Circus and several other arcade video games were featured in the promotional film for Tong Poo.
+Both "Computer Game" tracks proper contain the same audio and were made to sound as if both games were being played in the same room; each track being from the perspective of its titular [[arcade game]] unit: ''[[Circus (video game)|Circus]]'' and ''[[Space Invaders]]''. Both ''Circus'' and ''Space Invaders'', along with several other [[Golden age of video arcade games|popular arcade video games]], were also featured in the promotional film for "Tong Poo".
-The titles for several songs on the B-side are based on [[Jean-Luc Godard]] film names. “Tong Poo” is the Cantonese title for ''Le Vent d'est''. “La Femme Chinoise” is ''La Chinoise'' with “femme” (the French word for “woman”) added after the feminine definite article “la.” Finally, “Mad Pierrot” is an English translation of {{nihongo|気狂いピエロ|''Kichigai Piero''}}, the title under which ''[[Pierrot le fou]]'' was released in Japan.
+The titles for several songs on the B-side are based on [[Jean-Luc Godard]] film names. “Tong Poo” is the [[Cantonese language|Cantonese]] title for ''Le Vent d'est''. “La Femme Chinoise” is ''La Chinoise'' with “femme” (the [[French language|French]] word for “woman”) added after the feminine definite article “la.” Finally, “Mad Pierrot” is an [[English language|English]] translation of {{nihongo|気狂いピエロ|''Kichigai Piero''}}, the title under which ''[[Pierrot le fou]]'' was released in Japan.
 ==Release history==
@@ Line 84: / Line 85: @@
 | note2           =
 | length2         = 4:50
-| music2          = [[Martin Denny]]
+| music2          = Yellow Magic Orchestra, [[Martin Denny|Martin&nbsp;Denny]]
 | title3          = {{nihongo|Simoon|シムーン}}
 | note3           =
@@ Line 93: / Line 94: @@
 | note4           =
 | length4         = 4:51
-| music4          = Hosono
+| music4          = Haruomi Hosono
 | title5          = {{nihongo|Computer Game 'Theme from ''The Invader'''|コンピューター・ゲーム —インベーダーのテーマ—}}
 | note5           =
@@ Line 120: / Line 121: @@
 | note4           =
 | length4         = 4:20
-| music4          = Hosono
+| music4          = Haruomi Hosono
 | title5         = {{nihongo|Acrobat|アクロバット}}
 | note5           =
 | length5        = 1:12
-| music5         = Hosono
+| music5         = Haruomi Hosono
 }}
@@ Line 137: / Line 138: @@
 | title2          = Firecracker
 | length2         = 4:50
-| music2          = [[Martin Denny]]
+| music2          = Yellow Magic Orchestra, [[Martin Denny|Martin&nbsp;Denny]]
 | title3          = Simoon
 | length3         = 6:27
@@ Line 144: / Line 145: @@
 | title4          = Cosmic Surfin
 | length4         = 4:51
-| music4          = Hosono
+| music4          = Haruomi Hosono
 | title5          = Computer Game 'Theme from ''The Invader'''
 | length5         = 0:46
@@ Line 166: / Line 167: @@
 | title4          = Mad Pierrot
 | length4         = 4:21
-| music4          = Hosono
+| music4          = Haruomi Hosono
 }}
@@ Line 206: / Line 207: @@
 {|class="wikitable sortable"
 !align="left"|Chart (1980)
-!align="center"|Peak position<br><ref>http://www.allmusic.com/artist/yellow-magic-orchestra-p5886/charts-awards</ref>
+!align="center"|Peak position<ref>{{cite web|title=Yellow Magic Orchestra: Billboard Albums|publisher=[[Allmusic]]|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/yellow-magic-orchestra-p5886/charts-awards|accessdate=2011-05-25}}</ref>
 |-
 |align="left"|[[Billboard 200]]
 |align="center"|81
 |-
+|align="left"|[[Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums|R&B Albums]]
+|align="center"|37
+|-
+|}
+==Firecracker / Computer Game==
+{{Listen
+|pos=right
+|filename=YMO - Firecracker.ogg
+|title="Firecracker"
+|description=A sample of "Firecracker" from the 1978 album ''Yellow Magic Orchestra''.
+|format=[[Ogg]]
+}}
+The song "Firecracker" was released as a single twice in the United States, the first time in 1979 as "Firecracker", which became a major [[Contemporary R&B|R&B]] hit in the United States.<ref name="guardian_ymo"/> The following year, it was released again in the United States as the "Computer Game" single, which combined the "Computer Game" and "Firecracker" tracks together. The "Computer Game" single was an ever greater international success, entering the top 20 of the [[UK Single Charts]]<ref name="chartstats_game"/> and selling over 400,000 copies in the United States,<ref name="sarasota">{{cite journal|title=Computer rock music gaining fans|journal=[[Sarasota Journal]]|date=August 18, 1980|url=http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7s4mAAAAIBAJ&sjid=h44EAAAAIBAJ&pg=4481,2128223|accessdate=2011-05-25|page=8}}</ref> where it was particularly popular with the emerging [[hip hop]] community which appreciated the new electronic sounds and in [[the Bronx]] where it was later sampled by pioneering hip hop artist [[Afrika Bambaataa]] in his famous 1983 debut album ''Death Mix'' (1983).<ref>{{cite book|last=Buckley|first=Peter|title=The rough guide to rock|year=2003|publisher=[[Rough Guides]]|isbn=1843531054|url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=7ctjc6UWCm4C&pg=PT908|accessdate=25 May 2011|page=901}}</ref> The song was also sampled in a number of later songs, including [[2 Live Crew]]'s "Mega-Mixx II" (1988),<ref>{{cite web|title=Yellow Magic Orchestra|work=whosampled.com|url=http://www.whosampled.com/sampled/Yellow%20Magic%20Orchestra/|accessdate=2011-05-28}}</ref> [[Warp (record label)|Warp]]'s "[[WarpVision|Testone]]" (1990),<ref>{{citation|title=Techno Rebels|author=Dan Sicko & Bill Brewster|edition=2nd|publisher=[[Wayne State University Press]]|year=2010|isbn=0814334385|page=76|url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=h6TNjUt-QrkC&pg=PA76|accessdate=2011-05-28}}</ref> [[Jennifer Lopez]]'s hit song "[[I'm Real (Jennifer Lopez song)|I'm Real]]" (2001), and the original unreleased version of [[Mariah Carey]]'s "[[Loverboy (Mariah Carey song)|Loverboy]]" (2001).<ref>{{cite web|title=Mariah 'Ripped Off' Twice on Same Record|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,49437,00.html|publisher=[[Fox News Channel|Fox News]]|date=April 4, 2002|accessdate=2011-05-28}}</ref>
+===Chart positions===
+{|class="wikitable sortable"
+!align="left"|Chart (1980)
+!align="center"|Peak position<ref>{{cite web|title=Yellow Magic Orchestra: Billboard Singles|publisher=[[Allmusic]]|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/yellow-magic-orchestra-p5886/charts-awards/billboard-singles|accessdate=2011-05-25}}</ref><ref name="chartstats_game">{{cite web|title=Computer Game (Theme From 'the Invaders')|work=chartstats.com|url=http://www.chartstats.com/release.php?release=8684|accessdate=2011-05-28}}</ref>
+|-
+|align="left"|[[UK Singles Chart]]
+|align="center"|17
+|-
+|align="left"|U.S. [[Billboard Hot 100]]
+|align="center"|60
+|-
+|align="left"|U.S. [[Hot Dance Club Songs|Dance Club Singles]]
+|align="center"|42
+|-
+|align="left"|U.S. [[Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs|R&B Singles]]
+|align="center"|18
 |}