Yellow Magic Reunion

The original techno-pop trio, the Yellow Magic Orchestra (Ryuichi Sakamoto, Haruo Hosono, Yukihiro Takahashi), have reunited once again, apparently for the purpose of making a commercial.

The three superstar musicians are now appearing in a TV spot for Kirin Beer that includes a brand new version of the song "Rydeen," which first appeared on their 1979 album Solid State Survivor.

Since the spot first aired on February 3rd, the song was made available at the Japan iTunes store and quickly went to No. 1 in terms of downloads to all media, including cell phones. It remained at No. 1 at press time.

The advertisement is the third in a series of Kirin commercials using legendary groups from the ‘70s regrouped and performing a new version of an old favorite.

The other two bands are the soft rock collective Tulip and the Sadistic Mika Band, for whom Takahashi drummed before he formed YMO with Sakamoto and Hosono.