Editing J-pop (section)

====Emergence of Japanese rock and electronic music====
{{see also|Japanese rock|Synth-pop}}

[[Rock music]] remained a relatively [[underground music]] genre in the early 1970s in Japan,<ref name="newmusic" /> though [[Happy End (band)|Happy End]] managed to gain mainstream success fusing rock with traditional [[Music of Japan|Japanese music]].<ref name="beatles"/> Several Japanese musicians began experimenting with [[electronic music]], including [[electronic rock]]. The most notable was the internationally renowned [[Isao Tomita]], whose 1972 album ''Electric Samurai: Switched on Rock'' featured electronic [[synthesizer]] renditions of contemporary rock and [[Pop music|pop songs]].<ref name="jenkins_2007">{{citation|title=Analog synthesizers: from the legacy of Moog to software synthesis|author=Mark Jenkins|publisher=[[Elsevier]]|year=2007|isbn=978-0-240-52072-8|pages=133–4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c3EHIpo0DKwC&pg=PA133|access-date=2011-05-27|author-link=Mark Jenkins (musician)}}</ref> Other early examples of electronic rock records include [[Inoue Yousui]]'s [[folk rock]] and [[pop rock]] album ''Ice World'' (1973) and [[Osamu Kitajima]]'s [[Progressive rock|progressive]] [[psychedelic rock]] album ''[[Benzaiten]]'' (1974), both of which involved contributions from Haruomi Hosono,<ref>{{Discogs release|2509617|井上陽水 – 氷の世界}} ([https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&tl=en&u=http://www.discogs.com/%E4%BA%95%E4%B8%8A%E9%99%BD%E6%B0%B4-%E6%B0%B7%E3%81%AE%E4%B8%96%E7%95%8C/release/2509617 Translation])</ref><ref>{{Discogs release|1303605|Osamu Kitajima – Benzaiten}}</ref> who later started the electronic music group "Yellow Magic Band" (later known as Yellow Magic Orchestra) in 1977.<ref name="discogs_paraiso">{{Discogs release|1188801|Harry Hosono And The Yellow Magic Band – Paraiso}}</ref>

In 1978, [[Eikichi Yazawa]]'s rock single "Jikan yo Tomare" ("Time, Stop") became a smash hit that sold over 639,000 copies.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/ranking/30481/|title=アーティストのブレイクにひと役買う、資生堂CM30年のパワー|publisher=Oricon|date=2006-08-08|language=ja|access-date=2009-01-14}}</ref> He is regarded as one of the pioneers of Japanese rock.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.hmv.co.jp/news/newsDetail.asp?newsnum=311010020|title=Top 100 Japanese pops Artists - No. 14|publisher=HMV Japan|date=2003-11-17|language=ja|access-date=2008-11-19}}</ref> He sought worldwide success, and in 1980 he signed a contract with the Warner Pioneer record company and moved to the West Coast of the United States. He recorded the albums ''Yazawa'', ''It's Just Rock n' Roll'', and ''Flash in Japan'', all of which were released worldwide, but were not very commercially successful. [[Keisuke Kuwata]] formed the rock band [[Southern All Stars]] (SAS), which made their debut in 1978. Southern All Stars remains very popular in Japan today.

In the same year, [[Yellow Magic Orchestra]] (YMO) also made their official debut with their [[Yellow Magic Orchestra (album)|self-titled album]]. The band, whose members were [[Haruomi Hosono]], [[Yukihiro Takahashi]] and [[Ryuichi Sakamoto]], developed [[electropop]],<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/jun/20/culture.electronicmusic|title=Yellow Magic Orchestra|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=2008-06-20|access-date=2009-01-08 | location=London | first=Paul | last=Lester}}</ref> or [[techno]]pop as it is known in Japan,<ref name="sarasota">{{cite journal|title=Computer rock music gaining fans|journal=[[Sarasota Journal]]|date=August 18, 1980|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7s4mAAAAIBAJ&pg=4481,2128223|access-date=2011-05-25|page=8}}</ref> in addition to pioneering [[synthpop]] and [[electro music]].<ref name="wire_1996">{{citation|title=A-Z Of Electro|work=[[The Wire (magazine)|The Wire]]|issue=145|date=March 1996|author=David Toop|url=http://www.thewire.co.uk/articles/210/|access-date=2011-05-29}}</ref><ref name="broughton_2007">{{cite book|last=Broughton|first=Frank|title=La historia del DJ / The DJ's Story, Volume 2|year=2007|publisher=Ediciones Robinbook|isbn=978-84-96222-79-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1GMxP6mpRdgC&pg=PA121|access-date=25 May 2011|page=121}}</ref> Their 1979 album ''[[Solid State Survivor]]'' reached number one on the [[Oricon]] charts in July 1980,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://eonet.jp/music/sp_live/index_070412.html|title=Look back on YMO|publisher=eo Music Tribe|language=ja|access-date=2009-01-12|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090207032249/http://eonet.jp/music/sp_live/index_070412.html|archive-date=2009-02-07}}</ref> and went on to sell two million records worldwide.<ref name="Hardy_1987">{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Rock|author1=Phil Hardy |author2=Dave Laing |author3=Stephen Barnard |year=1987|edition=2nd|publisher=Macdonald Orbis|isbn=0-356-14274-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tgcKAQAAMAAJ|access-date=25 May 2011|page=476}}</ref> At around the same time, the YMO albums ''Solid State Survivor'' and ''[[X∞Multiplies]]'' held both the top two spots on the [[Oricon]] charts for seven consecutive weeks, making YMO the only band in Japanese chart history to achieve this feat.<ref>{{cite web|title=ポルノが24年ぶりの快挙達成！|publisher=[[Oricon]]|date=August 17, 2004|url=http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/ranking/5122/|access-date=2011-06-09}} ([https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/ranking/5122/ Translation])</ref> Young fans of their music during this period became known as the {{Nihongo|"YMO Generation"|YMO世代|YMO sedai}}.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://trendy.nikkeibp.co.jp/article/pickup/20080430/1010090/?P=2|title=オリコン週間ランキング1位！今、Perfumeがウケている理由は？|publisher=[[Nikkei Business Publications]]|date=2008-04-30|language=ja|access-date=2009-01-10}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web| url=https://www.apple.com/jp/articles/interviews/sakamotoryuichi/ |title=Ryuichi Sakamoto Special Interview|publisher=[[Apple Inc.]]|date=2007-03-19|language=ja|access-date=2009-01-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081224053240/http://www.apple.com/jp/articles/interviews/sakamotoryuichi/ <!--Added by H3llBot-->|archive-date=2008-12-24}}</ref> YMO had a significant impact on Japanese pop music, which started becoming increasingly dominated by [[electronic music]] due to their influence,<ref name="loubet_couroux">{{cite journal|title=Laptop Performers, Compact Disc Designers, and No-Beat Techno Artists in Japan: Music from Nowhere|journal=[[Computer Music Journal]]|date=Winter 2000|volume=24|issue=4|pages=19–32|jstor=3681552|author1=Emmanuelle Loubet |author2=Marc Couroux |publisher=[[MIT Press]]|doi=10.1162/014892600559498|s2cid=32835136}}</ref> and they had an equally large impact on electronic music across the world.<ref name="fidelity_1993">{{citation|title=Yellow Magic Orchestra: Hi Tech/No Crime|journal=High Fidelity News and Record Review|volume= 38|issue=1–6|publisher=Link House Publications|year=1993|page=93|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-zg9AQAAIAAJ|access-date=2011-05-29}}</ref><ref name="allmusic_ymo">{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p5886|pure_url=yes}}|title=Yellow Magic Orchestra profile|website=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=2009-06-03}}</ref> Southern All Stars and Yellow Magic Orchestra symbolized the end of New Music and paved the way for the emergence of the J-pop genre in the 1980s.<ref name="whonejp"/> Both bands, SAS and YMO, would later be ranked at the top of [[HMV]]'s list of top 100 Japanese musicians of all time.<ref>{{citation|title=Geek Monthly, Volumes 17-22|work=[[Geek Monthly]]|year=2008|publisher=CFQ Media|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oADsAAAAMAAJ|access-date=12 June 2011|page=20}}</ref>