Alfa Records
Encyclopedia
, originally Alfa Music, was established in 1969 by composer and record producer Kunihiko Murai. It was formed into an independent record label known as Alfa Records in 1977.
"A" Studio (as used by Yellow Magic Orchestra
and other artists). In October 1998, operations were scaled back and Alfa withdrew from record production.
In April 2001, Sony Music Publishing (Japan) Inc. (a subsidiary of SMEJ
) gained worldwide distribution rights for Alfa's back catalogue - re-issues have appeared on the Sony Music Direct (Japan) Inc. label for domestic releases and Epic
for international sales.
Alfa were partners with A&M Records
, Zomba Music and Mute
during the 1980s and 1990s for Japanese domestic distribution.
and Yukihiro Takahashi
of Yellow Magic Orchestra
. Most albums were produced by Hosono or Takahashi, and mainly focused on Japanese new wave music
.
(Italo-Disco and Hi-NRG
), europop
, synthpop
and euro house.
, Konami
, Hudson
, Capcom
, and Tecmo games. The album "Video Game Music" (featuring music from Namco
games) and the related Super Xevious 12" single were released on Yen before the formation of GMO.
YMO, Hosono and Takahashi solo albums were also released on Yen during 1982-1985
History
The company faced much hardship in the 1990s. Due to financial troubles from the collapse of their previous diversification into foreign automobile dealerships, the record label was reformed into a new company "Alfa Music" in 1994. 1995 saw the closure of their ShibauraShibaura
is a district of Minato ward located in Tokyo, Japan. The district is located between the eastern side of the Yamanote Line train and Tokyo Bay.Shibaura is the home to a number of major Japanese corporations including Toshiba and Oki...
"A" Studio (as used by Yellow Magic Orchestra
Yellow Magic Orchestra
Sakamoto first worked with Hosono as a member of his live band in 1976, while Takahashi recruited Sakamoto to produce his debut solo recording in 1977 following the split of the Sadistic Mika Band...
and other artists). In October 1998, operations were scaled back and Alfa withdrew from record production.
In April 2001, Sony Music Publishing (Japan) Inc. (a subsidiary of SMEJ
Sony Music Entertainment Japan
is Sony's music arm in Japan. SMEJ is directly owned by Sony Corporation and independent from the United States-based Sony Music Entertainment due to its strength in the Japanese music industry....
) gained worldwide distribution rights for Alfa's back catalogue - re-issues have appeared on the Sony Music Direct (Japan) Inc. label for domestic releases and Epic
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
for international sales.
Alfa were partners with A&M Records
A&M Records
A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
, Zomba Music and Mute
Mute Records
Mute is an independent record label based in the UK. It was founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller and featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Goldfrapp, Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Erasure and Fad Gadget.-Beginnings:...
during the 1980s and 1990s for Japanese domestic distribution.
Yen Records
Yen Records (often printed as "¥EN") was an imprint that ran from 1982 to 1985 fronted by Haruomi HosonoHaruomi Hosono
, also known as Harry Hosono, is a Japanese popular musician, best known internationally as a key member of the rock band Happy End and the pioneering electronic music band Yellow Magic Orchestra.-Biography:...
and Yukihiro Takahashi
Yukihiro Takahashi
Yukihiro Takahashi is a Japanese musician, who is best known as the drummer and lead vocalist of the Yellow Magic Orchestra, and as the former drummer of the Sadistic Mika Band.-Biography:...
of Yellow Magic Orchestra
Yellow Magic Orchestra
Sakamoto first worked with Hosono as a member of his live band in 1976, while Takahashi recruited Sakamoto to produce his debut solo recording in 1977 following the split of the Sadistic Mika Band...
. Most albums were produced by Hosono or Takahashi, and mainly focused on Japanese new wave music
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
.
Alfa International
Alfa International was a sublabel which mainly published international (mostly European) releases of various music styles, including Italo-Disco, eurobeatEurobeat
Eurobeat is a form of italo-disco/hi-NRG music that developed in the late 1980s.In the United States, Eurobeat was sometimes marketed as Hi-NRG and for a short while shared this term with the very early freestyle music hits....
(Italo-Disco and Hi-NRG
Hi-NRG
Hi-NRG describes a form of high-tempo disco music as well as a genre of electronic dance music originating in the United States during the late 1970s...
), europop
Europop
Europop refers to a style of pop music that first developed in today's form in Europe, throughout the late 1970s. Europop topped the charts throughout the 1980s and ’90s...
, synthpop
Synthpop
Synthpop is a genre of popular music that first became prominent in the 1980s, in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic art rock, disco and particularly the "Kraut rock" of...
and euro house.
GMO Records
GMO (Game Music Organisation) was a label for video game music releases. Several albums were released including music from SegaSega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
, Konami
Konami
is a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...
, Hudson
Hudson Soft
, formally known as , is a majority-owned subsidiary of Konami Corporation is a Japanese electronic entertainment publisher headquartered in the Midtown Tower in Tokyo Midtown, Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, with an additional office in the Hudson Building in Sapporo. It was founded on May 18, 1973...
, Capcom
Capcom
is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
, and Tecmo games. The album "Video Game Music" (featuring music from Namco
Namco
is a Japanese corporation best known as a former video game developer and publisher. Following a merger with Bandai in September 2005, the two companies' game production assets were spun off into Namco Bandai Games on March 31, 2006. Namco Ltd. was re-established to continue domestic operation of...
games) and the related Super Xevious 12" single were released on Yen before the formation of GMO.
Japanese artists
- Yumi AraiYumi Matsutoya', nicknamed , is an influential Japanese singer, composer, lyricist and pianist. She is renowned for her idiosyncratic voice, and live performances, and is an important figure in Japanese popular music....
(1972–1976) - CasiopeaCasiopea, named as a misspelling of the constellation Cassiopeia, was a Japanese jazz fusion band that was formed in 1976 by guitarist Issei Noro, bassist Tetsuo Sakurai and keyboardist Hidehiko Koike. In 1977, keyboardist Minoru Mukaiya and drummer Takashi Sasaki joined the group, leaving Hidehiko out of...
- GaroGaro (Japanese rock group)GARO, was a '70s threepiece acoustic Japanese Rock group. The band was composed of Mark Horiuchi , Tommy Hidaka and Masumi "Vocal" Ohno . They recorded with Columbia and had a few chart hits, including no. 1 "Gakuseigai-no-Kissaten" in 1973...
- Ayumi Ishida
- Izumi YukimuraIzumi Yukimurais a Japanese popular singer and actress.Yukimura made her debut with the song in 1953. Her style of singing varied from jazz to rock and roll. She became one of the three most popular female singers in the early postwar Japan, along with Chiemi Eri and Hibari Misora.On her 1974 album Super...
- Chiharu MatsuyamaChiharu MatsuyamaChiharu Matsuyama is a famous Japanese folk singer and songwriter. First debuting with the single Tabidachi in 1977, success soon followed with the two hits Toki no Itazura and Kisetsu no Nakade....
- The StalinThe Stalinwere an influential Japanese punk rock band formed in June 1980, by leader and vocalist Michiro Endo. After numerous member changes, he disbanded the group in February 1985. In May 1987 Michiro formed a group called Video Stalin, which mostly made videos instead of albums, they disbanded in 1988...
- P-ModelP-ModelP-Model was a Japanese New Wave synth-rock & techno-pop band started in 1979 by frontman Susumu Hirasawa. The band has included many lineup revisions over the years but Hirasawa was always at the helm of operations...
- Soft BalletSoft BalletSoft Ballet is a Japanese Pop and EBM band. The group had three members: Maki Fujii, Ken Morioka, and Ryoichi Endo. They have been recording since 1989, though they had a long span of inactivity from 1995 to 2002 while the members pursued solo projects....
- Yuzo KoshiroYuzo Koshirois a Japanese video game music composer and audio programmer. He is regarded as one of the most influential innovators in chiptune music and video game sound design...
- Yellow Magic OrchestraYellow Magic OrchestraSakamoto first worked with Hosono as a member of his live band in 1976, while Takahashi recruited Sakamoto to produce his debut solo recording in 1977 following the split of the Sadistic Mika Band...
- Haruomi HosonoHaruomi Hosono, also known as Harry Hosono, is a Japanese popular musician, best known internationally as a key member of the rock band Happy End and the pioneering electronic music band Yellow Magic Orchestra.-Biography:...
(1978–1982) - Ryuichi SakamotoRyuichi SakamotoAfter working as a session musician with Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi in 1977, the trio formed the internationally successful electronic music band Yellow Magic Orchestra in 1978. Known for their seminal influence on electronic music, the group helped pioneer electronic genres such as...
(1980–1981) - Yukihiro TakahashiYukihiro TakahashiYukihiro Takahashi is a Japanese musician, who is best known as the drummer and lead vocalist of the Yellow Magic Orchestra, and as the former drummer of the Sadistic Mika Band.-Biography:...
(1981–1985)
- Haruomi Hosono
Yen Records
- Sandii & the SunsetzSandii & the SunsetzSandii & the Sunsetz were a Japanese technopop band that collaborated from 1979 until the 1990s. The Sunsetz, led by Makoto Kubota, and Sandii started as separate artists, and each have a separate discography...
- Miharu KoshiMiharu Koshiis a Japanese popular musician. Her career started in the late 1970s performing Japanese new music. By the mid 1980s she was performing music with electronic instruments, with many albums produced by Haruomi Hosono...
- Hajime Tachibana (from Plastics)
- GuernicaGuernica (band)Presumably named after the famous painting Guernica by Pablo Picasso, this Japanese trio from the 1980s specializes in avant-garde music in a retro 1920's and 30's cabaret style...
- Jun Togawa
- Koji UenoKoji Uenois an award-winning Japanese composer, musician, arranger and keyboardist. He is noted for his unique style of music.He graduated from Nihon University's department of music at its faculty of art, and in 1978, began his career in music with his first music ensemble, 8&1/2, after which he worked...
- Inoyama LandHikashuHikashu are a renowned Japanese underground "avant-pop" collective led by pseudo-Kabuki vocalist, Makigami Koichi, known for their highly experimental music...
YMO, Hosono and Takahashi solo albums were also released on Yen during 1982-1985
Foreign acts licensed by Alfa
- Corbin/Hanner Band
- Depeche ModeDepeche ModeDepeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. The group's original line-up consisted of Dave Gahan , Martin Gore , Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke...
- ErasureErasureErasure are an English synthpop duo, consisting of songwriter and keyboardist Vince Clarke and singer Andy Bell. Erasure entered the music scene in 1985 with their debut single "Who Needs Love Like That"...
- The PoliceThe PoliceThe Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For the vast majority of their history, the band consisted of Sting , Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland...
- FalcoFalco (musician)Johann Hölzel , better known by his stage name Falco, was an Austrian pop and rock musician and rapper. He had several international hits: "Der Kommissar", "Rock Me Amadeus", "Vienna Calling", "Jeanny", "The Sound of Musik", "Coming Home " and posthumously, "Out Of The Dark"...
- LuluLulu (singer)Lulu Kennedy-Cairns, OBE , best known by her stage name Lulu, is a Scottish singer, actress, and television personality who has been successful in the entertainment business from the 1960s through to the present day...
- Max QMax QIn aerospace engineering, the maximum dynamic pressure, often referred to as maximum Q or max Q, is the point at which aerodynamic stress on a vehicle in atmospheric flight is maximized...
(Michael Hutchence & Ollie Olsen) - Kylie MinogueKylie MinogueKylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...
- The MonroesThe Monroes (San Diego band)The Monroes were a New Wave pop band from San Diego active throughout most of the 1980s.They are best known for their single "What Do All the People Know."-Beginnings:...
- PIGPIG (band)Raymond Watts is the founding and sole member of the post-industrial music project PIG, sometimes written as '....
- Billy VeraBilly VeraBilly Vera is an American singer, actor, writer and music historian.-Life and career:Vera was born in Riverside, California. He began his singing career in 1962 as a member of the Resolutions. He went on to write several songs throughout the early 1960s, writing for the likes of Barbara Lewis,...
& the Beaters - ElegyElegyIn literature, an elegy is a mournful, melancholic or plaintive poem, especially a funeral song or a lament for the dead.-History:The Greek term elegeia originally referred to any verse written in elegiac couplets and covering a wide range of subject matter, including epitaphs for tombs...
(1992–1995) - Swamp Terrorists
- TelexTelex (band)The Belgian synth-pop group Telex was formed in 1978 by Marc Moulin, Dan Lacksman, and Michel Moers, with the intention of "Making something really European, different from rock, without guitar — and the idea was electronic music." Mixing the aesthetics of disco, punk and experimental electronic...