Japan's first album - Adolescent Sex
- Thread starter foxwelljsly
- Start date
cooky1257
pfm Member
Agreed, in suggesting 'glam in the vein of' early Roxy Music I was referring to their look was glam but it came with art school rock innovation.Japan are my favourite band (ever since playing my older stepbrother's 12 of Life in Tokyo to death and progressing from there aged around 13 in 1984, so I never saw them live but caught Sylvian at Manchester Apollo in about 1988/89), but it's eye(/ear)-opening to listen to Out of the Blue off Country Life (a lyric on Gentlemen Take Polaroids, of course) and much of Manifesto to hear very very clear precedents for the Quiet Life/Polaroids sound. Seriously have a listen to the opening of Out of the Blue - from what, 1974?
While no one would call either Country Life or Manifesto "glam", the point that Japan are not new romantic is fair, but that Duran Duran are a poppier pastiche of Japan is indisputable, down to their look, poor old Nick Rhodes continued with the David Sylvian Polaroids look well until...now..? You have to hand it to Duran though - they weren't manufactured, had stratospheric success and I'm not ashamed to say I loved many of their songs then and now. Plus Rio will get people going at a party in a way that, sadly, Methods of Dance will draw a blank
They even copied the po-faced existential Euro-art Japan of Nightporter - with e.g. The Chauffeur (love the ham-fisted stab at finding a profession with similar metaphoric potential, B&H and Carling vs. Gitanes and Ricard).
It's daft that Sylvian disowned the early Japan, because as the OP was inspired to write, Adolescent Sex is great. But, like Duran after them, unabashed pastiche - of the New York Dolls (ahem, Sylvain Sylvain), down to the look. In the service of something new and nothing wrong with it, it's not as if too many other were influenced by the Dolls (BBC OGWT Simpering Bob Harris: "mock rock").
And to the playing - some bands just gel don't they? All from Catford area, two brothers, into same music, probably jammed for hours (clocking up Gladwell's 10,000 in their teens), singular purpose. But the era of "non-musicians" produced many incredible units, e.g. Magazine.
Tbf, they get their rightful share of appreciation on this forum.
Drifting to other albums, (GTP is my favourite, on now), Tin Drum is not only a classic album but is pretty much untouchable as a recording from the time - I'm lucky to have the original Virgin CD, the reissues are slightly on the bright side, not Bowie 91 levels though, thankfully. (Great "demo" music, a few seconds of Visions of China tells you all you need to know - as a side note, compare the audiophile favourite and made-for-CD Donald Fagen Nightfly from the same year IIRC, great album but far less easy-on-the-ear imo).
Sylvian's most recent work (Manafon and related) is of course it's own thing, but you still can't fault the production. Plus I thought Blemish was incredible when it came out, completely original and also a real raw emotion.
(I had to identify with Dave, not only as we have the same name (as millions of other 40+ blokes...) but I went to America at 27 for a girlfriend right as he was documenting his doing so for Ingrid Chavez, rather sappily in truth, on Dead Bees on a Cake, split and later arrived back in the UK in 2003 to enjoy his "break-up album" Blemish. I cringe at the phrase "the soundtrack of our lives" but there it is, part of you is the perpetual adolescent (full circle, just add sex when you finally get it). One more fan detail, I recall plucking my bloody eyebrows at 13 a la Gentlemen Take Polaroids cover, deathless cool on him with the make-up, less so when having to deny I'd done it at school - all boys - the next day, bless).
Tl;dr: It's only buildings and houses, why should I care!
Yeah, I hope my enthusiasm conveys that I wasn't intending to be dismissive, and in fact it's true to say they are glam, just not Slade or The Sweet (nowt wrong with them). I know they fit the category for Reynolds' purposes in his new book (at 700+ pages, he cast the net pretty wide
). Dave's voice is art-glam from the word go, think it was Chris Roberts in Melody Maker review of Secrets of the Beehive likened it to hairspray - he sounded like his iconic platinum barnet! (Went au naturel when the band broke up to let us know in no uncertain terms he wasn't glam any more). Do give Manifesto a spin in this context; having looked up just now, what to my ears sounds like a real influence on Japan would have had to have worked quick - this and Quiet Life were both released in 1979, eight or nine months apart. Underrated album, too, I think.
Seeker_UK
Feelin' nearly faded as my jeans
Elephantears
Trunkated Aesthete
As a big fan since 'Ghosts' was on TOTP, and still loving solo Sylvian, particularly 'Manafon' and the accompanying 'Died in the Wool', I could write an essay, but I won't. Just to say that no one seems to have mentioned Rob Dean. He is crucial to the early sound; a fantastic guitarist, and very much the most experienced musician in the band. He was older than the rest of them (who were just out of school) and doing a lot of session work when they found him. It's his sound that gives that ineluctable sleaze to tracks like 'Television' and that intoxicating glam funk groove to tracks like 'Wish You Were Black' or 'The Unconventional'.
foxwelljsly
Me too, I ate one sour too.
I'd always subconciously lumped them in with The Thompson Twins, Duran Duran et al until 2003, when I watched Ghosts on the first OGWT DVD collection and was instantly blown away. I've had Tin Drum and Rain Tree Crow on Vinyl since shortly after then and it was 3 years ago when I got to explore the rest of their output on Spotify. There isn't a bad album amongst them, although Adolescent Sex and Tin Drum are probably my faves.
foxwelljsly
Me too, I ate one sour too.
From Wikipedia:
Dean's principal activity now is as a professional ornithology writer and artist on the birds of Central America. He lives in Monteverde, Costa Rica, and, now known as Robert Dean, has established a reputation as an expert on the region's birdlife. In 2007 Dean collaborated as illustrator on a field guide (along with author Richard Garrigues), entitled The Birds Of Costa Rica: A Field Guide, [3] and in 2010 (with author George Angehr) on The Birds of Panama: A Field Guide. He has been reported as occasionally playing guitar with local bands including Monteverde's rock band Chanchos de Monte, fronted by Alan Masters.
BassoonBloke
Active Member
Apparently he left to chase Birds !!
Alan.
Alan.
Apparently he left to chase Birds !!
Alan.
Probably because the brothers got all the ones in the band's orbit.
According to Anthony Reynolds 's A Foreign Place, Dean's contribution to GTP were limited and Syivian became frustrated at Dean not performing to Sullivan's ideas musically or visually. Dean still had 'rock's hair. Dean was also not that keen on the more electronic direction the band were taking but apparently there was no animosity.
The book is pretty good think it's still available through Burning Shed.
The book is pretty good think it's still available through Burning Shed.