Japan

new wave

Japan were a British pop/rock group, formed in 1974 in Lewisham, southeast London. The band achieved success in the early 1980s, when they were often associated with the burgeoning New Romantic fashion movement (though the band themselves have downplayed any such connection). Original members: David Sylvian (original name David Batt): vocals, guitar, keyboards Mick Karn (original name Anthony Michaelides): bass guitar, saxophone, oboe Rob Dean: guitar Steve Jansen (Sylvian's brother, Steve Batt): drums and percussion Richard Barbieri: keyboards The band debuted on record with 1978's Adolescent Sex and subsequently Obscure Alternatives, which both sold well in Japan and the Netherlands where the single Adolescent Sex was a Top 30 hit, they also gained some popularity in Canada. However in their natal Britain those albums were largely ignored. Though influenced by artists such as The New York Dolls, Roxy Music and David Bowie, both albums were widely dismissed by the British music press as being distinctly outmoded at a time when punk and New Wave bands were in ascendence. However, tracks such as Suburban Berlin, State Line and ...Rhodesia suggested a creative depth and sense of melody to the band's output which would hint at their future direction. They were managed by Simon Napier-Bell who also managed The Yardbirds, Marc Bolan, London and Wham!. Mid-career Their third album, 1979's Quiet Life, heralded a significant change in musical style from the earlier largely guitar-based music to a more electronic sound, with more emphasis on Barbieri's synthesisers, Sylvian's svelte baritone style of singing, Karn's distinctive fretless bass sound and Steve Jansen's odd-timbered and intricate percussion work with Dean's guitar playing becoming increasingly sparse and atmospheric. Quiet Life was their last studio album for Hansa-Ariola, though the label would later issue a compilation album (Assemblage) featuring highlights from the band's tenure on the label, followed by a series of remixed and re-released singles. Final years Their final two studio albums, Gentlemen Take Polaroids (1980) and Tin Drum (1981), were released on the Virgin label, and continued to expand their audience as the band refined its new sound and, somewhat unintentionally, became associated with the early-1980s New Romantic movement. Tin Drum in particular is critically regarded as one of the most innovative albums of the 1980s, with its startlingly original fusion of occidental a...