Composer, keyboardist

Ryuichi Sakamoto cites Debussy and Kraftwerk as his biggest influences but his style is far more than a peculiar hybrid of classical impressionism and technopop. He is known for his combination of melodic touch and technological mastery, but the depth of his work is derived from his comprehensive interest in multicultural sources. His work combines musical influences from Asia, Indonesia, the West Indies, Latin America, and other cultures with the classicism of Europe and American pop. Some see this cultural integration as an influential precursor to the world music of the 1990s, arguing that his electronic lyricism broke ground for contemporary ambient and new age movements.

Ryuichi Sakamoto was born in Japan in 1952. By age 11, his musical interests ranged from the Beatles to Beethoven and he began to study under Professor Matsumoto at the Tokyo University of the Arts. In 1971, he entered the university, where he earned a bachelor of arts in composition and a master's degree with a concentration in electronic and ethnic music. In 1977, he began work as a composer, arranger, and studio musician with some of Japan's most popular rock, jazz, and classical artists. Within a few years, he became a noted producer, arranger, and keyboardist. "Piano is my main instrument. It is like the extension of my body and brain." he said during an America Online chat, qualifying his classical leanings with the comment: "I'm basically a gadget victim, I always like new things!" In the 1970s and 1980s, Sakamoto became known as an innovator in electronic keyboard work and worked with such equipment as Fairlight 2, Prophet 5, and Arp Odyssey.

Formed Group; Began Recording and Touring

In 1978, Sakamoto released his first solo album, Thousand Knives, and, along with Haruomi Hosano and Yukihiro Takahashi, formed Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). In 1979, YMO's second album sold well over a million copies, leading to the first of many world tours. While touring, Sakamoto witnessed firsthand the origin of those influences that had fascinated him as a youth.

YMO released 13 albums between 1978 and 1984, also releasing another 13 albums of other material and remixes over the over next 12 years. YMO remains popular to this day, with several Internet Web sites devoted to the group. YMO's music shows Sakamoto's influence by such diverse sources as jazz, classical, Jamaican dub, Latin Bossa Nova, and Indonesian gamelan, as well as his interest in pioneering electronic equipment. YMO continues to have a devoted following and its influence on technopop and ambient new age music is still widely recognized.

In 1983, Sakamoto left YMO to begin writing film scores. He created his first soundtrack for the film Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, in which he also had an acting role. This experience led to a number of other film scores. In 1984, Sakamoto formed his own publishing company Hon Hon Doh and published Long Calls, a dialogue with Yuji Takahashi.

In 1987, Sakamoto's score for Bertolucci's The Last Emperor, written in collaboration with Cong Su and Talking Heads founder David Byrne, won an Oscar, a Grammy, a Golden Globe, and The New York, Los Angeles, and British Film Critics Association awards for Best Original Score. He also had an acting role in the film. "The director asked me to act first, then I asked to compose the music so it was a good trade," he said in an America Online chat. Since that time Sakamoto has worked twice with Bertolucci, as well as Oliver Stone ( Wild Palms), Almodovar (High Heels) and other films. Of his working relationship with Bertolucci, he told America Online, "We're friends, but when we work, we, of course, fight. I'm always the loser, because it's his film. That's what he says, 'It's my film.'"

Sakamoto's film roles also led to an appearance in Madonna's "Rain" music video, and as a celebrity model for Barney's New York fashion designer Antonio Miro and the Gap. He has even appeared as a menswear model in some of the world's most prestigious magazines. Sakamoto's film scores have led to work with such iconic musicians as David Bowie (who also acted in Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence), Iggy Pop, and Jamaican reggae artist Sly Dunbar on his 1987 album Neo Geo.

Other collaborators include Beach Boy Brian Wilson, the Band's Robbie Robertson, Talking Head's David Byrne, David Sylvain, and Caetano Veloso, as well as writer William Burroughs and cyberpunk trailblazer William Gibson. Between 1979 and 1996, Sakamoto played on, arranged, or produced 13 albums and 15 singles in collaboration with other artists. He also composed and conducted El Mar Mediterano for the Opening Ceremony of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, and composed music for the opening ceremony of The World Athletic Championships in Tokyo, in 1991.

New Times, New Media

In addition to his work with YMO, film soundtracks, and collaborative efforts, Sakamoto has engaged In a weighty solo career. Between 1978 and 1996, he released 23 solo albums. His musical interests, always geographically expansive, have broadened in a conceptual sense as well. His solo musical career is not limited to CDs and live performance. Three of his live performances—July 26, 1996 at London's Royal Festival Hall—June 16,1996 at the Knitting Factory in New York—and August 28, 1996, at Orchard Hall in Tokyo—were broadcast on the Internet. He also has a radio program in Japan, and his guest lecture at Keio University is available on the Internet as well.

Sakamoto continues to explore new musical concepts and anticipates the music of the next century. In his online diary for September, 1996, he wrote, "I ask myself what the sound of music originating from something as immense as the Internet would sound like. The music would be without a center. Perhaps a key in understanding of what this kind of music would sound like lies in the music of the Pygmy tribes in Africa or in sounds made by whales." With close to a hundred singles and albums to his credit since 1973, Sakamoto is one of the more prolific artists around. His diversity in style and medium is impressive as well. He has done work in film, video, vinyl, CD, on the radio and Internet. His style encompasses the technopop he pioneered as well as the multi-cultural idioms he has always embraced—Latin, Asian, European Classical, American pop, and a wide variety of constantly evolving interests. Sakamoto's range, productivity, and ability to constantly grow and explore continue to make him a prominent feature on the musical landscape of the 1990s.

—Link Yaco