Magic touch: Sakamoto in1987
RYUICHI Sakamoto started out as a session player while at university in Tokyo during the ’70s. He made his experimental solo debut in 1978, coinciding with the advent of Yellow Magic Orchestra, the pioneering proto-techno trio he co-founded with Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi. The band’s initial run of albums proved hugely influential for a new wave of synth-pop and hip-hop artists.