Behind the Mask (Yellow Magic Orchestra song)



"Behind the Mask" is a synthpop song by electronic music band Yellow Magic Orchestra, written by member Ryuichi Sakamoto and first produced in 1978 for a Seiko commercial. It was later released in 1979 as part of the band's album Solid State Survivor with English lyrics added by Chris Mosdell.

The song has been performed by many artists since its original release. In the early 1980s, Michael Jackson wrote additional lyrics for the song with an accompanying melody; this version has been recorded by himself, Greg Phillinganes, Eric Clapton, and Ryuichi Sakamoto (as a solo artist), among others.

Yellow Magic Orchestra version
"Behind the Mask" was a track from Yellow Magic Orchestra's 1979 album Solid State Survivor, with English lyrics by Chris Mosdell sung by Ryuichi Sakamoto using a vocoder. Sakamoto already had the melody line when he asked poet and lyricist Mosdell to write lyrics, which he based on the imagery of a Japanese traditional Noh mask, combined with a poem by Irish poet W.B. Yeats called, "The Mask."

Mosdell has said of the lyrics that "I was talking about a very impersonal, socially controlled society, a future technological era, and the mask represented that immobile, unemotional state. "

It was the first studio recording of this song, although the band had originally produced it as an instrumental in 1978, when the song first appeared in a Seiko quartz wristwatch commercial and was then played live in concert that same year. In 1980, the song was released as a single in the UK with the B-side as "Yellow Magic (Tong Poo)", and it was included in the US and European versions of the band's next studio album x∞Multiplies that same year.

Following the break-up of Yellow Magic Orchestra in 1983, the band's former keyboardist and the writer of the song, Ryuichi Sakamoto, re-recorded it in 1987 with Michael Jackson's additional lyrics and lead vocals by Bernard Fowler. A similar arrangement was performed (with Fowler) in Sakamoto's "Media Bahn Live" tour the previous year. A CD single with 3 tracks and a CD maxi with 6 tracks entitled "Behind the Mask +3" were released.

Track listing

 * Vinyl single by Yellow Magic Orchestra (1979)
 * 1) Behind the Mask (mono) 3:35
 * 2) Behind the Mask (stereo) 3:35


 * Japan single by Ryuichi Sakamoto (1987)
 * 1) Behind the Mask - 5:29
 * 2) Risky - 6:22
 * 3) Field Work - 5:07


 * Japan CD maxi single by Ryuichi Sakamoto ("Behind the Mask +3") (1987)
 * 1) Behind the Mask - 5:29
 * 2) Risky - 6:22
 * 3) Field Work - 5:07
 * 4) Steppin' Into Asia (TV track) - 3:39
 * 5) Field Work (Edit) - 2:34
 * 6) 両眼微笑 (Instrumental) - 3:57

Greg Phillinganes version
"Behind the Mask" was a single from Michael Jackson's keyboardist Greg Phillinganes's 1985 album Pulse. Phillinganes first met Michael and his brothers during the sessions for The Jacksons' Destiny album in 1978, and went on to serve as musical director for Michael's Bad World Tour.

Greg had released the song as a single in 1985, which reached No.4 on the Billboard Dance/Club Play Songs, No.77 on the Billboard R&B singles chart in the United States, but failed to make the Hot 100 and UK charts.

Track listing

 * UK single
 * 1) Behind the Mask - 4:07
 * 2) Only You - 6:16


 * German single
 * 1) Behind the Mask - 6:27
 * 2) Behind the Mask (instrumental) - 5:13
 * 3) Only You - 6:16

Personnel

 * Greg Phillinganes - lead vocals, keyboards
 * David Williams - guitars
 * Brian Banks and Anthony Marinelli - synthesizer programming
 * Michael Boddicker - vocoder
 * Howie Rice - clap effects
 * Richard Page - additional backing vocals
 * Arranger: Michael Jackson
 * Additional Engineering: John Arrias and John Vigran

Eric Clapton version
"Behind the Mask" is an album track from Eric Clapton's studio album August in 1986, and was released as a single in 1987.

Background and release
Greg Phillinganes, who had previously covered the song himself, brought the composition to Clapton. Phillinganes played keyboards on this track, as well as singing background vocals. This version failed to credit Michael Jackson as one of the song's co-writers, but Chris Mosdell has confirmed that Jackson's estate does in fact take 50% of the song-writing royalties.

The song was released as a single, and peaked at No. 15 in the UK on January 17, 1987.

Track listing

 * UK 45 RPM (928461-7, W8461)
 * 1) Behind The Mask (Edit)
 * 2) Grand Illusion


 * UK 12" Single (W8461)
 * 1) Behind The Mask (LP Version)
 * 2) Grand Illusion
 * 3) Wanna Make Love To You


 * UK 2 x 7" Vinyl (928461-7, W8461F)
 * 1) Behind The Mask (Edit)
 * 2) Grand Illusion
 * 3) Crossroads (Live)
 * 4) White Room (Live)

Personnel

 * Backing Vocals - Katie Kissoon, Tessa Niles
 * Bass - Nathan East
 * Drums, Percussion, Backing Vocals - Phil Collins
 * Engineer - Magic Moreno, Paul Gommersall, Peter Hefter
 * Guitar, Vocals - Eric Clapton
 * Keyboards, Backing Vocals - Greg Phillinganes
 * Photography - Terry O'Neill
 * Producer - Phil Collins
 * Producer [In Association With] - Tom Dowd

Michael Jackson version
Michael Jackson recorded a version of "Behind the Mask", with extra lyrics and an extra melody line, during the Thriller sessions after it was brought to his attention by producer Quincy Jones, but the track didn't make the album due to a royalties dispute with Yellow Magic Orchestra's management. A remixed version with overdubbed extra production by John McClain was eventually released on Jackson's 2010 posthumous album Michael. This version was also released as a single to radio and as a limited 7" for Record Store Day, plus a music video edited together from fan contributions was released under the title "The Behind the Mask Project". McClain's overdubs over the original 1983 tape include a newly recorded saxophone solo and crowd noise from the 1992 Live in Bucharest: The Dangerous Tour TV special.

Other versions
It was covered by The Human League in 1993 with Yellow Magic Orchestra.

A sample of the Greg Phillinganes version formed the basis for Goldie Lookin Chain's 2004 single Your Mother's Got a Penis.

Señor Coconut had a cover version released in 2006.