My guest today is Masaya Matsuura, a Japanese musician and game designer widely considered to be the inventor of rhythm action video games. Born in Osaka City, music ran in the family; his father often performed with his guitar in clubs around Shinagawa Station in Tokyo. My guest was an unruly student until he discovered a love of keyboards and synthesisers, and found his people. in 1983 he formed Psy*s (pronounced ‘Saiz’), a progressive pop band fronted by the signer Mami Yasunori, which soon signed to Sony Music.

Ten studio albums followed, and in 1994 my guest secured a budget to create a Simon Says-style rhythm game featuring an anthropomorphic, rapping dog. PaRappa the Rapper become an international smash his and led to a series of follow-ups: the guitar-based UmJammaLammy, the experimental wireframe project Vib-Ribbon, and Mojibribbon, a music game that played with calligraphic art.

In recent years my guest has retreated from the video game business, focusing again on his music, and live events where he plays rare vinyl records, including tracks from the video games he has made, to an audience.

Links:

Cobalt Green, 1984, Masaya Matsuura E.P. -- Listen on Soundcloud.

Pingu Rap/ ピングーラップ vinyl re-release by Tower Records.

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