Naughty Boys

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Naughty Boys
File:YMO NaughtyBoys.jpg
Studio album by Yellow Magic Orchestra
Released May 24, 1983
Recorded October 1982 – March 1983
Studio Alfa Studio “A”, Shibaura, Minato
Onkio Haus, Ginza, Chūō
Tokyo
Genre Electronic, dance, electronic rock, J-pop, new wave, synthpop
Length 38:25
Label Alfa Records
Producer YMO
Yellow Magic Orchestra chronology
Technodelic
(1981)Technodelic1981
Naughty Boys
(1983)
Naughty Boys Instrumental
(1983)Naughty Boys Instrumental1983
Singles from Naughty Boys
  1. "Kimi ni, mune kyun."
    Released: 1983
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 4/5 stars[1]

Naughty Boys (浮気なぼくら Uwaki na bokura; "Naughty boys"?) is the sixth album by Yellow Magic Orchestra, recorded from October 1982 to March 1983, and released on May 24, 1983.[1] It contains the pop-oriented single "Kimi ni Mune Kyun", as well as a "preview" of "You've Got to Help Yourself", which was released in its full version on the companion album Naughty Boys Instrumental, and again with vocals on Service.

Overview

Naughty Boys was their final album to top the Oricon charts. After that, no technopop artist was able to reach No.1 until Perfume's 2008 album Game.[2] "Kimi ni Mune Kyun" also became the highest charting single by a technopop artist on the Oricon charts, debuting at No. 2; a record the song retained until Perfume's "Love the World" debuted at No. 1 in 2008.[3][4] "Ongaku" ("Music") was reportedly written by Ryuichi Sakamoto for his then-three-year-old daughter, Miu. Naughty Boys was re-released in 2004 in a double disc package alongside Naughty Boys Instrumental.

Various cover versions of "Kimi ni Mune Kyun" have been produced by later artists, including The Human League ("YMO Versus The Human League" in 1993),[5] Jan Linton in 1992-3, Asako Toki (in 2006),[6] and Yuko Ando in 2009.[7] Also in 2009, a cover of "Kimi ni Mune Kyun" was used as the ending theme song for the anime series Maria Holic, sung by Asami Sanada, Marina Inoue, and Yū Kobayashi, the voice actresses of the main characters.

Reception

John Bush of Allmusic noted how the album sounds very different from their previous albums, praising it as "a solid album of commercial synth-pop" as well as the lead single "Kimi Ni Mune Kyun" for "featuring vocals just as accomplished as its production."[1] Andrew Stout of SF Weekly has praised the album as "sensuous musique concrète perfected."[8]

Naughty Boys Instrumental

Naughty Boys Instrumental
Remix album by Yellow Magic Orchestra
Released July 27, 1983
Recorded October 1982-March 1983
Genre Electronic, dance, electronic rock, techno, J-pop, new wave, synthpop
Length 42:12
Label Alfa Records
Producer YMO
Yellow Magic Orchestra chronology
Naughty Boys
(1983)Naughty Boys1983
Naughty Boys Instrumental
(1983)
Service
(1983)Service1983

A remix album, Naughty Boys Instrumental (浮気なぼくら(インストゥルメンタル) Uwaki na bokura (Instrumental); "Naughty boys"?), was released in July 1983 by record label Alfa. It contained nearly the entire Naughty Boys album as instrumental tracks in an entirely different running order, as well as the b-side to "Kimi ni, mune kyun.", "Chaos Panic"; and the full instrumental version of "You've Got to Help Yourself", which was released in "preview" form on the previous album. "You've Got to Help Yourself"'s vocal version is also featured on Service.

Naughty Boys Instrumental featured additional synthesizers imitating the vocal lines, as well as new embellishments and mixes. Several tracks featured sonically updated percussion tracks, while "Ongaku" featured an acoustic piano soloing over the piece.

Naughty Boys Instrumental was re-released in 2004 in a double disc package alongside Naughty Boys.

Translation notes

As on some other YMO albums, song titles are provided in both Japanese and English, and some have different translations all together:

  • "君に、胸キュン。" translates to "My Heart Beats for You."
  • Though "Expected Way" and "Expecting Rivers" are the official translations, the Japanese titles translate to "Desired path" and "River of hope", respectively.
  • "邂逅" translates to "Chance Meeting".
  • 以心電信" translates to "Telegraph of the Heart".

Track listing

Side one
No. Title Lyrics Music Length
1. "Kimi ni, mune kyun. (A holiday affair)" (君に、胸キュン。(浮気なヴァカンス); "Kimi ni, mune kyun. (Uwaki na vacances)") Takashi Matsumoto Yellow Magic Orchestra 4:07
2. "Expected Way" (希望の路; "Kibou no michi") Yukihiro Takahashi Takahashi 4:34
3. "Focus"   Haruomi Hosono/Peter Barakan Takahashi/Hosono 3:41
4. "Ongaku" (音楽; "Music") Ryuichi Sakamoto Sakamoto 3:25
5. "Opened My Eyes"   Takahashi/Barakan Takahashi 3:40
Side two
No. Title Lyrics Music Length
1. "You've Got to Help Yourself (Preview)" (以心電信(予告編); "Ishin denshin (Yokokuhen)")   Takahashi/Sakamoto 0:30
2. "Lotus Love"   Hosono Hosono 4:05
3. "Kai-Koh" (邂逅; "Kaikō") Sakamoto Sakamoto 4:27
4. "Expecting Rivers" (希望の河; "Kibou no kawa") Takahashi Takahashi/Sakamoto 4:37
5. "Wild Ambitions"   Hosono Hosono/Sakamoto 5:10
Naughty Boys Instrumental
Side one
No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Chaos Panic"   Haruomi Hosono 4:12
2. "Expected Way" (希望の路; "Kibou no michi") Yukihiro Takahashi 4:34
3. "Focus"   Takahashi/Hosono 3:41
4. "Kai-Koh" (邂逅; "Kaikō") Ryuichi Sakamoto 4:27
5. "Expecting Rivers" (希望の河; "Kibou no kawa") Takahashi/Sakamoto 4:37
Side two
No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "You've Got to Help Yourself" (以心電信; "Ishin denshin") Takahashi/Sakamoto 4:21
2. "Lotus Love"   Hosono 4:05
3. "Ongaku" (音楽; "Ongaku") Sakamoto 3:25
4. "Opened My Eyes"   Takahashi 3:40
5. "Wild Ambitions"   Hosono/Sakamoto 5:10

Personnel

Yellow Magic Orchestra - Arrangements, Electronics, Mixing engineers, Producers
Guest musicians
Staff
  • Mitsuo Koike - Recording & Mixing engineer
  • Akitsugu Doi (Studio “A”) & Takanobu Arai (Onkio Haus) - Assistant Engineers
  • Kazusuke Obi & Osamu Takahashi - A&R Coordinators
  • Yōichi Itō (Office Intenzio) & Hiroshi Ōkura (B-2 Unit) - Management
  • Tsuguya Inoue (Beans) - Art director
  • Tsukuitoshinao - Creative Services
  • Masayoshi Sukita - Photography
  • Mikio Honda (Bijin) - Hair, Makeup

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Naughty Boys at AllMusic
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