I liked his work, both solo and with the Yellow Magic Orchestra, he was also very influential on other artists I liked.
Yes, sad news indeed.
His work has stood up very well, and still sounds strong and full of ideas. And his name pops up in all sorts of places as a collaborator or influence - a great achiever, and sounded like a very nice bloke in interviews.
I’ve just found out that Sakamoto’s Yellow Magic Orchestra bandmate Yukihiro Takahashi died in January this year! Not a good year for Japanese electro-pop pioneers.
Yes, this confused me. Because I had heard of the death of the former and when someone told me that Sakamoto had died I thought it had already happened. One of the first Japanese CD’s I bought was a compilation of YMO songs which I enjoyed right away. It is always sad when creative people pass away, but they both sure left us lot of great works to remember them by.
//i\\
I loved his score for the 1992 Wuthering Heights with Ralph Fiennes.
I know him only as Capt. Yonoi from “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence,” although I did know he was primarily a musician.
Another interesting casting choice was Takeshi Kitano, who played Yonoi’s Sgt. Hara, who was pimarily a comedian. (And this was not a comic role.)
Takeshi started out as a comedian but has earned really solid credentials as a serious actor and director.