Drummer Yukihiro Takahashi of Yellow Magic Orchestra Dies at 70

The band was helped to establish by the notable Japanese artist, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Haruomi Hosono. The unmistakable drummer, performer, and prime supporter of Yellow Sorcery Ensemble, Yukihiro Takahashi, has died, as indicated by The Japan Times. In August 2020, Takahashi went through a medical procedure to eliminate a cerebrum cancer.

He uncovered he was managing new medical problems the next year. As per the Japanese paper Sponichi, Takahashi contracted pneumonia toward the beginning of January and it deteriorated as he was attempting to recuperate at his home in Karzuizawa, Nagano Prefecture. The period of Takahashi was seventy.

Yukihiro Takahashi, who was born on June 6, 1952, was motivated by his more established brother Nobuyuki and became inspired by music. While still in middle school, he started playing the drums at parties with school artists to acquire insight. At age 16, Takahashi started seeking after a profession as a studio performer, recording drum tracks for TV commercials, and protecting gigs with different groups.

While playing drums for the Savage Mika Band during the 1970s, Takahashi previously came to the consideration of the overall population in Japan. At that point, American dance music had “a tremendous impact” on him as a drummer, and he was attracted to pop, soul, and Motown. Takahashi enlisted Ryuichi Sakamoto to make Saravah!, his 1977 presentation solo collection that drew impact from French pop, after the threesome disbanded. The two were utilized by Haruomi Hosono to record for his own collection, Paraiso, which bore the name Harry Hosono and the Yellow Sorcery Band, around the same time. The three artists officially settled the Yellow Enchantment Ensemble in 1978.

At the point when the Yellow Enchantment Ensemble was established in 1978, they put out their most memorable self-named record. With its inventive utilization of PC innovation, synths, and computer game examples, the band pulled in both homegrown and unfamiliar interest. Yellow Wizardry Ensemble is broadly viewed as a pivotal collection in the synthpop sort subsequently. It has sold more than 250,000 duplicates in Japan, appeared on the Bulletin 200 and Board R&B Collections outlines, and had a main 20 crush single in the U.K. with “PC Game/Firework.”

1979’s Strong State Survivor was the development to Yellow Sorcery Symphony’s industrially fruitful presentation. All through their unique vocation, the band proceeded to deliver seven collections, including 1980’s Duplicates, 1981’s BGM and Technodelic, and 1983’s Devious Young men and Administration.

i am gutted about the passing of yukihiro takahashi; i dreamed of working with him someday. so much swagger, style, incredible moods, and colors. may your name be a blessing, your music made my world so much brighter.
安らかに眠れ伝説 https://t.co/GkLXgABaJD pic.twitter.com/RYDZ4URRaP

— chris walla (@calculizer) January 14, 2023

However they couldn’t deliver it under their old name because of mark concerns, Yellow Sorcery Ensemble began to work composing and recording what might turn into their 1993 rebound collection Technodon when they returned together without precedent for 1992. It was the first of a few collections that would later be distributed under the names YMO (crossed out with a big “x”), Human Sound Wipe, and HASYMO.

Takahashi keeps on delivering solo music all through the Yellow Enchantment Ensemble’s residency. His 1980 collection Killed by the Music was trailed by 1981’s Neuromantic, a magnum opus in his discography that highlighted joint efforts with Hosono, Sakamoto, Tony Mansfield of New Musik, Phil Manzanera of Roxy Music, and Andy Mackay.

Without counting aggregations and remixes, he proceeded to deliver in excess of 20 studio collections, the latest of which being Life Once more in 2013. Takahashi’s performance work started to seek an extraordinary vinyl reissue treatment as of late. Through We Need Sounds, his most memorable collection Saravah! was republished in 2019, and in 2021, Neuromantic was delivered without precedent for forty years.

Takahashi needed to clarify that his music doesn’t fall under the classification of city pop as his discography acquired prominence in Western circles. “I never envisioned that music from the ’70s in Japan and city pop, which I have almost no association with, would get well known in the U.S. I likewise feel that it’s a little peculiar that my music and music from [others like] Akiko Yano and Haruomi Hosono is all being classified as city pop ,” he said in a 2020 meeting with Dublab. “During the ’70s, Japanese performers were being impacted by combination and pop from the west. Japanese performers are for the most part extremely specialized, and however they attempt to impersonate western music, it generally wound up sounding exceptionally Japanese, including the vocals. Individuals from the west presently paying attention to those records, likely find a kitsch bid in them.”

Takahashi and Hosono sent off their sketch show in 2002. They teamed up on two collections under the name, the two of which utilize traditional instruments to investigate electronica and synthpop. Sakamoto and Tei from Yellow Sorcery Symphony are highlighted on their 2002 first collection, Sound Wipe. Yet again following the smaller than normal collection Tronika in 2003, Sketch Show delivered their sophomore full-length Proviso, on which they worked together with Sakamoto.

Takahashi generally as of late had a place with the electropop band Metafive. Subsequent to turning out to be dear companions while filling in as Takahashi’s support band on his 2014 show visit, he established the gathering close by Keigo Oyamada, Yoshinori Sunahara, Towa Tei, Tomohiko Gondo, and Leo Imai. Notwithstanding the EP Metahalf, Metagive likewise delivered their presentation studio collection, Meta, in 2016.

Metafive got back in the game in 2020 with the single “Kankyo to Shinri/Ecological” following quite a long while of nearly calm movement. They eventually chose to defer the arrival of their second full-length, Metaatem, until 2022 and afterward reported that it would be the gathering’s last collection and that they had forever separated.

Subsequent to learning of Takahashi’s passing, an enormous number of performers, including Akiko Yano, Erol Alkan, Junior Young men, Mouse on Mars, and Great Willsmith, posted recognitions in his memory. Chris Walla said, “I’m destroyed about the death of Yukihiro Takahashi,” tweeted Chris Walla. “I longed for working with him sometime in the future. Such a ton strut, style, mind blowing temperaments, and varieties. May your name be a gift, your music made my reality such a great deal more splendid.”