February: Anime Land 74 > 75 LP
TV anime was still less than 18 years old at the beginning of 1981, but Nippon Columbia was already making great strides in documenting its music history. One method for this was the Anime Land LP series, of which this was Volume 13. As you can see from the title, the series was chronological, so this volume gave the opening and closing titles of Space Battleship Yamato yet another home on vinyl.
September releases
All of Leiji Matsumoto, World of SF Roman LP
Matsumoto’s growing list of anime productions had built up a huge library of songs with Adieu Galaxy Express being only the latest. Nippon Columbia commemorated them with this 2-record collection of 24 songs that included four from Yamato.
More broadly-based song collections were still a hot item, and Nippon Columbia added two more to the stack in September. Terebi Manga Best 32 (left) was another 2-record set with six Yamato songs stretching from The New Voyage to Yamato III. Terebi Manga Best Collection Deluxe (right) contained 16 tracks, including the Yamato theme and The Scarlet Scarf.
October 1: Terebi Manga Best Collection EPs
It would have been pretty wild if Nippon Columbia released over 20 singles all on the same day, but all that is known for certain is that Volume 7 and Volume 21 both came out together, pairing Yamato with some well-known contemporaries.
Volume 7 put the Yamato theme and The Scarlet Scarf on one side, and the opening and closing themes for Triton of the Sea on the other.
It was the second time for such a pairing; this was essentially a reissue of a Yamato/Triton combo previously released by Columbia in January 1977.
Volume 21 put the two end songs from Yamato III on one side and two from Lupin III (opening and love theme) on the other.
The Lupin songs were derived from the second TV series, which had a non-stop 3-year tenure from October 1977 to October 1980, not to mention two feature films in that same time frame.
October 25: Anime Best Hit albums
Two of the top voices in anime theme songs in 1981 were Mitsuko Horie and Isao Sasaki. Both were primed to land high-profile singing careers in the 70s and rode the wave ever higher from there (and both are still doing it as of this writing). Nippon Columbia released “Best Hit” albums for them on the same day, and both included Yamato songs.
Mitsuko Horie’s album included her ending song from Yamato III, Face in the Stars (an image song from Be Forever), and her cover of Galaxy Legend. Isao Sasaki’s album included his ending song from Yamato III, his covers of From Yamato With Love and Until the Day of Love, and Pendant of Stars from Be Forever.
November 1: Terebi Manga Best Collection EP #22
After previously combining Yamato songs with other shows, Columbia finally decided to combine Yamato with Yamato for this round.
Once side contained the two songs from The New Voyage: Sasaki’s Yamato!! The New Voyage and the ending song Sasha My Love.
On the other side could be found Isao Sasaki’s image songs from Farewell to Yamato: The Rival and Teresa Forever (which became the end theme for Yamato 2).
November: Introduction to Anime Singers, How to Sing Hit Theme Songs
If you ever dreamed of performing anime theme songs, Nippon Columbia made this album for you. It contained introductory singing lessons with samples from four of the top performers: Isao Sasaki, Mitsuko Horie, Ichiro Mizuki, and Kaori Kumiko.
Sasaki’s contribution was Pendant of Stars from Be Forever, both with vocals and without for you to practice your newly-earned knowledge.
Find out more about this album here
Unknown dates
Space Guitar Suite in Animation, Nippon Columbia
A collection of original medleys featuring music from Yamato, Galaxy Express 999, Captain Harlock, and Cyborg 009. Mainly duets between guitar and synthesizer.
SF, Animation and Spectacle Super Library, Nippon Columbia
Various high-profile movie and TV themes on 2 discs, performed by The Movieland Orchestra. Includes the Yamato theme and Yamato!! The New Voyage. Read more about the album here.
Terebi Manga Best Collection Deluxe Vol. 6, Nippon Columbia
The 6th collection in this series contained two songs each from eight different shows. Yamato dominated as three of the eight; two songs each came from Farewell, The New Voyage, and Yamato III.
82 SF & Spectacle Themes, Seven Seas
A double album of covers by various performers. The Yamato theme was covered by the Larry Nelson Orchestra. Read more about the album here.
1982
February 1: Choral Suite New Voyage/Brave Raideen LP
This was the second album of its kind, a choral and piano performance with Yamato music from The New Voyage arranged by Jo Hisaishi, who would go on to international fame with Studio Ghibli. Brave Raideen was a “Super Robot” anime series from 1974. Its music was arranged by composer Shoetsu Kawasaki to fill side B. Everything was performed by the Kanma Corps Chorus with accompaniment from pianist Akiko Shima.
Read the liner notes here
November 21: Anime Piano, Yamato/Gundam album & sheet music
Released on the same day as the Digital Trip album, this one is a real gem, an entire album of skillful piano solos with one side each devoted to Yamato and Mobile Suit Gundam. The Yamato tracks were performed by soloist Aoki Nozomi and made such a strong impression on their own that they could be enjoyed by listeners who hadn’t yet seen the anime.
Fans could also buy a book of sheet music published by Tokyo Ongaku Shoin [Tokyo Music Study] to create their own solo performances at home.
December: Animation Theme Song Best Collection
It was no secret that Nippon Columbia pretty much had a lock on all the most popular anime music, and they paraded their catalog in front of everyone with this LP of 14 songs from all your favorite movies and shows.
Side A included Yamato (3 songs), Galaxy Express, Lupin III, Tomorrow’s Joe, Toward the Terra, and Cyborg 009. Side B contained Tomorrow’s Joe 2, Mobile Suit Gundam (2 songs), Adieu Galaxy Express, Queen Millennia, and Arcadia of My Youth. If you needed an instant anime song collection, this one couldn’t be beat.