New Years Day 2021 will mark the NTS Radio recast of Ryuichi Sakamoto‘s NHK FM Broadcast interview with the late David Bowie. The conversation took place in 1983 – the same year as the release of Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, which starred both artists and was scored by Sakamoto.
Sakamoto’s interview with Bowie will be the third aired by NTS in the span of nine days. On December 23rd they recast Sakamoto’s conversation with U.K. singer-songwriter David Sylvian, and on his interview with Japanese writer Haruki Murakami on the 28th.
Sakamoto and Bowie each boasted careers that blurred the lines between genres and extended over several decades. The former artist’s contributions to electronic music date back to the ’70s with his work as a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra, but his work has consistently maintained a classical overtone. Bowie, meanwhile, was lauded as one of the most influential rock musicians of all time, but he collaborated with producers like Giorgio Moroder and was an early adopter of synthesizers.
Ryuichi Sakamoto’s 1983 conversation with David Bowie will air at 9:00 AM GMT on NTS Radio. More information is available on their website.
