Track 2: "Yellow Magic Carnival"

Moved by my "master's" arrangement

—DISC 1
01. "Rokka Bai Mai Baby - Piano Demo ver.-" Haruomi Hosono

SakamotoIt starts with this 'shaa' sound, like Bartók or Gershwin playing (laughs).

HosonoThat's an exaggeration (laughs).

SakamotoIs it? (laughs) That's how it sounds to me. Your voice sounds quite distant.

HosonoWell, I recorded it with just one microphone.

SakamotoAh, I see. You stuck the mic into an upright.

HosonoThat's right. The upright has a strange sound, too.

SakamotoIt sounds like an artist from another era (laughs). But this was over 30 years ago, wasn't it?

HosonoYes, I hadn't listened to it since I recorded it.

SakamotoYou managed to play it back?

HosonoOnce you play it, the tape leader breaks, so it's too much trouble for me to do it myself.

SakamotoApparently, there's a high demand for digitizing old cassette tapes right now.

HosonoI can imagine. There's so much data out there.

SakamotoAfter your demo tape, Hosono-san, I actually want to introduce all the songs, but...



SakamotoAfter 9/11, I contacted him, and he was so angry about the current state of America, saying, "This isn't America!"

HosonoHe's a unique kind of American.

SakamotoHe's someone who grasps the essence of things. So, all those who understand the true essence of America are angry. Bacharach, for instance, is furious.

HosonoI suppose all artists feel that way.

SakamotoHe's one of the figures from America's golden age, its best era.

HosonoWell, Japan has a similar sentiment, doesn't it? Aren't you angry about something?

SakamotoI'm still calm (laughs).

HosonoOh, really? (laughs)

—DISC 1
02. "Yellow Magic Carnival" Van Dyke Parks

HosonoThe intro makes me want to cry again.

SakamotoIt's amazing, isn't it?



SakamotoHis layered strings, famous from the album "Discover America" (1972), are so complex that no matter how many times I listen, I can't figure out what's going on...

HosonoAround that time, I went to LA with Happy End, and my first impression of meeting Van Dyke was terrible.

SakamotoHe was quite the eccentric, wasn't he?

HosonoHe seemed completely out of his mind (laughs).

SakamotoWell, everyone was like that back then...

HosonoHe was in no state to have a normal conversation, and he'd suddenly launch into a tirade against Japan.

SakamotoAnd then he said, "Don't let Hosono into America!"

HosonoThere was a Trinidadian steel pan player named Robert Greenidge, whom Van Dyke brought along. I asked him, 'I want that,' and 'Where can I get it?' He said he'd make it for me. So I waited a few months and he sent it. When Van Dyke heard it, he said, 'Don't take American instruments out of the country!' But musically, after returning to Japan and listening to "Discover America," I liked him even more. I realized I had met an amazing person.

SakamotoHis first album, "Song Cycle," is incredible, but the second one is really something. Robert Greenidge is credited on "Yellow Magic Carnival" for Tenor Pan (steel drum).

HosonoI'm glad he's doing well.

SakamotoThat's good, that's good. The original of this is on Tin Pan Alley's first album, "Caramel Mama," from '75.

HosonoLet's listen to yours, Sakamoto-kun.

—To be continued with Track 3, "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind"
—Ryuichi Sakamoto | Ryuichi Sakamoto x Haruomi Hosono (Part 1) here