The Kelly Kombo - Yahweh (1973)

The Kelly Kombo - Yahweh (1973)

Picked this one up at the thrift store after seeing it there a number of times and my curiosity got the best of me. Turns out, there are some pretty gospel tracks on the record. Most of it is forgettable, though, and really nothing special. What sounds like 2 singers, one with a guitar and one on keyboard, which seems pretty standard. The whole record has this very fitting warm sound to it, which is enhanced with the crackles of the vinyl. My favorite track is the first one, which has a sort of dark tone to it if you don't really pay attention to what they're saying.

listen or download

Fred and Nancy Spanton - Down From His Glory (1970s?)

Fred and Nancy Spanton - Down From His Glory

gospel duo backed by piano

more info on this record: https://906sound.blogspot.com/p/fred-and-nancy-spanton-down-from-his.html

listen or download

The Sacred Heart Singers - Come Alive! (1970)

The Sacred Heart Singers - Come Alive! (1970)

more info on this: https://906sound.blogspot.com/p/the-sacred-heart-singers-come-alive-1970.html

listen or download

The Music of Yoko Osaka / おさかようこ

Yoko Osaka (おさかようこ) is a Japanese composer and sound designer that worked for SNK, active from 1988-1994. Not much at all is known of her outside of her work with the company, and even that is very limited. Most of the games she is credited to only list her as 'sound', along with other people. It's not clear how many of these she composed mostly or how many she just did sound effects on. A few games are credited 'composer' or 'sound effects', but that's only a few. She is the sole composer of a few games, like Crystalis, but I'll just assume she did compose on most of the games she is credited for. After all, most of these games had like 3 sound designers each, including her. She is usually credited under an alias, whether it be Yoko, Oh-Chan, or some variation.

The only pictures I could find online are as follows:

Picture from the Credits of 'Fighting Soccer' when her name appears on screen

A picture of POSSIBLY her, possibly not (second from left). This picture is of member of the SNK Sound Team, from the back of the Fatal Fury 2 CD. All the other people in the picture are:

 Ta-kun or Denchu ​​(Keiichi Tanaka)
TATE-NORIO (Yasuo Yamate)
PAPAYA (Masahiko Hataya)
YAMAPY-1 (Yasumasa Yamada)
SHA-V (Hideki Asana)

But it is still unclear who the girl is...

She was presumably part of the 'SNK Sound Team', as mentioned above, also known as Shinsekai Gakkyoku Zatsugidan, 新世界楽曲雑技団, or Neo Geo Music Performance Group. This was the name for the sound designers and composers who worked at SNK, and the name that their official releases have been credited under. This group still exists under SNK Playmore, with many of the above mentioned members still a part of it. 

Here are Yoko Osaka's credits that I could confirm:

(1988) Touch Down Fever

           Guerrilla War

           Fighting Soccer

           P.O.W.: Prisoners of War

(1989) Prehistoric Isle in 1930

(1990) NAM-1975

           Crystalis

           Ikari III: The Rescue

(1991) Fatal Fury: King of Fighters

           Alpha Mission II

(1992) Super Sidekicks

           Fatal Fury 2

           Quiz Daisousa Sen Part 2: Quiz Meitantei Neo Geo

(1993) Sengoku 2

(1994) Top Hunter: Roddy & Cathy

Nothing else is really known of her, her whereabouts, what she did afterwards, as far as I could find. I searched English google pretty heavily and tried to around Japanese with google translate help. Couldn't find much at all. Her music has been featured in a number of video game compilation CDs, mostly released by Scitron Records. In 2019, her music was also featured in a compilation by City Connection of SNK game music called SNK Arcade Sound Digital Collection. Some of her music was released on Spotify recently, along with a bunch of other SNK title soundtracks, and her music was featured in trailers for some SNK games being released for their 40th anniversary collection. But as of right now, she's just a name in the credits. Hopefully down the line we will come to hear from her again.