Absolutely love this band they took me thru all my adolescent years sitting alone in the parlour with my headfones on, i would never ever have expected to find these amazing videos on utube. Thanks for posting u just made a middle aged father very happy : )
Just imagine if Japan were releasing music like this nowadays ! They would be number one every week, of every month for the entire year! Nothing comes close. Thank you Japan for making my childhood bareable. I wold not of survived if it hadn't been for the evening s with your great inspiring music...
@FrancoDamn In many ways, yes...Japan (the band) were hugely popular in Japan (the country)...Granted the early popularity was based on their image, but this matured along with the bands' output...
This is one band I never got to see. I really I wish I had. They still seem so interestingly weird. I remember buying this album when I was just a kid! I love YouTube. Thanks for posting.
Amazing to see. Don't think I have seen European Son before. They mention polaroids and quiet life in the song. Something they would mention in the future. I think Assemblage was the first Japan album I purchased. Knowing nothing much about them. Nice memories. I am a fan. Thanks for posting.
The second song European Song is a part of the change and shows both the band in transition and that it really wasn't so sudden a musical shift. From the second album Obscure Alternatives which featured Sometimes I Feel So Low but also The Tenant to Quiet Life may sound like a different band but you can already hear that new sound developing in European Son right here.
this video is really interesting to me because it's when they were switching from their glam phase to their more unique style they would later hone on gentlemen take polaroids and tin drum. It was like they were almost a different band just a short year later. Does anyone feel like the glam David Sylvian and gentlemen take polaroids Sylvian are two different people almost? It's really strange to me how much they changed themselves so quick.
they were thinking about calling themselves 'The Exquisite Poodles'. Wish that everybody looked like thet in the street nowadays. great musical taste( the Velvet Underground) and a magic moment! Either that or i'm going bananas....
The musical shift was very sudden. Polaroids was still very glam, just more sophisticated. I saw them play in the late seventies, listened to a couple of songs, got bored, and walked out. When I heard Quiet Life and Polaroids, I could barely believe that it was the same band. I ended up being a big fan. I'm still kicking myself for not watching the whole set, after all these years.
Wow! I'm from Japan but became a fan of Japan and David Sylvian after their breakup (I was only nine when they broke up).
I boutght a lot of old magazines about them and read about this show, too. But I'd never seen it. Thank you for posting this. I could see this after so many years at last!!
Rob dean (I did read)was not happy of the sound of GENTLEMEN TAKES POLAROID and of the demo for the future TIN DRUM,was not the way he liked to play and Silvyan often was disappointed from his look!!!!Then he left the band fired out by Silvyan.Anyway i like JAPAN but not too much Silvyan like soloist and his production after JAPAN's time.David Bowie said don't liked Silvyan's music!
Sorry to disappoint, I never asked the question. He never spoke about Japan - closest he got to it was playing the Quiet Life solo during a sound check at the Embassy Club!
I had the honour of playing a few gigs with Rob when we were both depping for a band called Fever Tree back in the mid '80s. In this video he might be chord bashing - but he was a really talented, inventive guitarist.
I don't care if David Sylvian is ashamed about this period, if a lot of Japan fans only love their last two albums, if Rob was a bad guitarist or not...
Brilliant, even the early stuff, although different from the later years - Even the first 2 albums were ahead of their time - I liked the Quiet Life / Gentlemen Take Polaroids era - awesome memories of a better times, when the musical landscape seemed so exciting.......!!!
... i must to say the Japan WAS the creators of Glam & New Wave!
this is a fact and i do not why there isn´t a mention in the story of New Wave or New Romantics ??? Japan and Mr. SYlvian always in my heart I LUV U!
they were the originators of "new romantics" of that there is no doubt. but glam and new wave? glam was started by marc bolan in the early 70s. new wave by Bowie in the mid 70s. punk by iggy pop. post-punk by both iggy and bowie. new romantics? japan.
Whoa! Rock 'n' Roll Sylvian. It's nearly Aladdin Sane but not quite. I dont know how much success they could have had if they kept down this route. It was only us lot listening. What album was European Son supposed to go on?. I only had it on Assemblage ( which looked suspicioulsy like a Hansa cash-in albium)
I,ve been a Japan/Sylvian fan for 27 years now and love all of the music from the glam through the early eighties to the present. To listen to it all in one sitting is a musical journey that no other artist can even come close to matching. Wether or not Sylvian gives any credence his earlier music is irrelevant. For many of us Adolescent Sex, Life in Tokyo, Visions in China, Red Guitar, Orpheus and World Citizen are all resonant moments that echo our own journey through life.
Unbelievable.the voice is sooo different.Faster backup band.they found new instruments for their later incarnation but they seem to have gotten stranger with the idiosyncratic writing 0this song is just aplain rock song same riffs etc,Japan on tindrum is almost genius comparatively .
What do you mean ? Was it difficult to work with David ??? Anyway, I always loved Japan, early or late stuff. Even if Sylvian doesn't like the eary years himself. What an idiot !!! ;-P
Er, what the fuck are you talking about moron. I didn't say those things. And the direction the band took is well documented. Before you go round calling people an 'idiot' check your facts. I doubt you know anything about David Sylvian anyway (too young). I imagine David Hasslehoff is more your thing, isn't it...tosser
Unless, of course, I've completely misread your message and you meant David Sylvian is the idiot for disowning all Japan's early stuff (I agree). And in which case, I apologise unreservedly. You are not a tosser. I guess I am....;)
Thanks for your apologise ! I was just joking. I love Japan so much thatI don't want the members to be ahamed of all the great music they have created ! No, David Hasslehoff isn't more my thing !
How exciting to see this!!! I think European Son is a really good version, it's got a lot of energy to it - the keyboard drop before the last chorus is quite different. VERY cool to see this. Thanks SO much for posting this.
So cool to see him in his glam days, before they became the true New Romantic stars. It still makes me wonder if Nick Rhodes and David are the same person
very kool, I enjoy the early japan stuff.wish more existed from adolescent sex and obscure years.played and sang some of this stuff in the day with bands had a ball!
Where did this come from? Very interesting. This was when Japan was about to completely drop the faux heavy metal-glam for their ultra-modern style. European Son was pretty good.
This was filmed in March '79, on the heels of their Japanese tour...You are quite correct, Dave cut his hair off towards the end of the "New Rising Sound" tour of the following month.
Wonderfull video. I was just too young to catch this band live, so it's appreciated to see them now.
kenusshabbus 2 months ago
Absolutely love this band they took me thru all my adolescent years sitting alone in the parlour with my headfones on, i would never ever have expected to find these amazing videos on utube. Thanks for posting u just made a middle aged father very happy : )
korkeycat 2 months ago
This live version of European Son sounds great!!
(especially the synths!)
shinysynthcity 1 year ago
Comment removed
shinysynthcity 1 year ago
Just imagine if Japan were releasing music like this nowadays ! They would be number one every week, of every month for the entire year! Nothing comes close. Thank you Japan for making my childhood bareable. I wold not of survived if it hadn't been for the evening s with your great inspiring music...
mintwithahole 1 year ago 3
wow.. so much great information in these comments. love it! thanks all
thisisacid 1 year ago
Is Rob Dean using a Firebird I or III?
FrancoDamn 1 year ago
were Japan "adopted" by Japan? As peruvian Lucho Barrios in Chile, or US Jimi Hendrix in UK, etc.
FrancoDamn 1 year ago
@FrancoDamn In many ways, yes...Japan (the band) were hugely popular in Japan (the country)...Granted the early popularity was based on their image, but this matured along with the bands' output...
moodyb 1 year ago
Non-Teeny-Bopper Music to an audience full of teeny-boppers: must've been strange for the boys.
CusterFlux 1 year ago 3
David is wearing my bangles, he never gave them back !
corblimeysue 1 year ago
This is one band I never got to see. I really I wish I had. They still seem so interestingly weird. I remember buying this album when I was just a kid! I love YouTube. Thanks for posting.
kdenebeim 2 years ago
Still big in JAPAN!!!!
MrNupit 2 years ago
懐かしい！レッツゴーヤング...覚えてます。
あああ日本公演に行ったのを覚えてます。
感激！
soniaspace 2 years ago
すごい、感激！あり得ない...懐かしい
すばらしい！！！
soniaspace 2 years ago
Amazing to see. Don't think I have seen European Son before. They mention polaroids and quiet life in the song. Something they would mention in the future. I think Assemblage was the first Japan album I purchased. Knowing nothing much about them. Nice memories. I am a fan. Thanks for posting.
musicmoonlight 2 years ago
The second song European Song is a part of the change and shows both the band in transition and that it really wasn't so sudden a musical shift. From the second album Obscure Alternatives which featured Sometimes I Feel So Low but also The Tenant to Quiet Life may sound like a different band but you can already hear that new sound developing in European Son right here.
TheBallroomsofmars 2 years ago
this video is really interesting to me because it's when they were switching from their glam phase to their more unique style they would later hone on gentlemen take polaroids and tin drum. It was like they were almost a different band just a short year later. Does anyone feel like the glam David Sylvian and gentlemen take polaroids Sylvian are two different people almost? It's really strange to me how much they changed themselves so quick.
pnnews90 2 years ago 9
True
sensei021281 2 years ago
they were thinking about calling themselves 'The Exquisite Poodles'. Wish that everybody looked like thet in the street nowadays. great musical taste( the Velvet Underground) and a magic moment! Either that or i'm going bananas....
loiraso 2 years ago
Well, they supported a band called "The Fabulous Poodles" in their early days. That's what you're probably thinking of.
erictapeworm 2 years ago
The musical shift was very sudden. Polaroids was still very glam, just more sophisticated. I saw them play in the late seventies, listened to a couple of songs, got bored, and walked out. When I heard Quiet Life and Polaroids, I could barely believe that it was the same band. I ended up being a big fan. I'm still kicking myself for not watching the whole set, after all these years.
strangeparty 2 years ago 2
@strangeparty That's a heartbreaking story man.
MarkySpark001 1 year ago
@pnnews90 And then compare the glam Sylvian with the solo Sylvian . . . scarily they are not the same person at all. . .
shinysynthcity 1 year ago
Wow, this song brings back memories from when I was a kid.
axlgenki 2 years ago
Wow! I'm from Japan but became a fan of Japan and David Sylvian after their breakup (I was only nine when they broke up).
I boutght a lot of old magazines about them and read about this show, too. But I'd never seen it. Thank you for posting this. I could see this after so many years at last!!
Frejainflower 3 years ago
Rob dean (I did read)was not happy of the sound of GENTLEMEN TAKES POLAROID and of the demo for the future TIN DRUM,was not the way he liked to play and Silvyan often was disappointed from his look!!!!Then he left the band fired out by Silvyan.Anyway i like JAPAN but not too much Silvyan like soloist and his production after JAPAN's time.David Bowie said don't liked Silvyan's music!
LuxX63 3 years ago
Yeh Rob's image never fitted later japan :)
furyplum44 2 years ago
Sorry to disappoint, I never asked the question. He never spoke about Japan - closest he got to it was playing the Quiet Life solo during a sound check at the Embassy Club!
brixtbass 3 years ago
I had the honour of playing a few gigs with Rob when we were both depping for a band called Fever Tree back in the mid '80s. In this video he might be chord bashing - but he was a really talented, inventive guitarist.
brixtbass 3 years ago
why did he quit the band in 1980 ?
FLORENT2222 3 years ago
24 hour party people
larryoloai 3 years ago
I don't care if David Sylvian is ashamed about this period, if a lot of Japan fans only love their last two albums, if Rob was a bad guitarist or not...
For me, Japan has alaways been brilliant.
And I love each single song they made !!
Habibasse 3 years ago 4
yeah if I was David id be ashamed of the later period, this music actually makes sense and is fun
gorgonslave 3 years ago
Great songs and absolutely well performed!
ajittffcure 3 years ago
Thank you for this!!
nickel71 3 years ago
Oh my God....it's so type to hard with one hand.
Beautifulllllll......
GlennDosXY 3 years ago
It's surreal that a time like this existed. Damn, someone hurry up and invent a working time machine.
Rhodesia32 3 years ago 9
You're going to be one lucky timetraveller.
Got the last one in store,especially for you.
Price....negotianeble,
there's only one glitch....
It goes with a one way ticket.
....«{«{«{«{d*.*b}»}»}»}»....
PAULLONDEN 3 years ago 2
i will take it anyway!!
maybe i'll hide one or two of my friends in a suitcase among some of my most important stuff.
:D
popperkanal 3 years ago
i wish the band i was in about this time could have been this cool!
richie649 3 years ago 2
yeah ive always fucking loved japan/sylvian/karn/ barbieri/jansen
dermotoblong 3 years ago
«LØW»,,,,,,,,,,,,,?
,,,,,,Brilliantino!
PAULLONDEN 3 years ago
Possibly the best group of the eighties! Went to see them in Liverpool. They were awesome.
mintwithahole 4 years ago 2
Brilliant, even the early stuff, although different from the later years - Even the first 2 albums were ahead of their time - I liked the Quiet Life / Gentlemen Take Polaroids era - awesome memories of a better times, when the musical landscape seemed so exciting.......!!!
chrisjpz 4 years ago
Dont you all agree we need a really good DVD of Japan's early shows/stuff - so under represented even today!!
pace4815162342 4 years ago
I am a Big Fan Of Japan & Mr. Sylvian
... i must to say the Japan WAS the creators of Glam & New Wave!
this is a fact and i do not why there isn´t a mention in the story of New Wave or New Romantics ??? Japan and Mr. SYlvian always in my heart I LUV U!
hardiestgirl2012 4 years ago 2
they were the originators of "new romantics" of that there is no doubt. but glam and new wave? glam was started by marc bolan in the early 70s. new wave by Bowie in the mid 70s. punk by iggy pop. post-punk by both iggy and bowie. new romantics? japan.
motellife 3 years ago 3
50s rockabilly and 60s garage was punk long before Iggy Pop
battlekat23 3 years ago
I get the point, but one can call just about anything "punk" by those standards.
strangeparty 2 years ago
I love that little break where Mick is just holding the line and grooving...
Rhodesia32 4 years ago 4
By the way - that bass is off. I'm sure Mick Karn wouldnt be happy if he heard that back!
Waz24 4 years ago
Whoa! Rock 'n' Roll Sylvian. It's nearly Aladdin Sane but not quite. I dont know how much success they could have had if they kept down this route. It was only us lot listening. What album was European Son supposed to go on?. I only had it on Assemblage ( which looked suspicioulsy like a Hansa cash-in albium)
Waz24 4 years ago
I,ve been a Japan/Sylvian fan for 27 years now and love all of the music from the glam through the early eighties to the present. To listen to it all in one sitting is a musical journey that no other artist can even come close to matching. Wether or not Sylvian gives any credence his earlier music is irrelevant. For many of us Adolescent Sex, Life in Tokyo, Visions in China, Red Guitar, Orpheus and World Citizen are all resonant moments that echo our own journey through life.
hadesx68 4 years ago 2
Never heard them live .Was this b4 they bought a Linn Drum & Prophet synth-sounds so NY Dollz - Gr8
azealia 4 years ago
Thanks Moody :). I had to get my dose of Japan. I LOVE this video...even with all the imperfection.
xxxCheeryCherryxxx 5 years ago
Unbelievable.the voice is sooo different.Faster backup band.they found new instruments for their later incarnation but they seem to have gotten stranger with the idiosyncratic writing 0this song is just aplain rock song same riffs etc,Japan on tindrum is almost genius comparatively .
lovesGenet 5 years ago
david sylvian looks like actress jill clayburgh in this video
classic
MKUltra3 5 years ago
Love this early stuff of theirs. Sylvians control over the band hadn't become total at this point.
ludocrat 5 years ago
What do you mean ? Was it difficult to work with David ??? Anyway, I always loved Japan, early or late stuff. Even if Sylvian doesn't like the eary years himself. What an idiot !!! ;-P
Habibasse 4 years ago
Er, what the fuck are you talking about moron. I didn't say those things. And the direction the band took is well documented. Before you go round calling people an 'idiot' check your facts. I doubt you know anything about David Sylvian anyway (too young). I imagine David Hasslehoff is more your thing, isn't it...tosser
ludocrat 4 years ago
Unless, of course, I've completely misread your message and you meant David Sylvian is the idiot for disowning all Japan's early stuff (I agree). And in which case, I apologise unreservedly. You are not a tosser. I guess I am....;)
ludocrat 4 years ago
Thanks for your apologise ! I was just joking. I love Japan so much thatI don't want the members to be ahamed of all the great music they have created ! No, David Hasslehoff isn't more my thing !
Habibasse 4 years ago
Nor mine! Thanks for accepting my apology. I was hasty and rude. But, long live Japan! Good luck.
ludocrat 4 years ago
DUDE MICk Karn looks hilarious in this vid
totaLybeetLeJuice 5 years ago
Awesome!!!!, would luv to have a copy of this concert :)
newromanticgal 5 years ago
How exciting to see this!!! I think European Son is a really good version, it's got a lot of energy to it - the keyboard drop before the last chorus is quite different. VERY cool to see this. Thanks SO much for posting this.
pipster101 5 years ago
I've never seen this before. It's pretty cool. I've never seen the band life before Quiet Life ^^
PoisonedApathy 5 years ago
Does Sylvian hate this old stuff in 2006? ALL of Japan's stuff is so freakin cool--how could he be unhappy with their legacy?
Cabronblanco 5 years ago
So cool to see him in his glam days, before they became the true New Romantic stars. It still makes me wonder if Nick Rhodes and David are the same person
wilall 6 years ago
nick copied david!! ;)
roxysimmons 5 years ago
very kool, I enjoy the early japan stuff.wish more existed from adolescent sex and obscure years.played and sang some of this stuff in the day with bands had a ball!
mcole 6 years ago
droooooolllllllllllllllllllllll-ohhh. we remember
umphuphoo 6 years ago
Where did this come from? Very interesting. This was when Japan was about to completely drop the faux heavy metal-glam for their ultra-modern style. European Son was pretty good.
BakaNewMexican 6 years ago
This was filmed in March '79, on the heels of their Japanese tour...You are quite correct, Dave cut his hair off towards the end of the "New Rising Sound" tour of the following month.
moodyb 6 years ago
I never saw this before. This is before they got cool. Sylvian's vocals are somewhat annoying. Still it's interesting from a historical standpoint.
Tazz77 6 years ago