a tribute to Ryuichi Sakamoto 

Forbidden Colours with David Sylvian is one of my favourite tracks ever. R.I.P. Mr Sakamoto.

Fieldwork is probably my favorite song of all time. My two favorite artists coming together to create a masterpiece.

Just recently discovered his work, truly heartbreaking news, what a legendary musician. RIP

Sad and a lovely memory of him. Absolutely love your work Thomas, fieldwork is a great song 👍😎

Nicely

Lovely tribute and sad to hear he's passed away.

Lots of love to you ♥

Learned so much from this thank you. Had no idea about the influence or career of Ryuichi Sakamoto

So happy to be connected with you here

Illustrated musical encyclopedia is pne of my favourite records. So classy... Thank you

Just brought home the "Field Work" LP from my local record shop. The owner had just brought it back from a trip to Tokyo. Thank you for this tribute, Thomas - such a great origin story while I let the record spin. RIP Professor!

❤ you changed my perceived notions of music years ago. I'm 55. One our submarines is missing affected me. I looked into you. Playing keys on the train. That tought me much. Just play. Some may not like it. Too bad. I played the deep cuts for people year after year. Still. To show them dedication. 😊 just play. You'll meet cool 😎 people. I'm 💪 Strong Island 🏝 NYC 🗽 we are all into music. Art 🎨 mad respect Brother Thomas. 👍👌🤘💥💖

Thank you for this. This is the best sort of tribute. I love “Illustrated Musical Encyclopedia” so much, and from there got pulled into YMO. Thank you for that connection. Am I wrong or was there another video of “Fieldwork?” I quite like the one you’ve shared here, but not seen it hitherto.

This was a wonderful tribute. Your story of how he played back that complicated harmony after hearing it reminded me of the scene in Amadeus when Mozart plays back Sallieri's march after hearing it, and more historically the account of how at a young age he'd transcribed a piece of music he heard performed in a concert. Such rare talent, but at least we can rejoice that he had the opportunity to use it and gain success from it.

Thanks for that! You are very pleasant to listen to!

Wonderful tribute to a great musician. (Ah, yes, "Radio Silence". A great song.)

Sakamoto lives on, at least in my head. He was a wonderful man and a creative hero to many. The amount of music, especially the film scores, he leaves us is a measure of his talent.. 私の目は今涙で輝いています...

I didn't see the link to "Fieldwork" when I looked, so here it is for convenience: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-mkD99LbASWM.html

So sad to hear another legend has passed away... But, his music will live on for generations to come! Lovely little tribute there, Thomas.

Thank you, Thomas for your tribute. „Field work“ has always been one of my absolute 80s favorites. RIP Ryuichi.

What a lovely message. Thank you, Thomas. I’ve followed you both since the early 80s. I watched Sakamoto’s last virtual concert a few months ago and marveled at what a gift he was giving us at that time when he must’ve been so tired already. It was so sublime. I will deeply miss his presence on this earth. But gosh…what a legacy he’s left us! ❤

So, so sad. One of my all time favorite tunes is "Field Work" with you and him.

Thank you for the wonderful memories. I am so sad to hear of his passing. This breaks my heart much like when I heard David Bowie died. I absolutely love Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence so much that when I left the movie theater in the 80’s I bought the soundtrack on vinyl.

What a wonderful Tribute. Very moving indeed. Thank you

The song Akiko Yano sings backing vocals on is Radio Silence. May the grief of Ryuichi's passing soon turn to joy of his memory.

You're a decent chap. I was only able to see you perform live once in my life at the Greek Theater in L.A. in 1984. So sad to hear about your loss.

ありがとう、トーマス。あなたのアルバムは今でも愛聴してるよ。彼との刺激的なコラボシングル、フィールドワークも勿論ね。レデｨオサイレンスにはアッコちゃんがコーラスで参加していたね。どうか彼との思い出を大切にしてほしい。

Thank you for your heart warming tribute for Ryuichi “Professor “ Sakamoto. I do remember the song “Fieldwork “ which you mentioned. His music will be remembered forever. R.I.P. 🙏🎹🎼

Lovely tribute ❤ Rest in peace Ryuichi Sakamoto ✨

Ryuichi = Luigi?! 😂😂😂

Thanks TMDR!- I am so terribly saddened hearing the news yesterday. Fieldwork was one of my favorites the SECOND I heard it. It still has it's own sprit and energy. Thanks for sharing.

Also Yukihiro Takahashi who was the band mate in yellow magic orchestra. Fieldwork is a brilliant track.

Thank you Thomas. Akiko was the inspiration for Dr. Pike's "Good Heavens, Miss Sakamoto, you're beautiful!" in Blinded me by Science? Here and Ryuichi were engaged already? A friend of mine had misheard it as "Good Heavens, Miss South America, you're beautiful". I didn't even fully get it until many years later :) Also, I love you used his Exhibition track on part of the Fieldwork video. Were you involved with that in any way? It's one of my favorite ambient pieces of his.

Thank you for sharing this with us. Although we all knew his passing was eminent, I am heartbroken none the less. I was lucky to have seen Ryuichi perform twice. In 1990 when he toured to support the "BTTB" album, and when he toured in 2001 with the incomporable Jaques and Paula Morelenbaum. Over the past 30 years I have averaged seeing 2 concerts every week, but those Sakamoto performances are in my top 5 concerts of all time

“Good Heavens Miss Sakamoto-You’re Beautiful!!’

You're eyes went from living in hell to living in heaven thru out the years, btw 🖖😅🐈‍⬛

I've just heard of the passing of Sakamoto-san. His album 'Beauty ' was just as its title describes...beautiful. I lived in Japan in the 1980s and he reflected how influential Japanese culture and music became at that time. A true icon.

Thank you for such a heartfelt tribute.

Thank you so much for sharing this story! Incidentally Field Work was one of the first tracks that made me listen to Sakamoto, the whole Illustrated Musical Encyclopedia album is soo great!

Ryuchi Sakamoto was a great composer, and a powerful actor in both Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence and The Last Emperor. And those melancholy melodies of his... he composed beautiful melodies for The Sheltering Sky. He is already missed.

A beautiful story beautifully told. Thank you Thomas.

Thank you for this, Thomas. I'm heartbroken like everyone is over this but seeing the outpouring of love from so many of the people who knew and admired him has been really lovely.

Absolutely loved Fieldwork. Great video too. RIP.

Thanks so much for this. Hearing nice stories about people we’ve lost is a very positive way to come to terms with their passing.

Field Work (1985): ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-tdq-Pn6xPBE.html Field Work (live in Tokyo, 2012): ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-5l3SChn73u8.html

R.I.P. Mr. Sakamoto

You and Sakamoto are two of my favorite musicians. Still sad because Ryuichi passed. Love.

'bridge' by sakamoto is really ultimate

Thank you Thomas for sharing those personal stories. Indeed, a lovely tribute to a wonderful musician and your friend. Peace.

RIP Ryuichi. so soon after Yukihiro Takahashi as well - we were always big fans of YMO, our thoughts with Harry

Well done Thomas ... RIP 坂本 龍一

This is so incredible. Thank you for sharing this!❤

ありがとう

I prefer to be ignorant,guess then look things up.. Cause it requires some brain strain.. But the AI art interrogation mentioned has given my exploration of imagery a kickstart.. I'd draw but why draw when I can make hundreds of images. I was doing that this more for six hours listening to to your autobiography on audible. I cannot read books, except for computer manuals, without going to sleep.. Audibles are so much nicer. If you listen to The wilson sisters (heart) audible, their dream was to meet joni mitchel, they even hitch hiked just to find her house, several times. You should collaborate with I think it is Nancy.. The guitarist. A friend of mine introduced me to prefab sprout's song "King of Rock and Roll", cause it had the word Albuquerque, which is where I went to college (UNM). I do believe prefab sprouts lyrics would make great AI prompts, if not the imagery in their music videos. Thought it was cool how you orchestrated "Girl like you" sustained filtered square wave layers using the mixer like a mellotron. Where did you hear about anyone doing that? I heard the keyboardist of moody blues learned to compensate for the rewinding at the end of each note.. I had a program for my amiga that would let me program patches for each octave then play it through my midi synth, and set loops to prevent having to retap the keys. When Zi got access to the Fairlight CMI app for the ipad, it didn't really hold a candle to Amiga apps I had, and the interface was confusing. Then when Vogel was forced to rename it Vogel CMI, I believe the more memorable samples like those used in Kate Bush's cloud-busting (train samples) had been removed. There is a mellotron emulator but its not impressive. Do you have any favorite ipad music or otherwise apps?

Rest in Peace R.S

✨🎶💖🎶✨

My guess is that the "Good heavens, Miss Sakamoto, you're beautiful" line was in reference to Akikio Yano. She's not only a singer, but an incredible piano player and played keyboards for YMO while they toured for a bit.

Ryuichi sounds familiar, like a member of that yellow orchestra popular in the 80s.

Kef Leppard , 🐆 irresponsible Rock singer, synths lover, percussion& 🥁 dabbler& jazz barstard 🎺

Great tribute. I was wondering if THOMAS DOLBY could do a wee video about producing/making PREFAB SPROUTS Jordan the comeback, such an original album!

Terrific video tribute. Well done Mr D!

Ryuichi was a "Renaissance Giant" whose "Eclectic Genius" will continue to be celebrated i'm sure!! This "Musical Scientists" experiments were always of the most "Ingenious and ultimately "Successful Kind"!!!

Sorry to hear about your friend Thomas, I have never heard of him until now. Since he comes recommended by the great Thomas Dolby it looks like I'm going to have to check out his work.

The woman in Radio Silence is Akiko Yano??? That's awesome. I never knew that.

Lovely story! Luigi! I’ve been dying to see a proper tribute so thankyou. My sister was a HUGE fan and had the FIELDWORK 12 inch. I inherited her record collection but rather mysteriously, all her Roo and YMO was missing. This will forever puzzle me? 🤷🏻‍♀️🤔❤️

Are the harmonized vocals you speak of from the song Radio Silence? RIP, Ryuichi Sakamoto.

Thanks so much dear Thomas for this. Ryuichis don’t Bibo no Azora from Babel is breathtaking. One of my most favorite instrumental piano pieces of all time. ❤️❤️

So it's Akiko Yano that asks about the parking meter on Radio Silence. Now, I like the song even more because I know now that it's the song that led to Tomas meeting Ryuichi Sakamoto.

Is Field Work going to be available again in Spotify? That's one of my favorite musical pieces. I love your voice and the composition of the song

What a beautiful tribute to, and reminiscence about Ryuichi. I bought 'Field Work' as soon as I knew about it, and loved it immediately. Your collaboration was so natural, easy, and inevitable sounding that it was impossible for me to tell where his contribution ended and yours began. It's still such a beautiful, wistful song for me, filled with a kind of futuristic saudade, with machines and humans, memories and hopes for the future. It's still that for me. Thank you so much, Ryuichi and Thomas. Your work together and individually still moves me so deeply, and always will. Your biggest fan since your work on 'Waiting for a Girl Like You', Todd.

Great reminiscing. I immediately knew you were speaking of the track "Radio Silence." That great vocal harmony by the Japanese woman has always stuck with me.

My knowledge of Ryuichi Sakamoto is the absolutely minimal, but not insignificant. He collaborated with Paula Morelenbaum, et al, on the album "Casa." It was recorded in the home of then-deceased Antonio Carlos Jobim, playing on Jobim's own piano. The performance convinced me he must have been special. The Japanese love AC Jobim's music, and it was wonderful that it reached around the world only to come full circle to Jobim's living room.

Dear TD, thank you for the wonderful memory of Sakamoto. He was also my friend and I had the wonderful pleasure to work with him on The Rainbow Colored Lotus in 1995. I will miss him. Thankfully he left the world with beautiful music. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-F5Wx8apVMs4.html

Thanks Thomas for sharing this. I used to study aboard in the 80｀s and i had to let go of a bunch of my LP collections when i finished and return home. However , i still have you first LP ( and subsequently bought a few CDs ) in my collection. Thanks for the wonderful music and your priduction work on Prefab Sprout's Steve Mc Queen is lost gem.

Bamboo Houses is my favourite track of his. I hope you decide to post more of your favourite memories here on your channel Mr. Dolby. I have been watching Leland Sklars channel where he talks about Astronauts And Heretics.

🙏🎶😎👍

Would you consider playing at cruel world in 2024, or the states would love to see you perform, in san Francisco area.

'bridge' is really.. every note is played wirh full conciousness if you want to know sakamoto you have to listen to bridge it's fucking devine

Lovely as it is, I do wish you'd stop doing these tributes, Tom: every time you do, another talented musician dies.

Thank you kind sir! I never heard or thought of that Luigi thing, that's pretty funny.

I don't know much about compostion but it seems he had that 'horse move' going on you know in chess there's this 'horse move' it seems in composition he had the same thing going on offcourse it always had a 'charge' it always had a real meaning

I knew it Radio Silence as soon as he said "doo wap" five-part harmony :)

Finally got the full "Akiko and Luigi" story. Thank You!

Sorry to hear of the loss. (Sounded like Budapest By Blimp)

Here is the link to the "Field Work" Video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-mkD99LbASWM.html

I loved fieldwork.

Fieldwork video ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-4HRvJ6mAo8w.html

Great reminiscence

No link, Thomas? You promised.

Salute

Thank you for sharing! from a fan of Ruyichi Sakamoto

Thank you!

R.I.P. Sweet Prince Sakamoto san.

Very lovely, thank you. 💜💜💜

Thanks Thomas, it is good to hear Ryuchi's peers and collaborators talk of him.

Great to hear your tribute to Ryuichi Thomas and your memories of working on Illustrated Musical Encyclopaedia with him. I was devastated by the news of his passing more than any other artist I’ve been a fan of. Amazing and unique and prolific musician.I’m 60 now and I been a fan of his since I was 16. I think I saw YMO in London the same year I saw you at Brixton Academy. Remember it well as I missed my train and slept on Euston station on my own with school the next morning.🙄. RIP Ryuichi.

The true description of the earth F L A T .

Namo Amitabha 🙏

Wish i was ageing as well as Mr Dolby