One of YMO’s most recognisable tunes, Behind The Mask was originally penned by Sakamoto for a Seiko television ad, only to be re-recorded a year later for Solid State Survivor, the group’s second album. An electro-pop classic, it runs poet Chris Mosdell’s dystopian lyrics (sung by Sakamoto) through a vocoder, most likely the Roland VP-330. Such was the track’s appeal that both Eric Clapton and Michael Jackson recorded cover versions, the latter almost making it onto Thriller.