Join the Club? - Not likely!

I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member - Groucho Marx 

One of the more interesting musical events of recent years was the induction of Yes into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Looking at the videos on You Tube the antagonism and resentment shimmers like a heat haze around the stage. In terms of progessive rock and 70s music Yes matter so it is a shame that it took until after the death of Chris Squire who was very much keeper of the Yes flame for the whole life of the band. They would, I feel,  have been entitled to follow Stella McCartney's slightly grumpy line. When her father, Paul in case you you weren't sure, was inducted as a solo act she went to the show wearing a tee shirt saying "About Fucking Time". And who's to argue with her. 

Artists become eligible for nomination into the hall 25 years after the release of their first record. Nominations are by committee with ballots being sent to 1000 "rock experts" to decide who gets the golden ticket. The 2020 inductees are

• Depeche Mode
• The Doobie Brothers
• Whitney Houston
• Nine Inch Nails
• The Notorious B.I.G.
• T. Rex

But what is far more interesting are the people who despite being eligible for many years have never been given the nod. 

Kraftwerk -  The most glaring omission. How? Why? 

Pat Benatar - OK so you may not be that fond of her music but she has as much reason to be there as  
                       many acts far younger and selling far less well. She is huge, still, in the USA. 

Iron Maiden - Again a hugely popular act, with no support from radio, TV or the erst of the industry. 

The Smiths - Another How? Why? because they are British and Morrissey can be a bit of a prat.

Not being white, male or American is not quite the bar it once was... Whitney Houston was clearly token woman and B.I.G token person of colour in 2020. Given where "Rock & Roll" came from this was unacceptable 30 years ago, and is way beyond the pale now. Nominated but not selected in these groups. Carol King, Esther Phillips, Mary Wells, Ben E. King and Chic. Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards are not in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Seriously?

The chances that this institution continues to have any relevance to anything are slim. But it would be nice to see some of these creators of great music get noticed before they bulldoze the whole sorry edifice.

The Magic of YMO

Kraftwerk get much of the credit for the rise of electronic music in the early 80s & beyond, but for me Yellow Magic Orchestra are at least as influential. Their career started with computer game noises and you can hear their influence in game soundtracks and woven into a diverse range of artists music. Between the bands own albums and the myriad related artists they are a collectors dream.

Wikipedia is fairly good for once on the history. One thing it does highlight is how many of their songs have advertising connections. Fuji cassettes, Seiko watches and Kirin beer are just a few brands that have had the YMO touch. One of their best known songs, "Behind The Mask" (yes Eric Clapton via Michael Jackson) started as a Seiko commercial in 1978. This a version recorded by Sakamoto with Jackson's lyrics.

Never heard that before, very Eighties!

Where Kraftwerk pioneered Techno, YMO started off as kitsch lounge/exotica practitioners and progressed to more dance synthpop based material influencing bands like Human League & Depeche Mode. Early adopters of the Roland TR808 & TB303, they got their shot with Afrika Bambaataa two years after he sampled Trans Europe Express and that introduced them to the Detroit crowd. From there YMO influences crop up everywhere, often second or third generation but there nonetheless.

My favourite YMO homage is on a Vicious Pink 12" from 1984. A Side "CCCan't You See" is fairly standard synthpop, the B side "8:15 to Nowhere" is pure YMO, and the cover of "Great Balls of Fire" would have been at home on a Takahashi solo disc of the time.

From YMO's group albums you inevitably get drawn into their solo albums, and from 1979 to about 1984 they can do little wrong for me. They played on a huge number of other artists albums, but I'm going to save talking about them, the band Japan, and acts like Akiko Yano & Sandii & The Sunsetz for another post as it is way too much for now. I will give a recommendation for Nicholas D Kent's comprehensive site Technopop which will give you plenty to investigate.  It hasn't been updated in a while but as an archive you can't beat it

Where to start with their music?
My favourites are Solid State Survivor, home of Rydeen, Technopolis, and the original Behind The Mask and Technodelic, Kraftwerk lite synthpop with some innovative early sampling. Unlike the Dusseldorf crew* YMO were a good live band, Fakerholic, if you can find it is the best of their 1979/80 world tour, avoid 'Public Pressure' like the plague, Kazumi Watanabe's guitar replaced by extra synths - horrible. There are some good live albums from recent years, try them online & pick the one you like best. Compilations? YMO have been badly served there. 'YMO Go Home' & 'Kyoretsu Na Rhythm' are the best of an unsatisfactory lot.

Why choose YMO?
I love Kraftwerk but they can be a bit po faced & joyless at times. YMO are fun, they have a uniquely Japanese sense of humour that is frankly odd. If you get the Hitchhikers Guide To the Galaxy you will get YMO. If you listen to nothing else by them try ×∞Multiplies , but make sure it is this version , ignore the stupid Amazon reviews and get it. You will still be laughing in a week.

 
*Kraftwerk of the 80's that is, now they are different, the Manchester Velodrome is in my top 5 ever shows, but was it a live show or an experience?