I was born in 1970 so it's little surprise that my entry point to Sakamoto's music wasn't Yellow Magic Orchestra but Japan, although I wasn't particularly aware of it at the time, and the follow up singles Bamboo Houses/Bamboo Music and Forbidden Colours with David Sylvian.
My brother had a giant poster of Japan on his bedroom wall, featuring honorary band member Masami Tsuchiya and I appreciated the beautiful synchronicity of a band called Japan having a Japanese musician in their line up. It was probably from reading my brother's copies of Smash Hits (delivered every week by the paper boy) that I read that Ryuichi Sakamoto had performed with Japan on their Sons Of Pioneers tour in 1982.
That seemed the natural starting point for this selection, which I've wrestled with since news on Sunday of Sakamoto's inevitable and heartbreaking passing, following a long battle with cancer. One of my favourite Japan songs, Taking Islands In Africa, from 1980's Gentlemen Take Polaroids, is credited to Sakamoto and David Sylvian and features Ryuichi on keyboards. In researching this post, I came across a fascinating post by David J Nibloe on his Vista blog which reveals some of the deeper story behind the Sakamoto's meeting with Japan and the recording of the song.
I've skipped the aforementioned Sakamoto/Sylvian collaborations as they both appeared on my recent David Sylvian selection (which I've made available again via a link below), but the two worked together many many times over the subsequent years and decades. I've picked Midnight Sun, arguably a lesser known, bluesy track from Sylvian's 1999 album Dead Bees On A Cake, featuring Ryuichi Sakamoto and Marc Ribot.
The main, instrumental theme from Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, in it's vocal version better known as Forbidden Colours, also makes an appearance alongside The Last Emperor. I was incredibly moved by both films when I first watched them, not just for the striking visual narrative but also Ryuichi Sakamoto's soundtrack which is a character and voice in it's own right. I've barely dipped into his film composition work outside of these two but it's incredible to think that Sakamoto was creating something on the scale and power of The Last Emperor in 1987 whilst also releasing the poppier Risky with Iggy Pop.
Ryuichi Sakamoto's capacity to ignore boundaries, to blend genres and create new ones, has been a constant source of fascination even if I've only intermittently followed his career. I draw parallels with John Cale, who to me has similarly pursued a desire to explore new paths, different ways of (musical) expression and artists to collaborate with.
So this selection ended up not being a straightforward Ryuichi Sakamoto selection at all, including not just his work with Yellow Magic Orchestra and as a solo artist but also his remixes, co-writes and appearances on other people's songs. This is how I discovered his wider body of work and it felt appropriate to try to capture that feeling across a mere 80 minutes. The original 'shortlist' was over two and a half hours, so some tough choices along the way.
Some of these songs will be familiar, though not necessarily in the versions presented here, there are frequent changes from upbeat to downtempo, quiet to loud, vocal to instrumental, pop to something harder to define.
Having started with the band that first introduced me to Ryuichi Sakamoto, it seemed somehow fitting to close with a remix that he produced for his daughter Miu. Hard to believe that this alone is now 25 years old. Harder still to believe that Sakamoto-san has gone, but his vast musical legacy leaves much to discover and re-discover in the years to come.
Rest well, 坂本龍
1) Taking Islands In Africa (Album Version By John Punter): Japan (1980)
2) Fatalism (Ryuichi Sakamoto & Yukihiro Takahashi Remix): Massive Attack ft. Guy Garvey & Martina Topley-Bird (2010)
3) Rocket Factory: Sheena & The Rokkets ft. Yellow Magic Orchestra (1979)
4) Firecracker (Special DJ Copy): Yellow Magic Orchestra (1978)
5) Risky (Extended Mix By Julian Mendelsohn): Ryuichi Sakamoto ft. Iggy Pop (1987)
6) eena ferroix (Ryuichi Sakamoto Mix): CoH (2014)
7) The Last Emperor - Theme Variation 1: Ryuichi Sakamoto (1987)
8) Midnight Sun: David Sylvian ft. Ryuichi Sakamoto & Marc Ribot (1999)
9) Love & Hate (Message Mix - Single Edit): Ryuichi Sakamoto ft. Holly Johnson (1994)
10) Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence: Ryuichi Sakamoto (1983)
11) Behind The Mask (Remixed By Mark Gamble): YMO Versus The Human League (1993)
12) 0318: Fennesz + Sakamoto (2011)
13) Completion: Willits & Sakamoto (2012)
14) Drip Dry Eyes (Album Version): Sandii ft. Yellow Magic Orchestra (1980)
15) Field Work (Long Tokyo Mix): Ryuichi Sakamoto ft. Thomas Dolby (1985)
16) solari (Jóhann Jóhannsson Rework): Ryuichi Sakamoto (2017)
17) Awakening (Endo Mix By Ryuichi Sakamoto): Miu Sakamoto (1998)
If, like me, this leaves you wanting to hear more Ryuichi Sakamoto then you may be happy to know that I've re-posted a few of my previous Dubhed selections where he makes an appearance.
