Tong Poo

Tong Poo (or 'East Wind' in English) is a song written by Ryuichi Sakamoto for Yellow Magic Orchestra's self-titled debut, released in 1978. It was the first composition of his to be recorded by the band, and the only track on the album to be composed by him. It has gone on to become one of YMO's and Sakamoto's most recognizable songs.

Origins
Written around the same time as the songs on Sakamoto's debut solo album, Thousand Knives of Ryuichi Sakamoto, the song was inspired by Chinese classical music and the cultural revolution in China. According to Sakamoto, the idea was to write something he could envision the Beijing Symphony Orchestra playing.

Recording
The song was first recorded sometime in late 1978 for Yellow Magic Orchestra's debut album. This version was punctuated by Haruomi Hosono's funky bass as well a jazzy jam in the middle. The song also features some improvised piano playing courtesy of Sakamoto.

Release
The song was first released on November 25, 1978 on Yellow Magic Orchestra's debut album. The song was also included on a Japanese 12" intended for DJs sometime that year, with Firecracker off the same album on the B-side.

When A&M Records released the album in the United States, they took some liberties with the recording. Most notably, they overdubbed spoken/partly sung English vocals, courtesy of Minako Yoshida, onto the jam section. Whether YMO had anything to do this with decision is unknown but largely doubtful, as they never tried to replicate the English vocals in any future version. In the United States, the song was also re-titled 'Yellow Magic (Tong Poo)', perhaps to make it easier for English speakers to remember the title.

Live performances
The song would become a mainstay of Yellow Magic Orchestra's setlists between 1978-1980. It was briefly retired for the 1981 Winter Live Tour, in order to make room for the band's more recent material, though it would make a comeback for their farewell 1983 tour.

The song has also proven to be a staple of Sakamoto's setlists as well, with him performing various renditions of it across almost every solo tour of his. It has become one of the few Yellow Magic Orchestra songs to remain in his setlists over the years.

Legacy
Akiko Yano, member of Yellow Magic Orchestra's live band and wife of Sakamoto, recorded her own version for her fourth studio album, Gohan ga Dekitayo, in 1980. Her recording, arranged and performed by YMO themselves, is noticeably more laidback than YMO's. She also created her own lyrics for the song. Yellow Magic Orchestra's 1980 World Tour version of the song seems to be based on Yano's version, though it is still instrumental.

In the 1984 documentary Tokyo Melody documenting the recording of Sakamoto's solo album Ongaku Zukan, there's a scene with Sakamoto and Yano performing a piano duet of the song.