The Plastics | Profile The Plastics were electronic pop group contemporaries of Yellow Magic Orchestra during the late 70’s and early 80’s. The band were Chica Sato on vocals, Toshio Nakanishi- guitar & percussion, Hajime Tachibana-guitar, Masahide Sakuma- keys & guitar, and Takemi Shima- rhythm box. The group was quite fashion oriented, and had something of a performance art style to them. Their first single “Copy/Robot” (1979) used a spelling machine toy and was released internationally by Rough Trade. Their first albums Welcome Plastics and Origato Plastico were machine driven, quirky and humorous, and drew comparisons often to the B-52’s. Songs from the first two albums were re-recorded with improved sound in 1981 and released in the US as Plastics (and as Welcome Back in Japan). The band toured in the United States and Europe, and while they drew a certain amount of interest, were not able to make a major impact. Perhaps as a result, the band in fact broke up at the end of the tour. Hajime Tachibana released H in 1982, on which he played as the lead instrument sax, which sold moderately well, despite his only having basic skills on the instrument. Since Tachibana has made albums and dabbled in fashion, design, art and the internet. After the break-up Chica Sato and Toshio Nakanishi soon put together Melon, which was a quirky pop band, the recordings for which included a number of famous friends, including members of the B-52’s. Since then Nakanishi has released music prolifically under a variety of names, most recently primarily performing as Tycoon Tosh. Masahide Sakuma has worked mostly as a producer, including work with the very popular Judy and Mary. Recently he has been working on a new band called Nina with Yuki of Judy and Mary, Kate Pierson of the B-52’s and Takemi Shima. by Keith Cahoon
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