NOW DIG THIS
With the success of Solid State Survivor (two million sales worldwide), YMO became huge in Japan and in demand as producers. That’s another How To Buy entirely, but check out Wewantsounds’ reissue of Akiko Yano’s 1980 double LP Gohan Ga Dekitayo (Supper’s Ready) in which “the Japanese Kate Bush” (and Sakamoto’s then wife) is supported by YMO on four sides of vinyl that range from mournful ballads to protocity pop prog fusion. Live YMO (with Yano as an extra live vocalist injecting a new wave B-52’s energy into proceedings) is best experienced by watching 1979’s fusion-heavy Live At The Greek Theatre (inset) on YouTube plus their Soul Train performance of Archie Bell’s Tighten Up. The definitive YMO biography is still waiting to be written.