History Music / BGM

* {{Feelies}}: Early LP copies came with a foldout poster, a flyer for the book ''Omiyage'', and postcards featuring photos of the band. The 2019 SACD release replicates these extra packages in a shrunken down size.

''BGM'', released in 1981, is the fourth album by Japanese SynthPop {{supergroup}} Music/YellowMagicOrchestra. Recorded in only two months (at the request of bandleader Music/HaruomiHosono), the album steps away from the comedy approach of ''Music/{{Multiplies}}'' in favor of furthering the more mechanical direction of ''Music/SolidStateSurvivor''. Taking influence from Music/RyuichiSakamoto's solo album ''B-2 Unit'', the album incorporates elements of both {{Krautrock}} and the emerging genre of electro music (which the ''B-2 Unit'' track "Riot in Lagos" had previously been the TropeMaker for). Fitting this, the album is the first to make use of the Roland TR-808, one of the first programmable drum machines in the world; YMO had already been the first band to make use of the device, featuring it on their 1980 tour for a rendition of Sakamoto's 1978 solo piece "Thousand Knives". In addition, the album marks the band's shift from prior English lyricist Chris Mosdell to Peter Barakan, a British DJ residing in Japan who had previously worked with Sakamoto on ''B-2 Unit''; Barakan would become the band's go-to lyricist both for YMO work and their solo material.

** "Ballet" is a tribute to Polish art deco painter Tamara de Lempicka.

* SpokenWordInMusic: The French lyrics of "Ballet", a Japanese spoken conversation on "U•T", and the English and Russian monologue on "Mass".

* TheNotRemix: Early CD releases (including the 1992 Restless CD, which to this day is still the only US CD release of the album) featured a slightly altered mix on the track "Happy End", in which the metallic sound that appears in the second half of the song comes in cold rather that gradually fading in. The original LP mix of the song would not appear on CD until the 1999 remasters of the band's back-catalog, and since then it has been standard across formats.

# "1000 Knives" (5:24)

** "1000 Knives" was previously the TitleTrack to Music/RyuichiSakamoto's debut album (where it was called "Thousand Knives"); reportedly, Music/HaruomiHosono asked Sakamoto to come up with a song ''like'' "Thousand Knives", and Sakamoto responded by simply redoing the original track.

* AcronymConfusion: While the album's title ostensibly stands for "'''B'''ack'''g'''round '''Music'''", it was also promoted as "'''B'''eautiful '''G'''rotesque '''M'''usic".

** "Loom" has an infinite scale note nodding to YMO engineer Hideki Matsutake's "The Infinite Space Octave", produced back in 1978 and previously imitated on Hosono's solo album ''Cochin Moon''. The "fourth member" of YMO was called back by Hosono and reproduced the Shepard Tone-like sound again for ''BGM''.

* SpokenWordInMusic: The French lyrics of "Ballet", a Japanese spoken passage on "U•T", and the English and Russian monologue on "Mass".

The album's recording sessions were marked by escalating CreativeDifferences between Sakamoto and Hosono, owed to their increasingly divergent tastes in music clashing with one another. This came to a head during the making of "Cue", an homage to British New Romantic group Music/{{Ultravox}}. Sakamoto, who disliked Ultravox, attempted to sabotage the song by going AWOL during recording, sitting out on most of the album's production as a result and turning in no new tracks apart from "Music Plans", an allegory for his frustrated mental state at the time (the other two Sakamoto-composed pieces were rearranged solo cuts). Hosono and Music/YukihiroTakahashi shot back by simply putting together the album without Sakamoto. These creative clashes would eventually lead to a hiatus after their next album, ''Music/{{Technodelic}}'', before culminating in the band's breakup after the supporting tour for ''Music/{{Service}}'' in 1984.

* ExternallyValidatedProphecy: The chorus of "Rap Phenomena" talks about rap becoming a worldwide event. There were already HipHop acts such as Music/GrandmasterFlashAndTheFuriousFive and Music/TheSugarhillGang existing prior to ''BGM'', but rapping had a bigger commercial breakthrough later in the '80s thanks to groups such as Music/RunDMC. One year after this album's release, "Planet Rock" by Afrika Bambaataa came out and popularized the use of the 808 (Bambaataa also half-jokingly credited YMO with inventing Hip-Hop).
* {{Feelies}}: Early LP copies of came with a foldout poster, a flyer for the book ''Omiyage'', and postcards featuring photos of the band. The 2019 SACD release replicates these extra packages in a shrunken down size.

* PissTakeRap: "Rap Phenomena" with {{mind screw}}y lyrics about unified field theory.

** "Happy End" is a rearranged version of a Sakamoto solo piece, the original version of which wouldn't see release until after the YMO rendition (as a B-side to the non-album single "Front Line").

The album's recording sessions were marked by escalating CreativeDifferences between Sakamoto and Hosono, owed to their increasingly divergent tastes in music clashing with one another. This came to a head during the making of "Cue", an homage to British New Romantic group Music/{{Ultravox}}. Sakamoto, who disliked Ultravox, attempted to sabotage the song by going AWOL during recording, sitting out on most of the album's production as a result and turning in no new tracks apart from "Music Plans", an allegory for his frustrated mental state at the time (the other two Sakamoto-composed pieces were rearranged solo cuts). Hosono and Music/YukihiroTakahashi shot back by simply putting together the album without Sakamoto.

* GratuitousRussian: Peter Barakan speaks Russian on "Mass".

* SpokenWordInMusic: The French lyrics of "Ballet" and a Japanese spoken passage on "U•T" and "Mass".

[[caption-width-right:350:]]

''BGM'' is the fourth album by Japanese Technopop band Music/YellowMagicOrchestra. It was released in early 1981 after only 2 months of recording.

Contrasting with the accessible style of [[Music/YellowMagicOrchestraAlbum their first]] [[Music/SolidStateSurvivor two albums]], YMO venture into a more abstract territory on this album, with more songs being instrumentals and bordering on the {{Ambient}} genre. Mood-wise, the songs are also melancholic and feature lyrics contrasting with the danceable beats they can be heard on. Band member Music/RyuichiSakamoto had creative differences with Music/HaruomiHosono during the album's conception and only made "Music Plans" as an new track for the album ("Happy End" and "1000 Knives" were also of his own making but were released prior to ''BGM'''s recording).

It is one of the first albums in music history to feature a Roland 808, a drum machine which would get much more traction during the TheEighties as the HipHop genre would rise in popularity. It is also the first YMO album to feature co-writer Peter Barakan, a British-born Japanese DJ who would go on to be a frequent collaborator with the band.

[[AC:Side One]]

[[AC: Side Two]]

!!''Background tropes'':
* AcronymConfusion: While the album's title stands for "'''B'''ack'''g'''round '''Music'''", it was also promoted as "'''B'''eautiful '''G'''rotesque '''M'''usic".
* CallBack: "Cue" references the french lyrics of "Ballet" by translating them in english:
->'' I'm sick and tired of the same old chaos''
->''Must be a way to get out of this cul-de-sac''
* CoverVersion: "1000 Knives" is originally the title track of Music/RyuichiSakamoto's first album.
* DespairEventHorizon: The french lyrics of "Ballet" who later get translated in english on "Cue":
->'' I'm sick and tired of the same old chaos''
->''Must be a way to get out of this cul-de-sac''
* ExternallyValidatedProphecy: The chorus of "Rap Phenomena" talks about rap becoming a worldwide event. There were already HipHop acts such as Music/GrandmasterFlashAndTheFuriousFive and Music/TheSugarhillGang existing prior to ''BGM'', but rapping had a bigger commercial breakthough later in the eighties thanks to groups such as Music/RunDMC. One year after this album's release, "Planet Rock" by Afrika Bambaataa came out and popularized the use of the 808s (the American DJ also claimed that YMO invented Hip-Hop).
* GratuitousForeignLanguage: Peter Barakan speaks russian on "Mass".
* GratuitousFrench: "Ballet" has french lyrics spoken by Tomoko Nunoï, a secretary of Alfa Records (YMO's first label) who happened to be the only person around who was able to speak french. She can also be heard on the track "La Femme Chinoise" from ''Music/YellowMagicOrchestraAlbum''.
* HeavyMeta: "Rap Phenomena".
* InNameOnly: Averted and inverted with the track "U•T" which stands for "Ultra Terrestrial". The band intially thought about calling it "E•T" but changed the title. The [[Film/ET movie of the same name]] came out later during the year of ''BGM'''s release and Hosono felt it was better to call it "U•T" in the end.

* LongestSongGoesLast: Not on the album's entire tracklist but rather on each side of the album as a vinyl (and since the album was first cut that way, it's probably intentional of YMO). They also happen to be close to the 5'20 mark while all the other tracks last around the 4'30 mark.
* OneWordTitle: "Ballet", "Cue", "Camouflage", "Mass" and "Loom".
* RearrangeTheSong: "Music Plans" has much louder hard-hitting synths on ''Winter Live'' (as well as featuring a solo).
* ShoutOut: "Happy End" references the Japanese rock band of the early seventies on which Music/HaruomiHosono wrote songs and played bass.
** "Loom" has an infinite scale note which is a reference to YMO engineer Hideki Matsutake's "The Infinite Space Octave", produced back in 1978. The "fourth member" of YMO was called back by Hosono and reproduced that Shepard Tone-like sound again for ''BGM''.
* SpokenWordInMusic: The french lyrics of "Ballet" and a Japanese spoken passage on "U•T" and "Mass".

* AWildRapperAppears: "Rap Phenomena" is the only YMO track to feature rapping (performed by Music/HaruomiHosono).
* WordSaladLyrics: "Music Plans":
-> ''A guerrilla born at winter's end''
-> ''Spins songs that know no limit''
-> ''Let's do away with sentiment''
-> ''Life should be outspoken''
-> ''Pretty girls and owl-like gods''
-> ''Just like nature planned it''
-> ''Pallid seagulls cross bacteria seas''

Not to be confused with the {{BGM}} trope.

Contrasting with the accessible style of [[Music/YellowMagicOrchestraAlbum their first]] [[Music/SolidStateSurvivor two albums]], YMO venture into a more abstract territory on this album, with more songs being instrumentals and bordering on the {{Ambient}} genre. Mood-wise, the songs are also melancholic and contrast with the danceable beats they can be heard on. Band member Music/RyuichiSakamoto had creative differences with Music/HaruomiHosono during the album's conception and only made "Music Plans" as an new track for the album ("Happy End" and "1000 Knives" were also of his own making but were released prior to ''BGM'''s recording).

It is one of the first albums in music history to feature a Roland 808, a drum machine which would get much more traction during the TheEighties as the hip-hop genre would rise in popularity. It is also the first YMO album to feature co-writer Peter Barakan, a British-born Japanese DJ who would go on to be a frequent collaborator with the band.

** "U•T" stands for "Ultra Terrestrial". The band intially thought about calling it "E•T" but changed the title. Until the [[Film/ET movie of the same name]] came out