I wonder if this video is blocked in China. It would make sense, being the obvious focus on China's politics. But, yes, yet again, Japan's music is very relevant, both musically and thematically.
Einfach geil.Auf dem Walkman volle lautstärke,im takt dazu laufen,oder in der strassenbahn morgens um sechs.Das war als Musik tragbar wurde.Schöne Erinnerungen.
I wouldn't call the 2:18 moment of drumming as a solo, but more of a quadrupled drum march, but still greatness. Duran Duran did follow and should pay homage, but Duran Duran was greatness as well. John Taylor's "Chic" playing was awesome, the songwriting was mostly very good, all members could play well and Simon could sing! Give them credit...they were a powehouse in '84!
'we're young and strong in this party' - just look at china in the grand scheme of things now, now I am 48 I know what japan may have been getting at!!! However I DID buy all the albumns!!!!
people always juxtapose duran duran and japan. personally i don't think the two are all that similar. if duran duran ripped off any one (which im not saying they did) it was chic. duran were always very funky were as japan were very ambient. the sounds were quite different from each other really. while i doubt dd would be the same w/o japan's influence its not as though they ripped them off. justl ike neither dd nor japan ripped off roxy music or bowie
@chrisc4u They were around before DD formed... They were influential to Nick Rhodes and Simon LeBon, BOTH loved Japan and often talked about their music which never made it big stateside. When DD hosted MTV playing their favorite videos, they played Japan and praised them. Japan didn't want to follow the popstar mould.. they were all very accomplished musicians and only got better after they split up. David Sylvian has had a rich solo career as have the others. Kajagoogoo were the poor man's DD
@lekoos - Hello, I love Japan, Sylvian, Spandau, Kajagoogoo, ABC, Dead or Alive, Human League, Simple Minds, Depeche, Culture Club, Eurythmics, Tears, Men without Hats, Billy Idol, Big Country, fucking ANYTHING from that era - so I totally get what you say about DD and Japan (and incidentally, Roxy, Ure, Eno, Fripp, too, or even fucking Costello).
Please don't insult or run down Kajagoogoo - they could SHIT out better music than anything the US could produce at the time!
@pistachioguy America had plenty of good New Wave music at the time. Not as much of it was synthesizer based, although you did have Missing Persons, Red Flag, Animotion, Berlin, Our Daughter's Wedding, EbnOzn, InfoSo, Anything Box and Voice Farm. Then bands like Devo, The Cars, Wall of Voodoo and even Sparks dabbled quite a bit in the synthy style. Your dismissal of the American 80s scene is uncalled for.
@xreddragonx - quite right - " Devo, The Cars, Wall of Voodoo and even Sparks" - especially so.
My apologies - was rather (happily) drunk at the time of writing that and listening to this, and my over-exuberance towards my own cultural and musical references from the UK from that time perhaps made itself known through that (unfair) statement.
@pistachioguy No problem. It's cool of you to apologize. Admittedly there was an overwhelming scene going in the UK there, and it was a good time for music.
@xreddragonx - I didn't apologize to be "cool" - I apologized because you were correct, based on the facts you provided.
You can't argue with proper facts - the Cars, Romantics, Blondie, Talking Heads, and Devo certainly were forces to be reckoned with in the early '80s American music scene.
@pistachioguy "I didn't apologize to be "cool"" No no, I didn't mean that you were trying to be. I'm just saying I saw it as cool, for lack of a better word implying "admirable". Most people on the internet, especially after expressing somewhat strong opinions would never apologize or politely retract statements.
@xreddragonx I wouldn't say Devo dabbled in synths. Synthesizers were a part of Devo back to the earliest days. Listen to Devo Hardcore vol I, there is quite a bit of Moog on there, and that dates to the early 1974-75. By the time of "Freedom of Choice" (1980) they were almost entirely synth. So it's kinda like saying Kraftwerk dabbled in synths.
As far as the DD vs Japan thing. Yeah Japan had an early New York Dolls phase but you certainly have to give respect for the later stuff.
@offshoremind I didn't get this the wrong way around...when I watched this video recently my simple observation at THAT time (watching the video a few wks ago) was that DS looked like JT and NR.
OK...done with this thread. I didn't get into Japan in the 80s and don't care for this song lol.
I'll admit it...I, too became a huge Japan fan after seeing Simon Le Bon and Nick Rhodes play this on their Guest VJ hour. I was instantly mesmerized. If memory serves, they were already broken up (1983). I bought everything I could get my hands on, the indie record store people knew me by name, and I was like 11 years old. Joined a fanzine club, spent all my money on everything- from Dali's Car to The Dolphin Brothers. Sigh, swoon, thud. I love them still.
This is such a change from all of the other videos on youtube. You can certainly see the maturity level of the people commenting here. Refreshing, to say the least. Now, pertaining to the music... It may be just me, but I only really liked Japan's first album. Then again, this is probably because I wasn't raised in the 80's. However, this doesn't change the fact that this was a very artful and intelligent band.
I was introduced to Japan back in 1981 the same time as Toyah.....I'm 46 and still listen to both often.....I tell my friends "If I ever get too old to enjoy GOOD music and talk about buying an RV...to shoot me PLEASE!" If you think there is no more good music..try Bird and the Bee OMG!! Thank god for true artist like Brendan Perry, Elizabeth Fraser etc etc. Rock on my Friends!
@ariesscorpiorising sorry aries, I think you're right. I checked the ticket again. It was actually 1982. I was just in grade 10 of high school. In indeed, I am now still thankful for my friend who treated me for this Japan concert.
If you like this, then you definitely will like Lunatwist, a Belgian new wave band from the same era. Singles: Decent life and African Times, and, why not, Look out you're falling in love again. Also international class: Allez Allez, TC Matic, Jo Lemaire, Lio, Telex, Front 242 ...
If you like this, then you definitely will like Lunatwist, a Belgian new wave band from the same era. Singles: Decent life and African Times, and, why not, Look out you're falling in love again. Also international class: Allez Allez, TC Matic, Jo Lemaire, Lio, Telex, Front 242 ...
The story goes that David and Mick broke up the band because they were dating the same girl and it was causing friction....which I suspect is the same one at 3.47. Flashback to '68, when two of the most talented songwriters that Britain produced pretty much break up the band over another Japanese girl...this time it was Yoko Ono. Deja Vu?
Apart from the "Eighty-ness" of the video, the song's structure and arrangement were so way ahead of their time, the whole album still sounds incredibly up-to-date, even avantgarde today. Japan were in an orbit around another planet in a parallel universe....and I always loved to visit them...
I wish someone would send Simon Cowell to Japan and leave him there..noone has done more to devalue pop music more than him..ironic he should crop up on a post about a man and a band who did the opposite..create music for the sake of art not money.
pls.go visit both his and Steve Jansen website to help Mick Karn due to him having an advanced level cancer.you can download their music or get photos on JAPAN that steve took and it wouldn't be a very donation to you.ryuichi sakamoto is also helping mick,yukihiro's been kind of depressed to do anything by him hearing the news.
This clip has not aged it could so be on the tele now although you wouldn't want it to have to be mixed in with the likes of the artists around nowadays.
I love how Mick Karn played the bass! I remember this as one of the best period of my life .. In my birthplace there was two clubs so cool for those years in Italy ! I used to go there every week end to dance this music! Japan will be one of my fav band forever!!!!! <3
Just listening to this makes me realise how incredibly inventive 80s music was. Music had many interesting layers and bands like this got a lot of mileage out of relatively limited technology. Very nice.
far as I recall Mtv in the US never did play this at all. (Wrong?) even though it was as good or better than so much they were playing back in those days.
Yes. When Duran Duran were guest VJ's on Mtv, they played this video. I doubt if they ever played it again; at that point in 1983, the record companies had realized what a commercial goldmine Mtv was and it was the beginning of the end. No more quirky, avant garde, or independent videos were ever seen again. I don't know when or if I would have ever learned about bands like Japan, the Jam, Split Enz, Ultravox, and a number of others.
I've only heard about it and not seen the actual clip. There was some non-mainstream things played, how about 120 minutes, I.R.S. Records Presents The Cutting Edge? Still even the worst of mtv back in the 80s I would love to see over what they play now. Even vh1 classic seemed to be falling apart last time I saw it.
120 Min was good, I had forgotten that. But it still meant that anything remotely cutting edge was relegated to 2 hrs, once a week and then not at all. Remember Night Flight on USA? That was fun, too. Ah well, nothing good lasts forever...
I'm kind of too young to remember seeing them on television at the time but I have heard of them and seen things over the years. I've seen night flight as well, funny how tv changes to be even worse over the years.
Yes, Duran Duran took from Japan just like La Ley took from Talk Talk. Both Duran Duran and La Ley have never owned up to this. Ok, Nick Rhodes once did.
@sleepyjack74 Duran Duran founders Nick Rhodes (synths) and John Taylor (bass) attended an Obscure Alternative Tour concert in Nov. 1978, and ended to share the same EMI facility at Air Studios when Japan were recording Gentlemen Take Polaroids - even asking the elusive Sylvian to produce them. Unsurprisingly, he refused, but the five young brummies delivered their very own new romantic manifesto, while also developing some music traits and intuitions that Japan had just drawed, never pursued.
Huge !
pendarane 5 days ago
I looked everywhere for white braces ...
Evilrolfharris 1 week ago
this is my definition of the better side of new wave in the 80ties. total avantgarde
333Chrome 1 week ago
Amazing song .......fans from ITALY
Caleidus 2 weeks ago
I wonder if this video is blocked in China. It would make sense, being the obvious focus on China's politics. But, yes, yet again, Japan's music is very relevant, both musically and thematically.
riffman943 1 month ago
mmm should have got together for a for a tour like all the theber 80's band have be great to hear japan play live again
soundmanhaven1 1 month ago
great song - check Gotye doing Ghosts from the same japan album youtube.com/watch?v=4HTrag1Dbfo
peteridgedish 3 months ago
Chinoiserie...
DiamondTeee 3 months ago
great song ! I remember when it was released
just posted in
belfordmusic.blogspot.com
modernistik 3 months ago
Japan were musically untouchable
pigyob 3 months ago 3
@pigyob totally agree simly the best fav songs nightporter methods of dance swing to name a few whats yours
Bergysot 3 months ago
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impaardengek 4 months ago
R.I.P Mao Tse-tung
VelvetFlux 4 months ago
It's keyboard player from Pocupine Tree!
gogolplex74 5 months ago
Einfach geil.Auf dem Walkman volle lautstärke,im takt dazu laufen,oder in der strassenbahn morgens um sechs.Das war als Musik tragbar wurde.Schöne Erinnerungen.
kirchenaechter 5 months ago
Favorite Japan song ever...even more than "Ghosts." Hearing Steve Jansen's phenomenal drum break at least once a day makes my life complete. :)
triciapowers 5 months ago 5
Genial, loved it ever!
oweioweh 5 months ago
this music was made for us extraterrestrials :)
doctorw2 6 months ago
my childhood lol....out of all the new romantics (lol) bands..... Japan were the most musically accomplished...
mysterywhylay 6 months ago
@mysterywhylay They were closer musically to progressive music and jazz than any thing else. Dont confuse fashion with what you hear!
teddingtontcu 3 weeks ago
first 12" I ever bought, autumn of 83, even though they'd already split up, but the records were still knocking around in the shop
jasonpfinch 7 months ago
LOL,,old china things.
540384342 7 months ago
RIP Mick.
MrGziss 8 months ago 2
Don't forget TheNew York Dolls and The Ramones
katoklzmk 8 months ago
sold out when they covered second that emotion, sylvian is a wanker i bet he looks fucked now he's in his 50's. they made some good music though.
replicas11 8 months ago
wore this thing out on my record playa back in tha day
anyone still remember records?
hahaha!!!
GGiblet 9 months ago 2
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missleslie66 9 months ago
I like the pixely man at the end!! :) JAPAN IS COOL!!!
missleslie66 9 months ago
I dont think Japan should be in the same sentence as Kajagoogoo !! WTF is wrong with you.. lol
Dirtysconesgone1 10 months ago 3
I wouldn't call the 2:18 moment of drumming as a solo, but more of a quadrupled drum march, but still greatness. Duran Duran did follow and should pay homage, but Duran Duran was greatness as well. John Taylor's "Chic" playing was awesome, the songwriting was mostly very good, all members could play well and Simon could sing! Give them credit...they were a powehouse in '84!
nativesspoken 10 months ago 4
The drum(s) solo at 2:17 to 2: 35 is brilliant !
AnAutumnsDay 10 months ago 6
@AnAutumnsDay yeh that is cool stuff, sounds like he overdubbed two or three takes there to build it up
steve jansen was always really creative with his drumming in japan
vibrationinstitute 10 months ago 7
Ahh musicianship, creativity & originallity - things long forgotten in the present day UK music industry!
MithrilSilverteeth 10 months ago 15
"We walk backwards say....ing nothing" , Is one of the best lines/lyrics I have ever heard!
AnAutumnsDay 11 months ago 10
I still miss him. x
Glynne7 11 months ago
Forever Japan!
ernstwhere 1 year ago 2
Duran Duran where never in the same league as Japan........
TheTwilightalehouse 1 year ago 9
Happy birthday today to David Sylvian!
marehtseira 1 year ago 4
2:04 the true origin of the hipster look
Enigmatism415 1 year ago 4
'we're young and strong in this party' - just look at china in the grand scheme of things now, now I am 48 I know what japan may have been getting at!!! However I DID buy all the albumns!!!!
Noragirlie63 1 year ago 2
Comment removed
Noragirlie63 1 year ago
even beter!
Sims122luva 1 year ago
kung hei fat choi! ^_^
shinysynthcity 1 year ago
people always juxtapose duran duran and japan. personally i don't think the two are all that similar. if duran duran ripped off any one (which im not saying they did) it was chic. duran were always very funky were as japan were very ambient. the sounds were quite different from each other really. while i doubt dd would be the same w/o japan's influence its not as though they ripped them off. justl ike neither dd nor japan ripped off roxy music or bowie
newfuckingwave 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@newfuckingwave really? that's interesting : 0
isleoforkney 11 months ago
Class song from a class group.
tigerarmyrule 1 year ago
Mick you are with the Angels.
ace342006 1 year ago
RIP mick you made some great music! X
MrDavidpatmore 1 year ago
R.I.P. Mick, one of the best Bass Players in music history.
damny2 1 year ago 3
Oh Mick Karn without you, no such great JAPAN R.I.P
98mexp 1 year ago
sad about Mike R.I.P one of the best band of the 80s
rpr44 1 year ago
R.I.P for Mick
i like your music
大好きなミック カーンへ
ホントにsencitiveだった
貴方が好きでした。
ご冥福をお祈りします
88morimam 1 year ago 2
R.I.P. Mick . Japan were a big part of my formative years
subseatiger 1 year ago 41
@subseatiger same here, im a bassist and Mick was always a major touchstone for me...way out in left field doing his own thing!
vibrationinstitute 10 months ago
This was the first Japan tune I ever learned on the fretless. Been nothing but pure love ever since. One of the finest bands ever.
RIP Mick my man.
Komodoensis 9 months ago 4
Descanse en paz querido Mick.
R.I.P. the best bass player of the new romantics & new wave.
MADAMEMEDUSSA 1 year ago
R.I.P Mick ! Gone but not forgotten!
MrsRhythmNation 1 year ago
That was my first time hearing them. They sound like a poor man's Duran Duran.
chrisc4u 1 year ago
@chrisc4u They were around before DD formed... They were influential to Nick Rhodes and Simon LeBon, BOTH loved Japan and often talked about their music which never made it big stateside. When DD hosted MTV playing their favorite videos, they played Japan and praised them. Japan didn't want to follow the popstar mould.. they were all very accomplished musicians and only got better after they split up. David Sylvian has had a rich solo career as have the others. Kajagoogoo were the poor man's DD
lekoos 1 year ago 40
@lekoos - Hello, I love Japan, Sylvian, Spandau, Kajagoogoo, ABC, Dead or Alive, Human League, Simple Minds, Depeche, Culture Club, Eurythmics, Tears, Men without Hats, Billy Idol, Big Country, fucking ANYTHING from that era - so I totally get what you say about DD and Japan (and incidentally, Roxy, Ure, Eno, Fripp, too, or even fucking Costello).
Please don't insult or run down Kajagoogoo - they could SHIT out better music than anything the US could produce at the time!
God bless the U.K.!
pistachioguy 9 months ago
Comment removed
missleslie66 9 months ago
@pistachioguy America had plenty of good New Wave music at the time. Not as much of it was synthesizer based, although you did have Missing Persons, Red Flag, Animotion, Berlin, Our Daughter's Wedding, EbnOzn, InfoSo, Anything Box and Voice Farm. Then bands like Devo, The Cars, Wall of Voodoo and even Sparks dabbled quite a bit in the synthy style. Your dismissal of the American 80s scene is uncalled for.
xreddragonx 9 months ago
@xreddragonx - quite right - " Devo, The Cars, Wall of Voodoo and even Sparks" - especially so.
My apologies - was rather (happily) drunk at the time of writing that and listening to this, and my over-exuberance towards my own cultural and musical references from the UK from that time perhaps made itself known through that (unfair) statement.
pistachioguy 9 months ago
@pistachioguy No problem. It's cool of you to apologize. Admittedly there was an overwhelming scene going in the UK there, and it was a good time for music.
xreddragonx 8 months ago
@xreddragonx - I didn't apologize to be "cool" - I apologized because you were correct, based on the facts you provided.
You can't argue with proper facts - the Cars, Romantics, Blondie, Talking Heads, and Devo certainly were forces to be reckoned with in the early '80s American music scene.
pistachioguy 8 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@pistachioguy "I didn't apologize to be "cool"" No no, I didn't mean that you were trying to be. I'm just saying I saw it as cool, for lack of a better word implying "admirable". Most people on the internet, especially after expressing somewhat strong opinions would never apologize or politely retract statements.
So I was just pleasantly surprised by it.
xreddragonx 8 months ago
@xreddragonx I wouldn't say Devo dabbled in synths. Synthesizers were a part of Devo back to the earliest days. Listen to Devo Hardcore vol I, there is quite a bit of Moog on there, and that dates to the early 1974-75. By the time of "Freedom of Choice" (1980) they were almost entirely synth. So it's kinda like saying Kraftwerk dabbled in synths.
As far as the DD vs Japan thing. Yeah Japan had an early New York Dolls phase but you certainly have to give respect for the later stuff.
calaverasgrande 7 months ago
@lekoos like your com ... rip nick .
someblokecalledchris 8 months ago
@lekoos
Kajagoogoo, Duran Duran, and Japan had three of the greatest bass players in history.
Enigmatism415 7 months ago
Comment removed
belzondium 1 year ago
One of the few bands that produced something creatively interesting in the 80s. RIP Mick Karn
ludovica36 1 year ago
So sad to hear of Mick Karn's death
MrAnglomania 1 year ago
Great art-rock from an otherwise sterile, soulless and image-dominated era.
OLDINDIANS 1 year ago
RIP Mick
Suehat 1 year ago
He looks like a mix of Nick Rhodes and John Taylor here. RIP :c(
U2CollectiveSoul 1 year ago
@U2CollectiveSoul yeah that's the other way around.
wonkeaux 1 year ago
@U2CollectiveSoul That's David Sylvian who is still fortunately with us. We don't see much of Mick in this video.
MrRik2 1 year ago
@MrRik2
Yes thanks was mixed up...no need for further comments from others beyond this to prove you are knowledgeable on Japan thank you very much.
U2CollectiveSoul 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@MrRik2
Yes thanks was mixed up...no need for other people to comment beyond this to prove you are knowledgeable on Japan thank you very much.
U2CollectiveSoul 1 year ago
@U2CollectiveSoul yeahhh totally agree
bublegumjp 1 year ago
@U2CollectiveSoul
He looked like that long before they did mate, you got that the wrong way around Duran Duran adored Japan and aped their image,
offshoremind 1 year ago
@offshoremind I didn't get this the wrong way around...when I watched this video recently my simple observation at THAT time (watching the video a few wks ago) was that DS looked like JT and NR.
OK...done with this thread. I didn't get into Japan in the 80s and don't care for this song lol.
U2CollectiveSoul 1 year ago
So sad to hear of his death :( RIP
TheDarkRedWyvern 1 year ago
RIP MICK KARN.xxx
catmantra 1 year ago
R.I.P Mick Karn, thanks for your music....from JPN
c5200n 1 year ago
RIP, mick. god damn you were an amazing bassist.
kaini 1 year ago
ミックのご冥福をお祈りします
h5moon 1 year ago
R.I.P. Mick Karn
calcoaceticus 1 year ago
Goodbye Mick. We will miss you.
CombatRocks 1 year ago
RIP Mick Karn
caligari89 1 year ago
RIP Mick Karn
whixley 1 year ago
R.I.P Mick, thanks for the music!
YCSMusic 1 year ago
R.I.P Mick Karn :(
caitsimms 1 year ago 2
I'll admit it...I, too became a huge Japan fan after seeing Simon Le Bon and Nick Rhodes play this on their Guest VJ hour. I was instantly mesmerized. If memory serves, they were already broken up (1983). I bought everything I could get my hands on, the indie record store people knew me by name, and I was like 11 years old. Joined a fanzine club, spent all my money on everything- from Dali's Car to The Dolphin Brothers. Sigh, swoon, thud. I love them still.
singbluesilver9 1 year ago
The one you are not is more interesting than the one you are. Be the one you are not. That idea falls into my mind when listening to this.
djangonovo 1 year ago
This is such a change from all of the other videos on youtube. You can certainly see the maturity level of the people commenting here. Refreshing, to say the least. Now, pertaining to the music... It may be just me, but I only really liked Japan's first album. Then again, this is probably because I wasn't raised in the 80's. However, this doesn't change the fact that this was a very artful and intelligent band.
seekanddestroy001 1 year ago 2
I'm a big Japan fan, trying to get my kids interested but they don't want to know.
emberjd123 1 year ago
@emberjd123 Pft. How old are your kids?
shinysynthcity 1 year ago
@emberjd123 Good luck! xD
EuphoricFigure 1 year ago
@emberjd123 That's cool that you try to get your kids into the music you like. That's what I'd like to try to do if I ever have have kids.
HAL0INREVERSE 1 year ago
rrrrubberrry
atrios28 1 year ago
I'd forgotten how bloody brilliant Japan were. I must be getting old!
baconsandwich2007 1 year ago
I fucking love the dragons. I repeat I FUCKING LOVE THE DRAGONS. I shall make a tribute video. Watch out!
ostellamaria 1 year ago
Pure class
MrLadysman1969 1 year ago
oooh.......cute
mechrissiedavids 1 year ago
great great sutff!
amamuffin 1 year ago
I was introduced to Japan back in 1981 the same time as Toyah.....I'm 46 and still listen to both often.....I tell my friends "If I ever get too old to enjoy GOOD music and talk about buying an RV...to shoot me PLEASE!" If you think there is no more good music..try Bird and the Bee OMG!! Thank god for true artist like Brendan Perry, Elizabeth Fraser etc etc. Rock on my Friends!
SeattleCat64 1 year ago
I had the fortune of seeing Japan concert in live in Hong Kong in 1984. It was so unforgetable.......I still have the concert ticket until now.
psychochun 1 year ago
@psychochun 1984????? Are you sure? I thought they broke up in 1983.
ariesscorpiorising 1 year ago
@ariesscorpiorising sorry aries, I think you're right. I checked the ticket again. It was actually 1982. I was just in grade 10 of high school. In indeed, I am now still thankful for my friend who treated me for this Japan concert.
psychochun 1 year ago
@ariesscorpiorising they split up in late 82 i think
dermotoblong 1 year ago
bassline? yeah, the bassline is it. you can listen to "mick karn" also on gary numan's dance album. japan is wonderfull!!!!! gary numan to;-)
lukretzia 1 year ago
Loooooove this bassline!!
ursamage 1 year ago
If you like this, then you definitely will like Lunatwist, a Belgian new wave band from the same era. Singles: Decent life and African Times, and, why not, Look out you're falling in love again. Also international class: Allez Allez, TC Matic, Jo Lemaire, Lio, Telex, Front 242 ...
Gordy1201998 1 year ago
If you like this, then you definitely will like Lunatwist, a Belgian new wave band from the same era. Singles: Decent life and African Times, and, why not, Look out you're falling in love again. Also international class: Allez Allez, TC Matic, Jo Lemaire, Lio, Telex, Front 242 ...
I
Gordy1201998 1 year ago
SOON STOCK,AITKIN AND WATERMAN WOULD COME ALONG AND TRY TO DESTROY THE WORLD AS WE KNEW IT,THEY ALMOST DID THEN SIMON COWELL.....OH SHIT
kansasinnovember 1 year ago 2
Japan were just amazing.... steves drumming still makes me tingle!!
machineheadlily 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
what the fuck is with this shitty song?
ralax3 1 year ago
The story goes that David and Mick broke up the band because they were dating the same girl and it was causing friction....which I suspect is the same one at 3.47. Flashback to '68, when two of the most talented songwriters that Britain produced pretty much break up the band over another Japanese girl...this time it was Yoko Ono. Deja Vu?
solution777 1 year ago
シルヴィアンサマも、みんなカワユスなぁ～～
tamreeeen 1 year ago
Apart from the "Eighty-ness" of the video, the song's structure and arrangement were so way ahead of their time, the whole album still sounds incredibly up-to-date, even avantgarde today. Japan were in an orbit around another planet in a parallel universe....and I always loved to visit them...
ulielmar 1 year ago 2
@ulielmar I frickin' LURVE the 80 ness
farswept 1 year ago
duran duran made a career out of japan
geposefo 1 year ago
David's voice & looks are breathtaking.......the most undervalued band of the '70's/80's.
goodanswergoodanswer 1 year ago
listening to this reminds me so much of streets of rage on the sega , its just the backing track that makes me think that lol
velocity1991 1 year ago
I just never get sick of this one, and watching how bored everyone looks, Steve especially....it is actually quite amusing!! :) ~ leigh
leighsarel 1 year ago
Astonishing man!
anniechristien 1 year ago
where is this music today?
Mr03051961 1 year ago
He's "my" man
thekossovaar 1 year ago
Mick is suffering with possibly terminal cancer right now, so if you appreciate his work, go to mickkarn.net and do what you can.
MrWotsisname 1 year ago
I wish someone would send Simon Cowell to Japan and leave him there..noone has done more to devalue pop music more than him..ironic he should crop up on a post about a man and a band who did the opposite..create music for the sake of art not money.
taracanyon1 1 year ago
pls.go visit both his and Steve Jansen website to help Mick Karn due to him having an advanced level cancer.you can download their music or get photos on JAPAN that steve took and it wouldn't be a very donation to you.ryuichi sakamoto is also helping mick,yukihiro's been kind of depressed to do anything by him hearing the news.
kenichisaitohchenii 1 year ago
This clip has not aged it could so be on the tele now although you wouldn't want it to have to be mixed in with the likes of the artists around nowadays.
MrsRhythmNation 1 year ago
Ho sempre adorato questa canzone
fabriziopiludu 1 year ago
Mick is extremely ill battling cancer at the moment. Please visit his website for information in regards to making a donation.
ruffian1868 1 year ago
Go to mickkarn.net and see how you can help him fight his bout with cancer!
ronbo11 1 year ago
Remind of Tommy Newton
cocaineandchocolate 1 year ago
iconic bassline - never borrowed/sampled or emulated pure class
micktomazou 1 year ago
I love how Mick Karn played the bass! I remember this as one of the best period of my life .. In my birthplace there was two clubs so cool for those years in Italy ! I used to go there every week end to dance this music! Japan will be one of my fav band forever!!!!! <3
alecherry10 1 year ago
No words...
urguelfa 1 year ago
Just listening to this makes me realise how incredibly inventive 80s music was. Music had many interesting layers and bands like this got a lot of mileage out of relatively limited technology. Very nice.
maccagrabme 1 year ago
still soo fresh and new much better than today crap music lol
Mhaza 1 year ago
@Mhaza ...and so say all of us!!
micktomazou 1 year ago
zzzee beeeeaaaaaazz, ze baz
oekibuki 1 year ago
Great song.....Very special....MORE fantastic `80`s music on my channel!!!!
dot4design 1 year ago
Jansen,Barbieri,Karn,Sylvian was genious 30 years ago. Now is the same.
Genious people don't change
FerranK68 2 years ago
A class act................on stage and in the recording studio............a bygone decade of quality and crass in equal measures.
SPORTINGMUSE 2 years ago
superb, thanks for the upload
waheex 2 years ago 5
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Jackbite69 2 years ago
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Jackbite69 2 years ago
They used to play this on the radio in Toronto in the early '80s. Different era.
cree8vision 2 years ago
Thank you very much!!!
ZowieSpain 2 years ago 4
Love this song! Youtube is so awesome to have this! Man!
marksartor 2 years ago 3
far as I recall Mtv in the US never did play this at all. (Wrong?) even though it was as good or better than so much they were playing back in those days.
marmas58ink 2 years ago
it was played by Nick Rhodes on mtv once from what I heard, probably more times as well.
fiendwithoutaface66 2 years ago 2
Yes. When Duran Duran were guest VJ's on Mtv, they played this video. I doubt if they ever played it again; at that point in 1983, the record companies had realized what a commercial goldmine Mtv was and it was the beginning of the end. No more quirky, avant garde, or independent videos were ever seen again. I don't know when or if I would have ever learned about bands like Japan, the Jam, Split Enz, Ultravox, and a number of others.
lansdowne01 2 years ago 3
I've only heard about it and not seen the actual clip. There was some non-mainstream things played, how about 120 minutes, I.R.S. Records Presents The Cutting Edge? Still even the worst of mtv back in the 80s I would love to see over what they play now. Even vh1 classic seemed to be falling apart last time I saw it.
fiendwithoutaface66 2 years ago
120 Min was good, I had forgotten that. But it still meant that anything remotely cutting edge was relegated to 2 hrs, once a week and then not at all. Remember Night Flight on USA? That was fun, too. Ah well, nothing good lasts forever...
lansdowne01 2 years ago
I'm kind of too young to remember seeing them on television at the time but I have heard of them and seen things over the years. I've seen night flight as well, funny how tv changes to be even worse over the years.
fiendwithoutaface66 2 years ago
Kind of relaxing, pretty nice song, with a sophisticated thing about it... this is one of my fave ones from Japan :)
V00Rozen 2 years ago
he is the only guy i would shag:)
despoolkop 2 years ago
think I will come and rate this everyday
LOVE IT
shanghaiwu 2 years ago
Have found myself watching this a few times/catchy/you COOL
shanghaiwu 2 years ago
Yes, Duran Duran took from Japan just like La Ley took from Talk Talk. Both Duran Duran and La Ley have never owned up to this. Ok, Nick Rhodes once did.
Japan is amazing.
penelopeat8pm 2 years ago
And they were all heavily influenced by Roxy Music!!!
timticklerful 2 years ago
troppo avanti persino ora..
MissRobertaBella 2 years ago
used to listen to these guys in high school. I still dig Mick Karns fretless bass sound.
ldsrevelations 2 years ago 10
@ldsrevelations me too,this is great stuff!
fasteddy60 1 year ago
i can't believe i never heard of this band til today. duran duran owe their careers to david sylvian...
sleepyjack74 2 years ago 4
@sleepyjack74 Duran Duran founders Nick Rhodes (synths) and John Taylor (bass) attended an Obscure Alternative Tour concert in Nov. 1978, and ended to share the same EMI facility at Air Studios when Japan were recording Gentlemen Take Polaroids - even asking the elusive Sylvian to produce them. Unsurprisingly, he refused, but the five young brummies delivered their very own new romantic manifesto, while also developing some music traits and intuitions that Japan had just drawed, never pursued.
duranchannel 1 year ago
@duranchannel ah. cool story. thanks for the insight.
sleepyjack74 1 year ago
Com'era un bel maschio David Sylvian!
fabriziopiludu 2 years ago