Yukihiro Takahashi -

Yukihiro Takahashi — 高橋幸宏 (June 6, 1952 — January 11, 2023) — was a Japanese drummer, percussionist, vocalist, and songwriter who played in the Sadistic Mika Band/Sadistics during the mid-to-late 1970s. In 1978, he co-founded the electro-pop super-trio Yellow Magic Orchestra with veteran musician Haruomi Hosono and rising star Ryuichi Sakamoto. He concurrently launched a solo career with the 1978–80 Seven Seas albums Saravah! and Murdered by the Music, followed by the 1981 Alfa release Neuromantic. Between 1982 and 1985, he issued five albums on Yen Records.

Background

Yukihiro Takahashi was born on June 6, 1952, in Ookayama, Meguro, Tokyo. His older brother Nobuyuki Takahashi led the Fingers and later became a composer and record producer. His older sister Mie Ito established a career in fashion publicity. Takahashi took up drums near the end of elementary school and received a Negi kit for his eleventh birthday. He attended Rikkyo Junior High School and graduated with the Class of 1971 from Rikkyo High.

At age fifteen, Takahashi substituted for Fingers drummer Keiichi Sekiguchi at summer dance parties. Takahashi formed Buddhas Narcissii with childhood friend Masakazu Togo in his first year at Rikkyo High and played dances and American-school events. The band shared a Karuizawa bill with the Burns, where substitute bassist Haruomi Hosono met Takahashi and later introduced the young drummer to Tatsuo Hayashi, Shigeru Suzuki, and bassist Rei Ohara, Nobuyuki’s subsequent partner in the folk combo BUZZ.

As Nobuyuki drew his brother into commercial sessions, Takahashi established himself as a studio drummer while still in high school. Takahashi and Ohara subsequently backed the pre-debut Garo and joined the group for the Nakatsugawa Folk Jamboree. Meanwhile, Takahashi entered Musashino Art University Junior College in the Living Design program.

Elsewhere, Takahashi backed singer Keiko Kobayashi on Nobuyuki-produced titles, including her recording of the Takahashi-penned “Hirusagari” for the 1972 album Kanashimigokko. Takahashi also met King Records director Kenji Ando through sessions connected with Kobayashi and BUZZ.

In September 1972, Ohara recommended Takahashi for the recently drummer-less Sadistic Mika Band, which hired both musicians as the new rhythm section. Sadistic Mika Band debuted with 1973 self-titled album on Doughnut and toured with Roxy Music in England, where they cut the 1974/75 Harvest albums and Black Ship and Hot! Menu, the latter with bassist Tsugutoshi Goto. After the departure of singing couple Kazuhiko and Mika Kato, Takahashi re-positioned as singer-drummer in Sadistics, a revamped quartet that made a 1977 album on Invitation with auxiliary vocals by Junko Sōma, who debuted soon after as Rajie.

In early 1978, King Records director Kenji Ando proposed a Takahashi solo album. Takahashi chose Ryuichi Sakamoto as co-producer and arranger and Haruomi Hosono on bass; the three had recently converged at Alfa Studio on Hosono’s Paraiso, where Takahashi and Sakamoto played on “Femme Fatale.” That connection carried into the sessions for Saravah!.

Discography:

Saravah! (1978)
Murdered by the Music (1980)
Neuromantic (1981)
What, Me Worry? (1982)
Tomorrow’s Just Another Day (1983)
Wild & Moody (1984)
Poisson d’Avril (1985)
Once a Fool… (1985)
…Only When I Laugh (1986)
La pensée (1987)
Ego (1988)
Broadcast from Heaven (1990)
A Day in the Next Life (1991)
Umi-Sora-Sango No Iitsutae (OST, 1992)
Lifetime, Happy Time (1992)

Sources:

JBpress Autograph — “独自のスタイルを確立した高橋幸宏の音楽とファッションについて.” Gives the June 6, 1952 Ookayama birth, early drums, Negi kit, and Fingers substitute activity. (JBpress Autograph)
Rikkyo University — “出会いを重ねた立教時代.” Confirms Takahashi graduated from Rikkyo Junior High in 1968 and Rikkyo High School in 1971. (Rikkyo University)
Drums Magazine — “TOKYO BACKBEAT TALK〜林立夫×高橋幸宏〜.” Takahashi recounts Buddhas Narcissii, the Karuizawa meeting with Hosono, introductions to Hayashi, Suzuki, and Ohara, high-school dance events, studio activity, and the Musashino Art University route. (Drums Magazine)
SOUND FUJI — 高橋信之×小原礼×東郷昌和×小林啓子座談会［前編］. Details the early Garo connection, Kobayashi sessions, “Hirusagari,” Kenji Ando, and Ohara recommendation that led Takahashi into Sadistic Mika Band. (SOUND FUJI)
Universal Music Japan — Sadistic Mika Band Biography. Confirms the 1972 drummer change, Takahashi recruitment of Ohara, album chronology, Roxy Music UK tour, and November 1975 dissolution. (Universal Music Japan)
記憶の記録 Library — Sadistics. Documents the post-Mika Band quartet and Takahashi lyric, composition, arrangement, and vocal credits on the 1977 Sadistics album. (記憶の記録 Library)
Stereo Sound ONLINE — 2018 Yukihiro Takahashi interview. Takahashi identifies Ando as the person who proposed the solo album, describes the BUZZ/Kobayashi connection, names Alfa Studio, Sakamoto and Hosono, and recalls the Paraiso “Femme Fatale” session and his heavy 1978 studio schedule. (Stereo Sound ONLINE)