Cue

Cue is a song by Yellow Magic Orchestra, first released on their album BGM in 1981. Since its release, it has become one of the band's most recognizable songs.

Origin
The song was recorded at a somewhat tumultuous time for the band, with Sakamoto only intermittently attending the BGM sessions. As a result, the song was entirely written and produced by Hosono and Takahashi, with English lyrics written by Peter Barakan.

The initial inspiration for the song came from the Ultravox song 'Passionate Reply', released in January 1981 as a B-side to their 1980 song 'Vienna'. After hearing the song, Hosono and Takahashi were inspired to write a song with a similar arrangement and production sound.

Recording
Hosono came up with the basis of the song, first coming up with its distinctive drum pattern and then recording the intro, with a lead synth that was meant to emulate a bagpipe. Takahashi later came in and wrote the rest of the song, including all the vocal melodies.

The song, recorded in a fit of inspiration, was finished in two days, in which time the group also designed potential single artwork for the song and took commemorative photos.

Sakamoto was invited to take part in the proceedings, but refused to do so due to his distaste for the song. According to the man himself, he was repulsed by the idea of recording a song that so explicitly imitated another band's record. It didn't help that Sakamoto was not very keen on Ultravox in general.

Release
The song was first released on March 21, 1981, as the sixth track on the band's fourth studio album, BGM. One month later, on April 21, the song was released as the first of two singles off the album, with U.T. as the B-side.

Legacy
The song has gone on to become one of Yellow Magic Orchestra's most enduring songs, and has been performed numerous times by Takahashi across his various projects. The song has been covered by artists as diverse as Cornelius (a frequent collaborator of the band's), singer-songwriter Hiroshi Takano (whose albums hullo hulloa [1988] and Sorrow and Smile [1994], were produced by Takahashi and Sakamoto, respectively), and former idol Megumi Asaoka.

Sakamoto's initial distaste for the song lasted for years after its release. Even during live performances of the song he would refuse to play the keyboard, opting instead to play drums. Despite being one of the band's most famous songs, the song was not brought back for their 1983 tour, probably due to resistance from Sakamoto. In recent years, Sakamoto has apparently softened on the song, stating, "It's still not one of my favorites, but I acknowledge that it was important to the band's career and that it shaped the direction we would pursue afterwards."