1.
Japanese name
–
Japanese names in modern times usually consist of a family name, followed by a given name. More than one name is not generally used. Japanese names are written in kanji, which are characters usually Chinese in origin. The kanji for a name may have a variety of possible Japanese pronunciations, Names written in hiragana or katakana are phonetic renderings, and so lack the visual meaning of names expressed in the logographic kanji. Japanese family names are extremely varied, according to estimates, there are over 100,000 different surnames in use today in Japan, the three most common family names in Japan are Satō, Suzuki, and Takahashi. Many Japanese family names derive from features of the landscape, for example, Ishikawa means stone river, Yamamoto means the base of the mountain. While family names follow relatively consistent rules, given names are more diverse in pronunciation. Unusual pronunciations have especially become common, with this trend having increased significantly since the 1990s, male names often end in -rō or -ta, or contain ichi, kazu, ji, or dai while female names often end in -ko or -mi. Other popular endings for female names include -ka and -na, the majority of Japanese people have one surname and one given name with no other names, except for the Japanese imperial family, whose members bear no surname. The family name – myōji, uji or sei – precedes the given name, the given name may be referred to as the lower name because, in vertically written Japanese, the given name appears under the family name. People with mixed Japanese and foreign parentage may have middle names, historically, myōji, uji and sei had different meanings. Sei was originally the patrilineal surname which is why up till now it has granted only by the emperor as a title of male rank. The lower form of the name sei being tei which is a name in Japanese men. Although there was an ancestor in ancient Japan from whom the name Sei originally came. There were relatively few sei, and most of the noble clans trace their lineage either directly to these sei or to the courtiers of these sei. Uji was another name used to designate patrilineal descent, but later merged with myōji around the same time, myōji was, simply, what a family chooses to call itself, as opposed to the sei granted by the emperor. While it was passed on patrilineally in male ancestors including in male ancestors called haku, multiple Japanese characters have the same pronunciations, so several Japanese names have multiple meanings. A particular kanji itself can have multiple meanings and pronunciations, in some names, Japanese characters phonetically spell a name and have no intended meaning behind them
Japanese name
–
Akishino-dera in
Nara, from which
Prince Akishino took his name
Japanese name
–
Here
Fumiko Orikasa 's name is presented family name first in Japanese while it is presented given name first in English
2.
Tokyo
–
Tokyo, officially Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan and one of its 47 prefectures. The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous area in the world. It is the seat of the Emperor of Japan and the Japanese government, Tokyo is in the Kantō region on the southeastern side of the main island Honshu and includes the Izu Islands and Ogasawara Islands. Formerly known as Edo, it has been the de facto seat of government since 1603 when Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu made the city his headquarters. It officially became the capital after Emperor Meiji moved his seat to the city from the old capital of Kyoto in 1868, Tokyo Metropolis was formed in 1943 from the merger of the former Tokyo Prefecture and the city of Tokyo. The Tokyo metropolitan government administers the 23 Special Wards of Tokyo, the metropolitan government also administers 39 municipalities in the western part of the prefecture and the two outlying island chains. The population of the wards is over 9 million people. The prefecture is part of the worlds most populous metropolitan area with upwards of 37.8 million people, the city hosts 51 of the Fortune Global 500 companies, the highest number of any city in the world. Tokyo ranked third in the International Financial Centres Development IndexEdit, the city is also home to various television networks such as Fuji TV, Tokyo MX, TV Tokyo, TV Asahi, Nippon Television, NHK and the Tokyo Broadcasting System. Tokyo ranked first in the Global Economic Power Index and fourth in the Global Cities Index. The city is considered a world city – as listed by the GaWCs 2008 inventory – and in 2014. In 2015, Tokyo was named the Most Liveable City in the world by the magazine Monocle, the Michelin Guide has awarded Tokyo by far the most Michelin stars of any city in the world. Tokyo ranked first in the world in the Safe Cities Index, the 2016 edition of QS Best Student Cities ranked Tokyo as the 3rd-best city in the world to be a university student. Tokyo hosted the 1964 Summer Olympics, the 1979 G-7 summit, the 1986 G-7 summit, and the 1993 G-7 summit, and will host the 2020 Summer Olympics, Tokyo was originally known as Edo, which means estuary. During the early Meiji period, the city was also called Tōkei, some surviving official English documents use the spelling Tokei. However, this pronunciation is now obsolete, the name Tokyo was first suggested in 1813 in the book Kondō Hisaku, written by Satō Nobuhiro. When Ōkubo Toshimichi proposed the renaming to the government during the Meiji Restoration, according to Oda Kanshi, Tokyo was originally a small fishing village named Edo, in what was formerly part of the old Musashi Province. Edo was first fortified by the Edo clan, in the twelfth century
Tokyo
–
Clockwise from top:
Nishi-Shinjuku,
Rainbow Bridge,
National Diet Building,
Shibuya,
Tokyo Skytree
Tokyo
–
Satellite photo of Tokyo's 23 Special wards taken by
NASA 's
Landsat 7
Tokyo
–
Tokugawa Ieyasu
Tokyo
–
Ginza area in 1933
3.
Japan
–
Japan is a sovereign island nation in Eastern Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast of the Asia Mainland and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea, the kanji that make up Japans name mean sun origin. 日 can be read as ni and means sun while 本 can be read as hon, or pon, Japan is often referred to by the famous epithet Land of the Rising Sun in reference to its Japanese name. Japan is an archipelago consisting of about 6,852 islands. The four largest are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku, the country is divided into 47 prefectures in eight regions. Hokkaido being the northernmost prefecture and Okinawa being the southernmost one, the population of 127 million is the worlds tenth largest. Japanese people make up 98. 5% of Japans total population, approximately 9.1 million people live in the city of Tokyo, the capital of Japan. Archaeological research indicates that Japan was inhabited as early as the Upper Paleolithic period, the first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD. Influence from other regions, mainly China, followed by periods of isolation, from the 12th century until 1868, Japan was ruled by successive feudal military shoguns who ruled in the name of the Emperor. Japan entered into a period of isolation in the early 17th century. The Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded into part of World War II in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan is a member of the UN, the OECD, the G7, the G8, the country has the worlds third-largest economy by nominal GDP and the worlds fourth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It is also the worlds fourth-largest exporter and fourth-largest importer, although Japan has officially renounced its right to declare war, it maintains a modern military with the worlds eighth-largest military budget, used for self-defense and peacekeeping roles. Japan is a country with a very high standard of living. Its population enjoys the highest life expectancy and the third lowest infant mortality rate in the world, in ancient China, Japan was called Wo 倭. It was mentioned in the third century Chinese historical text Records of the Three Kingdoms in the section for the Wei kingdom, Wa became disliked because it has the connotation of the character 矮, meaning dwarf. The 倭 kanji has been replaced with the homophone Wa, meaning harmony, the Japanese word for Japan is 日本, which is pronounced Nippon or Nihon and literally means the origin of the sun. The earliest record of the name Nihon appears in the Chinese historical records of the Tang dynasty, at the start of the seventh century, a delegation from Japan introduced their country as Nihon
Japan
–
The
Golden Hall and
five-storey pagoda of
Hōryū-ji, among the oldest wooden buildings in the world,
National Treasures, and a
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Japan
Japan
–
Samurai warriors face Mongols, during the
Mongol invasions of Japan. The
Kamikaze, two storms, are said to have saved Japan from Mongol fleets.
Japan
–
Samurai could
kill a commoner for the slightest insult and were widely feared by the Japanese population.
Edo period, 1798
4.
Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music
–
Tokyo University of the Arts or Geidai is an art school in Japan. Located in Ueno Park, it also has facilities in Toride, Ibaraki, Yokohama, Kanagawa, the university owns two halls of residence, one in Adachi, Tokyo, and the other in Matsudo, Chiba. The university was formed in 1949 by the merger of the Tokyo School of Fine Arts, originally male-only, the schools began to admit women in 1946. The graduate school opened in 1963, and began offering degrees in 1977. After the National University Corporations were formed on April 1,2004, on April 1,2008, the university changed its English name from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music to Tokyo University of the Arts. Schneider Takashi Shimizu Kanzan Shimomura Masaaki Suzuki Toru Takahashi Kōun Takamura Kenji Watanabe Yoshiaki Watanabe Koji Yamamoto List of National Treasures of Japan Official website
Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music
–
Tokyo University of the Arts
Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music
–
Film director
Teshigahara Hiroshi (1927-2001)
Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music
–
Composer
Sakamoto Ryuichi (born 1952)
Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music
–
Traditional Japanese composer
Taki Rentaro (1879–1903)
5.
Electronic music
–
In general, a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound producing devices include the telharmonium, Hammond organ, purely electronic sound production can be achieved using devices such as the theremin, sound synthesizer, and computer. During the 1920s and 1930s, electronic instruments were introduced and the first compositions for instruments were composed. Musique concrète, created in Paris in 1948, was based on editing together recorded fragments of natural and industrial sounds, Music produced solely from electronic generators was first produced in Germany in 1953. Electronic music was created in Japan and the United States beginning in the 1950s. An important new development was the advent of computers for the purpose of composing music, algorithmic composition was first demonstrated in Australia in 1951. In America and Europe, live electronics were pioneered in the early 1960s, during the 1970s to early 1980s, the monophonic Minimoog became once the most widely used synthesizer at that time in both popular and electronic art music. In the 1980s, electronic music became dominant in popular music, with a greater reliance on synthesizers, and the adoption of programmable drum machines. Electronically produced music became prevalent in the domain by the 1990s. Contemporary electronic music includes many varieties and ranges from art music to popular forms such as electronic dance music. Today, pop music is most recognizable in its 4/4 form. At the turn of the 20th century, experimentation with emerging electronics led to the first electronic musical instruments and these initial inventions were not sold, but were instead used in demonstrations and public performances. The audiences were presented with reproductions of existing music instead of new compositions for the instruments, while some were considered novelties and produced simple tones, the Telharmonium accurately synthesized the sound of orchestral instruments. It achieved viable public interest and made progress into streaming music through telephone networks. Critics of musical conventions at the time saw promise in these developments, ferruccio Busoni encouraged the composition of microtonal music allowed for by electronic instruments. He predicted the use of machines in future music, writing the influential Sketch of a New Esthetic of Music, futurists such as Francesco Balilla Pratella and Luigi Russolo began composing music with acoustic noise to evoke the sound of machinery. They predicted expansions in timbre allowed for by electronics in the influential manifesto The Art of Noises, developments of the vacuum tube led to electronic instruments that were smaller, amplified, and more practical for performance. In particular, the theremin, ondes Martenot and trautonium were commercially produced by the early 1930s, from the late 1920s, the increased practicality of electronic instruments influenced composers such as Joseph Schillinger to adopt them
Electronic music
–
Telharmonium,
Thaddeus Cahill, 1897
Electronic music
–
Halim El-Dabh at a
Cleveland festival in 2009
Electronic music
–
Karlheinz Stockhausen in the Electronic Music Studio of WDR, Cologne, in 1991
Electronic music
–
Israeli composer
Josef Tal at the Electronic Music Studio in Jerusalem (c. 1965). On the right,
Hugh Le Caine 's sound
synthesizer the Special Purpose Tape Recorder.
6.
Pop music
–
Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form in the United States and United Kingdom during the mid 1950s. The terms popular music and pop music are used interchangeably, although the former describes all music that is popular. Pop and rock were synonymous terms until the late 1960s, when they were used in opposition from each other. Although pop music is seen as just the singles charts, it is not the sum of all chart music. Pop music is eclectic, and often borrows elements from other such as urban, dance, rock, Latin. Identifying factors include generally short to medium-length songs written in a format, as well as the common use of repeated choruses, melodic tunes. David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop music as a body of music which is distinguishable from popular, jazz, according to Pete Seeger, pop music is professional music which draws upon both folk music and fine arts music. Although pop music is seen as just the singles charts, it is not the sum of all chart music, the music charts contain songs from a variety of sources, including classical, jazz, rock, and novelty songs. Pop music, as a genre, is seen as existing and developing separately, pop music continuously evolves along with the terms definition. The term pop song was first recorded as being used in 1926, Hatch and Millward indicate that many events in the history of recording in the 1920s can be seen as the birth of the modern pop music industry, including in country, blues and hillbilly music. The Oxford Dictionary of Music states that while pops earlier meaning meant concerts appealing to a wide audience. Since the late 1950s, however, pop has had the meaning of non-classical mus, usually in the form of songs, performed by such artists as the Beatles. Grove Music Online also states that, in the early 1960s pop music competed terminologically with beat music, while in the USA its coverage overlapped with that of rock and roll. From about 1967, the term was used in opposition to the term rock music. Whereas rock aspired to authenticity and an expansion of the possibilities of music, pop was more commercial, ephemeral. It is not driven by any significant ambition except profit and commercial reward, and, in musical terms, it is essentially conservative. It is, provided from on high rather than being made from below, pop is not a do-it-yourself music but is professionally produced and packaged. The beat and the melodies tend to be simple, with limited harmonic accompaniment, the lyrics of modern pop songs typically focus on simple themes – often love and romantic relationships – although there are notable exceptions
Pop music
–
The Oxford Dictionary of Music states that the term "pop" refers to music performed by such artists as
the Rolling Stones (pictured here in a 2006 performance)
Pop music
–
According to several sources,
MTV helped give rise to
pop stars such as
Michael Jackson and
Madonna; and Jackson and Madonna helped make MTV.
Pop music
7.
Classical music
–
Classical music is art music produced or rooted in the traditions of Western music, including both liturgical and secular music. The central norms of this tradition became codified between 1550 and 1900, which is known as the common-practice period, Western staff notation is used by composers to indicate to the performer the pitches, tempo, meter and rhythms for a piece of music. This can leave less room for such as improvisation and ad libitum ornamentation. The term classical music did not appear until the early 19th century, the earliest reference to classical music recorded by the Oxford English Dictionary is from about 1836. This score typically determines details of rhythm, pitch, and, the written quality of the music has enabled a high level of complexity within them, J. S. The use of written notation also preserves a record of the works, Musical notation enables 2000s-era performers to sing a choral work from the 1300s Renaissance era or a 1700s Baroque concerto with many of the features of the music being reproduced. That said, the score does not provide complete and exact instructions on how to perform a historical work, even if the tempo is written with an Italian instruction, we do not know exactly how fast the piece should be played. Bach was particularly noted for his complex improvisations, during the Classical era, the composer-performer Mozart was noted for his ability to improvise melodies in different styles. During the Classical era, some virtuoso soloists would improvise the cadenza sections of a concerto, during the Romantic era, Beethoven would improvise at the piano. The instruments currently used in most classical music were largely invented before the mid-19th century and they consist of the instruments found in an orchestra or in a concert band, together with several other solo instruments. The symphony orchestra is the most widely known medium for music and includes members of the string, woodwind, brass. The concert band consists of members of the woodwind, brass and it generally has a larger variety and number of woodwind and brass instruments than the orchestra but does not have a string section. However, many bands use a double bass. Many of the used to perform medieval music still exist. Medieval instruments included the flute, the recorder and plucked string instruments like the lute. As well, early versions of the organ, fiddle, Medieval instruments in Europe had most commonly been used singly, often self accompanied with a drone note, or occasionally in parts. From at least as early as the 13th century through the 15th century there was a division of instruments into haut, during the earlier medieval period, the vocal music from the liturgical genre, predominantly Gregorian chant, was monophonic, using a single, unaccompanied vocal melody line. Polyphonic vocal genres, which used multiple independent vocal melodies, began to develop during the medieval era, becoming prevalent by the later 13th
Classical music
Classical music
–
Nineteenth-century composer and pianist
Clara Schumann is one of only a few female composers mentioned in the Concise Oxford History of Music.
Classical music
–
The Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra performs
Tchaikovsky 's
Fourth Symphony.
Classical music
–
A youth
concert band in performance.
8.
Experimental music
–
The practice became prominent in the mid-20th century, particularly in North America. John Cage was one of the earliest composers to use the term and one of experimental musics primary innovators, utilizing indeterminacy techniques and seeking unknown outcomes. Also, in America, a distinct sense of the term was used in the late 1950s to describe computer-controlled composition associated with composers such as Lejaren Hiller. Harry Partch as well as Ivor Darreg worked with other tuning scales based on the laws for harmonic music. For this music they developed a group of experimental musical instruments. Musique concrète, is a form of music that utilises acousmatic sound as a compositional resource. Elements of experimental music include indeterminate music, in which the composer introduces the elements of chance or unpredictability with regard to either the composition or its performance. The Groupe de Recherches de Musique Concrète, under the leadership of Pierre Schaeffer, publication of Schaeffers manifesto was delayed by four years, by which time Schaeffer was favoring the term recherche musicale, though he never wholly abandoned musique expérimentale. John Cage was also using the term as early as 1955, according to Cages definition, an experimental action is one the outcome of which is not foreseen, and he was specifically interested in completed works that performed an unpredictable action. Rebners lecture extended the concept back in time to include Charles Ives, Edgard Varèse, nyman opposes experimental music to the European avant-garde of the time, for whom The identity of a composition is of paramount importance. David Cope also distinguishes between experimental and avant garde, describing music as that which represents a refusal to accept the status quo. That is, for the most part, experimental music studies describes a category without really explaining it and this was an attempt to marginalize, and thereby dismiss various kinds of music that did not conform to established conventions. In 1955, Pierre Boulez identified it as a new definition makes it possible to restrict to a laboratory. He concludes, There is no such thing as experimental music … and it is therefore not a genre, but an open category, because any attempt to classify a phenomenon as unclassifiable and elusive as experimental music must be partial. Furthermore, the indeterminacy in performance guarantees that two versions of the same piece will have virtually no perceptible musical facts in common. The term experimental music was used contemporaneously for electronic music, particularly in the early musique concrète work of Schaeffer, a number of early 20th-century American composers, seen as precedents to and influences on John Cage, are sometimes referred to as the American Experimental School. These include Charles Ives, Charles and Ruth Crawford Seeger, Henry Cowell, Carl Ruggles, for this music they both developed custom-built musical instruments often characterized as experimental instruments. La Monte Young is known for using this technique when he began working on his minimal drone pieces which consisted of layers of sounds in different pitches
Experimental music
–
Moodswinger,
Yuri Landman
9.
World music
–
The term was popularized in the 1980s as a marketing category for non-Western traditional music. Globalization has facilitated the expansion of world musics audiences and scope and it has grown to include hybrid subgenres such as world fusion, global fusion, ethnic fusion, and worldbeat. To enhance the process of learning, he invited more than a dozen visiting performers from Africa and Asia, the term became current in the 1980s as a marketing/classificatory device in the media and the music industry. There are several conflicting definitions for world music, one is that it consists of all the music in the world, though such a broad definition renders the term virtually meaningless. The term also is taken as a classification of music that combines Western popular music styles with one of many genres of music that are also described as folk music or ethnic music. However, world music is not exclusively traditional folk music and it may include cutting edge pop music styles as well. Succinctly, it can be described as music from out there. It is a nebulous term with an increasing number of genres that fall under the umbrella of world music to capture musical trends of combined ethnic style and texture. As a result, definitions of the genre have become particularly varied, similar terminology between distinctly different sub-categories under primary music genres, such as world, rock and pop can be as ambiguous and confusing to industry moguls as it is to consumers. In a report on the 2014 globalFEST National Public Radios Anastasia Tsioulcas said Even within the music community. Whats more, I believe that in peoples imaginations, world music means a kind of fairly awful, gloppy, hippy-ish. Its a problematic, horrible term that satisfies absolutely no one, the Breton musician Alan Stivell pioneered the connection between traditional folk music, modern rock music and world music with his 1972 album Renaissance of the Celtic Harp. At this time, Stivells contemporary, Welsh singer-songwriter Meic Stevens popularised Welsh folk music, more recently, other Welsh-language bands such as Calan and 9 Bach have achieved international acclaim. The broad category of music includes isolated forms of ethnic music from diverse geographical regions. These dissimilar strains of music are commonly categorized together by virtue of their indigenous roots. World fusion / Worldbeat / Ethnic fusion / Global fusion can also blend specific indigenous sounds with more blatant elements of Western pop. Depending on style and context, world music can sometimes share the music genre. Good examples are Tibetan bowls, Tuvan throat singing, Gregorian chant or Native American flute music, World music blended with new-age music is a sound, loosely classified as the hybrid genre, ethnic fusion
World music
–
Guinean-born self-taught guitarist, singer, and songwriter
Alpha Yaya Diallo at a festival
World music
–
Omer Ihsas and Peace Messengers
World music
–
Delhi 2 Dublin in 2012
World music
–
Anda Union at a music festival
10.
Columbia Records
–
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, Inc. the United States division of Sony Corporation. It was founded in 1887, evolving from an enterprise named the American Graphophone Company. Columbia is the oldest surviving brand name in the sound business. Columbia Records went on to release records by an array of singers, instrumentalists. It is one of Sony Musics three flagship record labels alongside RCA Records and Epic Records, rather, as above, it was connected to CBS, a broadcasting media company which had purchased the company in 1938, and had been co-founded in 1927 by Columbia Records itself. Though Arista Records was sold to Bertelsmann Music Group, it would become a sister label of Columbia Records through its mutual connection to Sony Music. The Columbia Phonograph Company was founded in 1887 by stenographer, lawyer and New Jersey native Edward Easton and it derived its name from the District of Columbia, where it was headquartered. At first it had a monopoly on sales and service of Edison phonographs and phonograph cylinders in Washington. As was the custom of some of the regional companies, Columbia produced many commercial cylinder recordings of its own. Columbias ties to Edison and the North American Phonograph Company were severed in 1894 with the North American Phonograph Companys breakup, thereafter it sold only records and phonographs of its own manufacture. In 1902, Columbia introduced the XP record, a brown wax record. According to Gracyk, the molded brown waxes may have sold to Sears for distribution. Columbia began selling records and phonographs in addition to the cylinder system in 1901, preceded only by their Toy Graphophone of 1899. For a decade, Columbia competed with both the Edison Phonograph Company cylinders and the Victor Talking Machine Company disc records as one of the top three names in American recorded sound. In order to add prestige to its catalog of artists. The firm also introduced the internal-horn Grafonola to compete with the extremely popular Victrola sold by the rival Victor Talking Machine Company, during this era, Columbia used the famous Magic Notes logo—a pair of sixteenth notes in a circle—both in the United States and overseas. Columbia was split into two companies, one to make records and one to make players, Columbia Phonograph was moved to Connecticut, and Ed Easton went with it. Eventually it was renamed the Dictaphone Corporation, in late 1923, Columbia went into receivership
Columbia Records
–
Original home of Columbia in Washington, D.C., in 1889
Columbia Records
Columbia Records
–
A Columbia type AT cylinder
graphophone, first released in 1898
Columbia Records
–
This article is about the American record label active worldwide except in Japan. For the Columbia label which was a unit of EMI, see
Columbia Graphophone Company. For the Columbia label in Japan, see
Nippon Columbia.
11.
Alfa Records
–
Alfa Records Inc. was established in 1969 by composer and record producer Kunihiko Murai. It was formed into an independent record label known as Alfa Records in 1977, a short-lived American subsidiary operated from 1980 to 1982. In December 1980, Alfa Records opened a U. S. subsidiary in Los Angeles, hot 100 success came with singles by Yutaka featuring Patti Austin and The Monroes, and the label also branched out into country music with the Corbin/Hanner Band. However, the American subsidiary ceased operations in July 1982 due to market conditions, and although the shutdown was intended to be temporary. Back home in Japan, the company faced much hardship in the 1990s, due to financial troubles from the collapse of their previous diversification into foreign automobile dealerships, the record label was reformed into a new company Alfa Music in 1994. 1995 saw the closure of their Shibaura A Studio, in October 1998, operations were scaled back and Alfa withdrew from record production. Alfa were partners with A&M Records, Zomba Music and Mute during the 1980s and 1990s for Japanese domestic distribution, yen Records was an imprint that ran from 1982 to 1985 fronted by Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi of Yellow Magic Orchestra. Most albums were produced by Hosono or Takahashi, and mainly focused on Japanese new wave music, Alfa International was a sublabel which mainly published international releases of various music styles, including Italo disco, eurobeat, Europop, synthpop and Eurodance. GMO was a label for chiptune and video game music releases, several albums were released including music from Sega, Konami, Hudson, Capcom, and Tecmo games. Corbin/Hanner Band Depeche Mode Erasure The Police Falco Lulu Max Q Kylie Minogue The Monroes PIG Billy Vera & the Beaters Elegy Swamp Terrorists Telex Parish George Benson Yutaka Yokokura
Alfa Records
–
Alfa Records Inc. アルファレコード
12.
Sony Music Entertainment Japan
–
Sony Music Entertainment Inc. often abbreviated as SMEJ or simply SME, and also known as Sony Music Japan for short, is Sonys music arm in Japan. SMEJ is directly owned by Sony Corporation and independent from the United States-based Sony Music Entertainment due to its strength in the Japanese music industry. It was prominent in the early to mid 90s producing and licensing music for such as Roujin Z from acclaimed manga artist Katsuhiro Otomo. Until March 2007, Sony Music Japan also had its own North American sublabel, releases of Sony Music Japan now appear on Columbia Records and/or Epic Records in North America. The Columbia name and trademark is controlled by Nippon Columbia, which was, in fact, the company was incorporated as CBS/Sony Records and with Sony co-founder Akio Morita as president. Norio Ohga was part of the management team from the formation of the company and served as president, in 1972, when CBS/Sony was generating robust profits, Ohga was named chairman and at the same time gained further responsibility and influence within Sony. He would continue to work for the company one morning a week. In 1980 Toshio Ozawa succeeded Ohga as president, in 1983 the company was renamed CBS/Sony Group. In January 1988, after more than a year of negotiations, Sony acquired CBS Records, in March 1988, four wholly owned subsidiaries were folded into CBS/Sony Group, CBS/Sony Inc. CBS/Sony Records Inc. and Sony Video Software International, the company was renamed Sony Music Entertainment, Inc. Shugo Matsuo was named new president in January 1992, replacing Toshio Ozawa, overall sales for the fiscal year ending March 31,1991 were 83.8 billion yen with a pretax profit of 9.2 billion yen. In June 1996, Ryokichi Kunugi became new president, Shigeo Maruyama was appointed to the new post of CEO on October 1,1997 and replaced Kunugi as president in February 1998. As of 2007, Naoki Kitagawa is the current CEO of the group, the companys leading role on the Japanese market was increasingly challenged by labels such as Avex. Net sales for the year ending March 31,1997 were down 10% to 103 billion yen. The market share at that time was less than 18%, in August 1997, Dreams Come True, until that point Sony Music Entertainment Japans best-selling act, signed a worldwide multi-album deal with competing U. S. label Virgin Records America. Since then it was said that SMEJ ceded to Avexs challenge, SMEJ netted 22.4 billion yen for 1H2012 and 14. 3% of the market, second behind Avex. Aniplex Antinos Records was launched in 1994 with Sony Music director Shigeo Maruyama as its president, the first releases on August 21 were a mini-album by indie group Confusion and singles by the groups Aniss, Neverending Story, and Ginji Itoh. Ariola Japan BMG Music Japan DefSTAR Records - founded in 1997 as a Warner Music sub label, SME Records Sony Music Records Sony Records gr8
Sony Music Entertainment Japan
–
Sony Music Entertainment Japan headquarters in Rokubanchō,
Chiyoda,
Tokyo occupied in June 2001
Sony Music Entertainment Japan
–
SME Nogizaka Building in
Akasaka,
Minato, Tokyo.
Sony Music Entertainment Japan
–
Naoki Kitagawa, the
CEO of Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment Japan
–
Primary businesses
13.
EMI Music Japan
–
EMI Music Japan Inc. was one of Japans leading music companies. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of British music company EMI Group Ltd. in June 30,2007 after Toshiba sold off its previous 45% stake and its CEO and president was Kazuhiko Koike. When EMI Music Japan was trading as Toshiba-EMI, it was involved with the production of anime, on April 1,2013, the company became defunct, following its absorption into Universal Music Japan as a sublabel under the name EMI Records Japan. The company was founded on October 1,1960, as Toshiba Musical Industries, from 1962, it licensed Columbia titles for release in Japan. After an injection of capital by Capitol EMI, EMI acquired 50% of the company in October 1973, on October 3,1994, the equity ratio of the company was changed, in which EMI obtained 55% with Toshiba owning the remaining 45%. On June 30,2007, Toshiba Corporation sold the remaining 45% stake in the company to EMI, the name was then changed to EMI Music Japan, reflecting Toshibas divestiture from the business. On April 1,2013, EMI Music Japan was officially absorbed into Universal Music Japan, the label continued to use the TOCT catalog code until October 2013, when it started to use the TYCT catalog code. The official website has shut down as of October 23,2013. After the dissolution and absorption, some of the former EMI staffs, then-executive producer San-e Ichii has been the managing director of Japan Content Expansion Department. Kazuhiko Koike has stepped down from his position as CEO by the end of 2013, nine months after the merger and he was replaced by Naoshi Fujikura. EMI Music Japans present slogan is Music for all, All for music, TM Factory Unlimited Records List of record labels Youmex Official website— 50th Anniversary of EMI Music Japan website—
EMI Music Japan
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Divisions and
subsidiaries
14.
Warner Music Group
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Warner Music Group is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. With a multibillion-dollar annual turnover, WMG employs in excess of 3,500 people and has operations in more than 50 countries throughout the world, the company owns and operates some of the largest and most successful record labels in the world, including its flagship labels Warner Bros. WMG also owns Warner/Chappell Music, one of the worlds largest music publishers, the film company had no record label division at the time and one of its contracted actors, Tab Hunter, scored a hit song for Dot Records, which was a division of rival Paramount Pictures. In order to prevent any repetition of its actors recording for rival companies, in 1963, Warner purchased Reprise Records, which had been founded by Frank Sinatra three years earlier so that he could have more creative control over his recordings. With the Reprise acquisition, Warner gained the services of Mo Ostin, the Canadian unit was opened in 1967 as Warner Reprise Canada Ltd, now called Warner Music Canada Co. After Warner Bros. was sold to Seven Arts Productions in 1967, it purchased Atlantic Records, founded in 1947 and WMGs oldest label and this acquisition brought Neil Young into the company fold, initially as a member of Buffalo Springfield. The Geffen catalogue, now owned by Universal Music Group, represents Youngs only major recordings not under WMG ownership, in 1969, two years after being purchased by Seven Arts, the Warner Bros. -Seven Arts company was sold to the Kinney National Company. Kinney combined the operations of all of its labels. An earlier attempt by Warner Bros. Records to create a distribution arm in 1958 didnt materialize. So in 1969, Elektra Records boss Jac Holzman approached Atlantics Jerry Wexler with the idea of setting up a joint distribution network for Warner, Elektra, an experimental branch was established in Southern California as a possible prototype for an expanded operation. Atlantic, its subsidiary Atco Records, and its affiliate Stax Records paved the way for Warners rise to industry prominence, the purchase brought in Atlantics lucrative back-catalogue, which included classic recordings by Ray Charles, the Drifters, the Coasters, and many more. But the sale led to Stax leaving the Atlantic fold because the new Warner owners insisted on keeping the rights to Stax recordings and it was soon apparent in 1969 that Atlantic/Atco president Ahmet Ertegün viewed Warner/Reprise president Mike Maitland as godlike. Maitland believed that, as vice-president in charge of the Warner Bros, in retrospect Ertegün clearly feared that Maitland would ultimately have more power than him and so he moved rapidly to secure his own position and remove Maitland. Following the takeover, Warners music group briefly adopted the umbrella name Kinney Music, erteguns campaign against Maitland began in earnest that summer. Atlantic had agreed to help Warner Bros. in its efforts to establish its labels overseas, Mike Maitland complained bitterly to Kinney executive Ted Ashley, but to no avail – by this time Ertegun was poised to make his move against Maitland. As he had with Hyman, Ertegun urged Steve Ross to extend Mo Ostin and Joe Smiths contracts, in response, Ertegun broadly hinted that Maitlands days were numbered and that he, Ertegun, was about to take over the recording division. Unlike the Warner/Reprise executives, Atlantics execs the Ertegun brothers and Wexler owned stock in Kinney, on Sunday January 25, Ted Ashley went to Maitlands house to tell him he had been dismissed, and Maitland declined the offer of a job at the movie studio. One week later, Mo Ostin was named as the new President of Warner Bros, Records, with Joe Smith as his Executive Vice-President
Warner Music Group
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Warner Music Group
15.
Avex Trax
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Avex Trax is a record label owned by Japanese entertainment conglomerate Avex Group. The label was launched in September 1990, and was the first label by the Group and this led to the birth of the Avex Trax label. The first artist to sign for the label was TRF, which became a success, formerly distributed by the Nippon Crown label, in 1997 it became a self-distributed label together with Cutting Edge, which was formerly distributed by Toshiba-EMI by that time. Official website Parent Company website Avex Trax at Anime News Networks encyclopedia Avex Trax at the Internet Movie Database
Avex Trax
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Avex Trax
16.
Yellow Magic Orchestra
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Yellow Magic Orchestra is a Japanese electronic music band consisting of principal members Haruomi Hosono, Yukihiro Takahashi and Ryuichi Sakamoto. For their early albums and live performances, the band was often accompanied by music programmer Hideki Matsutake. Over the course of YMOs career, the continued to embrace new technologies, fusing them with classic pop forms. They are often considered influential innovators in the field of electronic music. They contributed to the development of synthpop, ambient house, electronica, electro, contemporary J-pop, house, techno, more broadly, their influence is evident across various genres of popular music, including electronic dance, ambient music, chiptune, game music, and pop music. Also around the time, the bands 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, Hosono invited both to work on his exotica-flavoured album Paraiso, which included electronic songs produced using various electronic equipment. The band was named Harry Hosono and the Yellow Magic Band as a satire of Japans obsession with magic at the time, and in late 1977 they began recording Paraiso. The three worked together again for the 1978 album Pacific, which included a version of the song Cosmic Surfin. Hosono also contributed to one of Sakamotos songs, Thousand Knives, Thousand Knives was also notable for its early use of the microprocessor-based Roland MC-8 Microcomposer music sequencer, with Matsutake as its music programmer for the album. Hosono, Sakamoto and Takahashi eventually collaborated again to form the Yellow Magic Orchestra, the album featured the use of computer technology which, according to Billboard, allowed the group to create a new sound that was not possible until then. This led to the YMO being offered a deal, at which point the three members decided the group would be given priority over their solo careers. For some time, YMO was the most popular band in Japan, a testament to the influence of YMO on fashion is how many middle-aged Japanese businessmen still have the Techno cut haircut, modelled after the group. Successful solo act Akiko Yano joined the band for its performances in the late 1970s and early 1980s. On the other hand, the YMO trio contributed to her own albums and became part of her live band, Solid State Survivor, released in 1979, was YMOs 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, the song was later revised by Michael Jackson, who added new lyrics and has intended to include it in his album Thriller. Despite the approval of songwriter Sakamoto and lyricist Chris Mosdell, it was removed from the album due to legal issues with YMOs management. Solid State Survivor included several early computerized synth rock songs, including a cover version of Day Tripper by the Beatles
Yellow Magic Orchestra
–
YMO after playing a
2008 concert in London. From left to right:
Ryuichi Sakamoto,
Yukihiro Takahashi,
Haruomi Hosono
Yellow Magic Orchestra
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The
Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer is one of the first programmable
drum machines, which since the mid-1980s has been used in more hit records than any other drum machine.
17.
Chris Mosdell
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Chris Mosdell is a British lyricist, poet, author, composer, vocalist and illustrator, based in Tokyo, Japan, and New York City, USA. He has collaborated with an array of musicians and artists, though he is especially known for his work with Yellow Magic Orchestra. As Mozz, Mosdell has also released a series of award-winning childrens books, arriving in Japan he became a script-writer for NHK, numerous radio programs, a reporter for Radio Free Europe, and a reader of the BBC World Service radio news. In 1977, a series of Mosdells poems, published in the Japan Times, came to the attention of Yukihiro Takahashi, Takahashi asked to use the poems as the lyrical base for pop singer Rajie, whose album he was producing. Shortly afterward, Sadistic Mika Band disbanded, and some of the members, including Takahashi. Mosdell wrote the lyrics to the Crazy Kimono Kids and Tokyo Taste for their Sadistics album, during this time Mosdell wrote chart-topping lyrics for other artists, including, among many others, Sandii and the Sunsetz, Sheena & The Rokkets, and Imitation. The breadth of Mosdells lyrical experimentation during this period led to his first solo recording and this resulted in the 1982 album Equasian, with its use of global ethnic sounds pre-dating the popularity of world music. It was also the first of Mosdells efforts employing his visual lyrical and compositional technique, VISIC, Equasian was showcased as an audio-visual/multimedia experience through live performances and a VISIC Exhibition at the Gallery Harajuku in Tokyo. For all its experimentation and relative obscurity, the relevance and popularity has continued up through recent times, being reissued as a gate-fold. During a period of increasing international collaborations, Mosdell travelled to Los Angeles to work with pop singer Boy George. They worked together on two single cuts for a Japanese shoju television commercial that, although released for a few weeks, was withdrawn after the singers brush with heroin. In the same city, pop singer Michael Jackson recorded a cover of YMOs Behind the Mask for inclusion on his 1982 Thriller album, Mosdell has said of the collaboration, when Michael Jackson took it, it made it into a love song about a woman. It was a different premise to me, I was talking about a very impersonal, socially controlled society, a future technological era. But hey, I let him have that one, the Mosdell-Sakamoto-Jackson version was later picked up by Jacksons keyboardist Greg Phillinganes for his 1984 album Pulse, and by Eric Clapton, for his August album, released in 1986. “Sticky Music, was another chart success for Mosdell, performed by Sandii. His lyrics to date were published in Ink Music, The Collected Lyrics of Chris Mosdell, during this time he again teamed up with Yukihiro Takahashi to write songs for the albums Ego and Broadcast from Heaven. In 2003 Sarah Brightman recorded the song When Firebirds Sing, an operatic opus set in ancient Japan, the song was commissioned for the popular PlayStation 2 software Tengai Makyo III. In 2008 Chris teamed up with long-time collaborator Kazuhiko Kato for a new band, Vitamin Q
Chris Mosdell
–
Chris Mosdell
18.
Japan (band)
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Japan were an English music group formed in 1974 in Catford, South London by David Sylvian, Steve Jansen, Richard Barbieri and Mick Karn. Japan achieved success in the late 1970s and early 1980s, releasing nine UK Top 40 hits, including the 1982 Top 10 hit Ghosts, the band split in 1982, just as they were beginning to experience significant commercial success in the UK and abroad. Its members went on to other musical projects, though they reformed briefly in the early 1990s under the name Rain Tree Crow. The band began as a group of friends in 1974, Brothers David Sylvian and Steve Jansen, keyboardist Richard Barbieri and bassist Mick Karn studied at the same school, Catford Boys, Brownhill Road, South London. As youngsters they played Sylvians two-chord numbers mainly as a means of escape, sometimes with Karn as the front man, the band, who were initially nameless, opted to call themselves Japan just before their first live gig in the mid-1970s. But did find favor among Japanese audiences, the first song they recorded with Hansa, in 1977, was State Line. The band débuted with the 1978 album Adolescent Sex and followed up with their album, Obscure Alternatives. Both albums, produced by Ray Singer, sold well in Japan and the Netherlands and they also gained some popularity in Canada. However, in their native UK, those albums failed to garner public attention, the band was managed by Simon Napier-Bell who has also managed The Yardbirds, Marc Bolan, London and Wham. In 1979, the band worked with the successful Euro disco producer Giorgio Moroder. The track was a significant change in style from their earlier guitar-laden recordings, moving them away from their glam rock roots. The electronic style continued on their album, Quiet Life. After leaving Hansa-Ariola, the signed with Virgin Records who released their last studio albums, Gentlemen Take Polaroids. The band had always worn make-up since their inception in the mid 1970s at the end of the glam rock era. In an October 1981 interview, Sylvian commented Theres a period going past at the moment that may make us look as though were in fashion, in another interview, he stated I dont like to be associated with them. The attitudes are so very different, of Japans fashion sense, Sylvian said For them, fancy dress is a costume. But ours is a way of life and we look and dress this way every day. Regardless, it had an effect on the bands record sales in the UK
Japan (band)
–
Steve Jansen, Mick Karn, David Sylvian and Rich Barbieri, with
Masami Tsuchiya (L to R)
Japan (band)
–
Japan in
Toronto, 24 November 1979
19.
David Sylvian
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David Sylvian is an English singer-songwriter and musician who came to prominence in the late 1970s as the lead vocalist and main songwriter in the group Japan. Sylvians solo work has influenced by a variety of musical styles and genres, including jazz, avant-garde, ambient, electronic. The band Japan, whose members included bassist Mick Karn, guitarist Rob Dean, keyboardist Richard Barbieri and Sylvians brother Steve Jansen as drummer. As youngsters they played music as a means of escape, playing Sylvians two-chord numbers – sometimes with Karn as the front man, a fan of New York Dolls, Sylvian adopted his stage name from Sylvain Sylvain, while his brother took Jansen from David Johansen. They christened themselves Japan in 1974, signed a contract with Hansa, and became an alternative glam rock outfit in the mould of David Bowie, T. Rex. Over a period of a few years their music became more sophisticated and their visual image also evolved and, although they had worn make-up since their creation in the mid-1970s, the band was unintentionally tagged with the New Romantic label in the early 1980s. The band themselves disputed any connection with the New Romantic movement, the attitudes are so very different. Of Japans fashion sense, Sylvian said, For them, fancy dress is a costume, but ours is a way of life. We look and dress this way every day, Japan released five studio albums between March 1978 and November 1981. In 1980, the signed with Virgin Records, where Sylvian remained as a recording artist for the next twenty years. Fujii quickly became a figure in Sylvians life. She was the first person to introduce Sylvian seriously to jazz and she also encouraged Sylvian to incorporate spiritual discipline into his daily routine. Throughout his solo career, Fujii maintained a role in the design of artwork for his albums. Japan played their final concerts in December 1982 before dissolving, in 1982, Sylvian released his first solo collaborative effort with Ryuichi Sakamoto, entitled Bamboo Houses/Bamboo Music. He also worked with Sakamoto on the UK Top 20 song Forbidden Colours for the 1983 Nagisa Oshima film Merry Christmas, sakamotos first contribution to Sylvians work though was as co-writer of Taking Islands in Africa on the Japan-album Gentlemen Take Polaroids. Sylvians debut solo album, Brilliant Trees included contributions from Ryuichi Sakamoto, trumpeter Jon Hassell and it featured the UK Top 20 single Red Guitar. The next release was the two-record set Gone to Earth, which featured one record of atmospheric vocal tracks, never one to conform to commercial expectations, Sylvian then collaborated with Holger Czukay. Plight and Premonition, issued in 1988, and Flux and Mutability, recorded and released the year, also included contributions from Can members Jaki Liebezeit
David Sylvian
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David Sylvian, November 1982
David Sylvian
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Japan in Toronto, 24 November 1979
20.
Kiyoshiro Imawano
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Kiyoshiro Imawano, born Kiyoshi Kurihara, was a Japanese rock musician, lyricist, composer, musical producer, and actor from Tokyo, Japan. He was dubbed Japans King of Rock and he formed and led the influential rock band RC Succession. He wrote many anti-nuclear songs following the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 and he was known for pioneering the adoption of linguistic characteristics of the Japanese language into his songs. Kiyoshiro was born in Nakano, Tokyo, Japan in 1951, while in high school, he formed a band named the Clovers. This band changed its name to RC Succession in 1968, in 1982, Kiyoshiro collaborated with Ryuichi Sakamoto and released the single Ikenai Rouge Magic which became a top hit on the Oricon chart. After RC Succession ceased to perform and record in 1991, Kiyoshiro continued as a solo singer and he has recorded and performed under various unit names apart from his own such as Danger, Razor Sharp, HIS,2 3s, Ruffy Tuffy, Mitsukiyo and Screaming Revue. With groups the Timers and Love Jets, Kiyoshiro remained anonymous using pseudonyms, in 1992, he released the album Memphis which was recorded in Memphis with Booker T. & the M. G. s. At the time of the recording, he received an honorary citizenship from the Mayor of Memphis, following the release of the album, Kiyoshiro toured Japan with the M. G. s, and the Budokan concert of that tour was released on the live album Have Mercy. Kiyoshiro also dubbed the voice of the Lord Royal Highness of Atlantis in the Japanese version of SpongeBobs Atlantis SquarePantis on Nickelodeon Japan Channel. On July 3,2006, Kiyoshiro confessed on his website that he was diagnosed with throat cancer. On May 2,2009, Kiyoshiro died of cancer and his funeral took place at Aoyama Sougisho on May 9,2009. Approximately 42,000 fans visited to bid farewell, which tied the record of visits with Hibari Misoras funeral. The funeral ceremony was titled The Aoyama Rock n Roll Show and Kiyoshiros band played in front of 1,000 people including Keisuke Kuwata, Shinobu Otake, on June 17,2009, the single Oh. Radio which is said to be Kiyoshiros last recorded work was released and this song was written by Kiyoshiro as the campaign song for the Osaka radio station FM802 and originally sung by Shikao Suga and Shigeru Kishida of Quruli under the unit name of Radio Soul 20. The version sung by Kiyoshiro was recorded all by himself at his studio Rock n Roll Kenkyujo sometime in early 2009 and it was first made public at his funeral, and it was decided to be released following the overwhelming demand from the fans. The Fuji Rock tribute featured many famous Japanese and international artists speaking about Imawano, for RC Succession discography, please see RC Succession discography 1982 Dr. & the M. G. s / Have Mercy. Dr. Loo 2001 The Happiness of the Katakuris, sada 2002 Power and Terror, Noam Chomsky in Our Times 200319802004 Otakus in Love 2005 The Great Yokai War. General Nurarihyon 2008 Then Summer Came Kiyoshiro Official homepage Kiyoshiro Imawano at the Internet Movie Database Kiyoshiro Imawano at Nippop
Kiyoshiro Imawano
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Kiyoshiro Imawano (2003)
21.
Michael Jackson
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Michael Joseph Jackson was an American singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer, actor, and philanthropist. Called the King of Pop, his contributions to music, dance, the eighth child of the Jackson family, Michael made his professional debut in 1964 with his elder brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, and Marlon as a member of the Jackson 5. He began his career in 1971. In the early 1980s, Jackson became a dominant figure in popular music, the popularity of these videos helped bring the television channel MTV to fame. Jacksons 1987 album Bad spawned the U. S and he continued to innovate with videos such as Black or White and Scream throughout the 1990s, and forged a reputation as a touring solo artist. Through stage and video performances, Jackson popularized a number of complicated dance techniques, such as the robot and his distinctive sound and style has influenced numerous artists of various music genres. Thriller is the album of all time, with estimated sales of 65 million copies worldwide. Jacksons other albums, including Off the Wall, Bad, Dangerous and he is recognized as the Most Successful Entertainer of All Time by Guinness World Records. Jackson won hundreds of awards, making him the most awarded recording artist in the history of popular music. He became the first artist in history to have a top ten single in the Billboard Hot 100 in five different decades when Love Never Felt So Good reached number nine on May 21,2014. Jackson traveled the world attending events honoring his humanitarianism, and, in 2000, aspects of Jacksons personal life, including his changing appearance, personal relationships, and behavior, generated controversy. In 1993, he was accused of sexual abuse, but the civil case was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount. In 2005, he was tried and acquitted of child sexual abuse allegations. While preparing for his concert series, This Is It, Jackson died of acute propofol and benzodiazepine intoxication on June 25,2009. The Los Angeles County Coroner ruled his death a homicide, and his personal physician, Jacksons death triggered a global outpouring of grief, and a live broadcast of his public memorial service was viewed around the world. Forbes ranks Jackson as the dead celebrity with earnings of $825 million in 2016. Michael Joseph Jackson was born on August 29,1958 and his mother, Katherine Esther Scruse, was a devout Jehovahs Witness. She played clarinet and piano and once aspired to be a country-and-western performer, michaels father, Joseph Walter Joe Jackson, a former boxer, was a steelworker at U. S. Steel
Michael Jackson
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Jackson performing in 1988, during the Bad World Tour
Michael Jackson
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Jackson's childhood home in
Gary, Indiana, showing floral tributes after his death.
Michael Jackson
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Jackson (center) as a member of the Jackson 5 in 1972.
Michael Jackson
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Jackson wearing his famous
jacket during the Thriller era.
22.
Mari Iijima
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Mari Iijima is a Japanese singer-songwriter. She writes and produces most of her own music, and plays the piano, after being signed to JVC Victor in 1982, Mari first became known for her voice-acting role as Lynn Minmay in the anime Macross. Her debut original album, Rosé, was released in 1983 and she also later collaborated with other world-renowned musicians, such as Van Dyke Parks. She lives in Los Angeles, California, United States, Iijimas original demo tape was picked up by JVC Victor in 1982 and she was signed to the record company as a singer-songwriter. Soon afterward, she was asked to audition for the role of Lynn Minmay in The Super Dimension Fortress Macross by the label, the series quickly became a mega hit and brought Iijima to stardom. Her debut album, Rosé, containing no Macross tracks, had lyrics and it debuted at number 10 on the charts in September 1983, and she started her career as a singer-songwriter. Iijima moved to Los Angeles in 1989 to expand her music career and that same year, she appeared as a guest vocalist on Van Dyke Parks album Tokyo Rose. After releasing her first independent album, No Limit, she was nominated for the 2000 Los Angeles Music Awards Best Pop Artist for the album and she was in the final four for the award. She won the best Asian song for her track Unspoken Love from the album Wonderful People at the Just Plain Folks Awards in 2006, in 2006, she reprised her role as Lynn Minmay in ADV Films English-language release of Macross. Which made her the second Japanese voice actor to reprise her role in an English anime dub, Iijima released her twenty-first studio album, called Echo, in August 2009. The title was taken from the nymph character Echo that appears in Echo, the albums theme is unrequited love. Official website Mari Iijimas channel on YouTube Mari Iijima on Facebook Mari Iijima on Twitter Interview with LA Weekly Mari Iijima convention appearances on AnimeCons. com
Mari Iijima
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Mari Iijima in 2010
Mari Iijima
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Mari Iijima Live in Tokyo at the Hakuju Hall on July 31, 2010
23.
David Bowie
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David Robert Jones, known professionally as David Bowie, was an English singer, songwriter and actor. He was a figure in music for over five decades, regarded by critics and musicians as an innovator. His career was marked by reinvention and visual presentation, his music, during his lifetime, his record sales, estimated at 140 million worldwide, made him one of the worlds best-selling music artists. In the UK, he was awarded nine platinum album certifications, eleven gold and eight silver, in the US, he received five platinum and seven gold certifications. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996, born in Brixton, South London, Bowie developed an interest in music as a child, eventually studying art, music and design before embarking on a professional career as a musician in 1963. Space Oddity became his first top-five entry on the UK Singles Chart after its release in July 1969, after a period of experimentation, he re-emerged in 1972 during the glam rock era with his flamboyant and androgynous alter ego Ziggy Stardust. The character was spearheaded by the success of his single Starman and album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, in 1976, Bowie starred in the cult film The Man Who Fell to Earth and released Station to Station. Heroes and Lodger followed, each reached the UK top five. He then reached his peak in 1983 with Lets Dance. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Bowie continued to experiment with styles, including industrial. He stopped concert touring after 2004, and his last live performance was at a charity event in 2006, in 2013, Bowie returned from a decade-long recording hiatus with the release of The Next Day. He remained musically active until he died of cancer two days after the release of his final album, Blackstar. David Robert Jones was born on 8 January 1947, in Brixton, south London and his mother, Margaret Mary Peggy, was born in Kent, and had Irish ancestry, she worked as a waitress. His father, Haywood Stenton John Jones, from Yorkshire, was an officer for the childrens charity Barnardos. The family lived at 40 Stansfield Road, near the border of the south London areas of Brixton, Bowie attended Stockwell Infants School until he was six years old, acquiring a reputation as a gifted and single-minded child—and a defiant brawler. In 1953, Bowie moved with his family to the suburb of Bromley and his voice was considered adequate by the school choir, and he demonstrated above-average abilities in playing the recorder. Upon listening to Little Richards song Tutti Frutti, Bowie would later say, presleys impact on him was likewise emphatic, I saw a cousin of mine dance to. Hound Dog and I had never seen her get up and be moved so much by anything and it really impressed me, the power of the music
David Bowie
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Bowie during the
Heathen Tour in 2002
David Bowie
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David Bowie during the
Ziggy Stardust Tour
David Bowie
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Bowie performing with
Cher on the
Cher show, 1975
David Bowie
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Bowie as the Thin White Duke at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto 1976
24.
New York City
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The City of New York, often called New York City or simply New York, is the most populous city in the United States. With an estimated 2015 population of 8,550,405 distributed over an area of about 302.6 square miles. Located at the tip of the state of New York. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy and has described as the cultural and financial capital of the world. Situated on one of the worlds largest natural harbors, New York City consists of five boroughs, the five boroughs – Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, The Bronx, and Staten Island – were consolidated into a single city in 1898. In 2013, the MSA produced a gross metropolitan product of nearly US$1.39 trillion, in 2012, the CSA generated a GMP of over US$1.55 trillion. NYCs MSA and CSA GDP are higher than all but 11 and 12 countries, New York City traces its origin to its 1624 founding in Lower Manhattan as a trading post by colonists of the Dutch Republic and was named New Amsterdam in 1626. The city and its surroundings came under English control in 1664 and were renamed New York after King Charles II of England granted the lands to his brother, New York served as the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790. It has been the countrys largest city since 1790, the Statue of Liberty greeted millions of immigrants as they came to the Americas by ship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and is a symbol of the United States and its democracy. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. Several sources have ranked New York the most photographed city in the world, the names of many of the citys bridges, tapered skyscrapers, and parks are known around the world. Manhattans real estate market is among the most expensive in the world, Manhattans Chinatown incorporates the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere, with multiple signature Chinatowns developing across the city. Providing continuous 24/7 service, the New York City Subway is one of the most extensive metro systems worldwide, with 472 stations in operation. Over 120 colleges and universities are located in New York City, including Columbia University, New York University, and Rockefeller University, during the Wisconsinan glaciation, the New York City region was situated at the edge of a large ice sheet over 1,000 feet in depth. The ice sheet scraped away large amounts of soil, leaving the bedrock that serves as the foundation for much of New York City today. Later on, movement of the ice sheet would contribute to the separation of what are now Long Island and Staten Island. The first documented visit by a European was in 1524 by Giovanni da Verrazzano, a Florentine explorer in the service of the French crown and he claimed the area for France and named it Nouvelle Angoulême. Heavy ice kept him from further exploration, and he returned to Spain in August and he proceeded to sail up what the Dutch would name the North River, named first by Hudson as the Mauritius after Maurice, Prince of Orange
New York City
–
Clockwise, from top:
Midtown Manhattan,
Times Square, the
Unisphere in
Queens, the
Brooklyn Bridge,
Lower Manhattan with
One World Trade Center,
Central Park, the
headquarters of the United Nations, and the
Statue of Liberty
New York City
–
New Amsterdam, centered in the eventual
Lower Manhattan, in 1664, the year
England took control and renamed it "New York".
New York City
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The
Battle of Long Island, the largest battle of the
American Revolution, took place in
Brooklyn in 1776.
New York City
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Broadway follows the Native American Wickquasgeck Trail through Manhattan.
25.
Yellow Magic Orchestra (album)
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Yellow Magic Orchestra is the first official studio album by Japanese electronic music band Yellow Magic Orchestra, who were previously known as the Yellow Magic Band. Both versions would later be re-issued in 2003 as a double-disc format, the album was an early example of synthpop, a genre that the band helped pioneer. It was also as an example of a computer-themed album, and contributed to the development of electro, hip hop, techno, bleep techno. The album sold 250,000 copies in Japan and entered the Billboard 200 and its most successful single was Computer Game / Firecracker, which sold over 400,000 records in the United States and was a top 20 hit in the United Kingdom. The album was intended to be a project for producer and bass player Haruomi Hosono. The album would eventually be called Yellow Magic Orchestra, as a satire of Japans obsession with magic at the time. The project proved highly popular, culminating in a career for the three musicians, one that would last until 1983, before successful solo careers and reunions over the decades to come and they began recording the album in July 1978 at a Shibaura studio in Tokyo. It was also the earliest known popular music album to use the Roland MC-8 Microcomposer, Roland called the MC-8 a computer music composer and it was the first stand-alone microprocessor-based music sequencer. At the time, Billboard noted that the use of such computer-based technology in conjunction with synthesizers allowed Yellow Magic Orchestra to create new sounds that were not possible until then. The band later described both the MC-8 and its programmer Hideki Matsutake as a factor in both their music production and live performances. Besides the electronic equipment, the acoustic instruments used in the album were a Steinway piano. The album was an example of synthpop, a genre that Yellow Magic Orchestra helped pioneer. It was also an example of a computer-themed album, predating Kraftwerks Computer World by three years. The song also samples the opening used in the arcade game Gun Fight. Both Circus and Space Invaders, along several other popular arcade video games, were also featured in the promotional film for Tong Poo. The titles for songs on the B-side are based on Jean-Luc Godard film names. “Tong Poo” is the Cantonese title for Le Vent dest, “La Femme Chinoise” is La Chinoise with “femme” added after the feminine definite article “la. ”Finally, “Mad Pierrot” is an English translation of 気狂いピエロ, the title under which Pierrot le fou was released in Japan. The album was first released in Japan in 1978 and it was released in the US on 30 May 1979 by A&M Records on the Horizon label with a new mix by Al Schmitt, new cover art and a slightly different track listing
Yellow Magic Orchestra (album)
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Yellow Magic Orchestra
Yellow Magic Orchestra (album)
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US cover
26.
Behind the Mask (Yellow Magic Orchestra song)
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Behind the Mask is a synthpop song by electronic music band Yellow Magic Orchestra, written by member Ryuichi Sakamoto and first produced in 1978 for a Seiko commercial. It was later released in 1979 as part of the bands album Solid State Survivor with English lyrics added by Chris Mosdell, the song has been performed by many artists since its original release. Behind the Mask was a track from Yellow Magic Orchestras 1979 album Solid State Survivor, Mosdell has said of the lyrics that I was talking about a very impersonal, socially controlled society, a future technological era, and the mask represented that immobile, unemotional state. In 1980, the song was released as a single in the UK with the B-side as Yellow Magic, a similar arrangement was performed in Sakamotos Media Bahn Live tour the previous year. A CD single with 3 tracks and a CD maxi with 6 tracks entitled Behind the Mask +3 were released. Phillinganes first met Michael and his brothers during the sessions for The Jacksons Destiny album in 1978, Greg Phillinganes, who had previously covered the song himself, brought the composition to Clapton. Phillinganes played keyboards on track, as well as singing background vocals. This version failed to credit Michael Jackson as one of the songs co-writers, the song was released as a single, and peaked at No.15 in the UK on January 17,1987. A remixed version with overdubbed extra production by John McClain was eventually released on Jacksons 2010 posthumous album Michael, mcClains overdubs over the original 1983 tape include a newly recorded saxophone solo and crowd noise from the 1992 Live in Bucharest, The Dangerous Tour TV special. It was covered by The Human League in 1993 with Yellow Magic Orchestra, a sample of the Greg Phillinganes version formed the basis for Goldie Lookin Chains 2004 single Your Mothers Got a Penis. Señor Coconut had a version released in 2006
Behind the Mask (Yellow Magic Orchestra song)
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"Behind the Mask"
Behind the Mask (Yellow Magic Orchestra song)
27.
Rydeen
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Solid State Survivor is the second album by Japanese electronic music band Yellow Magic Orchestra, released in 1979. Solid State Survivor is only one of a handful of YMO albums in which the titles do not have a Japanese equivalent. The album was an example of synthpop, a genre that the band helped pioneer alongside their earlier album Yellow Magic Orchestra. Solid State Survivor won the Best Album Award at the 22nd Japan Record Awards, several songs from the album have continued to be widely covered and sampled. The album is known for Behind the Mask, which YMO had first produced in 1978 for a Seiko quartz wristwatch commercial. The song has had numerous cover versions produced by other artists, alongside Quincy Jones, Jackson produced a slightly more dance-funk version of the techno classic with additional lyrics, originally intended for his best-selling album Thriller. Despite the approval of songwriter Sakamoto and lyricist Chris Mosdell, it was removed from the Thriller album due to legal issues with Yellow Magic Orchestras management. Brian Eno also produced a remix of YMOs original version in 1992, Technopolis was later sampled in Robert Hoods Rhythm from his debut minimal techno album Minimal Nation, and in Electric Youths Replay. Techno-pop artist Aira Mitsuki pays homage to this track with her single Sayonara Technopolis, the albums title song Solid State Survivor is a new wave synth rock song. This was YMOs most successful album in Japan and it was the best selling album in the Oricon LP Chart for 1980, beating Chiharu Matsuyamas Kishōtenketsu - Godiegos Magic Monkey was best seller for 1979. In 1980 the album won a Best Album Award in the 22nd Japan Record Awards, the album went on to sell two million records worldwide
Rydeen
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Solid State Survivor
28.
Synthpop
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Synth-pop is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic, art rock, disco, and particularly the Krautrock of bands like Kraftwerk. It arose as a genre in Japan and the United Kingdom in the post-punk era as part of the new wave movement of the late-1970s to the mid-1980s. In Japan, Yellow Magic Orchestras success opened the way for bands such as P-Model, Plastics. The development of polyphonic synthesizers, the definition of MIDI. This, its adoption by the acts from the New Romantic movement, together with the rise of MTV. Synth-pop is sometimes deployed interchangeably with electropop, but electropop may also denote a variant of synth-pop that places emphasis on a harder. In the late 1980s duos such as Erasure and Pet Shop Boys adopted a style that was successful on the US dance-charts. Some artists and bands were criticised for gender bending, Synth-pop was defined by its primary use of synthesizers, drum machines and sequencers, sometimes using them to replace all other instruments. Borthwick and Moy have described the genre as diverse but, many synth-pop musicians had limited musical skills, relying on the technology to produce or reproduce the music. The result was often minimalist, with grooves that were woven together from simple repeated riffs often with no harmonic progression to speak of. Early synth-pop has been described as eerie, sterile, and vaguely menacing, using droning electronics with little change in inflection, common lyrical themes of synth-pop songs were isolation, urban anomie, and feelings of being emotionally cold and hollow. Synthesizers were increasingly used to imitate the conventional and clichéd sound of orchestras, thin, treble-dominant, synthesized melodies and simple drum programmes gave way to thick, and compressed production, and a more conventional drum sound. Lyrics were generally optimistic, dealing with more traditional subject matter for pop music such as romance, escapism. According to music writer Simon Reynolds, the hallmark of 1980s synth-pop was its emotional, at times operatic singers such as Marc Almond, Alison Moyet and Annie Lennox. Because synthesizers removed the need for groups of musicians, these singers were often part of a duo where their partner played all the instrumentation. Later synth-pop saw a shift to a style influenced by other genres. Electronic musical synthesizers that could be used practically in a recording studio became available in the mid-1960s, the portable Minimoog, which allowed much easier use, particularly in live performance was widely adopted by progressive rock musicians such as Richard Wright of Pink Floyd and Rick Wakeman of Yes
Synthpop
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The
Prophet-5, one of the first
polyphonic synthesizers. It was widely used in 1980s synthpop, along with the
Roland Jupiter and
Yamaha DX7.
Synthpop
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Kraftwerk, one of the major influences on synthpop, in 1976.
Synthpop
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Yellow Magic Orchestra in 2008.
Synthpop
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Gary Numan performing in 1980
29.
Techno
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Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan, in the United States during the mid-to-late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno in reference to a genre of music was in 1988. Many styles of techno now exist, but Detroit techno is seen as the foundation upon which a number of subgenres have been built. Added to this is the influence of futuristic and fictional themes relevant to life in American late capitalist society, pioneering producer Juan Atkins cites Tofflers phrase techno rebels as inspiring him to use the word techno to describe the musical style he helped to create. This unique blend of influences aligns techno with the referred to as afrofuturism. To producers such as Derrick May, the transference of spirit from the body to the machine is often a central preoccupation, in this manner, techno dance music defeats what Adorno saw as the alienating effect of mechanisation on the modern consciousness. Stylistically, techno is generally repetitive instrumental music, oftentimes produced for use in a continuous DJ set, the tempo tends to vary between approximately 120 to 150 beats per minute, depending on the style of techno. The creative use of production technology, such as drum machines, synthesizers. Many producers use retro electronic musical devices to create what they consider to be an authentic techno sound, drum machines from the 1980s such as Rolands TR-808 and TR-909 are highly prized, and software emulations of such retro technology are popular among techno producers. The Electrifying Mojo was the first radio DJ to play music by the Detroit techno producers Juan Atkins, Derrick May, Mojo refused to follow pre-established radio formats or playlists, and he promoted social and cultural awareness of the African American community. In exploring technos origins writer Kodwo Eshun maintains that Kraftwerk are to Techno what Muddy Waters is to the Rolling Stones, the authentic, the origin, the real. Juan Atkins has acknowledged that he had an enthusiasm for Kraftwerk and Giorgio Moroder, particularly Moroders work with Donna Summer. Atkins also mentions that around 1980 I had a tape of nothing but Kraftwerk, Telex, Devo, Giorgio Moroder and Gary Numan, and Id ride around in my car playing it. Regarding his initial impression of Kraftwerk, Atkins notes that they were clean, Derrick May identified the influence of Kraftwerk and other European synthesizer music in commenting that it was just classy and clean, and to us it was beautiful, like outer space. Living around Detroit, there was so little beauty, everything is an ugly mess in Detroit, and so we were attracted to this music. May has commented that he considered his music a direct continuation of the European synthesizer tradition and he also identified Japanese synthpop act Yellow Magic Orchestra, particularly member Ryuichi Sakamoto, and British band Ultravox, as influences, along with Kraftwerk. In 1980 or 1981 they met with Mojo and proposed that they provide mixes for his show, which they did end up doing the following year. These young promoters developed and nurtured the local music scene by both catering to the tastes of the local audience of young people and by marketing parties with new DJs
Techno
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Kraftwerk 's
Computer World (1981), first popularized in the U.S. by radio station
WLBS-FM, "Detroit’s version of New York’s
disco WBLS ".
Techno
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Roland TB-303: The
bass line synthesizer that was used prominently in
acid house.
Techno
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Cover art for the 1988 compilation album, Techno! The New Dance Sound of Detroit
Techno
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UR Featured on the cover of
The Wire, November 2007
30.
House music
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House music is a genre of electronic music created by club DJs and music producers in Chicago in the early 1980s. Early house music was characterized by repetitive 4/4 beats, rhythms mainly provided by drum machines, off-beat hi-hat cymbals. While house displayed several characteristics similar to music, it was more electronic and minimalistic. House music became popular in Chicago clubs in 1984 and it was pioneered by figures such as Frankie Knuckles, Phuture, Kym Mazelle, and Mr. Fingers, and was associated with African-American and gay subcultures. House music quickly spread to other American cities such as Detroit, New York City, Baltimore, in the mid-to-late 1980s, house music became popular in Europe as well as major cities in South America, and Australia. Since the early to mid-1990s, house music has been infused in mainstream pop, in the late 1980s, many local Chicago house music artists suddenly found themselves presented with major label deals. House music proved to be a successful genre and a more mainstream pop-based variation grew increasingly popular. House music has also fused with other genres creating fusion subgenres, such as euro house, tech house, electro house. After enjoying significant success in the early to mid-90s, house music grew even larger during the wave of progressive house. The genre has remained popular and fused into other subgenres, for example, ghetto house, deep house. As of 2016, house music popular in both clubs and in the mainstream pop scene while retaining a foothold on underground scenes across the globe. The song structure of music songs typically involves an intro, a chorus, various verse sections, a midsection. Some songs do not have a verse, taking a part from the chorus. The drum beat is one of the important elements within the genre and is almost always provided by an electronic drum machine rather than by a human drummer playing drumkit. The drum beats of house are four on the floor, with bass drums played on every beat, House music is often based on bass-heavy loops or basslines produced by a synthesizer and/or from samples of disco or funk songs. The tempo of most house songs is between 118 and 135 beats per minute, soul music and disco influenced house music. These artists produced longer, more repetitive, and percussive arrangements of existing disco recordings, early house producers such as Frankie Knuckles created similar compositions from scratch, using samplers, synthesizers, sequencers, and drum machines. Rachel Cain, co-founder of an influential Trax Records, was involved in the burgeoning punk scene and cites industrial
House music
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An honorary
street name sign in
Chicago for house music and
Frankie Knuckles.
House music
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Building in New York City where the
Paradise Garage nightclub was located
House music
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Swedish House Mafia performing in 2011.
