JapanSylvian.com

Does anybody know anything at all about the singer credited as Cyo on "Methods of Dance"?

No idea. I've asked Steve and Rich and it was one of the things they didn't answer. I can only speculate it was one of their girl friends - if it were a known singer it would have come out by now. I did have a mad thought it might have been one of them singing falsetto but the voice isn't quite right. Lovely track.

Anthony Reynolds plans to publish the full-length version of his Classic Pop article on Polaroids at some point, he tracked down the other session players, maybe he found Cyo?

I always thought it was Yuka Fujii? something read from years back..

I don't think it's Yuka, though she did re-connect with the band around the time of Polaroids having originally met and photographed them in 79 in Japan. It's her voice on Talking Drum and Still Life In Mobile Homes, quite different to the voice on Methods, which sounds a little like Akiko Yano (although it can't be her she was in Japan at the time, Miu was less than 3 months old).

yeah, i don't think it sounds anything like yuka either (or any other singer featured in any other japan song). at this point i've figured that since it wasn't revealed in mick's book, it's likely to remain a mystery. if anthony reynolds does manage to dig up who cyo is i'd be surprised, just because the band seems to have kept a tight lid on who it is all this time.

i've also learned to be incredibly pessimistic about these things, though, so i could be wrong.

I asked Anthony last night if he found out - no joy. It's either an ex, a friend who didn't want to be known by the public, or a singer who had a contract with another label so had to work under a pseudonym.

I'm listening to it right now, and it resembles Akiko Yano most closely from the possible candidates. It is possible she and Miu came to London with Ryuichi that August. Miu would have been approaching 4 months old.

sandii from the sunsets...

Nope not Sandii, she didn't know them then.

I found evidence to suggest it was Akiko Yano as she was in Europe at the time working with Ryuichi on a Kazuhiko Kato album (though he dropped out of some sessions due to exhaustion). To cut a long story short Rich won't say who it was, preferring that this remain a mystery. I'm going with the theory that it's one or more of them singing falsetto for now.

Although I wouldn't rule it out 100%, I don't think it has the timbre of Akiko Yano, and I have never heard her sing something quite that sultry. If it was her, I think they would have credited her, perhaps simply with "Akko". Sakamoto is on the album as well, after all. I don't see why they would have been coy or kept that a secret.

natsume wrote:Although I wouldn't rule it out 100%, I don't think it has the timbre of Akiko Yano, and I have never heard her sing something quite that sultry. If it was her, I think they would have credited her, perhaps simply with "Akko". Sakamoto is on the album as well, after all. I don't see why they would have been coy or kept that a secret.

The only reason may be that she was possibly in a tricky legal situation at the time, going through a divorce and also changing record labels before the release of "Gohan Ga Dekiyayo". It only sounds like her though if you have her in your head. I think she has sounded like that on occasion, for example on "Dogs Awaiting" and a bit on "Rose Garden" though you are right, the voice isn't quite right. We may yet find out, a couple more people who were at the recording sessions are contributing to Anthony Reynolds book.