Joe Hisaishi 1981-98: Anime film industry What happened during 1981-1998? In 1981 Hisaishi, with his new name, released his first album of art music, MKWAJU, and in 1982 the electropop-minimalist album Information. Did he released any other albums? scores. In 1986, Laputa: Castle in the Sky, would be the first feature to appear under the Studio Ghibli banner, What else is interesting about Joe and the Anime film industry? He initiated a solo career, began to produce music, and created his own label (Wonder Land Inc.) in 1988. Was this label a successful endevour? A year later, Hisaishi released his solo album Pretender as the first album under the new label. What happened after he released his first album? I don't know. Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? Williams. This big break led to Hisaishi's overwhelming success as a composer of film scores. In 1986, Laputa: Castle in the Sky, What made this so successful? its gentle, faintly melancholic tone would become a familiar trademark of much of the studio's later output.
What other output did the studio release?
Other than Laputa: Castle in the Sky, what other output did the studio release?
In 1981 Hisaishi, with his new name, released his first album of art music, MKWAJU, and in 1982 the electropop-minimalist album Information. Then, in 1983, Hisaishi was recommended by Tokuma, who had published Information, to create an image album for Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. Hisaishi and the director of the animated film, Hayao Miyazaki, became great friends and would work together on many future projects. In 1985, he founded his own recording studio--the wonder station. Their collaboration has invited comparisons to the collaborations of Steven Spielberg and John Williams. This big break led to Hisaishi's overwhelming success as a composer of film scores. In 1986, Laputa: Castle in the Sky, would be the first feature to appear under the Studio Ghibli banner, and its gentle, faintly melancholic tone would become a familiar trademark of much of the studio's later output. And later, in the 1990s, Porco Rosso and Princess Mononoke were released. As Hisaishi strengthened his reputation as one of the budding anime industry's top musical contributors, his compositions (including eight theatrical films and one OAV) would proceed to become some of the very hallmarks of early anime in the 1980s and 1990s. Hisaishi also composed for such TV and movie hits as Sasuga no Sarutobi, Two Down Full Base, Tonde Mon Pe and the anime Tekuno porisu 21C (all 1982), Sasuraiger (1983), Futari Taka (1984), Hono no Alpen Rose (1985) and Oz no mahotsukai (1986). He also scored the sci-fi adventure series Mospeada (1983), which was later reworked (without his music) into the third segment of Carl Macek's compilation, Robotech. Other films he scored included Mobile Suit Gundam Movie II: Soldiers of Sorrow (1981), Mobile Suit Gundam Movie III: Encounters in Space, (1982), Birth (Basu) (1984), Arion (1986), Robot Carnival (1987), Totoro (1988), Crest of the Royal Family and Maison Ikkoku - Apartment Fantasy (both 1988), Venus Wars (1989), Kiki's Delivery Service (1989), Porco Rosso (1992) and Ocean Heaven (2010). He also did theme song arrangements and composed other anime opening, closing, and insert title theme songs such as Maho Shojo Lalabel (1980), Hello! Sandybell (1981), Meiken Jolie (1981), Voltron (1981), Ai Shite Knight (1983), Creamy Mami, the Magic Angel: Curtain Call (1986), and Kimagure Orange Road: The Movie (1988). As more exposure was given to Hisaishi and the anime industry, his career grew. He initiated a solo career, began to produce music, and created his own label (Wonder Land Inc.) in 1988. A year later, Hisaishi released his solo album Pretender as the first album under the new label. CANNOTANSWER
And later, in the 1990s, Porco Rosso and Princess Mononoke were released.
, known professionally as , is a Japanese composer and musical director known for over 100 film scores and solo albums dating back to 1981. Hisaishi is also known for his piano scores.

While possessing a stylistically distinct sound, Hisaishi's music has been known to explore and incorporate different genres, including minimalist, experimental electronic, Western classical, and Japanese classical. Lesser known are the other musical roles he plays; he is also a typesetter, author, arranger, and conductor.

He has been associated with animator Hayao Miyazaki since 1984, having composed scores for all but one of his films. He is also recognized for the soundtracks he has provided for filmmaker 'Beat' Takeshi Kitano, including A Scene at the Sea (1991), Sonatine (1993), Kids Return (1996), Hana-bi (1997), Kikujiro (1999), Brother and Dolls (2002), as well as for the video game series Ni no Kuni. He was a student of anime composer Takeo Watanabe.

Life and career

Early life
Hisaishi was born in Nakano, Nagano, Japan, as . When he started learning violin in the Violin School Suzuki Shinichi at the age of four, he found his passion in music. At the same age, he also began watching 300 movies a year with his father, which influenced his career. Realizing his love, he attended the Kunitachi College of Music in 1969 to major in music composition. Hisaishi collaborated with minimalist artists as a typesetter, furthering his experience in the musical world.

He enjoyed his first success of the business in 1974 when he composed music for the anime series called Gyatoruzu. This and other early works were created under his given name. During this period, he composed for Sasuga no Sarutobi (Academy of Ninja) and Futari Daka (A Full Throttle).

In the 1970s, Japanese popular music, electronic music, and new-age music flourished; those genres, as well as the Yellow Magic Orchestra (a Japanese electronic band in 1978–1983), influenced Hisaishi's compositions. He developed his music from minimalist ideas and expanded toward orchestral work. Around 1975, Hisaishi presented his first public performance, spreading his name around his community. Also, from 1978, he had worked for Brass Compositions for a long time. His first album, MKWAJU, was released in 1981, with Information being released a year later. His first major anime scores were Hajime Ningen Gyatoruz (1974) and Robokko Beeton (1976).

As his works were becoming well known, Hisaishi formulated an alias inspired by Quincy Jones, an American musician and producer. Retranscribed in Japanese, "Quincy Jones" became "Joe Hisaishi". ("Quincy", pronounced "Kuinshī” in Japanese, can be written using the same kanji in "Hisaishi"; "Joe" comes from "Jones".)

1981–98: Anime film industry
In 1981 Hisaishi, with his new name, released his first album of art music, MKWAJU, and in 1982 the electropop-minimalist album Information. Then, in 1983, Hisaishi was recommended by Tokuma, who had published Information, to create an image album for Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. Hisaishi and the director of the animated film, Hayao Miyazaki, became great friends and would work together on many future projects. Their collaboration has invited comparisons to the collaborations of Steven Spielberg and John Williams.

In 1985, he founded his own recording studio, Wonder Station. This big break led to Hisaishi's overwhelming success as a composer of film scores. In 1986, Laputa: Castle in the Sky would be the first feature to appear under the Studio Ghibli banner, and its gentle, faintly melancholic tone would become a familiar trademark of much of the studio's later output. And later, in the 1990s, Porco Rosso and Princess Mononoke were released. As Hisaishi strengthened his reputation as one of the budding anime industry's top musical contributors, his compositions (including eight theatrical films and one OVA) would proceed to become some of the very hallmarks of early anime in the 1980s and 1990s. Hisaishi also composed for such TV and movie hits as Sasuga no Sarutobi, Two Down Full Base, Tonde Mon Pe and the anime Tekuno porisu 21C (all 1982), Oz no mahôtsukai (1982), Sasuraiger (1983), Futari Taka (1984), and Honō no Alpen Rose (1985). He also scored the sci-fi adventure series Mospeada (1983), which was later reworked (without his music) into the third segment of Carl Macek's compilation, Robotech. Other films he scored included Mobile Suit Gundam Movie II: Soldiers of Sorrow (1981), Mobile Suit Gundam Movie III: Encounters in Space, (1982), Birth (Bâsu) (1984), Arion (1986), Robot Carnival (1987), Totoro (1988), Crest of the Royal Family and Maison Ikkoku – Apartment Fantasy (both 1988), Venus Wars (1989), Kiki's Delivery Service (1989), Porco Rosso (1992) and Ocean Heaven (2010). He also did theme song arrangements and composed other anime opening, closing, and insert title theme songs such as Mahō Shōjo Lalabel (1980), Hello! Sandybell (1981), Meiken Jolie (1981), Voltron (1981), Ai Shite Knight (1983), Creamy Mami, the Magic Angel: Curtain Call (1986), and Kimagure Orange Road: The Movie (1988).

As more exposure was given to Hisaishi and the anime industry, his career grew. He initiated a solo career, began to produce music, and created his own label (Wonder Land Inc.) in 1988. A year later, Hisaishi released his solo album Pretender as the first album under the new label.

1998–2004: Worldwide success
In 1998, Hisaishi provided the soundtrack to the 1998 Winter Paralympics. The following year, he composed the music for the third installment in a series of popular computer-animated educational films about the human body. Again in 1999, he composed the score for the Takeshi Kitano film Kikujiro, whose title track Summer went on to become one of Hisaishi's most recognizable compositions.

In 2001, Hisaishi produced music for another Kitano film, Brother, and Hayao Miyazaki's animated film, Spirited Away. The opening theme to this film, One Summer's Day, went on to become Hisaishi's most famous composition, with over 23 million Spotify streams as of February 2022. He also served as executive producer of the Night Fantasia 4 Movement at the Japan Expo in Fukushima 2001. On October 6, Hisaishi made his debut as a film director in Quartet, having also written both its music and script. The film received excellent reviews at the Montreal Film Festival, but has become relatively obscure and forgotten in recent years. His first soundtrack for a foreign film, Le Petit Poucet, was released in the same year.

Another Miyazaki film, Howl's Moving Castle, for which Hisaishi composed the score, was released on November 20, 2004, in Japan. The film's main theme, Merry-Go-Round, went on to become another one of Hisaishi's most commercially successful scores, with over 22 million Spotify streams as of February 2022. From November 3 to 29, 2004, Hisaishi embarked on his "Joe Hisaishi Freedom – Piano Stories 2004" tour with Canadian musicians. In 2005, he composed the soundtrack for the Korean film, Welcome to Dongmakgol (). He also partook in Korea's historically landmarked big budget drama series production by composing the soundtrack for Korea's MBC drama series, The Legend ( "The Story of the First King's Four Gods"), which released in 2007. Hisaishi has a large fan base in Korea due to the popularity of Miyazaki films.

2006–2013
In 2006, Hisaishi released a studio album, Asian X.T.C., the compositions of which demonstrated a significantly eclectic and contemporary Eastern style. The erhu player of the Chinese band 12 Girls Band Zhan Li Jun played in a live concert featuring music from that album. The following year, he composed and recorded the soundtrack for Frederic Lepage's film, Sunny and the Elephant and the Miyazaki film, Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, both released in 2008, as well as the score for Jiang Wen's film, The Sun Also Rises (太阳照常升起).

In 2008, Hisaishi composed soundtracks for Academy Award-winning film Departures as well as for , a post-World War II war crimes trial drama which is based on the 1959 Tetsutaro Kato novel and film currently being remade and directed by Katsuo Fukuzawa, starring Masahiro Nakai and Yukie Nakama.

In August 2008 he arranged and performed in a concert conducting the World Dream Symphony Orchestra, and playing the piano on the occasion of his having worked for 25 years with the Animations of Hayao Miyazaki. This concert featured over 1200 musicians and sold out the world-famous Budokan.

Hisaishi also released a solo album in early 2009 featuring tracks from Shellfish and Departures.

In 2010, he became an invited professor for Japanese National College of Music.

In 2013, Hisaishi composed the score for the NHK wildlife documentary Legends of the Deep: Giant Squid , featuring the first-ever filming of this reclusive creature (narrated by David Attenborough for BBC's Natural World special Giant Squid: Filming the Impossible).

On June 28, 2013, Hisaishi was among those invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. This honor is extended to those "who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to theatrical motion pictures."

2016–2019

In 2016, he was inaugurated as art director of Nagano City Art Museum.

In 2017 he performed three concerts in Paris based on his setup for the 25-year Ghibli collaboration anniversary concert, performed in Palais des Congrès de Paris.

In May 2018, Hisaishi performed five sold-out concerts in his North American debut in California, USA at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts with Symphony Silicon Valley.

He also composed the soundtrack for the TBS Nichiyō Gekijō drama In This Corner of the World.

2020–present

On February 21, 2020, Dream Songs: The Essential Joe Hisaishi was released through Decca Gold. The album includes 28 compositions released over the course of his career.

On February 19, 2021, Red Fox Scholar (Original Soundtrack) was released digitally. The album contains 34 compositions with the shortest being 25 seconds, while the longest is 4 minutes and 47 seconds.

Awards and recognition
As a result of his work throughout the years, Hisaishi has won the Japanese Academy Award for Best Music seven times—in 1992, 1993, 1994, 1999, 2000, 2009, and 2011. He also received the 48th Newcomer Award in 1997 from the Ministry of Education (Public Entertainment Section) among numerous other awards, being recognized as an influential figure in the Japanese film industry. In 1998 he won the Art Choice Award for New Artist (Popular Performing Arts Division). In 2005, he won the 31st Annual Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award Music Prize at "Howl's Moving Castle". In 2008, he received the 10th International Film Music Critics Association Award for Television Division Best Original Score Award in the music of Korean drama Queen Shikigami.

In November 2009, he was awarded with a Medal of Honour with purple ribbon by the Government of Japan.

Discography

Notable compositions
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)
Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986)
My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
Kiki's Delivery Service (1989)
Porco Rosso (1992)
Sonatine (1993)
Kids Return (1996)
Princess Mononoke (1997)
Hana-bi (1997)
Kikujiro (1999)
Brother (2000)
Spirited Away (2001)
Howl's Moving Castle (2004)
Ponyo (2008)
Departures (2008)
The Wind Rises (2013)
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013)
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch (2013)
Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom (2018)
Children of the Sea (2019)
How Do You Live? (TBA)

References

External links

  

 
 
 Joe Hisaishi anime at Media Arts Database 

1950 births
20th-century classical composers
20th-century Japanese composers
20th-century Japanese male musicians
21st-century classical composers
21st-century Japanese composers
21st-century Japanese male musicians
Animation composers
Anime composers
Annie Award winners
Deutsche Grammophon artists
Japanese classical composers
Japanese film score composers
Japanese male classical composers
Japanese male film score composers
Kunitachi College of Music alumni
Living people
Music directors
Musicians from Nagano Prefecture
People from Nagano Prefecture
Recipients of the Medal with Purple Ribbon
Studio Ghibli people
Toei Animation
Video game composers
The discography of the British singer-songwriter Lucie Silvas consists of four studio albums, two extended plays and twenty single releases.

Silvas debuted in 2000 with the song "It's Too Late", from the EP Forget Me Not; the single was not successful, charting at 62 in the UK music charts. Between this and the release of her next single, Silvas wrote songs for various other pop artists, including Gareth Gates and Rachel Stevens.

The release of "What You're Made of" in 2004 was her first successful single, charting at number 7 in the UK Official Top 40, and released in eight other countries. The release of her first studio album Breathe In met relative success, reaching platinum status in the UK where it reached number 11, and the Netherlands where it topped the charts at number one. 

Her second studio album The Same Side was initially released in October 2006 in Netherlands and later released 12th March 2007 in the UK, charting at number 5 in the Netherlands but only managed 62 in the UK. "Last Year" was the first single in the UK and peaked at #79, and the second single "Sinking In" was a download only release on 5th March 2007 coupled with a non-album track "Coming Out Wrong", it failed to chart.

Silvas stated that she was taking a more laid back approach and did not feel the need to prove her vocal abilities.

In 2015, Silvas released her third full-length studio album, Letters to Ghosts.

Albums

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

Guest singles

Music videos

Other contributions

Writing credits
The following songs were co-written by Silvas, and performed by other artists.

References 

Discographies of British artists
Pop music discographies
Rhythm and blues discographies This is a complete discography listing for Split Enz, a New Zealand originated experimental rock-pop group.  Their creative output includes several albums, singles, music videos, compilations as well as having albums pay tribute by other artists.

Albums

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilations

Box sets

Tribute albums

Singles
Where available, chart positions are given for each country of release. 
A mark of " — " indicates the single was released in that country, but did not chart. Cells in dark grey indicate that the single was not released in that country.

Video albums

See also

 Crowded House discography

References

External links
 

Discography
Split Enz
Rock music group discographies
Pop music group discographies