Yellow Magic Orchestra - Firecracker

[@CourtneyEvans]

We had this album when I was in elementary school, under the name "Computer Game". We used to play it and pretend that we were playing the instruments in the morning before going to school in 1979 when I was 11 year old, LOL! Such a great jam, then and today!!

[@chinitopinoy1726]

This song is pretty dope! Wasn't even born yet when this song came out. Has that eastern type melody fused with some funk.

[@amyo]

I love everything about this lol

[@lovepeaceandsoulfullrighto9053]

Computer Game is what I thought it was called, too. I’m in love with it always!!

[@lovepeaceandsoulfullrighto9053]

We must be around the same age. I must have been 10. It actually creeped me out! They always played it late at night

[@OLDGOLDDREAMER]

@@lovepeaceandsoulfullrighto9053 It came out like this on 12” originally kzbin.info/www/bejne/p2S7ool4mc-Bg5I

[@MDonuT-of7px]

In retrospective, it's such a crazy fact that Ryuichi Sakamoto was on Soul Train.

[@jlcotton19681]

Soul is soul. It's has no color, nationality, race. Soul is soul yo.

[@AddSeymourJr]

Not at all. Soul Train featured EVERYBODY back in the day. If the music was soul, as this was, you saw it on Soul Train. Music back then was sooooo not as compartmentalized as it is now.

[@syncsummit]

@@jlcotton19681 Absolutely!

[@erichuang7524]

Eh, not really. He was and is soulful

[@justcallmekai1554]

Bruh I vaguely remember watching Soul Train when I was really young. I didnt even know they were on Soul Train. Thats really cool

[@deathrockfairy1290]

Here for Akiko Yano. She is happy-dancing and she has glitter in her hair. The best.✨

[@tinajordan1550]

She’s making this video look great

[@RhysoTV]

She's always been my favourite part of this performance!

[@DavidRavenMoon]

R.I.P. Yukihiro Takahashi

[@mcenteep]

Thank you Takahashi-san and Sakamoto-san for the great music. RIP

[@xtarheelinutah]

You KNOW, you have "THE JAM", if you're invited onto SOUL TRAIN to perform it! Especially since they lip synch performances on the show and your song is all INSTRUMENTAL! 🤣🤣🤣

[@Raider577]

Lots of instrumental songs have been on Soul Train. Rise by Herb Alpert to name one.

[@LionOfJudah613]

“‘The thing was to take these western ideas of the exotic, but to subvert them,’ [said] Hosono. ‘With Martin Denny, the exotica is kind of fake. But I am real! I am the target of that western exotica. So what I wanted to make was exotica from an oriental perspective.’ (Interview with The Guardian).”

[@gregolas5873]

Incredible. Hosono is a genius. But so is everyone in YMO, Akiko Yano included!

[@sleeplezzj]

On point

[@Kemi_VB]

I grew up hearing this song on R&B (AM!) radio as a kid. A part of me wants to believe the early 80's were only 2 decades ago, lol.

[@ladydontekno]

They were only 20 years ago and you can’t tell me otherwise.

[@Neurozumim]

I just love how this was a musical reply to the exoticism of Martin Denny who originally wrote the track.

[@marcraymond3044]

Farewell, Ryuchi Sakamoto.

[@jeshun7071]

A big club smash from 1978, originally released under the name of Computer game, The Yellow Magic orchestra were only a handful of artists & groups flooding the Soul/jazz scene here in the UK with great fusion tracks

[@curtiswhiteheadjr1322]

J Eshun as I recall and I was but 8 years old at the time, when this jam hit the Soul airwaves on this side of the Pond, my people almost immediately embraced them. This joint is just that FUNKY! 💯🎶

[@robinsss]

true that means the uploader used the wrong Title

[@tonyduckett5315]

It was released as a singled called "Firecracker" in the UK before the US single release...

[@gucciblk20]

I brought the album when it first came out. This was the BOMB song back in the day!!!!! It got house parties popping off when it was played.....

[@richardmusk6119]

This was massive in the late 80s Acid house parties in London. Great times

[@ВЛАДИМИРКАБАЛИН-р6ь]

Как это было давно. Начало 80-х. Молодость. А я в настоящем уже дважды прадед. Вот время идёт. И только остаётся память. Кстати, эта композиция для меня из лучших.

[@troysvisualarts]

Wow didn't know YMO performed on Soul Train! Great song and great clip!

[@janakkerman7637]

Soul Train rocks, even Bowie was there :-)

[@xtarheelinutah]

ABSOLUTELY!

[@ericwilliams1575]

Oh yes. Both YMO and Lenny Williams performed on that episode around November- December 1980.

[@fucker661]

They even did their own version of tighten up

[@JamesHurt369]

This was everything…the soundtrack to dance era, to my rollerskating excursions (which usually ended in a speedy crash), to my interest in he futurism of Devo, New Wave, drum machines, samplers (which were Sears and Roebuck tape recorders back in the day. LOL! This is also my favorite reference track of how a mix should use dynamics, fx, and space to create a dimensional mix. Listen at a very low level…it seeps into your subconsciousness. Thanks for his music.

[@theoriginalbluey]

God, it's over 40 years later and still sounds way ahead of today's chart. Wow.

[@blueconversechucks]

The very beginning of this is sampled by Afrika Bambaataa in Death Mix part 2. I always thought it was Afrika that created that beat, not YMO. Gotta say, learning is fun.

[@TheRealNativeSun]

On Soul Train. This was a break dance pop lock hit in the early 80s. This was a milestone in Hiphop by Proxy. 💯

[@brendatugwell7384]

Thank God I found this! Brings back good fun times

[@paulettemorris2808]

Mannmm we use to bump this in Chicago Altgeld Gardens Ayyye 14 years old Dancing machine I was

[@ISVVVc628]

Yes we did in the Chi. Hyde Park!!!!!!!

[@paulettemorris2808]

@@ISVVVc628 Okayyy that part

[@terrancejarrett5575]

Rest in Heavenly peace to the keyboardist of yellow magic Orchestra thank you for having a very big place all about hearts and may you forever have a place in all of our hearts

[@ianhinds3480]

Ryuchi Sakamoto!! Genius

[@DebbieTDP]

Farewell Ryūichi 😢💔🖤

[@jackmeoff9116]

Yes, This was High School Jam!! I I forgot they were from japan.. This song was in a lot of mixes.!!.

[@donpee5204]

They got SOUL too ✊🏾✊🏾✊🏾✊🏾 Old school joint.

[@zacktrever1878]

First time hearing this was in 2006 - still carries the same 🔥 🤯🔥 when I first heard it

[@1969soulflower]

This group and kraftwerk... we're ahead of the times...

[@lionelsanders180]

This became part of the hip hop culture

[@jrmoreno5397]

An incredible band ahead of their time with this techno funky tune..touching on theur cultural heritage..I never grow old of this one..a happy get up and dance tune😀

[@eddielester3589]

Love the Female on the Keyboards...She has that groove!

[@LinRuiEn]

Akiko Yano, I think! She indeed has the groove ❤

[@AbiShafi]

I have this on 12 inch vinyl (remember those?) from the late 70’s 😎😎😎

[@janakkerman7637]

yes, it is in my collection

[@fucker661]

Same just got it from some guy from Canada

[@charlesl.nemons3021]

Heard it first on an 8 track Cartridge, Lil

[@antoniogourdine3399]

YMO Kraftwerk Art of Noise Would sound awesome in a remix

[@XAVIERAZADI]

All had one thing in common they were from across the pond and they had BIG PLAY TIME on black radio stations back in the day.✌🏾✌🏾✌🏾✌🏾✌🏾✌🏾

[@setapart2serveministries]

Black people will Jam to any type of music long as it got Rhythm & Bass.

[@lucagiannettoni9817]

I was 12 and this song blew me away!!!!

[@Carmen-11211]

Wow haven’t heard this song since the 80’s ❤

[@aeroscout8409]

We, Gentleman of Leisure Disco or G.O.L.D., used to mix this along with Kraftwork (Trans Europe Express) in our R&B lineup at our dance parties for Bethune Cookman College.

[@janakkerman7637]

Thx for the info

[@gestelt]

RIP Ryuchi Sakamoto

[@PaulNigelWarner]

This groove is Universal!

[@hoodmistressreloaded]

I went through a journey in finding this song. It started with hearing it sampled by De La Soul for a song called "Funky Towel", then I heard the original in bits and pieces as the BGM on a VH1 special called "TV's Illest Minority Moments". But I honestly went through a hell of a culture shock upon hearing it on Soul Train, so much so that the next time my local network aired this episode, I'd be scrambling to grab the the nearest VHS I could find so I could tape the show...that is, until I finally saved it as an mp3. Oddly enough, I did manage to record YMO's performance on VHS 😊

[@Dave_Chrome]

I went through a similar journey, just listening to the prolific rap artist Viper, as one does. When his hit song _The Chinese Aint Do Tiananmen Square, I Did_ came on I noticed that the sample used for the beat sounded pretty cool! I scrolled through the comments for a good few minutes before getting referred to this song and band by name. Maybe the journey wasn't so similar after all...

[@dalfog2468]

The struggle was real. What you just explained happened to me many times through my 20s. Now 54 with any tune at the touch of a screen click of a button,hard to remember them struggles amd frustrations. They could keep you up at night wanting to know the band and song name. No KZbin sound hound shazam to fall back on. They were the days 😂

[@johnhendrickson5953]

Still loving this in 2022! Doing The Wop!

[@ginny1398]

I bought their album after seeing this in 1979(1980?) it was new and fresh

[@SailorMaxie]

I am jealous of their talent

[@Lilibetrose444]

I LOVE THIS SONG‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️

[@suiken3149]

YMO was way ahead of their time.

[@WrvrUgoThrUR]

I bet the idea to do subdued lighting was theirs. The coolness factor is off the charts. Mysterious Asian electronic deliciousness!!! Kraftwerk WISHES they had this much personality.

[@jlcotton19681]

Then again, Kraftwerk would have had automatons on stage instead of themselves so that would've been mad cooler.

[@TheCaramelSkin]

It Hit🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@Aesop101]

Masterpiece

[@selhurt]

It's different, in sound like for fore bearers of electro 👍🏿👍🏿👍🏿

[@janakkerman7637]

even in the late 80's and beginning of the 90's it was still playable in the (good) clubs

[@nsdj031509]

when there were no DAWs, and only real instrumentalists had to rely on skills, accurate meters, and experience...

[@gucciblk20]

They should of had them on the Grammys 2022

[@Kalamolng]

I don't know HER>>>>>

[@powerallahhelove7654]

I found my big brother record and oh man it had the arcade music before they started rocking we n cuz went crazy

[@avelinovelez2700]

Awesome song always listened to it when it came on 👍

[@johnbedell2376]

Great cover of a Martin Denny song. Perhaps they thought a Japanese-sounding song would sound more realistic by Japanese musicians?

[@VinWizzy]

I read a interview of them this morning that was published in the Guardian in 2008, and that was the exact reasoning they gave.

[@hmst2434]

They parodied a parody. The more you look into YMO, you realise just how unique and playful they were.

[@ErichWK]

Holy shit. This was a Martin Denny track???? I love Martin Denny, how the hell did I miss that!

[@jaye4521]

The story I heard was that YMO's cover was sort of intended to be a tongue-in-cheek, self-aware satire of the kitschy, "faux-Asian" sound of Denny's exotica music. Basically, the idea was to take an inauthentic approximation by a foreigner and do it so much better that they reappropriated it for themselves.

[@Jb-fu7zs]

Bless n thanks to the person that uploaded this 1 love the music is felt. Peace to the world.

[@danahoward759]

Oh My God how we loved this when I was younger Dancing My heart out.. JLo and Mariah Carey have both sampled this song

[@eddielester3589]

Everyone got on the dance floor when this came on.I thought the floor was going cave in

[@isaacblonded]

This is fantastic.

[@AdrianJayeOnline]

who was the girl, love her style, can't find her in any YMO biogs, lovely bouncy dance style

[@chrisb4331]

Awesome deep dive song.

[@stevenrangel3487]

Idk how the Japanese gave us and helped us on our inspiration to funk. Even giving good American Hollywood drama in the early 2000s

[@rob86965]

Banger!

[@luiswilliams360]

It was this cover by YMO that turned me on to Martin Denny & exotica / lounge in general

[@Bboykidcombo]

One of the first break beats?🎉

[@AdrianJayeOnline]

i'd say so yes

[@jimbothompson6540]

So much talent

[@ちょんちゃんちょんちゃん-k8t]

exactly greatband excellent！

[@scottmasson3039]

This shit is next level

[@rob86965]

Agreed! They were incredible back then and they still sound fantastic today.

[@billtoo5659]

the direct source of inspiration for most video game composers?

[@standhd]

COOL RENDITION !

[@lovepeaceandsoulfullrighto9053]

The time is right for a re-release

[@winstonchurchill6506]

God still got this on 7 inch

[@paulettemorris2808]

Ayyyyee

[@crozwayne]

Fantastic thank you x

[@berniefitzpatrick6786]

Just wonderful cool as

[@djskinnytaulilo-makaea89]

Pop dance moves Wednesday work sopping all STARS Yolllow

[@jimbothompson6540]

If this came out now, nobody would really care, things were different in 78, people generally suck now

[@richardcoleman1427]

I feel so old

[@madsimoninsky]

i new it as the them from space invaders

[@tonyanderson6418]

Wow.

[@granvilleansell474]

BOOM !!!

[@heavenonearth176]

🌼so good 🌼

[@jt6685]

Listening in 2022!

[@djskinnytaulilo-makaea89]

Pop ICE KING Dance FOOL disco b boy YELLOW MAGIC 🤖

[@ernestbautista5497]

Japanese Kraftwerk

[@jlcotton19681]

Exactly

Deve ter inspirado Wanna be startin' something de Michael Jackson.

[@zebulanthenebula5240]

POCKET GODS!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@ianhinds3480]

Chooonnnn!

[@drstevie]

FAB :)

[@richg9448]

The song is Computer Games.

[@malemglez7597]

SICKKKK

[@jenpot25]

Came here because of Mariah Carey. She sampled this song for Loverboy (original) but wasnt released until now because of...

[@claudiabenigno2796]

Who? I don't know her. lol

[@tsoj71]

Me2

[@suiken3149]

Jennifer Lopez actually sampled this as well. Unreal's beat was taken from this song.

[@iceicebuddy]

far out, man.

[@djandysingosari]

i tough it s Kitaro

[@thatsamorais584]

🔥

[@CaapriceTube1]

I'm Real, what you get is what you see...

[@-cheesuscrust-]

Khruangbin brought me here 🥺

[@ymotechnopopfan]

Playback?

[@syrkaros5815]

My cellphone tone

[@janakkerman7637]

Same with me, a few months ago ;-)

[@randallsmith6889]

I'm real remix j lo

[@shar6970]

Louie Vega brought me here

[@ohg2070]

I wish BTS would put words to this or dance to it. :)