Ryuichi Sakamoto In Samurai (Kyocera Video Camera Commercial)
Ryuichi Sakamoto’s death earlier this month left music fans around the world saddened, and lead to reflection on one of the world’s finest and most influential artists. Online, people shared their favorite Sakamoto songs, in what initially felt like part of the grieving process but soon morphed into something celebratory. The beauty of a career like Sakamoto's was seeing just how varied and vast his artistic body was. One person could nod to his work in Yellow Magic Orchestra, while others could underline his film work, and a whole other corner of music fans shared his modern compositions.
A memorable life, viewed in retrospect, branches out and includes all kinds of metaphorical roads one could go down to appreciate an existence well lived. For me, traversing Sakamoto’s life in the last few weeks has involved going down paths leading to…one-off releases done with a Japanese female pro wrestler.
When famed women’s pro grappler Dump Matsumoto decided to release an album of original songs in the mid ‘80s, Ryuichi Sakamoto came on board to write two songs, the glassy ballad “Maji” (above) and a track called “Hells Angels” which can not be found online, at least now, but at least one re-seller describes as “oriental city pop by the professor.” Buried on this novelty pro wrestling release are two songs by an artist who, by 1985, had established himself as both a pop and experimental mastermind, with acting credits to boot. Yet here he is, adding a faint layer of radio-talk samples behind a husky-voiced heel just going for it.
It’s a curio in Sakamoto’s massive song book, but hardly the only one. For all of the forward-thinking electronic twiddling, pop tinkering and modern-classical explorations, Sakamoto should also be remembered for all of the offbeat stuff…the commercials of him with Onyanko Club, his appearance with comedy duo Downtown as “Aho Aho Brother,” and of course all the musical oddities lining his massive songbook. A truly fascinating life, after all, features a lot of stranger moments that make it all the better, even if they end up in the Hard Off bargain bin instead of the arts canon. Here’s some of my favorite.
Mizuumi Boys & Girls Chorus — Umi Ya Yama No Kamisama Tachi, Koko Demo Ima Demo Nai Hanashi (1975)
Part of the appeal of the 2010s boom in discovering older Japanese music was the thrill of looking at the liner notes of, say, Taeko Onuki’s Sunshower and being blown away by how many artists who would go on to be celebrated in Japan and eventually abroad pop up to like, play tambourine. It’s a testament to how tight-knit this community of was and to just how special this period of post-war entertainment in the nation was. It’s also a reminder that…these people needed to pay the bills, and took on a hodgepodge of projects, many of which are forgotten.
Sakamoto broke into the Japanese music industry by writing and playing on albums by various folk singers, fledgling pop acts, and a school choir. Admittedly, not just any collection of children singing songs — the Mizuumi Boys & Girls Chorus, established in part by national broadcaster NHK, did high-profile work, including multiple Ultraman songs. So Sakamoto getting the chance to work on their 1975 full-length isn’t totally unexpected, but still an early surprise in his writing resume.
Though in terms of charting the sound of “new music” and what would become “city pop,” this chorus album is actually kind of essential, as you can hear the easy-breezy (but melancholy) vibes that would animate albums by Onuki, Mariya Takeuchi and more in the years ahead. It’s also an important document because of the other major musician helping arrange this — Tatsuro Yamashita, then in Sugar Babe (who provde chorus work for a few songs). Maybe the earliest Yamashita and Sakamto crossed paths on record?
Piranha Gundan — Piranha Gundan (1977)
A collection of actors best known for playing bad guys in movies and TV shows got together and recorded an album. There’s more to the history of Piranha Gundan than that — basically sounds like some hard-boiled dudes hanging out! — but I’m here for their 1977 album, featuring Sakamoto arranging some of the funkiest mid-tempo songs of his career, all while some yakuza-type guy can stumble over it.
Hi-Phonic Big 15 — “Dragoon” (1979)
“Music In Hi-phonic” was a music show broadcast over radio starting in 1964, delivering hit songs and ads for Hitachi audio equipment, which was going big on the futuristic “hi-phonic” branding at the time. To celebrate 15 years of shows / sponsored content, they put together a special compilation album, mostly consisting of instrumental covers of pop songs (“Bridge Over Troubled Water,” “Hotel California,” “Dancing Queen”) but also featuring some originals…including the above, put together by Sakamoto.
I don’t include here because it’s all that oddball musically, but rather because of the timing. This arrives as YMO starts becoming superstars in Japan, legitimately shifting the pop paradigm in the country while also achieving global attention. Most people listened to “Behind The Mask” — but you could listen to Sakamoto’s jazz-fusion entry too, if you wanted. Bonus points becuase the very next track on this album is YMO bandmate Haruomi Hosono’s steel-pan-lined “Jamaica Ginger,” making this a must for fans of the group to see their faves mind operating in a different, laid-back lane.
The Ventures — “Mushuku” (1980)
American instrumental guitar outfit The Ventures might be the most impactful Western artist in Japanese music history. Forget The Beatles — “Wipe Out” inspired a generation of Japanese rockers, and made the group legends in the country. But even revered acts need to get with the times.
By the time The Ventures linked up with Sakamoto for “Mushuku,” YMO’s success birthed a craze for techno-pop across Japan, which forced everyone from idols to aging West Rockers to adapt synths or face extinction. This is just surf-rock with a techno-cut, but a reminder of just how huge YMO got…and how revered Sakamoto himself was getting, too.
Syuko Sakai — “Computer Obachan” (1981)
How do you know when you’ve left a lasting musical legacy? When NHK turns your sound into children’s music material.
Honestly, the whole reason I’m engaging in this exercise is becuase of “Computer Obachan.” Yes, it’s great that Sakamoto has been celebrated for his visionary pop, his collaborative nature, his experimental bonafides, his Oscar-winning work, his decision to force a restaurant in New York to listen to Nicholas Jaar…but dude was fun too, and that deserves love. Here he is having a blast creating a techno-pop song about a robot grandma, aimed at kids but charming enough for all demographics.
It also deserves highlighting because it has become one of the defining techno-pop artifacts of the early 1980s, to the point of being covered by 21st century groups indebted to that era such as Polysics and Perfume. Perhaps not as influential as “Riot In Lagos,” but a song still plink-plonking off decades later.
“Beat” Takeshi — “Otoko To Iu Mono” (1984)
Sakamoto supports his Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence buddy by providing a jaunty production for the actor and comedian to stumble over. Not his only “Beat” Takeshi collab, but the only one I’m featuring.
Momo — “Sora Ni Aou Yo” (1985)
If I had a time machine…I probably wouldn’t fly back to 1985 to see the World’s Fair held in Tsukuba, a sleepy part of Ibaraki like 45 minutes away from Tokyo by train. It’s no Expo ‘70 in Osaka, I’ll tell you that much, though it certainly produced a lot of musical novelties (and featured…the Jumbotron, arguably the most important scientific breakthrough emerging from this event). Here’s a full space-themed album for ya! I have no idea what the context of the above song is — it’s the theme song to Sumitomo Group’s pavillion, but I have zero idea why a dog and little girl frolicking amongst flowers is featured — but I know the lyrics come from Akiko Yano and the music from Sakamoto. The actual hook here is that “Momo” — presented as the cherub-faced girl in pink overalls — isn’t singing the song, but rather Sumiko Yamagata, who has been swept up in the city pop discovery of the last few years.
Sigourney Weaver — Peachboy (1991)
Not 1993, nice try random YouTube channel (thank you for your service)
Thank you educational video market of the early 1990s, for having the budget needed to bring big-name actors and composers together to tell folk tales from around the world. Part of Rabbit Ears Prodcutions “We All Have Tales” series (which also includes, like Robin Williams telling you about Pecos Bill while Ry Cooder lays down a soundtrack), Sakamoto joins Alien and Aliens star Sigourney Weaver to share the story of Momotaro with English audiences. Good, but better tellings exist.
Geisha Girls — “Grandma Is Still Alive” (1994)
By the mid ‘90s, Sakamto has moved to New York and the bumps in his sonic road have flattened out — there’s not a lot of surprises from this point, as he enters a mature period allowing him to dodge novelty acts and comedians. Except…for Geisha Girls, the last true curveball in his songbook.
Consisting of comedy duo Downtown (with which Sakamoto also performed as “Aho Aho Brother”), Geisha Girls finds two of the most famous TV talents in Japanese history dressing up as…geisha girls, to perform novelty numbers. This was a huge deal in the ‘90s, in part because Downtown could document the entire experience on their TV show…which includes a lot of footage of Sakamoto at work, albeit for a comedy dance-pop cut.
“Grandma Is Still Alive” is half goofball manzai screaming match set over synth washes, half liquid house rave out (which has no right to be as good as it is, considering parts of it feature a guy shouting about chicken over it). A blip in Sakamoto’s career, but part of an episode illustrating what made him special — as the above TV segment shows, Sakamoto brought in a New York-based artist to help develop the Geisha Girls’ sound. That was Towa Tei, fresh off the success of Deee-Lite. Tei got significant airtime on Downtown’s variety show…and his song, the hip-hop-influenced “Kick & Loud,” became the bigger hit from this escapade. That helped cement Tei’s status in Japan, leading to a healthy career in the decades after. Even in sillier moments, Sakamoto’s ability to collaborate and highlight other talent shined through.
Written by Patrick St. Michel (patrickstmichel@gmail.com)
Twitter — @mbmelodies
You see, this is why I love your feature Patrick St. Michael! Me and many others chose to celebrate the legacy of Sakamoto and more with his legendary and ambitious works, and his more philosophical moments. Songs like this remind me that Sakamoto was also just a fun human, and that makes his passing more tragic. He truly was a legendary artist.