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((For|their self-titled album|Yellow Magic Orchestra (album)))((short description|Japanese electronic music band))
((Use mdy dates|date=June 2023))
((Infobox musical artist
| name             = Yellow Magic Orchestra
| image            = Yellow Magic Orchestra in 2008.jpg
| caption          = YMO after playing a [[LONDONYMO – Yellow Magic Orchestra Live in London 15/6 08|2008 concert in London]]. From left to right: [[Ryuichi Sakamoto]], [[Yukihiro Takahashi]], [[Haruomi Hosono]]
| background       = group_or_band
| alias            = ((hlist|YMO|<s>YMO</s>|Not YMO|((nowrap|Human Audio Sponge))|HAS|HASYMO))
| origin           = Tokyo, Japan
| genre            = ((hlist|[[Electronic music|Electronic]]|[[electropop]]|[[synth-pop]]<ref name="buckley">Buckley, P. (2003), ''The Rough Guide to Rock'', Rough Guides, London (pp. 1200&ndash;1201).</ref>|[[art pop]]<ref name="Bamboo">((cite web|last1=Simpson|first1=Paul|title=Bamboo - Biography & History|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/bamboo-mn0003437148/biography|website=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=January 24, 2018|archive-date=June 2, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170602083622/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/bamboo-mn0003437148/biography|url-status=live))</ref>|[[Electro (music)|electro]]<ref name="wire_1996"/>))
| discography      = [[Yellow Magic Orchestra discography]]
| years_active     = ((hlist|1978–1984|1992–1993|((nowrap|2002–2004))|2007–2012))
| label            = ((hlist|[[Alfa Records|Alfa Records (Japan)]]|[[A&M Records]]|[[Toshiba-EMI]]|[[Restless Records]]|[[Sony Music Entertainment Japan|Sony Music House (Japan)]]|[[Epic Records]]|[[Avex Trax|Commmons (Japan)]]))
| website          = ((URL|ymo.org))
| past_members  = *[[Haruomi Hosono]]
*[[Ryuichi Sakamoto]]
*[[Yukihiro Takahashi]]
))
'''Yellow Magic Orchestra''' (abbreviated to '''YMO''') was a Japanese [[electronic music]] band formed in Tokyo in 1978 by [[Haruomi Hosono]] (bass, keyboards, vocals), [[Yukihiro Takahashi]] (drums, lead vocals, occasional keyboards) and [[Ryuichi Sakamoto]] (keyboards, vocals).<ref name="allmusic_ymo">((AllMusic|artist|p5886|Yellow Magic Orchestra|access-date=June 3, 2009))</ref> The group is considered influential and innovative in the field of popular electronic music.<ref name="allmusic_ymo"/><ref name="fidelity_1993"/> They were pioneers in their use of synthesizers, [[Sampler (musical instrument)|samplers]], [[music sequencer|sequencers]], [[drum machine]]s, computers, and [[Digital audio|digital recording]] technology,<ref name="allmusic_ymo"/><ref name="sarasota"/><ref name="clashmusic"/> and effectively anticipated the "[[electropop]] boom" of the 1980s.<ref>((cite news|title=Sakamoto hears music's sounds, not its styles|work=[[The Baltimore Sun]]|author=J. D. Considine|date=March 23, 2000|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/baltsun/access/51630773.html?dids=51630773%3A51630773&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS%3AFT&type=current&date=Mar+23%2C+2000&author=J.D.+Considine&pub=The+Sun&desc=Sakamoto+hears+music%27s+sounds%2C+not+its+styles%3B+Performance%3A+The+popular+Japanese+pianist+is+moving+toward+acoustic+music+because+he+is+not+sure+he+can+rely+on+electricity.&pqatl=google|access-date=June 9, 2011|archive-date=February 10, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130210005526/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/baltsun/access/51630773.html?dids=51630773%3A51630773&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS%3AFT&type=current&date=Mar+23%2C+2000&author=J.D.+Considine&pub=The+Sun&desc=Sakamoto+hears+music%27s+sounds%2C+not+its+styles%3B+Performance%3A+The+popular+Japanese+pianist+is+moving+toward+acoustic+music+because+he+is+not+sure+he+can+rely+on+electricity.&pqatl=google|url-status=live))</ref> They are credited with playing a key role in the development of several electronic genres, including [[synthpop]], [[J-pop]], [[Electro (music)|electro]], and [[techno]], while exploring subversive sociopolitical themes throughout their career.<ref name=EssentialFactmag>((cite journal|last1=Jones|first1=Mikey IQ|title=The Essential… Yellow Magic Orchestra|journal=[[Factmag]]|date=January 22, 2015|url=http://www.factmag.com/2015/01/22/the-essential-yellow-magic-orchestra/|access-date=November 29, 2015|archive-date=January 23, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150123053959/http://www.factmag.com/2015/01/22/the-essential-yellow-magic-orchestra/|url-status=live))</ref>

The three members were veterans of the [[music industry]] before coming together as YMO, and were inspired by eclectic sources, including the electronic music of [[Isao Tomita]] and [[Kraftwerk]], [[Music of Japan|Japanese traditional music]], [[arcade game]]s, [[funk]] music, and the [[disco]] productions of [[Giorgio Moroder]]. They released the surprise global hit "[[Yellow Magic Orchestra (album)|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 programmer [[Hideki Matsutake]].<ref name="sound_147"/> 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.

==History==

===1976–1978: early years and formation===
Prior to the group's formation, Sakamoto had been experimenting with [[Electronic musical instrument|electronic music equipment]] at the [[Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music]], which he entered in 1970, including synthesizers such as the [[Buchla]], [[Moog synthesizer|Moog]], and [[ARP Instruments, Inc.|ARP]].<ref name="dayal_interview">((cite web|last=Dayal|first=Gheeta|title=Yellow Magic Orchestra|url=http://www.theoriginalsoundtrack.com/blog/archives/00000615.htm|work=Groove|publisher=The Original Soundtrack|access-date=June 17, 2011|date=July 7, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002224518/http://www.theoriginalsoundtrack.com/blog/archives/00000615.htm|archive-date=October 2, 2011|url-status=dead))</ref> The group leader Haruomi Hosono had been using an [[Ace Tone]] [[rhythm machine]] since early in his career in the early 1970s.<ref name="wire2017">((cite journal |title=The Primer:Yellow Magic Orchestra |journal=[[The Wire (magazine)|The Wire]] |date=October 2017 |issue=404 |page=38 |url=https://reader.exacteditions.com/issues/59878/page/38 |access-date=November 16, 2018 |archive-date=November 16, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116190631/https://reader.exacteditions.com/issues/59878/page/38 |url-status=live ))</ref> Following the break-up of his band [[Happy End (band)|Happy End]] in 1972, Hosono became involved in the recording of several early [[electronic rock]] records, including [[Yōsui Inoue]]'s [[Folk rock|folk]] [[pop rock]] album ''[[Kōri no Sekai]]'' (1973) and [[Osamu Kitajima]]'s [[Progressive rock|progressive]] [[psychedelic rock]] album ''Benzaiten'' (1974), both of which utilized synthesizers, electric guitars, electric bass, and in the latter, [[electronic drum]]s, and [[Drum machine|rhythm machines]].<ref>((Discogs release|2509617|井上陽水 – 氷の世界)) ([https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&tl=en&u=http://www.discogs.com/%E4%BA%95%E4%B8%8A%E9%99%BD%E6%B0%B4-%E6%B0%B7%E3%81%AE%E4%B8%96%E7%95%8C/release/2509617 Translation] ((Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190420110819/https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&tl=en&u=http://www.discogs.com/%E4%BA%95%E4%B8%8A%E9%99%BD%E6%B0%B4-%E6%B0%B7%E3%81%AE%E4%B8%96%E7%95%8C/release/2509617 |date=April 20, 2019 )))</ref><ref>((Discogs release|1303605|Osamu Kitajima – Benzaiten))</ref> Also around the same time, the band's future "fourth member" [[Hideki Matsutake]] was the assistant for the internationally successful electronic musician [[Isao 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.<ref name="sound_147"/><ref>((cite web|title=Isao Tomita: Moog reverie|url=http://www.residentadvisor.net/feature.aspx?1586|publisher=[[Resident Advisor]]|access-date=July 17, 2012|date=July 13, 2012|archive-date=September 24, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924130348/http://www.residentadvisor.net/feature.aspx?1586|url-status=live))</ref>

Sakamoto first worked with Hosono as a member of his live band in 1976, while [[Yukihiro Takahashi]] recruited Sakamoto to produce his debut solo recording in 1977 following the split of the [[Sadistic Mika Band]]. Hosono invited both to work on his [[exotica]]-flavoured album ''[[Paraiso (Haruomi Hosono album)|Paraiso]]'', which included [[Electronic music|electronic songs]] produced using various electronic equipment. The band was named "Harry Hosono and the Yellow Magic Band" as a satire of Japan's obsession with [[black magic]] at the time,<ref name="guardian_ymo"/> and in late 1977 they began recording ''Paraiso'', which was released in 1978.<ref name="discogs_paraiso">((Discogs release|1188801|Harry Hosono And The Yellow Magic Band – Paraiso))</ref> The three worked together again for the 1978 album ''[[Pacific (1978 album)|Pacific]]'', which included an early version of the song "Cosmic Surfin".<ref>((Discogs release|2561274|Pacific))</ref> 

Hosono and Sakamoto also worked together alongside [[Hideki Matsutake]] in early 1978 for Hosono's experimental "electro-exotica" [[Fusion (music)|fusion]] album ''Cochin Moon'', which fused electronic music with [[Music of India|Indian music]], including an early "synth [[raga]]" song "Hum Ghar Sajan".<ref name="pitchfork">((cite web|author=Dominique Leone|date=July 19, 2005|title=Hosono & Yokoo: Cochin Moon|publisher=[[Pitchfork Media]]|url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/4016-cochin-moon/|access-date=May 26, 2011|archive-date=July 15, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715081905/http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/4016-cochin-moon/|url-status=live))</ref> The same year, Sakamoto released his own solo album, ''[[Thousand Knives|The Thousand Knives of Ryuichi Sakamoto]]'', experimenting with a similar fusion between electronic music and [[traditional Japanese music]] in early 1978. Hosono also contributed to one of Sakamoto's songs, "Thousand Knives", in the album.<ref>((Discogs release|325757|Ryuichi Sakamoto – Thousand Knives Of))</ref> ''Thousand Knives'' was also notable for its early use of the [[microprocessor]]-based [[Roland MC-8 Microcomposer]] [[music sequencer]], with Matsutake as its [[Programming (music)|music programmer]] for the album.<ref name="knives_cd">((Discogs release|1156483|Ryuichi Sakamoto – Thousand Knives Of (CD)))</ref><ref name=Tanaka2014/>

While Sakamoto was working on ''Thousand 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 invited [[Tasuo Hayashi]] of [[Haruomi Hosono|Tin Pan Alley]] and [[Hiroshi Sato (musician)|Hiroshi Sato]] of [[:ja:ハックルバック|Huckleback]] as participants, but they declined.<ref name=Tanaka2014>((cite web|last1=Tanaka|first1=Yuji|title=Yellow Magic Orchestra: The Pre-MIDI Technology Behind Their Anthems|url=http://www.redbullmusicacademy.com/magazine/yellow-magic-orchestra-gear|publisher=[[Red Bull Music Academy]]|date=November 11, 2014|access-date=November 11, 2014|archive-date=April 20, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150420065107/http://www.redbullmusicacademy.com/magazine/yellow-magic-orchestra-gear|url-status=live))</ref> Hosono, Sakamoto and Takahashi eventually collaborated again to form the Yellow Magic Orchestra and they began recording their self-titled album at a [[Shibaura]] studio in July 1978.<ref name="discogs_ymo_lp"/>

===1978–1983: National and international success===

The band's 1978 self-titled album ''[[Yellow Magic Orchestra (album)|Yellow 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 to ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'', allowed the group to create a new sound that was not possible until then.<ref name="billboard_1979">((citation|title=Artists and producers strive for inroads overseas|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|date=May 26, 1979|volume=91|issue=20|issn=0006-2510|page=61|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_iQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT61))</ref> Following the release of the album ''Yellow 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|date=February 2011))

Following an advertising deal with [[Fujifilm|Fuji Cassette]], the group sparked a boom in the popularity of electronic pop music, called "[[synthpop|technopop]]" in Japan,<ref name="guardian_ymo">((cite news|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|location=UK|access-date=May 25, 2011|date=July 4, 2008|archive-date=November 11, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111111061211/http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/jul/04/electronicmusic.filmandmusic11|url-status=live))</ref><ref name="sarasota">((cite journal|title=Computer rock music gaining fans|journal=[[Sarasota Journal]]|date=August 18, 1980|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7s4mAAAAIBAJ&sjid=h44EAAAAIBAJ&pg=4481,2128223|access-date=May 25, 2011|page=8|archive-date=October 19, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151019003232/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7s4mAAAAIBAJ&sjid=h44EAAAAIBAJ&pg=4481,2128223|url-status=live))</ref> where they had an effect similar to that of [[the Beatles]] and [[Beat music|Merseybeat]] in 1960s Britain.<ref name="guardian_ymo"/> For some time, YMO was the most popular band in Japan.<ref name="guardian_ymo"/> Successful solo act [[Akiko 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|date=February 2011)) Legendary English guitarist ((nowrap|[[Bill Nelson (musician)|Bill Nelson]])), who had disbanded ((nowrap|[[Be-Bop Deluxe]])) and ((nowrap|[[Bill Nelson's Red Noise|Red Noise]])) to more recently explore [[Electropop]] himself, likewise played on YMO's ((nowrap|''Naughty Boys'')) (1983), its non-vocals variant ((nowrap|''Naughty Boys Instrumental'')) (1984) and subsequent solo ((nowrap|Yukihiro Takahashi)) projects, before featuring the latter on two of Nelson's own UK based releases.

Making abundant use of new synthesizers, [[Sampler (musical instrument)|samplers]], [[music sequencer|sequencers]], [[drum machine]]s, computers and digital recording technology as it became available, as well as utilizing [[cyberpunk]]-ish lyrics sung mostly in English, they extended their popularity and influence beyond Japan.<ref name="allmusic_ymo"/><ref name="sarasota"/><ref name="clashmusic">((cite web|title=Senor Coconut|author=Paul Sullivan|work=clashmusic.com|date=September 1, 2007|url=http://www.clashmusic.com/feature/senor-coconut|access-date=May 29, 2011|archive-date=February 3, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080203191201/http://www.clashmusic.com/feature/senor-coconut|url-status=live))</ref>

Their second album ''[[Solid State Survivor]]'', released in 1979, was YMO's pinnacle recording in Japan, winning the 1980 Best Album Award in the [[Japan Record Awards]]. It featured English lyrics by [[Chris Mosdell]], whose sci-fi themes often depicted a human condition alienated by dystopic futures, much like the emerging [[cyberpunk]] 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 (Yellow Magic Orchestra song)|Behind the Mask]]", which YMO had first produced in 1978 for a [[Seiko]] [[Quartz clock|quartz]] [[wristwatch]] commercial,<ref name="discogs_ucymo">((cite web|title=Yellow Magic Orchestra: UC YMO|date=August 6, 2003|publisher=[[Discogs]]|url=http://www.discogs.com/Yellow-Magic-Orchestra-UC-YMO/release/1282322|access-date=May 29, 2011|archive-date=October 15, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111015011618/http://www.discogs.com/Yellow-Magic-Orchestra-UC-YMO/release/1282322|url-status=live))</ref> and then for ''Solid State Survivor'' with lyrics penned by [[Chris Mosdell]]. The song was later revised by [[Michael Jackson]], who added new lyrics and had intended to include it in his album ''[[Thriller (Michael Jackson album)|Thriller]]''.<ref>((cite web |url=http://www.metafilter.com/82928/Behind-the-Mask-Michael-Jacksons-rarest-recording |title=Behind the Mask – Michael Jackson's rarest recording? |publisher=MetaFilter |access-date=March 27, 2011 |archive-date=March 3, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110303034004/http://www.metafilter.com/82928/Behind-the-Mask-Michael-Jacksons-rarest-recording |url-status=live ))</ref> Despite the approval of songwriter Sakamoto and lyricist [[Chris Mosdell]], it was eventually removed from the album due to legal issues with YMO's management.<ref name="camera_mosdell"/> Jackson's version was never released until his first posthumous album, ''[[Michael (Michael Jackson album)|Michael]]'', though his additional lyrics were included in later cover versions of the song by [[Greg Phillinganes]], [[Eric Clapton]], and [[Ryuichi Sakamoto]] himself in his 1986 solo release ''Media Bahn Live''.((citation needed|date=February 2011)) ''Solid State Survivor'' included several early computerized [[Electronic rock|synth rock]] songs,<ref name="sarasota"/><ref name="boston_1998">((citation|title=RYUICHI SAKAMOTO GOES AVANT-CLASSICAL|work=The Boston Globe|author=Jim Sullivan|date=February 8, 1998|page=8|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/boston/access/26130789.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Feb+08%2C+1998&author=Jim+Sullivan%2C+Globe+Staff&pub=Boston+Globe&desc=RYUICHI+SAKAMOTO+GOES+AVANT-CLASSICAL|access-date=May 27, 2011|archive-date=February 10, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130210005517/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/boston/access/26130789.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Feb+08%2C+1998&author=Jim+Sullivan%2C+Globe+Staff&pub=Boston+Globe&desc=RYUICHI+SAKAMOTO+GOES+AVANT-CLASSICAL|url-status=dead))</ref> including a mechanized [[Cover song|cover version]] of "[[Day Tripper]]" by the Beatles.<ref name="boston_1998"/>

''Solid State Survivor'' went on to sell over 2 million records worldwide.<ref name="Hardy_1987">((cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Rock|author1=Phil Hardy |author2=Dave Laing |author3=Stephen Barnard |year=1987|edition=2nd|publisher=Macdonald Orbis|isbn=0-356-14274-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tgcKAQAAMAAJ|page=476))</ref> By 1980, YMO had become the most popular group in Japan, where they were performing to sold-out crowds. Their first live album ''[[Public Pressure]]'' set a record in Japan, topping the charts and selling 250,000 copies within two weeks, while their next studio album ''[[X∞Multiplies]]'' had 200,000 pre-orders before release.<ref name="sarasota"/> The same year, their albums ''Solid State Survivor'' and ''X∞Multiplies'' held the top two spots on the [[Oricon]] charts for seven consecutive weeks, making YMO the only band in Japanese chart history to achieve this feat.<ref name="oricon_ymo">((cite web|title=ポルノが24年ぶりの快挙達成！|publisher=[[Oricon]]|date=August 17, 2004|url=http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/ranking/5122/|access-date=June 9, 2011|archive-date=October 24, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024002827/http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/ranking/5122/|url-status=live)) ([https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/ranking/5122/ Translation] ((Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190420110818/https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/ranking/5122/ |date=April 20, 2019 )))</ref>

The 1980 song "[[x∞Multiplies|Multiplies]]" was an early experiment in electronic [[ska]].<ref name="sicko_brewster"/> ''X∞Multiplies'' was followed up with the 1981 album ''[[BGM (album)|BGM]]''. "Rap Phenomena" from the album was an early attempt at electronic rap.<ref name="allmusic_bgm">((allMusic|class=album|id=r53034|access-date=May 29, 2011))</ref>

They also had similar success abroad, performing to sold-out crowds during tours in the United States and Europe.<ref name="sarasota"/> The single "Computer Game" had sold 400,000 copies in the United States<ref name="sarasota"/> and reached No. 17 in the UK Charts. The group also performed "Firecracker" and "[[Tighten Up (Archie Bell & the Drells song)#Covers|Tighten Up]]" live on the ''[[Soul Train]]'' television show. At around the same time, the 1980 song "Riot in Lagos" by YMO member Sakamoto pioneered the beats and sounds of [[electro music]].<ref name="wire_1996">((citation|title=A–Z Of Electro|work=[[The Wire (magazine)|The Wire]]|issue=145|date=March 1996|author=David Toop|url=http://www.thewire.co.uk/articles/210/|access-date=May 29, 2011|archive-date=June 29, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629195229/http://www.thewire.co.uk/articles/210/|url-status=live))</ref><ref name="broughton_2007">((cite book|last=Broughton|first=Frank|title=La historia del DJ / The DJ's Story, Volume 2|year=2007|publisher=Ediciones Robinbook|isbn=978-84-96222-79-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1GMxP6mpRdgC&pg=PA121|page=121))</ref> The band was particularly popular with the emerging [[hip hop]] community, which appreciated the group's electronic sounds, and in [[the Bronx]] where "Firecracker" was a success and sampled in the famous ''Death Mix'' (1983) by [[Afrika Bambaataa]].<ref name="wire_1996"/><ref name="buckley_2003">((cite book|last=Buckley|first=Peter|title=The rough guide to rock|year=2003|publisher=[[Rough Guides]]|isbn=1-84353-105-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7ctjc6UWCm4C&pg=PT908|page=901))</ref> Meanwhile, in Japan, YMO remained the best-selling music act there up until 1982.<ref>((citation|title=Pioneering Production Economy in the '80s|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|date=May 29, 1982|volume=94|issue=21|issn=0006-2510|page=41|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=byQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT41))</ref>

===1984–1993: breakup and brief reunion===
The band had paused their group activities by 1984. After the release of their musical motion picture ''Propaganda'', 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 ((Nihongo|"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, and [[film composer]],<ref name="billboard_1996">((citation|title=Q&A With Ryuichi Sakamoto: Pop Pioneer And Producer And Award-Winning Soundtrack Composer|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|date=August 31, 1996|volume=108|issue=35|issn=0006-2510|page=72|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vwcEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA72))</ref> winning [[Grammy Award|Grammy]], [[Academy Award|Oscar]], and [[Golden Globe Award|Golden Globe]] awards.<ref name="boston_1998"/>

Yellow Magic Orchestra released a one-off reunion album, ''[[Technodon]]'', and credited it to 'NOT YMO' (YMO crossed out with a calligraphy X) or <s>YMO</s> in 1993.((Citation needed|date=June 2011)) Instead of traditional vocals, about half of it features field audio recordings and samples of authors and scientists reading their work.((Citation needed|date=June 2011)) During their brief reunion in the early 1990s, they continued to experiment with new styles of electronic music, playing an instrumental role in the [[techno]] and [[acid house]] movements of the era.<ref name="UGO">((cite web|title=Ryuichi Sakamoto|publisher=[[UGO Networks]]|url=http://www.ugo.com/channels/music/features/bandsondemand/artist.aspx?artist=ryuichisakamoto&cat=electronica&full=Ryuichi%20Sakamoto|access-date=May 27, 2011))((Dead link|date=August 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes ))</ref>

===2002–2023: post-breakup and reformation ===
((More citations needed section|date=February 2011))

The early 2000s saw Hosono and Takahashi reunited in a project called [[Sketch Show (band)|Sketch 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. 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 for [[Kirin Brewery Company|Kirin]] Lager which lampooned their longevity and charted No.1 on various Japanese digital download charts (including [[iTunes Store]] chart) with the song "Rydeen 79/07", released on Sakamoto's new label [[Avex Trax|commmons]]. Recently performing live as Human Audio Sponge; Hosono, Sakamoto, and Takahashi did a live performance together as Yellow Magic Orchestra for the [[Live Earth (2007 concert)|Live Earth]], [[Live Earth concert, Kyoto|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 film [[Appleseed 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 the [[Royal Festival Hall]], London on June 15, as part of the [[Meltdown (festival)|Meltdown]] festival of music curated by [[Massive Attack]] and another in [[Gijón]], 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.<ref>((cite web |url=http://www.world-happiness.com/ |title=WORLD HAPPINESS 2011 |publisher=World-happiness.com |access-date=March 27, 2011 |archive-date=March 10, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110310111755/http://www.world-happiness.com/ |url-status=live ))</ref>

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)]]".<ref>[http://world-happiness.com/2010/07/yellow-magic-orchestracrystal-kay.html] ((webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100805065812/http://world-happiness.com/2010/07/yellow-magic-orchestracrystal-kay.html|date=August 5, 2010))</ref> In January 2011, [[KCRW]] announced for their World Festival concert series that Yellow Magic Orchestra will perform at the [[Hollywood Bowl]] on June 26, 2011.<ref>((cite web |url=http://www.hollywoodbowl.com/tickets/performance-detail.cfm?id=4529 |title=Big in Japan: Yellow Magic Orchestra & Cibo Matto &#124; Hollywood Bowl Presented by LA Phil |publisher=Hollywoodbowl.com |access-date=March 27, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110408105441/http://www.hollywoodbowl.com/tickets/performance-detail.cfm?id=4529 |archive-date=April 8, 2011  ))</ref> Not long after, a concert for June 27, 2011, at [[The Warfield]] was added.<ref>((cite web |url=http://thewarfieldtheatre.com/eventdetail.php?1id=31801 |title=The Warfield &#124; Event Details |publisher=Thewarfieldtheatre.com |access-date=April 10, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120321135009/http://thewarfieldtheatre.com/eventdetail.php?1id=31801 |archive-date=March 21, 2012 |url-status=dead  ))</ref> 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 the [[No Nukes 2012]] festival held in the [[Makuhari Messe]] hall in [[Chiba (city)|Chiba]], Japan, on July 7 and 8, 2012.<ref>((cite web |url=http://nonukes2012.jp/en/ |title=NO NUKES 2012 |publisher=Nonukes2012.jp |date=January 2, 2012 |access-date=December 12, 2012 |archive-date=November 16, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121116023753/http://nonukes2012.jp/en/ |url-status=live ))</ref> Among the many artists performing, [[Kraftwerk]] closed the July 7 concert, with YMO performing on both days, closing the July 8 concert.<ref>((cite web |url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/fm20120705a1.html |title=Sakamoto gently rallies the troops for No Nukes 2012 &#124; The Japan Times Online |publisher=Japantimes.co.jp |date=July 5, 2012 |access-date=December 12, 2012 |archive-date=October 25, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025061754/http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/fm20120705a1.html |url-status=live ))</ref> YMO also headlined their World Happiness festival on August 12, 2012.<ref>((cite web |url=http://www.timeout.jp/en/tokyo/event/5164/World-Happiness-2012 |title=World Happiness 2012 – ''Time Out Tokyo'' |publisher=Timeout.jp |date=August 12, 2012 |access-date=December 12, 2012 |archive-date=July 2, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120702094924/http://www.timeout.jp/en/tokyo/event/5164/World-Happiness-2012 |url-status=dead ))</ref> 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 the [[Barbican 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.)

===2023: Takahashi and Sakamoto's deaths===

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.<ref>((cite news |title=YMO高橋幸宏さん死去 70歳 20年脳腫瘍摘出 懸命リハビリも |url=https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/05091066608a45c66fe19bfa314bb99969bc5e3f |access-date=January 14, 2023 |publisher=Yahoo! News |date=January 11, 2023 |archive-date=January 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115064310/https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/05091066608a45c66fe19bfa314bb99969bc5e3f |url-status=dead ))</ref><ref>((cite news|title=YMO 高橋幸宏さん死去 70歳 「ライディーン」の作曲手がける|url=https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20230115/k10013950081000.html|access-date=January 15, 2023|publisher=NHK|date=January 15, 2023|archive-date=January 16, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230116010305/https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20230115/k10013950081000.html|url-status=live))</ref><ref>((Cite web |last=Corcoran |first=Nina |date=January 15, 2023 |title=Yellow Magic Orchestra Drummer Yukihiro Takahashi Dies at 70 |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/yellow-magic-orchestra-drummer-yukihiro-takahashi-dies-at-70/ |access-date=January 15, 2023 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US |archive-date=January 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115145105/https://pitchfork.com/news/yellow-magic-orchestra-drummer-yukihiro-takahashi-dies-at-70/ |url-status=live ))</ref><ref>((Cite magazine |last1=Legaspi |first1=Althea |last2=Kreps |first2=Daniel |date=January 15, 2023 |title=Yukihiro Takahashi, Drummer and Lead Vocalist of Yellow Magic Orchestra, Dead at 70 |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/yukihiro-takahashi-yellow-magic-orchestra-dead-obit-1234661542/ |access-date=January 15, 2023 |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US))</ref> 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.

==Musical style and development==
While their contemporaries in [[Düsseldorf]], and later Detroit, were using synthesizer technology to create bleak [[dystopia]]n music, YMO introduced a more "joyous and liberating" approach to electronic music. According to Sakamoto, they were "tired" of Japanese musicians imitating [[Western culture|Western]] and [[Music of the United States|American music]] at the time and so they wanted to "make something very original from Japan."<ref name="sfweekly_interview"/> Kraftwerk was particularly an influence on Sakamoto, who heard the band in the mid-1970s and later introduced them to his fellow band members.<ref name="sfweekly_interview"/> 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".<ref name="geeta_disco">((cite web|author=Geeta Dayal|publisher=The Original Soundtrack|access-date=June 3, 2011|title='Studio 84': Digging into the History of Disco in India|date=August 29, 2010|url=http://www.theoriginalsoundtrack.com/2010/08/studio-84-the-history-of-disco-in-india/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728094952/http://www.theoriginalsoundtrack.com/2010/08/studio-84-the-history-of-disco-in-india/|archive-date=July 28, 2011|url-status=dead))</ref> Their alternative template for electronic pop was less [[Minimalistic music|minimalistic]], made more varying use of synthesizer lines, introduced "fun-loving and breezy" sounds,<ref name="bogdanov_565">((cite book|last=Bogdanov|first=Vladimir|title=All music guide to electronica: the definitive guide to electronic music|year=2001|publisher=[[Hal Leonard Corporation|Backbeat Books]]|isbn=0-87930-628-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GJNXLSBlL7IC&pg=PT516|edition=4th|page=565))</ref> and placed a strong emphasis on [[melody]]<ref name="sfweekly_interview"/> in contrast to Kraftwerk's statuesque "robot pop".<ref>((allMusic|id=p4706|label=Kraftwerk))</ref>

The band also drew from a wider range of influences than had been employed by Kraftwerk.<ref name="sicko_brewster">((cite book|title=Techno Rebels|author1=Dan Sicko  |author2=Bill Brewster |name-list-style=amp |edition=2nd|publisher=[[Wayne State University Press]]|year=2010|isbn=978-0-8143-3438-6|pages=27–8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h6TNjUt-QrkC&pg=PA27))</ref> These influences on YMO included [[Electronic music#Japanese electronic music|Japanese electronic music]] (such as [[Isao Tomita]]),<ref name="loubet_couroux">((cite journal|title=Laptop Performers, Compact Disc Designers, and No-Beat Techno Artists in Japan: Music from Nowhere|journal=[[Computer Music Journal]]|date=Winter 2000|volume=24|issue=4|pages=19–32|jstor=3681552|author1=Emmanuelle Loubet  |author2=Marc Couroux |name-list-style=amp |publisher=[[MIT Press]]|doi=10.1162/014892600559498|s2cid=32835136))</ref> traditional [[Music of Japan|Japanese music]], experimental [[Music of China|Chinese music]] (of the [[Cultural Revolution]] era),<ref name="sfweekly_interview">((cite web|last=Stout|first=Andrew|title=Yellow Magic Orchestra on Kraftwerk and How to Write a Melody During a Cultural Revolution|url=http://blogs.sfweekly.com/shookdown/2011/06/yellow_magic_orchestras_ryuich.php|work=[[SF Weekly]]|access-date=June 30, 2011|date=June 24, 2011|archive-date=September 3, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110903004312/http://blogs.sfweekly.com/shookdown/2011/06/yellow_magic_orchestras_ryuich.php|url-status=live))</ref> [[Music of India|Indian music]] (such as [[Ravi Shankar]] and [[Filmi|Bollywood music]]),<ref name="pitchfork"/> arcade game samples,<ref name="guardian_ymo"/><ref name="wire_2002">((citation|title=The Wire, Issues 221–226|work=[[The Wire (magazine)|The Wire]]|year=2002|page=44|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qyFMAAAAYAAJ))</ref> American [[Rapping|rap]],<ref name="allmusic_bgm"/> [[exotica]],<ref name="sicko_brewster"/> [[List of Caribbean music genres|Caribbean]] ska,<ref name="sicko_brewster"/> [[Giorgio Moroder]]'s disco work,<ref name="allmusic_ymo"/> the Beatles, [[the Beach Boys]] and their leader [[Brian Wilson]],<ref name=RBMA2014solo>((cite web|last1=Tanaka|first1=Yuji|last2=Thomas|first2=Andy|last3=Walk|first3=Douglas|title=YMO solo guide|url=http://www.redbullmusicacademy.com/magazine/yellow-magic-orchestra-solo-discography|publisher=[[Red Bull Music Academy]]|access-date=November 11, 2014|archive-date=November 16, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141116022850/http://www.redbullmusicacademy.com/magazine/yellow-magic-orchestra-solo-discography|url-status=live))</ref> [[Van Dyke Parks]],((citation needed|date=November 2014)) classical music,<ref name="dayal_interview"/> [[Zoomusicology|animal sounds]],<ref>((YouTube|vKRIt8S5ArY|YMO – Rydeen 2 (2003 television interview)))</ref> and [[Noise (music)|noise]].<ref name="guardian_hoban">((cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/may/19/turning-japanese-ryuichi-sakamoto|title=Turning Japanese: The Philosophy of Ryuichi Sakamoto|work=The Guardian|location=UK|first=Alex|last=Hoban|date=May 19, 2009|access-date=July 16, 2011|archive-date=November 11, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111111055643/http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/may/19/turning-japanese-ryuichi-sakamoto|url-status=live))</ref> Sakamoto has expressed that his "concept when making music is that there is no border between music and noise."<ref name="guardian_hoban"/>

===Sampling===
((Listen
|filename=Yellow Magic Orchestra - Seoul Music.ogg
|title="Seoul Music" from ''Technodelic'' (1981)
|description="[[Technodelic|Seoul Music]]" made extensive use of [[Loop (music)|looped]] [[sampling (music)|samples]], using the custom-built [[:ja:LMD-649|LMD-649]] [[Sampler (musical instrument)|sampler]], which sampled [[Music of Indonesia|Indonesian]] [[kecak]] and [[gamelan]] sounds.
|pos=right
))

Their approach to [[Sampling (music)|sampling]] music was a precursor to the contemporary approach of constructing music by cutting fragments of sounds and [[Music loop|looping]] them using computer technology.<ref name="condry_59">((cite book|last=Condry|first=Ian|title=Hip-hop Japan: rap and the paths of cultural globalization|year=2006|publisher=[[Duke University Press]]|isbn=0-8223-3892-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=37QWE3yRY-4C&pg=PA59|page=60|access-date=March 13, 2016|archive-date=July 25, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725172330/https://books.google.com/books?id=37QWE3yRY-4C&pg=PA59|url-status=live))</ref> Their 1978 hit "[[Yellow Magic Orchestra (album)|Computer Game / Firecracker]]", for example, sampled [[Martin Denny]]'s 1959 [[exotica]] melody "Firecracker"<ref name="guardian_ymo"/> and [[Arcade game|arcade]] [[Video game music|game sounds]] from ''[[Space Invaders]]'' and ''[[Circus (video game)|Circus]]''.<ref name="guardian_ymo"/><ref name="wire_2002"/> According to ''The Vinyl District'' magazine, they also released the first album to feature mostly samples and loops (1981's ''[[Technodelic]]'').<ref name="thevinyldistrict">((cite web|last=Carter|first=Monica|title=It's Easy When You're Big In Japan: Yellow Magic Orchestra at The Hollywood Bowl|work=The Vinyl District|url=http://www.thevinyldistrict.com/losangeles/2011/06/it%E2%80%99s-easy-when-you%E2%80%99re-big-in-japan-yellow-magic-orchestra-at-the-hollywood-bowl/|access-date=July 22, 2011|date=June 30, 2011|archive-date=March 21, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120321110921/http://www.thevinyldistrict.com/losangeles/2011/06/it%E2%80%99s-easy-when-you%E2%80%99re-big-in-japan-yellow-magic-orchestra-at-the-hollywood-bowl/|url-status=live))</ref> The pace at which the band's music evolved has been acknowledged by critics. According to ''[[SF Weekly]]'', YMO's musical timeline has gone from "zany exotica-disco spoofs" and "bleeps and blips" in the 1970s to "sensuous ''[[musique concrète]]'' perfected" in their 1983 albums ''[[Naughty Boys (album)|Naughty Boys]]'' and ''[[Service (album)|Service]]''.<ref name="sfweekly_interview"/>

''[[Technodelic]]'' (1981) was produced using the [[:ja:LMD-649|LMD-649]], a [[Pulse-code modulation|PCM]] digital [[Sampler (musical instrument)|sampler]] that [[Toshiba-EMI]] [[sound engineer]] Kenji Murata custom-built for YMO.<ref name="rockin">((cite magazine|title=★ロック・ミュージシャンのためのニュー・サイエンス: YMO／松武秀樹が使用のLMD-649とは？|trans-title=New Science for Rock Musicians: What is the LMD-649 Used by YMO/Hideki Matsutake?|department=Rockin' Ensemble Seminar: グラビア [Photos]|magazine=ロッキンf|trans-magazine=Rockin' f|issue=71|publisher=立東社 [Ritto-Sha]|date=March 1982|pages=140–141)) Tokyosky (February 3, 2011). [http://tokyosky.sub.jp/tokyosky_webmasters_blog/2011/02/f-19823-lmd-649-1982.html "月刊ロッキンf 1982年3月号 LMD-649の記事 1982"] [Article on the LMD-649 from the March 1982 Issue of Monthly Rockin' f]. ''Tokyosky Webmaster's Blog''</ref> Soon after ''Technodelic'', the LMD-649 was used by YMO-associated acts such as [[:ja:真鍋ちえみ|Chiemi Manabe]]<ref>[https://www.discogs.com/release/4389700-Chiemi-Manabe-不思議少女 Chiemi Manabe – 不思議・少女] ((Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211203101931/https://www.discogs.com/release/4389700-Chiemi-Manabe-%E4%B8%8D%E6%80%9D%E8%AD%B0%E5%B0%91%E5%A5%B3 |date=December 3, 2021 )), [[Discogs]]</ref> and [[Hideki Matsutake|Logic System]].<ref>[https://www.discogs.com/release/703523-Logic-System-Orient-Express Logic System – Orient Express] ((Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211203101931/https://www.discogs.com/release/703523-Logic-System-Orient-Express |date=December 3, 2021 )), [[Discogs]]</ref>

===Instruments===
[[File:Roland TR-808 drum machine.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.14|YMO were the first band to use the [[Roland TR-808|Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer]], which has appeared on more hit records than any other drum machine.]]

The band often utilized a wide variety of state-of-the-art [[electronic musical instrument|electronic music equipment]] immediately as they were made available.<ref name=Tanaka2014 /><ref name="discogs_ymo_lp">((Discogs release|453067|Yellow Magic Orchestra – Yellow Magic Orchestra))</ref> The group leader Haruomi Hosono had already been using an [[Ace Tone]] [[rhythm machine]] since early in his career in the early 1970s.<ref name="wire2017"/> ''Yellow Magic Orchestra'' and Ryuichi Sakamoto's ''Thousand Knives'' were one of the earliest [[popular music]] albums to utilize the [[Roland MC-8 Microcomposer]], which was programmed by [[Hideki Matsutake]] during recording sessions.<ref name="knives_cd"/><ref name="discogs_ymo_lp"/> Roland called the MC-8 a "[[computer music]] composer" and it was the first stand-alone [[microprocessor]]-based [[music sequencer]].<ref>((cite book|last=Russ|first=Martin|title=Sound Synthesis and Sampling|year=2008|publisher=[[Focal Press]]|isbn=978-0-240-52105-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_D2cTt5DPmEC&pg=PA346|page=346))</ref><ref name="SOS Nov. 2004">((cite journal |author=Gordon Reid |title=The History Of Roland Part 1: 1930–1978 |date=Nov 2004 |url=http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/nov04/articles/roland.htm |journal=[[Sound on Sound]] |access-date=June 19, 2011 |archive-date=June 29, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629214447/http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/nov04/articles/roland.htm |url-status=live ))</ref><ref>[[Joel Chadabe|Chadabe, Joel]]. 1997. ''Electric Sound: The Past and Promise of Electronic Music''. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, (p. 194). ((ISBN|978-0-13-303231-4)).</ref> It also introduced features such as a [[keypad]] to enter note information and 16 [[Kilobyte|KB]] of [[random access memory|RAM]] which allowed a maximum sequence length of 5200 notes, a huge step forward from the 8–16 [[step sequencer]]s of the era.<ref name="SOS Nov. 2004"/> While it was commercially unsuccessful due to its high price,<ref name="SOS Nov. 2004"/> the band were among the few bands at the time to utilize the MC-8, which they described as, along with its [[Programming (music)|music programmer]] Hideki Matsutake, an "inevitable factor" in both their music production and [[Concert|live performances]].<ref name="sound_147">((cite book|title=Sound International|issue=Issues 33–40|year=1981|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sj5LAAAAYAAJ|page=147|access-date=March 13, 2016|archive-date=July 25, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725172328/https://books.google.com/books?id=Sj5LAAAAYAAJ|url-status=live))</ref> "[[Behind the Mask (Yellow Magic Orchestra song)|Behind the Mask]]" (1979) made use of synthesizers for the melodies and digital [[gated reverb]] for the [[snare drum]]s.<ref name=Tanaka2014/>

They were also the very first band to utilize the [[Roland TR-808|Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer]], one of the first and most influential programmable drum machines, as soon as it was released in 1980.<ref name="cbc_808">((cite news|title=Slaves to the rhythm: Kanye West is the latest to pay tribute to a classic drum machine|date=November 28, 2008|author=Jason Anderson|publisher=[[CBC News]]|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/music/story/2008/11/27/f-history-of-the-808.html|access-date=May 29, 2011|archive-date=August 15, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120815200628/http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/music/story/2008/11/27/f-history-of-the-808.html|url-status=live))</ref> While the machine was initially unsuccessful due to its lack of digital sampling that the rival [[Linn LM-1]] offered, the TR-808 featured various unique artificial percussion sounds,<ref name="cbc_808"/> including a [[Bass drum|deep bass kick drum]],<ref name="hess_2007">((citation|title=Icons of hip hop: an encyclopedia of the movement, music, and culture, Volume 1|author=Mickey Hess|publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]]|year=2007|isbn=978-0-313-33903-5|page=75|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LldOLnIQ66cC&pg=PA75))</ref><ref name="wired">((cite magazine|title=Happy 808 Day |date=August 8, 2008 |magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]] |url=https://www.wired.com/geekdad/2008/08/happy-808-day/ |access-date=May 31, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111024194217/http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2008/08/happy-808-day |archive-date=October 24, 2011 ))</ref> "tinny [[Clapping|handclap]] sounds",<ref name="wired"/> "the ticky [[Snare drum|snare]], the tishy [[Hi-hat (instrument)|hi-hats]] (open and closed)", and "the spacey [[Cowbell (instrument)|cowbell]]",<ref name="cbc_808"/> 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,<ref name="cbc_808"/><ref name="hess_2007"/> after which it would be used for more hit records than any other drum machine<ref>((cite book|title=A Beginner's Guide to Digital Video|author=Peter Wells|publisher=AVA Books|year=2004|isbn=2-88479-037-3|page=18|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=stvOCfhc_igC&pg=PA18|access-date=March 13, 2016|archive-date=July 25, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725172330/https://books.google.com/books?id=stvOCfhc_igC&pg=PA18|url-status=live))</ref> and continue to be widely used through to the present day.<ref name="cbc_808"/>

At the time, ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' noted that the use of such computer-based technology in conjunction with [[synthesizer]]s allowed YMO to create new sounds that were not possible until then.<ref name="billboard_1979"/> ''Yellow Magic Orchestra'' was also the first computer-themed music album, coming before Kraftwerk's ''[[Computer World]]'' (1981) by several years.<ref name="japantimes"/> 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."<ref name="sarasota"/>

Other electronic equipment used by the group included the [[:ja:LMD-649|LMD-649]] [[Sampler (musical instrument)|sampler]] (see ''[[#Sampling|Sampling]]'' above),<ref name="rockin"/> [[Roland MC-4 Microcomposer]] sequencer,<ref name=Tanaka2014 /> [[Pollard Syndrum]] [[electronic drum]]s,<ref name="discogs_ymo_lp"/> [[Roland VP-330]] and [[Korg VC-10]] [[vocoder]]s,<ref name="discogs_ymo_lp"/><ref name=Tanaka2014 /> [[Yamaha Corporation|Yamaha]] [[Yamaha CS-80|CS-80]] and [[Yamaha DX7|DX7]] synthesizers,<ref>Tim Barr, [https://books.google.com/books?id=0mcj4h2qEhQC&pg=PT152 ''Kraftwerk: from Dusseldorf to the Future With Love'', page 152], [[Random House]]</ref><ref name=Tanaka2014 /> [[Korg]] [[Korg PS-3300|PS-3100 and PS-3300]] synthesizers,<ref name="discogs_ymo_lp"/><ref name=Tanaka2014 /> [[Moog III-C]] and [[Polymoog]] synthesizers, and [[ARP Odyssey]], [[Oberheim 8 Voice]], and [[E-mu Emulator]] synthesizers.<ref name=Tanaka2014 /> [[Electric instrument]]s were also used, the [[Rhodes piano|Fender Rhodes piano]] and [[Fender Jazz Bass]].<ref name="discogs_ymo_lp"/>

==Legacy==

The band has been described as "the original [[cyberpunk]]s"<ref>((cite news|last=Lester|first=Paul|title=Yellow Magic Orchestra|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/jun/20/culture.electronicmusic|work=The Guardian|location=UK|access-date=May 26, 2011|date=June 20, 2008|archive-date=November 11, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111111061232/http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/jun/20/culture.electronicmusic|url-status=live))</ref> and their early work has been described as "[[Techno|proto-techno]]" music.<ref name="keyboard_28">((cite book|title=Keyboard, Volume 19, Issues 7–12|publisher=GPI Publications|year=1993|page=28|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kJ4JAQAAMAAJ))</ref><ref>((cite web|title=Peter Stenshoel's Album of the Week: What, Me Worry? by Yukihiro Takahashi|publisher=[[KPCC (radio station)|KPCC]]|date=May 18, 2011|author=Peter Stenshoel|url=http://www.scpr.org/blogs/offramp/2011/05/18/peter-stenshoels-album-week-what-me-worry-yukihiro/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120119181621/http://www.scpr.org/blogs/offramp/2011/05/18/peter-stenshoels-album-week-what-me-worry-yukihiro/|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 19, 2012|access-date=June 4, 2011))</ref> By the 1990s, YMO were also frequently cited as pioneers of [[ambient house]] music.<ref name="allmusic_ymo"/> YMO also popularized a style of [[Concert|live performance]] that eschewed human movement in favour of electronics such as [[Drum machine|rhythm boxes]] and samplers.<ref name="takamura_1997">((cite book|title=Roots of street style|author=Zeshu Takamura|publisher=Graphic-sha Publishing|year=1997|isbn=4-7661-0895-7|page=90|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nW21AAAAIAAJ))</ref> They also influenced the [[New Romanticism|New Romantic]] movement,<ref name="takamura_1997"/>((failed verification|date=March 2017)) including British bands [[Duran Duran]]<ref name="guardian_ymo"/> and [[Japan (band)|Japan]], whose member [[Steve Jansen]] was influenced by drummer Takahashi,<ref name="japan_lifeintokyo">((cite web|title=The Japanese Connection|date=July 1982|publisher=Japan: Life in Tokyo|url=http://www.lifeintokyo.net/articles_fl_japaneseconnection.html|access-date=April 1, 2011|archive-date=October 17, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111017045207/http://www.lifeintokyo.net/articles_fl_japaneseconnection.html|url-status=live))</ref> while lead member [[David Sylvian]] was influenced by Sakamoto, who would later collaborate with Sylvian.<ref name="japan_lifeintokyo"/>

Various cover versions of "[[Naughty Boys (album)|Kimi ni Mune Kyun]]" (1983) have also been produced by other artists,<ref name="whosampled"/> including [[The Human League]] in 1993 ("[[YMO Versus The Human League]]")<ref name="YMO_League">((cite web|title=Yellow Magic Orchestra Versus Human League, The – YMO Versus The Human League|date=April 21, 1993|publisher=[[Discogs]]|url=http://www.discogs.com/release/504204|access-date=May 28, 2011|archive-date=February 10, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150210005352/http://www.discogs.com/release/504204|url-status=live))</ref> and [[Asako Toki]] in 2006.<ref name="whosampled"/> In 2009, a cover of "Kimi ni Mune Kyun" was used as the [[Music in Japanese animation|ending theme song]] for the [[anime]] adaptation of ''[[Maria Holic]]'', sung by [[Asami Sanada]], [[Marina Inoue]], and [[Yū Kobayashi]], the [[Seiyū|voice actresses]] of the main characters. In 2015, in the anime ''[[Sound! Euphonium]]'', episode 5, the song "Rydeen" is played by Kitauji highschool's orchestra. The popular [[anime]] series ''[[Dragon Ball Z]]'' also paid homage to the band with the song "Solid State Scouter" as the theme song of the 1990 TV special ''[[Dragon Ball Z: Bardock – The Father of Goku]]''.

In [[HMV Group|HMV Japan]]'s list of top 100 Japanese musicians of all time, YMO were voted second place, behind only [[Southern All Stars]], a [[Pop rock|pop-rock]] band who remain largely unknown outside Japan.<ref name="geek_20">((cite journal|title=Geek Monthly, Volumes 17–22|journal=[[Geek Monthly]]|year=2008|publisher=CFQ Media|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oADsAAAAMAAJ|page=20))</ref> In 2006, [[Uwe Schmidt|Senor Coconut]] paid tribute to the band with his ''[[Yellow Fever!]]'' album.<ref name="clashmusic"/>

===Electronic music===
YMO were pioneers of [[synthpop]], a genre which emerged at the start of the 1980s. In 1993, Johnny Black of ''[[Hi-Fi News]]'', in a review for the record ''Hi-Tech/No Crime'', described YMO as "the most adventurous and influential [[Electronic dance music|electro-techno-dance]] technicians the world has produced" and further argued that "without them (and [[Kraftwerk]]) today's music would still sound like yesterday's music."<ref name="fidelity_1993">((cite journal|title=Yellow Magic Orchestra: Hi Tech/No Crime|journal=[[Hi-Fi News]]|volume=38|issue=1–6|publisher=Link House Publications|author=Johnny Black|year=1993|page=93|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-zg9AQAAIAAJ|access-date=March 13, 2016|archive-date=July 25, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725172329/https://books.google.com/books?id=-zg9AQAAIAAJ|url-status=live))</ref> In 2001, Jason Ankeny of the ''[[Allmusic|Allmusic 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."<ref>((cite book |author1=Vladimir Bogdanov |title=All music guide to electronica: the definitive guide to electronic music |year=2001 |publisher=Backbeat Books |author2=Jason Ankeny |isbn=0-87930-628-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/allmusicguidetoe00vlad |url-access=registration |edition=4th |page=[https://archive.org/details/allmusicguidetoe00vlad/page/564 564]))</ref>

YMO are considered pioneers in the field of popular electronic music, and continue to be [[remix]]ed or [[Sampling (music)|sampled]] by modern artists,<ref name="allmusic_ymo"/> including [[experimental music|experimental]] artist [[Yamantaka Eye]], [[electronica]] group [[LFO (British band)|LFO]], [[Drum and bass|jungle]] band [[4hero]], electrolatino artist [[Uwe Schmidt|Senor Coconut]], [[ambient house]] pioneers [[The Orb]] and [[808 State]],<ref name="dayal_interview"/> electronic music groups [[Orbital (band)|Orbital]]<ref name="camera_mosdell"/> and [[The Human League]],<ref name="YMO_League"/> hip hop pioneer [[Afrika Bambaataa]],<ref name="wire_1996"/> and mainstream pop musicians such as [[Michael Jackson]], [[Quincy Jones]], [[Greg Phillinganes]],<ref name="camera_mosdell">((cite web|title=Chris Mosdell, quirky Boulder lyricist, wrote lyrics for newly released Michael Jackson song|author=Aimee Heckel|date=January 15, 2011|work=[[Camera (newspaper)|Daily Camera]]|url=http://www.dailycamera.com/entertainment/ci_17086830|access-date=June 19, 2011|archive-date=January 18, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110118075447/http://www.dailycamera.com/entertainment/ci_17086830|url-status=live))</ref> [[Eric Clapton]], [[Mariah Carey]], and [[Jennifer Lopez]].<ref name="fox_mariah_jlo"/>

YMO also influenced [[techno]] music,<ref name="bogdanov_1996">((cite book|last=Bogdanov|first=Vladimir|title=All music guide to electronica: the definitive guide to electronic music|year=2001|publisher=[[Hal Leonard Corporation|Backbeat Books]]|isbn=0-87930-628-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GJNXLSBlL7IC&pg=PT582|edition=4th|page=582))((Dead link|date=May 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes ))</ref> including its pioneers [[Juan Atkins]], [[Kevin Saunderson]], and [[Derrick May (musician)|Derrick May]],<ref>[[Simon Reynolds|Reynolds, Simon]], ''Energy Flash: a Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture'', p. 15, Pan Macmillan, 1998 (((ISBN|978-0330350563)))</ref> who cited YMO as an important influence on their work alongside Kraftwerk.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/9t3r3makyc4 Ghostarchive]((cbignore)) and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20130801100047/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9t3r3makyc4 Wayback Machine]((cbignore)): ((cite web|title=Derrick May on the roots of techno at RBMA Bass Camp Japan 2010|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9t3r3makyc4|work=[[Red Bull Music Academy]]|publisher=[[YouTube]]|access-date=May 22, 2012|date=September 20, 2010))((cbignore))</ref> YMO continued to influence later techno musicians such as [[Surgeon (musician)|Surgeon]], [[Mike Paradinas|μ-Ziq]], and [[Harald Blüchel|Cosmic Baby]].<ref name="allmusic_ymo"/> "[[Solid State Survivor|Technopolis]]" (1979) in particular is considered an "interesting contribution" to the development of [[Detroit techno]] and the group [[Cybotron (American band)|Cybotron]].<ref name="sicko_brewster"/> "Computer Game" (1978) also influenced Sheffield's [[Yorkshire Bleeps and Bass|bleep techno]] music; the [[Warp (record label)|Warp]] record, [[Sweet Exorcist (band)|Sweet Exorcist]]'s "[[WarpVision|Testone]]" (1990), defined Sheffield's techno sound by making playful use of sampled sounds from "Computer Game" along with dialogues from the film ''[[Close Encounters of the Third Kind]]'' (1977).<ref>((citation|title=Techno Rebels|author1=Dan Sicko|author2=Bill Brewster|name-list-style=amp|edition=2nd|publisher=[[Wayne State University Press]]|year=2010|isbn=978-0-8143-3438-6|page=76|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h6TNjUt-QrkC&pg=PA76|access-date=March 13, 2016|archive-date=July 25, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725172329/https://books.google.com/books?id=h6TNjUt-QrkC&pg=PA76|url-status=live))</ref> "Computer Game" (1978) was later included in [[Carl Craig]]'s compilation album ''Kings of Techno'' (2006).<ref>((allMusic|album|r2014069|The Kings of Techno (Carl Craig)))</ref>

In the 1990s, YMO influenced [[ambient house]] pioneers such as [[The Orb]] and [[808 State]],<ref name="dayal_interview"/> as well as [[Ultramarine (band)|Ultramarine]] and other ambient/house artists.<ref name="allmusic_ymo"/> This resulted in the release of the tribute remix album ''Yellow Magic Orchestra: Hi-Tech/No Crime'' in 1993,<ref name="allmusic_ymo"/> by leading [[Ambient music|ambient]], [[House music|house]] and techno musicians at the time, including The Orb, 808 State, and Orbital.<ref>((allMusic|album|r276109|Hi-Tech/No Crime: Yellow Magic Orchestra Reconstructed|access-date=June 19, 2011))</ref> The music YMO produced during their comeback in the early 1990s also played an instrumental role in the techno and [[acid house]] movements towards the end of the 20th century.<ref name="UGO"/> The band's use of [[oriental musical scale]]s and video game sounds has continued to be an influence on 21st-century [[electronica]] acts such as [[Dizzee Rascal]], [[Kieran Hebden]],<ref name="guardian_ymo"/> and [[Ikonika]].<ref>((cite web|last=Lawrence|first=Eddy|title=Ikonika interview: Producer and DJ, Ikonika had an incredible 2010|url=http://www.timeoutdoha.com/nightlife/features/20343-ikonika-interview|work=[[Time Out (company)|Time Out]]|access-date=August 5, 2011|date=January 11, 2011|archive-date=October 11, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111011103953/http://www.timeoutdoha.com/nightlife/features/20343-ikonika-interview|url-status=live))</ref>

YMO's success with music technology encouraged many others, with their influence strongly felt in the [[Second British Invasion|British electronic scene]] of the early 1980s in particular.<ref name="Hardy_1987"/> They influenced many early British synthpop acts, including [[Ultravox]], [[John Foxx]], [[Gary Numan]], [[Duran Duran]],<ref name="guardian_ymo"/> [[Depeche Mode]],<ref name="allmusic_ymo"/> ((Not in source given|date=June 2022)) [[Camouflage (band)|Camouflage]],<ref name="allmusic_ymo"/><ref>((cite news|last=Bruce|first=Britt|title=Camouflage Emphasizes That It Is Its Own Band|url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1988-12-22/features/8802260681_1_depeche-mode-band-electronic-music|access-date=May 26, 2012|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]], [[Los Angeles Daily News]]|date=December 22, 1988|archive-date=November 7, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107085037/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1988-12-22/features/8802260681_1_depeche-mode-band-electronic-music|url-status=live))</ref> [[Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark|OMD]], The Human League,<ref name="sfweekly_interview"/> [[Visage (band)|Visage]],<ref>((cite web|last=Lai|first=Chi Ming|title=Yellow Magic Orchestra & Friends: The Influence of Japanese Technopop|url=http://www.jpopgo.co.uk/jpg/?page_id=70|publisher=J-Pop Go|access-date=April 28, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111213054104/http://www.jpopgo.co.uk/jpg/?page_id=70|archive-date=December 13, 2011|url-status=dead))</ref> and [[Art of Noise]],<ref>((cite magazine|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|date=April 19, 1986|volume=98|issue=16|issn=0006-2510|page=41|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HSUEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA43 |title=Billboard 19 April 1986 |access-date=October 9, 2013))</ref> as well as American rock musicians such as [[Todd Rundgren]].<ref name="guardian_ymo"/>

"[[Solid State Survivor|Technopolis]]", a tribute to Tokyo as an electronic mecca that used the term "techno" in its title, foreshadowed concepts that [[Juan Atkins]] and [[Richard Davis (techno artist)|Rick Davis]] would later have with [[Cybotron (American band)|Cybotron]].<ref name="sicko_brewster"/>

===Hip hop===
The band was popular with the emerging [[hip hop]] community, which appreciated the group's new electronic sounds, and in [[the Bronx]] where ''[[Yellow Magic Orchestra (album)|Firecracker]]'' was a success and sampled in the famous ''Death Mix'' by [[Afrika Bambaataa]].<ref name="wire_1996"/><ref name="buckley_2003"/>  Afrika Bambaataa's influential song "[[Planet Rock (song)|Planet Rock]]" was partly inspired by YMO.<ref name="perkins_1996">((citation|title=Droppin' science: critical essays on rap music and hip hop culture|author=William Eric Perkins|publisher=[[Temple University Press]]|year=1996|isbn=1-56639-362-0|page=12|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zGC_ZNOrKDwC&pg=PA12))</ref><ref name="cmj_1999">((citation|title=Father Afrika Bombaataa|work=[[CMJ New Music Monthly]]|date=December 1999|issue=76|issn=1074-6978|page=72|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bCoEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA72))</ref> The "terse videogame-[[funk]]" sounds of YMO's "Computer Game" would have a strong influence on the emerging [[Electro music|electro]] and hip hop genres.<ref name="dayal_interview"/> Sakamoto's "Riot in Lagos" was cited by [[Kurtis Mantronik]] as a major influence on his early electro hip hop group [[Mantronix]];<ref>((citation|title=Kurtis Mantronik Interview|work=Hip Hop Storage|date=July 2002|url=http://www.cheebadesign.com/legends/articleX.html|access-date=May 25, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524234641/http://www.cheebadesign.com/legends/articleX.html|archive-date=May 24, 2011))</ref> he included both "Computer Game" and "Riot in Lagos" in his compilation album ''[[That's My Beat]]'' (2002) which consists of the songs that influenced his early career.<ref>((allMusic|album|r607041|That's My Beat: Mantronix))</ref> The song was also later included in [[Playgroup (band)|Playgroup]]'s [[compilation album]] ''Kings of Electro'' (2007), alongside later electro classics such as [[Hashim Music|Hashim]]'s "Al-Nafyish" (1983).<ref>((allMusic|album|r2003688|Kings of Electro))</ref> The 1980 release of "Riot in Lagos" was also listed by ''[[The Guardian]]'' in 2011 as one of the 50 key events in the history of [[dance music]].<ref>((cite news|last=Vine|first=Richard|title=Ryuichi Sakamoto records Riot In Lagos|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/jun/15/ryuichi-sakamoto-riot-in-lagos|work=The Guardian|location=UK|date=July 9, 2011|access-date=July 9, 2011|archive-date=June 18, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110618211100/http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/jun/15/ryuichi-sakamoto-riot-in-lagos|url-status=live))</ref>

YMO's use of [[Video game music|video game sounds]] and [[Beep (sound)|bleeps]] also had a particularly big influence on 1980s hip hop<ref>((cite book|title=Rap attack 3: African rap to global hip hop, Issue 3|author=David Toop|edition=3rd|publisher=[[Serpent's Tail]]|year=2000|isbn=1-85242-627-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/rapattack3africa0000toop/page/129 129]|url=https://archive.org/details/rapattack3africa0000toop|url-access=registration))</ref> and pop music.<ref name="sfweekly_interview"/> Beyond electro acts, "[[Yellow Magic Orchestra (album)|Computer Game / Firecracker]]" was also sampled by a number of other later artists, including [[2 Live Crew]]'s "[[Move Somethin' (album)|Mega-Mixx II]]" (1987),<ref name="whosampled">((cite web|title=Yellow Magic Orchestra|work=whosampled.com|url=http://www.whosampled.com/sampled/Yellow%20Magic%20Orchestra/|access-date=May 28, 2011|archive-date=October 16, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111016133429/http://www.whosampled.com/sampled/Yellow%20Magic%20Orchestra/|url-status=live))</ref> [[De La Soul]]'s "Funky Towel" (for the 1996 film ''[[Joe's Apartment]]''),<ref>((citation|title=Nothin' Like the Reel Thing: Soundtrack & Film Score News|author=David Sprague|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|date=June 29, 1996|volume=108|issue=26|issn=0006-2510|page=68|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pgkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA68))</ref> [[Jennifer Lopez]]'s "[[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 name="fox_mariah_jlo">((cite news|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|access-date=May 28, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110906084328/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,49437,00.html|archive-date=September 6, 2011|url-status=dead))</ref>

===Japan===
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.<ref name="guardian_ymo"/> Their albums ''Solid State Survivor'' and ''[[X∞Multiplies]]'' held the top two spots on the [[Oricon]] charts for seven consecutive weeks in 1980, making YMO the only band in Japanese chart history to achieve this feat.<ref name="oricon_ymo"/> Young fans of their music during this period became known as the ((Nihongo|"YMO Generation"|YMO世代|YMO Sedai)).<ref>((cite web|url=https://www.apple.com/jp/articles/interviews/sakamotoryuichi/|title=Ryuichi Sakamoto Special Interview|publisher=[[Apple Inc.]]|date=March 19, 2007|language=ja|access-date=January 8, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081224053240/http://www.apple.com/jp/articles/interviews/sakamotoryuichi/|archive-date=December 24, 2008|url-status=dead))</ref> 

The band significantly affected Japanese pop music, which started becoming increasingly dominated by electronic and computer music due to YMO's influence.<ref name="loubet_couroux"/> YMO were one of the most important acts in Japan's "[[J-pop#1970s: Development of "new music"|New Music]]" movement and paved the way for the emergence of contemporary [[J-pop]] in the 1980s.<ref name="whonejp">((cite web|url=http://www.who.ne.jp/modules/page05/content/index.php?id=10|title=New Music|publisher=Who.ne.jp|language=ja|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090603164729/http://idol.who.ne.jp/modules/page05/content/index.php?id=10|archive-date=June 3, 2009|access-date=June 13, 2011)) ([https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&tl=en&u=https://web.archive.org/web/20090603164729/http://idol.who.ne.jp/modules/page05/content/index.php?id=10 Translation] ((Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190420110818/https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fweb.archive.org%2Fweb%2F20090603164729%2Fhttp%3A%2F%2Fidol.who.ne.jp%2Fmodules%2Fpage05%2Fcontent%2Findex.php%3Fid%3D10 |date=April 20, 2019 )))</ref> They also inspired early [[ambient techno]] artists such as [[Tetsu Inoue]],<ref>((AllMusic|p182428|Tetsu Inoue|access-date=July 17, 2011))</ref> and the [[classical music]] composer [[Joe Hisaishi]].<ref>((cite web|last=Falk|first=Ben|title=Popular Computer's Top 5 Japanese Music Artists|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/ben-falk/japanese-music-artists_b_1249754.html|work=[[The Huffington Post]]|access-date=April 28, 2012|date=February 2, 2012|archive-date=June 5, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605141726/http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/ben-falk/japanese-music-artists_b_1249754.html|url-status=live))</ref> The [[manga]] author [[Akira Toriyama]], creator of ''[[Dragon Ball]]'' and ''[[Dr. Slump]]'', cited Yellow Magic Orchestra as his favorite music band in a 1980 interview.<ref>((cite magazine |title=Mangaka Who's Who - Akira Toriyama |magazine=Pafu |date=September 1980 |url=https://www.kanzenshuu.com/translations/pafu-september-1980-mangaka-whos-who-akira-toriyama/ |access-date=March 3, 2022))</ref>

===Video games===
YMO also influenced many [[List of video game musicians|video game composers]] and significantly affected the sounds used in much of the [[chiptune]] and [[video game music]] produced during the [[History of video game consoles (third generation)|8-bit]] and [[History of video game consoles (fourth generation)|16-bit eras]].<ref name="japantimes">((cite web|date=February 29, 2008|title=YMCK takes 'chiptune' revolution major|author=Daniel Robson|work=The Japan Times|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2008/02/29/culture/ymck-takes-chiptune-revolution-major/|access-date=June 11, 2011|archive-date=November 4, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104214746/http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2008/02/29/culture/ymck-takes-chiptune-revolution-major/|url-status=live))</ref> In 1994, four video game composers employed at [[Namco]] formed a parody band called '''Oriental Magnetic Yellow''' (OMY), producing parody cover versions of various YMO records, consisting of [[Shinji Hosoe]] as Haruomi Hosonoe, [[Nobuyoshi Sano]] as Ryuichi Sanomoto, Takayuki Aihara as Takayukihiro Aihara, and Hiroto Sasaki as Hideki Sasatake.<ref>((Cite web |url=http://troubador.panic.or.jp/omy/top.html |title=OMY |website=Troubadour Record |access-date=April 10, 2020 |archive-date=January 22, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200122160422/http://troubador.panic.or.jp/omy/top.html |url-status=dead ))</ref>

==Discography==
((Main|Yellow Magic Orchestra discography))

*''[[Yellow Magic Orchestra (album)|Yellow Magic Orchestra]]'' (1978)
*''[[Solid State Survivor]]'' (1979)
*''[[x∞Multiplies|×∞ Multiplies]]'' (also known as ''Zoshoku'', 1980)((refn| group=n| name= Multiplies|Original international versions replace skits with tracks from ''Yellow Magic Orchestra'' and ''Solid State Survivor'', depending on the region.<ref name="Progrography">((cite web |title=[Review] Yellow Magic Orchestra: X∞Multiplies (1980) |url=https://progrography.com/yellow-magic-orchestra/review-yellow-magic-orchestra-x%E2%88%9Emultiplies-1980/ |website=Progrography |date=February 9, 2021 |access-date=February 26, 2021 |ref=Progrography |archive-date=April 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416131546/https://progrography.com/yellow-magic-orchestra/review-yellow-magic-orchestra-x%E2%88%9Emultiplies-1980/ |url-status=live ))</ref>))
*''[[BGM (album)|BGM]]'' (1981)
*''[[Technodelic]]'' (1981)
*''[[Naughty Boys (album)|Naughty Boys]]'' (1983) 
*''[[Service (album)|Service]]'' (1983)
*''[[Technodon]]'' (credited to <s>YMO</s>, 1993)

==Notes==
((reflist | group=n))

==References==
((Reflist|colwidth=30em))

==External links==
*[http://www.ymo.org/ YMO] ((in lang|ja))
* ((discogs artist|Yellow Magic Orchestra))
* ((imdb name|3576047))
*[https://www.facebook.com/YMOofficial Official Facebook website]
*[https://www.myspace.com/hasymo Official MySpace website]

((Yellow Magic Orchestra))
((Electronic rock))
((Authority control))

[[Category:Ambient music groups]]
[[Category:Electronic music supergroups]]
[[Category:Japanese electronic music groups]]
[[Category:Japanese dance music groups]]
[[Category:Japanese house music groups]]
[[Category:Japanese pop music groups]]
[[Category:Japanese synthpop groups]]
[[Category:Japanese electropop groups]]
[[Category:Japanese techno music groups]]
[[Category:Japanese musical trios]]
[[Category:Musical groups established in 1978]]
[[Category:Musical groups reestablished in 2007]]
[[Category:Musical groups disestablished in 2012]]
[[Category:Sony Music Entertainment Japan artists]]
[[Category:Musical groups from Tokyo]]
[[Category:A&M Records artists]]
[[Category:Restless Records artists]]
[[Category:Art pop musicians]]
[[Category:1978 establishments in Japan]]
[[Category:2012 disestablishments in Japan]]

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