Last edited by Sammy Ambrose (2012-03-04 02:12:13)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTU2Y0VFH0E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaY7TwMBHuc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYbukSSMNT8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_WFS06H5IQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkimBwFa02c

Some good tracks there Jesmond and good to see Japan, and here's some more:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPDcSdBYlsY

Last edited by jesmond (2012-03-10 01:41:21)

for Liam:
http://youtu.be/X_NkfAVUpLk

Oh Man, i loved Japan.....


You are alright though Yuca, because most people felt exactly the same at the time.


As i`ve said before, i always find strong visceral negative reactions about someones personal style really interesting from a creative point of view. For me, the best exponents of personal style have the ability to provoke, challenge and make you look at things "afresh". Japan always did that...


I loved Japan for their very personal sense of STYLE; and they had bags of it; and their  resultant `attitude`. They could more than match any black band or punk band for `attitude`.

Their brand of attitude was not the immediacy kind; of Punks in leather jackets sticking up two fingers. They`d grown up together and had all gone to the same school (Catford Boys). They all shared the same stylistic and musical influences and these helped inform their unique, coherent personal style. I believe they revelled intheir own perceptions of themselves as `Outsiders`. I think this was a big stimulus for them. Following on from this, they were all from South London, and i think that this fact cannot be ignored in the way they creatively executed their personal style (you know: `No One Likes Us We Don`t Care`). There was something very London, and uniquely South London, about their stylistic "vibe". Being local myself, i totally `got this` and could relate to it and to them.


The band was largely Sylvian`s conception. It was the whole coherent package: visually, artistically and musically. Their personal style borrowed heavily from the glamour of Bowie and Roxy Music, with a healthy dose of black funkiness (best exemplified by the sinouos bass playing, and colourful funk personal style of Mick Karn). And yet, they soaked up these influences and ended up creating something signally personal and unique in the process.


They rarely gave interviews, and Sylvian was astute enough to know the value of a perception of mystery. Sylvians personal style was cool, aloof, austere. All of the band posessed sartorial wit and subtlety. Even the most flamboyant member: Mick Karn, would employ the use of colour and texture in an eloquent, considered funkiness that tapped into originality, wit, blackness and "freshness".


No, i found their whole style very intoxicating. They wore make-up, but it wasn`t worn in an ironic way. That was quite disarming, provocative and challenging. I think that fact really threw alot of people. They were subverting peoples fixed ideas of sexuality and they were quite political, in their own unique way.


In my opinion, alot of what Japan was about was rejection. It was about what they were NOT. I think that negativity really fired up what they wanted to do creatively and artistically. It was a big driver, if you will...


The band nostalgically harked back to halcyon days of glamour. They were extremely dapper dressers and took excessive care and due deatil about their personal appearance. Their watchword was probably `ORIGINALITY`.David Sylvian strikes me as being particularly `Facey` at this time. Their style was extremely considered and they knew they had bags of style. Some wrote them off as being arrogant, but for artistic reasons i think i understand what they were all about. They were all said to be quite shy, as individuals. I reckon that their personal style was almost like their own sick test : of wether you "got them" , or you didn`t. The fact that they were so confident in themselves that they actually didn`t really care about perceived negative reactions  made them even more cool and attractive to this particular 16 year old, who was just finding his own personal style for the first time...

At 16 yrs, i never got off on mod revival: it was extremely limiting and un-original, and always struck me as crude, nasty, un-subtle , wit-less, cartoonish and trite. I`ve always loved stuff that provokes, challenges and is "fresh", personal and original looking. Japan was a rejection against all that stuff that was going on around them, as much as anything else. They always managed to stand out (for good reason, in my own opinion).



With regards to the musical style of the group, i would have to disagree again. I loved that they created something very personal and something which, to my ears, still sounds charming and fresh today. It`s because they were outside `the loop`. Japan were classic. They were always doing their OWN THING.


I love the rythm section of Karns fretless bass and Jansen`s drumming. It is still influencing/inspiring some contemporary bands to this day (apparently, according to one of my younger brothers).



With regards to the Motown cover versions, well, at least it gives us more choice; doesn`t have to be better than the Originals, but at lleast a new choice is available to us.


And  personal choice is always a great thing, in my book.



Before i finish i just want to link to one more Japan cover. It really is a Classic; it`s a cover of the old Streisand nuber: Don`t Rain On My parade


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JcSyogpYxc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vITKFi2W_o


^ Some great moves there!