Japan were a band that I always thought were ok but not one that I ever got round to purchasing anything by.They and their fans were maybe a wee bit to arty for me.
Not so Mrs CC who is the owner of their 1982 single Nightporter.
Not as well known as their bigger hits Ghosts and I Second That Emotion it was in the singles charts for 9 weeks but only reached as high as number 29.
It originally appeared as a track on on the 1980 album Gentlemen Take Polaroids with the single being a remixed and edited version.
Japan - Nightporter
Japan - Ain't That Peculiar
It was easy to sneer off Japan because David Sylvian was the worst kind of Bowie wannabe, but he and the band did come up with some interesting tunes. In the first days of post-punk there was no one playing fretless bass like Mick Karn, who is one of the under-rated musicians from that period. Was never a big fan of 'Nightporter' but the b-side sounds cool.
ReplyDeleteLoved Japan. Loved Nightporter. Loved being maybe a wee bit too arty! :-)
ReplyDeleteWOW! JTFL and I don't completely agree on something...proof that there is balance in the world...Japan, from their out of era Garage Glam to their final future pointing Ambience were a band I couldn't get away from. I'd say Sylvian was more Bryan Ferry with a blonde quiff rather than an obvious Bowie poser.
ReplyDeleteBy the time of Gentelmen Take Polaroids and the Nightporter single, they were making influential, art pop and stretching those boundaries into electronic music. I am more a Nightporter fan than a Ghosts fan. And that version of Marvin Gaye's (written with Smokey Robinson) Ain't That Peculiar "out Ferrys" Ferry on many levels.
I can see the Ferry comparison more readily than the Bowie one
DeleteI thought they were more than decent....might get round to an ICA at some point.
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