Plastics | |
---|---|
Origin | Tokyo, Japan |
Genres | New wave, post-punk, synthpop |
Years active | 1976–1981 1989 2010–2016 |
Labels | Rough Trade Invitation Island (UK) Victor Musical Industries, Inc |
Past members | Chica Sato Toshio Nakanishi (deceased) Hajime Tachibana Masahide Sakuma (deceased) Takemi Shima Gota Yashiki |
Plastics, or The Plastics, were a short-lived Japanese new wave band who rose to prominence in the late 1970s and early 1980s. [1] Their music was a major influence on Japanese pop music and their songs have been covered by many bands, most notably Polysics, Pizzicato Five, and Stereo Total.
In September 2007, Rolling Stone Japan ranked their debut album Welcome Plastics at No. 19 on their list of the "100 Greatest Japanese Rock Albums of All Time". [2]
Fellow new wave bands Talking Heads, The B-52's and Devo were fans of Plastics and were instrumental in getting their albums released in the United States. The band's mainstream exposure began when Toshio Nakanishi designed a tour program book for Talking Heads and gave their frontman David Byrne a tape of Plastics demos. Byrne promptly sent it to the B-52's' manager, who offered to represent them internationally. [3]
The band used the Roland CR-68 and CR-78 drum machines for their early albums. [4] In 1980, member Masahide Sakuma had some input on the Roland Corporation's development of the Roland TR-808 drum machine. When its development was complete, the Plastics owned the first TR-808 model, which they used on their 1981 album Welcome Back. [4]
On February 19, 1982, NBC's late night comedy show SCTV aired the promotional video for Plastics' song "Top Secret Man" as part of the "Midnight Video Special" sketch, hosted by Gerry Todd (Rick Moranis). [5]
Stereo Total's cover of their song "I Love You, Oh No!" (with the title amended to "I Love You Ono") was used in television commercials for Sony Ericsson in Europe around 2006 and by Dell computers in the US in 2009. [6]
On January 16, 2014, Masahide Sakuma died from scirrhous gastric cancer and a brain tumor. He was 61. [3] On May 10, 2016, Plastics got together to perform their final concert at Blue Note Tokyo. On February 25, 2017, Toshio Nakanishi died from esophageal cancer, also at the age of 61. The following year, the band released the recording of their final concert under the name A in memory of Nakanishi. [7] [8] [9]
Year | Title | Notes |
---|---|---|
1980 | Welcome Plastics
| |
Origato Plastico
| ||
1981 | Welcome Back
| Re-recorded versions. Also known as Plastics. Originally came with a 7" picture flexi-disc of their version of the Monkees hit "Last Train to Clarksville" and Japanese B-side "Pate." |
Year | Title | Notes |
---|---|---|
1997 | All Across the U.S.A. 80 Live
| Recorded at Irving Plaza, New York, August 30, 1980, and Whisky a Go Go, Los Angeles, April 23, 1980. |
2009 | Dr. Vobg
| |
2016 | We Love You Oh No! Plastics Live in Central Park NYC 1981
| Vinyl LP only. |
2018 | A
| Live recording of the band's final reunion in 2016, with bonus disc containing five early demos. |
Year | Title | Notes |
---|---|---|
1981 | Best One '82 プラスチックス
| Cassette only. |
1988 | Forever Plastico
| Contains Welcome Plastics in its entirety and selected tracks from Origato Plastico. |
2005 | Hard Copy
| Live at Yaneura. Includes DVD U.S. Tour 1981. |
Origato25
| Two-disc "greatest hits" compilation with four rare/new tracks. | |
2013 | Plastic Paradise (Early Plastics Lost Tape)
| Included with Toshio Nakanishi's book The Rise and Fall of Plastics, Melon and Major Force Be With You. Features five early demos and three live tracks from Q's Bar, all from 1977. |
Year | Title | Notes |
---|---|---|
1979 | "Top Secret Man" / "Copy"
| Promo only. |
"Copy" / "Robot"
| Early recordings. | |
1980 | "Top Secret Man" / "Delicious"
| |
"Good" / "Pate"
| Non-album B-side. | |
"Peace" / "Desolate"
| ||
1981 | "Last Train to Clarksville"
| One-sided limited edition promo. Re-recorded version. |
"Diamond Head" / "Peace"
| Gold flexi-disc promo. Re-recorded versions. | |
"Pate" / "Last Train to Clarksville"
| One-sided picture flexi-disc. | |
Year | Title | Notes |
---|---|---|
1981 | "Diamond Head (Long Version)" / "Robot" / "Top Secret Man" / "Peace"
| 12" promo featuring re-recorded versions. |
Year | Title | Track | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2004 | Techno Pop
| "Pate" | B-side of "Good" single. |
2010 | Downtown 81 (12 Titres Extraits De La B.O. Du Film Culte)
| "Copy" | Early single version. Free CD sampler with French magazine Les Inrockuptibles issue N°46 Hors Série, dedicated to Jean-Michel Basquiat. |
Roland Corporation is a Japanese manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, electronic equipment, and software. It was founded by Ikutaro Kakehashi in Osaka on 18 April 1972. In 2005, its headquarters relocated to Hamamatsu in Shizuoka Prefecture. It has factories in Malaysia, Taiwan, Japan, and the United States. As of 31 March 2010, it employed 2,699 people. In 2014, it was subject to a management buyout by its CEO, Junichi Miki, supported by Taiyo Pacific Partners.
A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument that creates percussion sounds, drum beats, and patterns. Drum machines may imitate drum kits or other percussion instruments, or produce unique sounds, such as synthesized electronic tones. A drum machine often has pre-programmed beats and patterns for popular genres and styles, such as pop music, rock music, and dance music. Most modern drum machines made in the 2010s and 2020s also allow users to program their own rhythms and beats. Drum machines may create sounds using analog synthesis or play prerecorded samples.
The Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer, commonly known as the 808, is a drum machine manufactured by Roland Corporation between 1980 and 1983. It was one of the first drum machines to allow users to program rhythms instead of using preset patterns. Unlike its nearest competitor at the time, the more expensive Linn LM-1, the 808 generates sounds using analog synthesis rather than by playing samples.
Electro is a genre of electronic music and early hip hop directly influenced by the use of the Roland TR-808 drum machines, and funk. Records in the genre typically feature drum machines and heavy electronic sounds, usually without vocals, although if vocals are present they are delivered in a deadpan manner, often through electronic distortion such as vocoding and talkboxing. This is the main distinction between electro and previously prominent genres such as disco, in which the electronic sound was only part of the instrumentation. It also palpably deviates from its predecessor boogie by being less vocal-oriented and more focused on electronic beats produced by drum machines.
The Roland TR-909 Rhythm Composer, commonly known as the 909, is a drum machine introduced by Roland Corporation in 1983, succeeding the TR-808. It was the first Roland drum machine to use samples for some sounds, and the first with MIDI functionality, allowing it to synchronize with other devices. Though it was a commercial failure, the 909 became influential in the development of electronic dance music genres such as techno, house and acid.
Tadao Kikumoto is Roland's senior managing director and head of its R&D center. He designed the TB-303 bass synthesizer and the TR-909 drum machine. He was also the chief engineer of the Roland TR-808 drum machine.
Ikutaro Kakehashi, also known by the nickname Taro, was a Japanese engineer, inventor, and entrepreneur. He founded the musical instrument manufacturers Ace Tone, Roland Corporation, and Boss Corporation, and the audiovisual electronics company ATV Corporation.
BGM is the fourth studio album by Yellow Magic Orchestra, released on March 21, 1981. The title stands for "Background music", though Japanese TV and press advertising alternately used "Beautiful Grotesque Music". This album was produced by Haruomi Hosono. Recording started on January 15, 1981, in an effort to release the album by March 21, 1981. The album was the first of any kind to feature the Roland TR-808, one of the earliest programmable drum machines; YMO had already been the first band to use the device, featuring it on-stage as early as 1980. In addition to the TR-808, this was also their first studio album recorded with the Roland MC-4 Microcomposer.
In a Model Room is the debut album of Japanese band P-Model. It was an electronic pop album, released in 1979 under the label, Warner Bros.
Toshio Nakanishi, also known by the pseudonyms Tycoon To$h or Typhoom Tosh, was a Japanese musician and graphic designer who was best known as the founding member of new wave band Plastics in 1976. He was initially a part of the technopop fever in Japan and later acted as a pioneer of the Japanese hip hop scene with his band Major Force.
"Duchess" is a song by the English rock band Genesis, appearing as the second track on their 1980 album, Duke. It peaked at number 46 in the UK Singles Chart. The song is a part of the album's "hidden suite", which included "Behind the Lines", "Guide Vocal", "Turn It On Again", "Duke's Travels", and "Duke's End". It was the first Genesis song to use a drum machine.
Bulldozer is the second EP by American punk rock band Big Black, released in 1983. It was their first release to feature an actual band performing, including Pat Byrne from Urge Overkill playing drums on some of the songs in addition to the Roland TR-606 drum machine that provided rhythm tracks on all of Big Black's records.
"Man on the Corner" is a 1981 song by British rock band Genesis, released as a single on 5 March 1982. The song was written and sung by drummer Phil Collins. It peaked at No. 41 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 40 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.
The Punk Group is an electro/synth-rock band originating from Portland, Oregon.
This Iz the Japanese Kabuki Rock is the sixth studio album by Miyavi. It was released on March 19, 2008. A limited edition was released on SHM-CD, a supposedly high-quality CD format developed by Universal, and includes a DVD featuring music videos and documentary footage. The album is advertised as the "final stage" of Miyavi's recent "Neo Visualizm" theme, and features the artist's performance troupe, the Kavki Boiz, including an MC, various instrumentalists, and other artists. The album charted 25th on Oricon and 27th on Billboard Japan.
Young and Pretty is the second album released by the Japanese band The Blue Hearts. Along with Dug Out, it is one of only two studio albums consisting of a cover actually showing members of the band.
Masami Tsuchiya is a Japanese singer-songwriter and musician, coming to prominence in the late 1970s as the lead vocalist and guitarist in the group Ippu-Do. His subsequent output includes solo work and collaborations.
P-Model made a demo in 1979 to obtain a recording contract; it features 2 songs, each one being composed by Susumu Hirasawa and Yasumi Tanaka, P-Model's main songwriters at the time. The band negotiated with 8 record labels, in the end, they chose to sign a contract with Warner-Pioneer, all P-MODEL releases from 1979 to 1981 were handled by Warner-Pioneer, including IN A MODEL ROOM, the album where both of these songs were included. Hirasawa also gave a copy to Plastics keyboardist Masahide Sakuma after a Plastics show after asking him to produce In a Model Room, which Sakuma accepted. Due to the demo nature of the recordings, they are rawer and punkier than the studio recorded versions. The demo was released by Hirasawa's SYUN label in 1994 as a bonus for those who bought both OOPARTS and Pause, the first release of the SYUN label. The demo was remastered by Hirasawa and re-released on the Ashu-on [Sound Subspecies] in the solar system box set on 10 May 2002; it was put on CD 13, with SCUBA RECYCLE, Air On The Wiring and the In a Model Room outtake WHITE SHOES.
"I Love You, Oh No!" is a song written by Chica Sato, Hajime Tachibana, and Toshio Nakanishi for Plastics, released in 1979 from their debut album Welcome Plastics.
For You is the sixth studio album by Japanese singer-songwriter Tatsuro Yamashita, released in January 1982.