, sometimes credited as Harry Hosono, is a
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is considered to be one of the most influential musicians in
Japanese pop
J-pop ( ja, ジェイポップ, ''jeipoppu''; often stylized as J-POP; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively also known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1 ...
music history, credited with shaping the sound of Japanese pop for decades as well as pop music outside of Japan. He also inspired genres such as
city pop
is a loosely defined form of Japanese pop music that emerged in the late 1970s and peaked in the 1980s. It was originally termed as an offshoot of Japan's Western-influenced "new music", but came to include a wide range of styles – including ...
and
Shibuya-kei
is a microgenre of pop music or a general aesthetic that flourished in Japan in the mid-to late 1990s. The music genre is distinguished by a "cut-and-paste" approach that was inspired by the kitsch, fusion, and artifice from certain music style ...
,
and as leader of
Yellow Magic Orchestra
Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO for short) is a Japanese electronic music band formed in Tokyo in 1978 by Haruomi Hosono (bass, keyboards, vocals), Yukihiro Takahashi (drums, lead vocals) and Ryuichi Sakamoto (keyboards, vocals). The group is conside ...
, contributed to the development and pioneering of numerous
electronic
Electronic may refer to:
*Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor
* ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal
*Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device
*Electronic co ...
genres.
The grandson of ''
Titanic
RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United ...
'' survivor
Masabumi Hosono
was a Japanese civil servant. He survived the sinking of the Titanic on 15 April 1912 but found himself condemned and ostracized by the Japanese public, press, and government because of a misconception that he decided to save himself rather ...
, Haruomi began his career with the
psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...
band Apryl Fool, before achieving recognition both nationally and internationally, as a founding member of the bands
Happy End and Yellow Magic Orchestra.
Hosono has also released many solo albums covering a variety of styles, including film soundtracks and a variety of electronic ambient albums. As well as recording his own music, Hosono has done considerable production work for other artists such as
Miharu Koshi
is a Japanese singer and musician. Her career started in the late 1970s performing Japanese Contemporary classical music, new music. By the mid-1980s she was performing music with electronic instruments, with many albums produced by Haruomi Hos ...
, Sheena and the Roketts,
Sandii & the Sunsetz
Sandii & the Sunsetz were a Japanese synthpop band that collaborated from 1979 until the #1990s. The Sunsetz, led by Makoto Kubota, and Sandii started as separate artists, and each have a separate discography. However, their collaboration provid ...
,
Chisato Moritaka
(born 11 April 1969) is a Japanese pop singer who also is notable as a songwriter. She is affiliated with Up-Front Create, a subsidiary of the Up-Front Group. and
Seiko Matsuda
, known professionally as , is a Japanese pop singer and songwriter, known for being one of the most popular Japanese idols of the 1980s. Since then, she is still actively releasing new singles and albums, doing annual summer concert tours, win ...
. In 2003, Hosono was ranked by
HMV Japan
Sunrise Records and Entertainment, trading as HMV (for His Master's Voice), is a British music and entertainment retailer, currently operating exclusively in the United Kingdom.
The first HMV-branded store was opened by the Gramophone Company ...
at number 44 on their list of the top 100 Japanese pop acts of all time.
Biography
Hosono is the grandson of
Masabumi Hosono
was a Japanese civil servant. He survived the sinking of the Titanic on 15 April 1912 but found himself condemned and ostracized by the Japanese public, press, and government because of a misconception that he decided to save himself rather ...
, the only Japanese passenger and survivor of the sinking of
RMS ''Titanic''. Hosono first came to attention in Japan as the bass player of the
psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...
band Apryl Fool, alongside drummer
Takashi Matsumoto, who released the album ''The Apryl Fool'' in 1969. Hosono and Matsumoto then formed the influential
folk rock
Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers suc ...
group
Happy End with
Eiichi Ohtaki
Eiichi Ohtaki (July 28, 1948 – December 30, 2013) was a Japanese musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He first became known as a member of the rock band Happy End, but was better known for his solo work which began in 1972. ...
and
Shigeru Suzuki
is a Japanese musician, songwriter and guitarist. He first became known as a member of the influential rock band Happy End in the early 1970s, before starting a solo career and becoming a prolific session musician. As of 2006, Suzuki had contr ...
.
One of the songs he composed for Happy End, "
Kaze wo Atsumete" (1971), later appeared in the American film ''
Lost in Translation'' and on
its soundtrack in 2003. After ''Happy End'' disbanded around 1974, Hosono worked with Suzuki and a loose association of artists making "
exotica
Exotica is a musical genre, named after the 1957 Martin Denny album of the same name that was popular during the 1950s to mid-1960s with Americans who came of age during World War II. The term was coined by Simon "Si" Waronker, Liberty Records ...
"-style music under the title ''Tin Pan Alley''.
His involvement in
electronic music
Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...
also dates back to the early 1970s, when he performed the
electric bass
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck
The ...
for
Inoue Yousui
Inoue (kanji: , historical kana orthography: ''Winouhe'') is the 16th most common Japanese surname. Historically, it was also romanized as Inouye, and many Japanese-descended people outside of Japan still retain this spelling. A less common vari ...
's folk
pop rock
Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...
album ''Ice World'' (1973) and
Osamu Kitajima
Osamu Kitajima (喜多嶋 修), also known by the pseudonym Justin Heathcliff, is a Japanese musician, producer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist.
History
After studying the classical guitar and the piano as a child, in the 1960s Kitajima wa ...
's
progressive/psychedelic rock album ''
Benzaiten
Benzaiten (''shinjitai'': 弁才天 or 弁財天; ''kyūjitai'': 辯才天, 辨才天, or 辨財天, lit. "goddess of eloquence"), also simply known as Benten (''shinjitai'': 弁天; ''kyūjitai'': 辯天 / 辨天), is a Japanese Buddhist god ...
'' (1974), both of which were
electronic rock
Electronic rock is a music genre that involves a combination of rock music and electronic music, featuring instruments typically found within both genres. It originates from the late 1960s, when rock bands began incorporating electronic instrume ...
records utilizing synthesizers, electric guitars, and in the latter,
electronic drum
Electronic drums is a modern electronic musical instrument, primarily designed to serve as an alternative to an acoustic drum kit. Electronic drums consist of an electronic sound module which produces the synthesized or sampled percussion sounds ...
s and
rhythm machines.
In 1977, Hosono invited
Ryuichi Sakamoto
is a Japanese composer, pianist, singer, record producer and actor who has pursued a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). With his bandmates Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, Sakamoto inf ...
and
Yukihiro Takahashi
Yukihiro Takahashi (高橋 幸宏 ''Takahashi Yukihiro'', born June 6, 1952) is a Japanese musician, singer, record producer and actor, who is best known internationally as the drummer and lead vocalist of the Yellow Magic Orchestra, and as the fo ...
to work on his
exotica
Exotica is a musical genre, named after the 1957 Martin Denny album of the same name that was popular during the 1950s to mid-1960s with Americans who came of age during World War II. The term was coined by Simon "Si" Waronker, Liberty Records ...
-flavoured album ''
Paraiso'', which included electronic music produced using the
Yamaha CS-80
The Yamaha CS-80 is an analog synthesizer released in 1977. It supports true 8-voice polyphony, with two independent synthesizer layers per voice each with its own set of front panel controls, in addition to a number of hardwired preset voice set ...
polyphonic synthesizer
Polyphony is a property of musical instruments that means that they can play multiple independent melody lines simultaneously. Instruments featuring polyphony are said to be polyphonic. Instruments that are not capable of polyphony are monophoni ...
and
ARP Odyssey
The ARP Odyssey is an analog synthesizer introduced by ARP Instruments in 1972.
History
ARP developed the Odyssey as a direct competitor to the Moog Minimoog and an answer to the demand for more affordable, portable, and less complicated "perf ...
synthesizer. The band was named "Harry Hosono and the Yellow Magic Band" and, having been recorded in late 1977, ''Paraiso'' was released in early 1978.
The three worked together again for the 1978 electronic album ''Pacific'', which included an early version of the song "Cosmic Surfin'".
In 1978, he released an innovative electronic soundtrack for a
fictional
Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places
Place may refer to:
Geography
* Place (United States Census Bureau), defined as any concentration of population
** Census-designated place, ...
Bollywood
Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...
film, ''Cochin Moon'', together with artist
Tadanori Yokoo
is a Japanese graphic designer, illustrator, printmaker and painter. Yokoo’s signature style of psychedelia and pastiche engages a wide span of modern visual and cultural phenomena from Japan and around the world.
Career
Tadanori Yokoo, bo ...
and future YMO band members Ryuichi Sakamoto and
Hideki Matsutake
Hideki Matsutake (born August 12, 1951 in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan) is a Japanese composer, arranger, and computer programmer. He is known for his pioneering work in electronic music and particularly music programming, as the assis ...
. Inspired by a trip to
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
and "the exotic, luxurious, and seemingly wonder-filled scenarios played out in
Indian cinemas", it was an experimental "electro-exotica" album
fusing exotic
Indian music
Owing to India's vastness and diversity, Indian music encompasses numerous genres in multiple varieties and forms which include classical music, folk (Bollywood), rock, and pop. It has a history spanning several millennia and developed ove ...
(reminiscent of
Ravi Shankar
Ravi Shankar (; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury, sometimes spelled as Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury; 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012) was an Indian sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known export of North Ind ...
and
Bollywood music
Hindi film songs, more formally known as Hindi Geet or filmi songs and informally known as Bollywood music, are songs featured in Hindi films. Derived from the song-and-dance routines common in Indian films, Bollywood songs, along with danc ...
) with electronic music, including an early "
synth
A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...
raga
A ''raga'' or ''raag'' (; also ''raaga'' or ''ragam''; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a musical mode, melodic mode. The ''rāga'' is a unique and central feature of the classical Indian music tradit ...
" song entitled "Hum Ghar Sajan" (from a
Guru Granth Sahib
The Guru Granth Sahib ( pa, ਗੁਰੂ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ ਸਾਹਿਬ, ) is the central holy religious scripture of Sikhism, regarded by Sikhs as the final, sovereign and Guru Maneyo Granth, eternal Guru following the lineage of the Sikh gur ...
phrase). The same year, he contributed to Sakamoto's song "1000 Knives" for his solo album, ''
Thousand Knives'', which experimented with fusing electronic music with traditional
Japanese music
In Japan, music includes a wide array of distinct genres, both traditional and modern. The word for "music" in Japanese is 音楽 (''ongaku''), combining the kanji 音 ''on'' (sound) with the kanji 楽 ''gaku'' (music, comfort). Japan is the world ...
in early 1978.
He was one of the first producers to recognize the appeal of
video game sounds and music. YMO's self-titled debut in 1978 contained substantial video game sounds and after YMO disbanded an early project was an album simply titled ''Video Game Music'' containing mixed and edited
Namco
was a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company, headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo. It held several international branches, including Namco America in Santa Clara, California, Namco Europe in London, Na ...
arcade game
An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily games of skill and include arcade v ...
music and sounds. ''Video Game Music'' was released in 1984 as an early example of a
chiptune
Chiptune, also known as chip music or 8-bit music, is a style of synthesized electronic music made using the programmable sound generator (PSG) sound chips or synthesizers in vintage arcade machines, computers and video game consoles.
The t ...
record and the first video game music album. That same year, he also produced the theme song for
Hayao Miyazaki
is a Japanese animator, director, producer, screenwriter, author, and manga artist. A co-founder of Studio Ghibli, he has attained international acclaim as a masterful storyteller and creator of Japanese animated feature films, and is widel ...
's popular
anime
is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
film ''
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind may refer to
* Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (manga), ''Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind'' (manga), a manga series by Hayao Miyazaki
* Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (film), ''Nausicaä of the Valle ...
'', "Kaze no Tani no Naushika", with vocals by actress-singer
Narumi Yasuda
is a Japanese actress. She won the award for best actress at the 8th Yokohama Film Festival for '' Inujini seshi mono'', '' Minami e Hashire, Umi no Michi o!'' and '' Sorobanzuku''. She also won the award for best actress at the 13th Hochi Film ...
.
In the late 80s and early 90s, the influence of
world music on his music deepened, and he worked with international singers and musicians such as
Amina Annabi
Amina Annabi ( ar, أمينة العنابي, Amīna al-ʿAnnābī; born 5 March 1962) is a French-Tunisian singer-songwriter and actress. She finished second in the tied 1991 Eurovision Song Contest, held in Rome, after a countback, scoring equa ...
.
He has produced a number of short-term band projects as a band member. His first post-YMO band was Friends of Earth. As with most of his projects he combines musical styles he's interested in. F.O.E. seemed to be a combination of funk and techno, and included a collaboration with
James Brown
James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...
and
Maceo Parker
Maceo Parker (; born February 14, 1943) is an American funk and soul jazz saxophonist, best known for his work with James Brown in the 1960s, Parliament-Funkadelic in the 1970s and Prince in the 2000s. Parker was a prominent soloist on many o ...
for a remake of the song "
Sex Machine
A sex machine is a mechanical device used to simulate human sexual intercourse or other sexual activity.Leung, Isaac (2009). The Cultural Production of Sex Machines and the Contemporary Technosexual Practices. In Grenzfurthner, J. et al., eds. ...
". Another notable band project was 1995's Love, Peace & Trance. Members were
Mimori Yusa
, (born February 20, 1964, in Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture), is a Japanese singer-songwriter. She made her nationwide debut at the age of 6 on the TV program Chibikko Nodojiman, which she recited the Takibi nursery rhyme. Shortly after graduati ...
("Love"), Miyako Koda ("Peace"), Haruomi Hosono ("&") and Mishio Ogawa ("Trance").
In the 1990s he started the
Daisyworld
Daisyworld, a computer simulation, is a hypothetical world orbiting a star whose radiant energy is slowly increasing or decreasing. It is meant to mimic important elements of the Earth-Sun system, and was introduced by James Lovelock and And ...
label to release a wide range of experimental artists from Japan and the rest of the world. Hosono collaborated on many of the releases, such as
World Standard
In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...
, a trip into Americana; HAT, a supergroup (the acronym stands for Hosono,
Atom Heart
Uwe H. Schmidt (born 27 August 1968), also known as Atom™, Atom Heart, or Señor Coconut, is a German composer, musician and producer of electronic music. He is often regarded as the father of electrolatino, electrogospel, and aciton musi ...
,
Tetsu Inoue
Tetsu (written: 哲, 徹, 鉄 or テツ in katakana) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include:
*, Japanese photographer
*, Japanese voice actor
*, Japanese musician
*, Japanese politician and Prime Minister of Japan ...
), and "Quiet Logic", by
Mixmaster Morris
Mixmaster Morris (born Morris Gould, 30 December 1965) is an English electronica DJ and underground musician who has also recorded as The Irresistible Force. His work in the 1990s blended ambient music and chill-out influences with UK dance ...
and
Jonah Sharp.
The Orb
The Orb are an English electronic music group founded in 1988 by Alex Paterson and Jimmy Cauty. Known for their psychedelic sound, the Orb developed a cult following among clubbers "coming down" from drug-induced highs. Their influential 19 ...
also paid tribute with a series of remixes including the notorious "Hope You Choke on Your Whalemeat".
![YMOHosono2008(cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/YMOHosono2008%28cropped%29.jpg)
In 2002 Haruomi formed the duo
Sketch Show
Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and i ...
with his YMO bandmate
Yukihiro Takahashi
Yukihiro Takahashi (高橋 幸宏 ''Takahashi Yukihiro'', born June 6, 1952) is a Japanese musician, singer, record producer and actor, who is best known internationally as the drummer and lead vocalist of the Yellow Magic Orchestra, and as the fo ...
. They have released two albums, one of which, ''Loophole'', has received a UK release. When the third former YMO member,
Ryuichi Sakamoto
is a Japanese composer, pianist, singer, record producer and actor who has pursued a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). With his bandmates Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, Sakamoto inf ...
deepened his involvement it was decided to bill those collaborations as
Human Audio Sponge
Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedality, bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex Human brain, brain. This has enabled the development of ad ...
.
In the spring of 2007, his fellow YMO members and other artist paid tribute to Haruomi with a 2-disc album titled ''Tribute to Haruomi''. That same year, the animated film ''
Appleseed Ex Machina
''Appleseed Ex Machina'', also known as in the original version, is a 2007 Japanese animated CG science fiction film and is the sequel to the 2004 ''Appleseed'' film, similarly directed by Shinji Aramaki, and was produced by Hong Kong director ...
'' was released featuring a soundtrack performed and supervised by Hosono.
In September 2010 he performed at the De La Fantasia festival and played songs from his upcoming album.
In February 2011 it was announced that his new album, entitled ''HoSoNoVa'', was to be released on April 20. He also performed a special concert to celebrate its release.
In May 2018,
Light in the Attic Records
Light in the Attic Records is an independent record label that was established in 2002 in Seattle, Washington by Matt Sullivan. The label is known for its roster of reissue projects and for its distribution catalog. Light in the Attic has re-rel ...
announced a CD and vinyl reissue of five of Hosono's albums—''Hosono House'', ''Cochin Moon'', ''Paraiso'', ''Philharmony'' and ''omni Sight Seeing''—for release in August and September 2018. The former four albums had never been released outside of Japan previously. Coinciding was the announcement that Hosono would play his first UK concerts as a solo artist in June; the shows were scheduled as part of Sakamoto's MODE festival happening throughout England in June and July. The June 23 concert at the
Barbican Centre
The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhi ...
in London featured an appearance by his YMO bandmates, with whom he performed his ''Solid State Survivor'' composition "Absolute Ego Dance".
2019 marked Hosono's 50th anniversary in the music industry. On March 6, he released ''Hochono House'', a mostly electronic remake of his solo debut ''
Hosono House
''Hosono House'' is the debut solo album of Japanese musician Haruomi Hosono, released on May 25, 1973.
Background and recording
Besides Hosono, this album also features performances by the group "Caramel Mama" (featuring Hosono's fellow Happy ...
'' that reversed the track listing. That spring, he performed his first solo shows in the U.S. This run included two sold-out shows at the
Gramercy Theatre
The Gramercy Theatre is a music venue in New York City. It is located in the Gramercy neighborhood of Manhattan, on 127 East 23rd Street. Built in 1937 as the Gramercy Park Theatre, it is owned and operated by Live Nation as one of their two co ...
in New York City and a concert at the
Mayan Theater in Los Angeles. The second New York show saw an appearance by current NYC resident
Akiko Yano
is a Japanese pop and jazz musician and singer born in Tokyo and raised in Aomori and later began her singing career in the mid-1970s. She has been called "one of the major musical talents of the Japanese popular music world", and her vocals and ...
, who collaborated with Hosono in Tin Pan Alley, as a live support member of YMO, and as a solo artist; she sang Hosono's "Ai Ai Gasa", which she covered on her 1977 album ''Iroha Ni Konpeitou''. In LA, Canadian indie rock musician
Mac DeMarco
MacBriare Samuel Lanyon DeMarco (born Vernor Winfield MacBriare Smith IV; April 30, 1990) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer. DeMarco has released six full-length studio albums, his debut ''Rock and Roll Night C ...
—whose vocal admiration of Hosono has spread to a portion of his own fanbase—appeared during the show to perform "Honey Moon" as a duet with Hosono; Light in the Attic had recently released a cover of the song on a 7" single record, backed with the original version.
In the autumn of 2019, an exhibition on Hosono's career—"Hosono Sightseeing"—was on display in Tokyo Sky View at the
Roppongi Hills Mori Tower; along with other memorabilia, this featured many of the instruments associated with Hosono, such as the
Roland TR-808,
E-mu Emulator
The Emulator is a series of digital sampling synthesizers using floppy disk storage, manufactured by E-mu Systems from 1981 until 2002. Though not the first commercial sampler, the Emulator was among the first to find wide use among ordinary m ...
, and
Prophet-5
The Prophet-5 is an analog synthesizer manufactured by the American company Sequential (company), Sequential. It was designed by Dave Smith (engineer), Dave Smith and John S. Bowen (sound designer), John Bowen in 1977, who used Microprocessor, m ...
. A documentary film, ''No Smoking'', was also released, including footage from the U.S. and UK shows; appearances include Sakamoto, Takahashi, Demarco, longtime friend
Van Dyke Parks
Van Dyke Parks (born January 3, 1943) is an American musician, songwriter, arranger, and record producer who has composed various film and television soundtracks. He is best known for his 1967 album ''Song Cycle (album), Song Cycle'' and for his ...
, and protégé
Gen Hoshino
is a Japanese singer-songwriter, musician, actor, and writer.
Career Music
Since 2000, Hoshino has led the instrumental band Sakerock, where he plays marimba and guitar. They released over ten albums before disbanding in 2015. As a solo artist, ...
.
Bands and collaborations
* Apryl Fool
*
Happy End
* Tin Pan Alley
*
Yellow Magic Orchestra
Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO for short) is a Japanese electronic music band formed in Tokyo in 1978 by Haruomi Hosono (bass, keyboards, vocals), Yukihiro Takahashi (drums, lead vocals) and Ryuichi Sakamoto (keyboards, vocals). The group is conside ...
* Friends of Earth (F.O.E) (with
Eiki Nonaka)
* HIS (with
Kiyoshirō Imawano and
Fuyumi Sakamoto
is a Japanese female enka singer under EMI Music Japan.
Career
Having won a singing contest in early 1986, and after receiving about 11 months of vocal training, Sakamoto debuted as an enka recording singer with the single "Abare Daiko" in March ...
)
* Testpattern (with
Yukihiro Takahashi
Yukihiro Takahashi (高橋 幸宏 ''Takahashi Yukihiro'', born June 6, 1952) is a Japanese musician, singer, record producer and actor, who is best known internationally as the drummer and lead vocalist of the Yellow Magic Orchestra, and as the fo ...
,
Fumio Ichimura, and
Masao Hiruma)
* Love, Peace & Trance (
Mimori Yusa
, (born February 20, 1964, in Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture), is a Japanese singer-songwriter. She made her nationwide debut at the age of 6 on the TV program Chibikko Nodojiman, which she recited the Takibi nursery rhyme. Shortly after graduati ...
,
Miyako Koda and
Mishio Ogawa)
* Swing Slow (with
Miharu Koshi
is a Japanese singer and musician. Her career started in the late 1970s performing Japanese Contemporary classical music, new music. By the mid-1980s she was performing music with electronic instruments, with many albums produced by Haruomi Hos ...
)
* HAT (with
Atom Heart
Uwe H. Schmidt (born 27 August 1968), also known as Atom™, Atom Heart, or Señor Coconut, is a German composer, musician and producer of electronic music. He is often regarded as the father of electrolatino, electrogospel, and aciton musi ...
and
Tetsu Inoue
Tetsu (written: 哲, 徹, 鉄 or テツ in katakana) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include:
*, Japanese photographer
*, Japanese voice actor
*, Japanese musician
*, Japanese politician and Prime Minister of Japan ...
)
* Harry & Mac (with
Makoto Kubota)
* Tin Pan (with Tatsuo Hayashi and Shigeru Suzuki)
*
Sketch Show
Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and i ...
(with
Yukihiro Takahashi
Yukihiro Takahashi (高橋 幸宏 ''Takahashi Yukihiro'', born June 6, 1952) is a Japanese musician, singer, record producer and actor, who is best known internationally as the drummer and lead vocalist of the Yellow Magic Orchestra, and as the fo ...
)
*
HASYMO (previously Human Audio Sponge) (Sketch Show and
Ryuichi Sakamoto
is a Japanese composer, pianist, singer, record producer and actor who has pursued a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). With his bandmates Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, Sakamoto inf ...
, with
Keigo Oyamada
, also known by his moniker , is a Japanese musician and producer who co-founded Flipper's Guitar, an influential Shibuya-kei band, and subsequently embarked on a solo career. In 1997, he released the album '' Fantasma'', which landed him prai ...
,
Hiroshi Takano,
Christian Fennesz
Christian Fennesz (born 25 December 1962) is an Austrian producer and guitarist active in electronic music since the 1990s, often credited simply by his last name. His work utilizes guitar and laptop computers to blend melody with treated samples ...
, Tomohiko Gondō and Ren Takada as live support)
Discography
Albums
*''
Hosono House
''Hosono House'' is the debut solo album of Japanese musician Haruomi Hosono, released on May 25, 1973.
Background and recording
Besides Hosono, this album also features performances by the group "Caramel Mama" (featuring Hosono's fellow Happy ...
'' (1973)
*''
Tropical Dandy'' (1975, as Haruomi "Hosono")
* (1976, as Harry "The Crown" Hosono)
* (1978, by "Harry Hosono and The Yellow Magic Band")
* (1978, by "Hosono &
Yokoo Yokoo (written: ) is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
*Kazuko Yokoo (born 1941), Japanese diplomat
* Kazunori Yokoo, Japanese actor
*Kaname Yokoo (born 1972), Japanese golfer
*Tadanori Yokoo (born 1936), Japanese graphic designer ...
")
*''
Philharmony'' (1982)
*'' (1984, cassette book)
*''Making of Non-Standard Music''/''Making of Monad Music'' (1984)
*''
S-F-X'' (1984, by "Haruomi Hosono with Friends of Earth")
*''Mercuric Dance'' (1985)
*''Endless Talking'' (1985)
*''
Omni Sight Seeing'' (1989)
*''Medicine Compilation'' (1993)
*''Mental Sports Mixes'' (1993)
*''Good Sport'' (1995)
*''Naga'' (1995)
*''N.D.E. ("Near Death Experience")'' (1995)
*''
Interpieces Organization'' (1996, by Haruomi Hosono &
Bill Laswell
William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, ...
)
* (1999, with Makoto Kubota as "Harry & Mac")
*''Flying Saucer 1947'' (2007, by "Harry Hosono & The World Shyness")
*''HoSoNoVa'' (2011)
*''Heavenly Music'' (2013)
*''Vu Ja De'' (2017)
*''Hochono House'' (2019)
*'' Hosono Haruomi Live in US 2019'' (2021)
Soundtrack albums
* ''Video Game Music'' (1984, songs from
Namco
was a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company, headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo. It held several international branches, including Namco America in Santa Clara, California, Namco Europe in London, Na ...
games arranged and produced by Hosono)
* (1984,
anime soundtrack
In Japan, music includes a wide array of distinct genres, both traditional and modern. The word for "music" in Japanese is 音楽 (''ongaku''), combining the kanji 音 ''on'' (sound) with the kanji 楽 ''gaku'' (music, comfort). Japan is the wor ...
, only produced theme song sung by
Narumi Yasuda
is a Japanese actress. She won the award for best actress at the 8th Yokohama Film Festival for '' Inujini seshi mono'', '' Minami e Hashire, Umi no Michi o!'' and '' Sorobanzuku''. She also won the award for best actress at the 13th Hochi Film ...
)
*''
Coincidental Music'' (1985, compilation of assorted background music/soundtrack commissions)
* ' (1985, movie soundtrack)
* ''Paradise View'' (1985, movie soundtrack)
* ' (1987, movie soundtrack)
* (1996, background music for and included with the Taro Manabe picture book of the same name)
* ''La Maison de Himiko'' (2005, movie soundtrack)
* ''
Ex Machina Original Soundtrack/Original Soundtrack Complete Edition'' (2007, soundtrack supervention, composition of some tracks)
* ''
Shoplifters
Shoplifting
Shoplifting is the theft of goods from an open retail establishment, typically by concealing a store item on one's person, in pockets, under clothes or in a bag, and leaving the store without paying. With clothing, shoplifters ma ...
'' (2018) Original Soundtrack
Compilation albums
* Hosono Box 1969–2000 (2000, Daisyworld)
* Harry Hosono Crown Years 1974–1977 (2007)
Tribute albums
* Tribute to Haruomi Hosono (2007, Commmons)
::Featuring:
Van Dyke Parks
Van Dyke Parks (born January 3, 1943) is an American musician, songwriter, arranger, and record producer who has composed various film and television soundtracks. He is best known for his 1967 album ''Song Cycle (album), Song Cycle'' and for his ...
,
Ryuichi Sakamoto
is a Japanese composer, pianist, singer, record producer and actor who has pursued a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). With his bandmates Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, Sakamoto inf ...
,
Takako Minekawa
is a Japanese musician, singer, songwriter and writer.
Career
In her childhood, Minekawa acted in film and television. Minekawa's first musical venture was playing in Lolita, a band she formed with several college friends. Afterwards, she perf ...
,
Miharu Koshi
is a Japanese singer and musician. Her career started in the late 1970s performing Japanese Contemporary classical music, new music. By the mid-1980s she was performing music with electronic instruments, with many albums produced by Haruomi Hos ...
,
Little Creatures
''Little Creatures'' is the sixth studio album by American rock band Talking Heads, released on June 10, 1985, by Sire Records. The album examines themes of Americana and incorporates elements of country music, with many songs featuring steel ...
,
Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra
, commonly abbreviated by fans as Skapara or TSPO, is a Japanese ska and jazz band formed in 1988 by the percussionist Asa-Chang, and initially composed of over 10 veterans of Tokyo's underground scene. At the time, the band's sound was unlike t ...
,
Hiroshi Takano,
Towa Tei
is a Japanese artist, record producer, and DJ. Born in Yokohama, Japan, Towa debuted as a member of Deee-Lite, from the US label Elektra Records in 1990 and shot to fame via their international hit single, "Groove Is In the Heart". He made his s ...
,
Akiko Yano
is a Japanese pop and jazz musician and singer born in Tokyo and raised in Aomori and later began her singing career in the mid-1970s. She has been called "one of the major musical talents of the Japanese popular music world", and her vocals and ...
,
Rei Harakami
was a Japanese record producer from Hiroshima. He was based in Kyoto. He was one half of the duo Yanokami
Yanokami (stylized as yanokami) was a Japanese music duo consisting of Akiko Yano and Rei Harakami.
History
Yanokami was formed by Akiko ...
,
Yukihiro Takahashi
Yukihiro Takahashi (高橋 幸宏 ''Takahashi Yukihiro'', born June 6, 1952) is a Japanese musician, singer, record producer and actor, who is best known internationally as the drummer and lead vocalist of the Yellow Magic Orchestra, and as the fo ...
,
Cornelius,
Jim O'Rourke,
Kahimi Karie
* Strange Song Book – Tribute to Haruomi Hosono 2 (2008, Commmons)
::Featuring:
Señor Coconut
Uwe H. Schmidt (born 27 August 1968), also known as Atom™, Atom Heart, or Señor Coconut, is a German composer, musician and producer of electronic music. He is often regarded as the father of electrolatino, electrogospel, and aciton musi ...
,
Van Dyke Parks
Van Dyke Parks (born January 3, 1943) is an American musician, songwriter, arranger, and record producer who has composed various film and television soundtracks. He is best known for his 1967 album ''Song Cycle (album), Song Cycle'' and for his ...
,
Dr. John
Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. (November 20, 1941 – June 6, 2019), better known by his stage name Dr. John, was an American singer and songwriter. His music encompassed New Orleans blues, jazz, funk, and R&B.
Active as a session musician from ...
,
Sheena & The Rokkets
is a Japanese rock band, formed in 1978. They are one of the most popular acts in the Mentai Rock scene.
In September 2007, ''Rolling Stone Japan'' rated their album ''Vacuum Pack'' number 44 on its list of the "100 Greatest Japanese Rock Alb ...
,
Buffalo Daughter
Buffalo Daughter is a Japanese rock band formed in 1993. The three main members are suGar Yoshinaga (ex-Havana Exotica) on guitar, Yumiko Ohno (ex-Havana Exotica) on bass, and Moog (later changed to MoOog) Yamamoto on turntables and graphic desi ...
,
Thurston Moore
Thurston Joseph Moore (born July 25, 1958) is an American musician best known as a member of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label. Moo ...
,
Miu Sakamoto
is a Japanese pop singer. She is the daughter of musicians Ryuichi Sakamoto and Akiko Yano.
Biography
Sakamoto provided a cover of "Miu" for the January 29, 2020 Buck-Tick tribute album ''Parade III ~Respective Tracks of Buck-Tick~''
Disco ...
,
Ryuichi Sakamoto
is a Japanese composer, pianist, singer, record producer and actor who has pursued a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). With his bandmates Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, Sakamoto inf ...
,
Fennesz
Christian Fennesz (born 25 December 1962) is an Austrian producer and guitarist active in electronic music since the 1990s, often credited simply by his last name. His work utilizes guitar and laptop computers to blend melody with treated sample ...
Contributions
*
CBS/Sony
, often abbreviated as SMEJ or simply SME, and also known as Sony Music Japan for short (stylized as ''SonyMusic''), is a Japanese music arm for Sony. Founded in 1968 as CBS/Sony, SMEJ is directly owned by Sony Group Corporation and is opera ...
Sound Image Series:
**
Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
(with
Shigeru Suzuki
is a Japanese musician, songwriter and guitarist. He first became known as a member of the influential rock band Happy End in the early 1970s, before starting a solo career and becoming a prolific session musician. As of 2006, Suzuki had contr ...
and
Tatsuro Yamashita
, occasionally credited as Tatsu Yamashita or Tats Yamashita, is a Japanese singer-songwriter and record producer, who is known for pioneering the style of Japanese Soft rock, adult-oriented rock/soft rock music.
His most well-known song is "C ...
) (tracks 1, 4 and 8 composed and performed by Hosono) (1978)
**The Aegean Sea (with
Masataka Matsutoya
is a Japanese arranger, composer, music producer, and motor journalist. He currently resides in Setagaya, Tokyo. He is a graduate of Keio Senior High School and Keio University (literature department). His wife is singer-songwriter, composer, an ...
and Takahiko Ishikawa) (tracks 3 and 4 composed and performed by Hosono) (1979)
**Vol. 1 – Island Music (with Suzuki, Yamashita, Matsutoya, Ishikawa and
Ryuichi Sakamoto
is a Japanese composer, pianist, singer, record producer and actor who has pursued a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). With his bandmates Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, Sakamoto inf ...
) (tracks 1, 7, 9 and 10 composed and performed by Hosono) (1983)
**Vol. 2 – Off Shore (Suzuki, Yamashita, Matsutoya, Sakamoto, Masaki Matsubara and Kazumasa Akiyama) (tracks 1 and 2 composed and performed by Hosono) (1983)
*''Melon Brains'' (1994)
*''Goku'' (1995)
* Love, Peace & Trance (1995)
*''Lattice'' (2000)
Composition work
* :
::High School Lullaby (
ハイスクールララバイ) (1981)
:: (1982)
*
Miki Fujimura
is a former Japanese female singer. She is best known as , a member of the pop trio Candies (group), Candies.
Biography
After Fujimura was born in Setagaya, Tokyo, her family relocated to Fukushima. While at a summer camp organized by Schoo ...
:
::仏蘭西映画
::夢・恋・人 (1983)
::妖星傅
::春 Mon Amour
*
Yoshie Kashiwabara
is a Japanese popular pop singer-songwriter and actress, who gained her popularity as a teen idol in the early 80s.
Biography
Born in Osaka, Yoshie Kashiwabara took part in, and won, the "Star Tanjo" contest in 1979, and rose to fame in 1980 ...
: (1982)
*
Starbow: (1982)
* Kumiko Yamashita:
::赤道小町ドキッ (1982)
::Teenage Eagles (1983)
* Kawakamisan to Nagashimasan: きたかチョーさんまってたドン (1983)
*
Miki Matsubara
was a Japanese composer, lyricist, and singer from Nishi-ku, Sakai, Osaka, Japan. She participated in the opening and ending theme songs of the TV anime "Gu-Gu Gummo" under the name of "Susie Matsubara."
Her 1979 debut song " Mayonaka no Do ...
: (1983)
*
Seiko Matsuda
, known professionally as , is a Japanese pop singer and songwriter, known for being one of the most popular Japanese idols of the 1980s. Since then, she is still actively releasing new singles and albums, doing annual summer concert tours, win ...
:
:: (1983)
:: (1983)
:: (1984)
*
Shin'ichi Mori
known professionally as is a Japanese male enka singer and composer, who also sings folk and pop music. He has sold more than 90 million records, making him one of the best selling Japanese musicians.
Mori has been married and divorced twice, ...
:
:: (1983)
::
*
Akina Nakamori
is a Japanese Singing, singer and Actor, actress. She is one of the most popular and best-selling artists in Japan. Akina achieved national recognition after winning the 1981 season of the talent show ''Star Tanjō!''. Her debut single "Slow M ...
: (1983)
* Apogee & Perigee (
Jun Togawa
is a Japanese singer, musician and actress. Her close friends over the years include Susumu Hirasawa.
Career
After gaining attention a guest singer for the New Wave band Halmens and her acting roles in Japanese dramas and commercials for the ...
, Yuji Miyake and other artists):
:: (1984, Alfa)
:: (1984, Alfa)
*
Jun Togawa
is a Japanese singer, musician and actress. Her close friends over the years include Susumu Hirasawa.
Career
After gaining attention a guest singer for the New Wave band Halmens and her acting roles in Japanese dramas and commercials for the ...
: 玉姫様 (1984)
*
Narumi Yasuda
is a Japanese actress. She won the award for best actress at the 8th Yokohama Film Festival for '' Inujini seshi mono'', '' Minami e Hashire, Umi no Michi o!'' and '' Sorobanzuku''. She also won the award for best actress at the 13th Hochi Film ...
: (
image song
An image song or character song is a song on a tie-in single or album (often called an image album or character album) for an anime, game, ''dorama'', manga, or commercial product that is sometimes sung by the voice actor or actor of a character ...
for the film) (1984)
* "
NHK
, also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee.
NHK operates two terrestr ...
News Today" opening theme (1988, NHK TV)
*
Chisato Moritaka
(born 11 April 1969) is a Japanese pop singer who also is notable as a songwriter. She is affiliated with Up-Front Create, a subsidiary of the Up-Front Group. :
:: (1997,
zetima
is a Japanese holding company for various entertainment companies. Its subsidiaries include the talent agency Up-Front Promotion and Up-Front Works, a music production and sales company that manages such record labels as Zetima, Piccolo Town, ...
)
:: – Writing, Performance, Production (1998, zetima)
* Chappie: (1999)
* Kuniko Yamada:
*
Masatō Ibu
is a Japanese actor and voice actor. He is sometimes credited as Masato Eve.
Filmography
Films
* ''Love Hotel'' (1985)
*''Maison Ikkoku'' (1986)
*''Empire of the Sun'' (1987) – Sgt. Nagata
*'' Sukeban Deka'' (1987)
*'' Toki o Kakeru Shōj ...
:
Filmography
;Music
* ''Evening Primrose'' (1974)
* ''Summer Secret'' (1982)
* ''
Night on the Galactic Railroad
, sometimes translated as ''Milky Way Railroad'', ''Night Train to the Stars'' or ''Fantasy Railroad in the Stars'', is a classic Japanese fantasy novel by Kenji Miyazawa written around 1927. The nine-chapter novel was posthumously published in 1 ...
'' (1985)
* ''Paradise View'' (1985)
* ''
A Promise'' (1986)
* ''Jazz Daimyō'' (1986)
* ''Murasaki SHikubu-Genji Monogatari'' (1987)
* ''Hoshi wo Tsugumono'' (1990)
* ''Southern Winds'' (1993)
* ''On the Way'' (2000)
* ''
House of Himiko'' (2005)
* ''
Appleseed Ex Machina
''Appleseed Ex Machina'', also known as in the original version, is a 2007 Japanese animated CG science fiction film and is the sequel to the 2004 ''Appleseed'' film, similarly directed by Shinji Aramaki, and was produced by Hong Kong director ...
'' (2007, Music supervising director)
* ''
Shoplifters
Shoplifting
Shoplifting is the theft of goods from an open retail establishment, typically by concealing a store item on one's person, in pockets, under clothes or in a bag, and leaving the store without paying. With clothing, shoplifters ma ...
'' (2018)
;Acting
* ''
Izakaya Chōji
is a 1983 Japanese film directed by Yasuo Furuhata.
Cast
* Ken Takakura : Tōno Eiji
* Reiko Ohara : Kamiya Sayo
* Tokiko Kato : Shigeko
* Kunie Tanaka : Iwashita Yoshiharu
* Juzo Itami : Kawahara
* Hideji Ōtaki : Aiba
* Naomi Chiaki : Mineko ...
'' (1983)
* ''A Y.M.O. Film Propaganda'' (1984)
* ''Paradise view'' (1985)
* ''Shigatsu no Sakana'' (1985)
* ''Binetsu Shōnen'' (1987)
* ''
Norwegian Wood'' (2010): Record Shop Manager
* ''
Isle of Dogs
The Isle of Dogs is a large peninsula bounded on three sides by a large meander in the River Thames in East London, England, which includes the Cubitt Town, Millwall and Canary Wharf districts. The area was historically part of the Manor, Ha ...
'' (2018): Scrap (japanese dub)
* ''They Say Nothing Stays the Same'' (2019)
* ''Bullets, Bones and Blocked Noses'' (2021, TV miniseries): Barber
;Documentary appearance
* ''No Smoking'' (2019)
Related books
*
References
External links
*
Haruomi Hosono discography, news, and general information at Music CityOfficial Sketch Show website (Avex)Nippop Profile , Sketch Show
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hosono, Haruomi
1947 births
Asian Film Award winners
Happy End (band) members
Japanese bass guitarists
Japanese dance musicians
Japanese electro musicians
Japanese electronic musicians
Japanese film score composers
Japanese house musicians
Japanese male film score composers
Japanese male singer-songwriters
Japanese multi-instrumentalists
Japanese record producers
Japanese singer-songwriters
Japanese techno musicians
Japanese trance musicians
Living people
Male bass guitarists
Singers from Tokyo
Rikkyo University alumni
Video game musicians
Yellow Magic Orchestra members