BGM (album)

BGM
Studio album by
ReleasedMarch 21, 1981
RecordedJanuary 15, 1981
StudioAlfa Studio "A", Shibaura, Minato, Tokyo
Length47:06
Label
ProducerHaruomi Hosono
Yellow Magic Orchestra chronology
x∞Multiplies
(1980)
BGM
(1981)
Technodelic
(1981)
Singles from BGM
  1. "Cue" / "U•T"
    Released: April 21, 1981
  2. "Mass" / "Camouflage"
    Released: September 5, 1981

BGM is the fourth studio album by Yellow Magic Orchestra, released on March 21, 1981. The title stands for "Background music",[1] though Japanese TV and press advertising alternately used "Beautiful Grotesque Music".[2] 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;[3] YMO had already been the first band to use the device, featuring it on-stage as early as 1980.[4][5] In addition to the TR-808, this was also their first studio album recorded with the Roland MC-4 Microcomposer.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Mills was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ the ultimate visual data of YMO 1978-1984 1993 / PERIOD. Japan: 徳間書店. 1993. ISBN 4-19-860001-5.
  3. ^ Jones, Mikey IQ (22 January 2015). "The Essential... Yellow Magic Orchestra". FACT Magazine. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  4. ^ Jason Anderson (November 28, 2008). "Slaves to the rhythm: Kanye West is the latest to pay tribute to a classic drum machine". CBC News. Retrieved 2011-05-29.
  5. ^ Mickey Hess (2007), Icons of hip hop: an encyclopedia of the movement, music, and culture, Volume 1, ABC-CLIO, p. 75, ISBN 978-0-313-33903-5, retrieved 2011-05-29