During a recent interview with Gene Park of The Washington Postfamed Nintendo composer Koji Kondo recalled his work with Nintendo and the impact his music had on the industry after it was inducted into the National Music Registry.
One particular anecdote that caught our eye happened just one year after the launch of Super Mario Bros. for Famicom / NES. Koji Kondo and Shigeru Miyamoto happened to be present at a Paul McCartney concert in Japan when the former Beatle learned of their arrival. The songwriter apparently liked the Super Mario Bros. music so much that he invited both Kondo and Miyamoto backstage.
When the couple arrived backstage, McCartney and his then-wife, Linda, approached Kondo and Miyamoto and simply sang the opening notes of the Super Mario Bros. theme. We will suppose that they then engaged in conversation; it would have been incredibly awkward if they had just left it at that.
Regardless, Kondo reported the story to The Washington Post and described it as an “incredible moment.”
It’s so nice that Koji Kondo’s work has opened up such a wonderful opportunity for a composer. Of course, in addition to the Mario theme being added to the National Recording Registry, Kondo himself was recently inducted into the AIAS Hall of Fame.
