The words overlooked and underrated could apply to several 80's bands two that spring to mind include That Petrol Emotion and Catherine Wheel,throw the word influential into the mix and one band that ticks all the above boxes is Japan.
I forget when exactly Japan first came across my radar either 1979 or 1980,I had a friend growing up John who was a year older than me and thus more likely to discover the "cooler" bands first,The Cure,Ultravox and B 52's spring to mind but it was Japan who struck a major cord w/ yours truly.
Maybe it was because they were "local boys made good"the stories of them infamously being expelled from nearby Catford Boys High School for their dress sence and homage to all things New York Dolls were enough to win me over even if their first two albums "Adolescent Sex" and "Obscure Alternatives" did little to garner favour w/ the always difficult to please British music press.
While not a big fan of either album there were some great moments on both that went a long way to making up "Assemblage" a compilation album later released by then label Hansa but thing really began to happen in 79 w/ their third offering "Quiet Life"
Prior to it's release a one off collaboration w/ the legendary Giorgio Moroder would produce the classic "Life In Tokyo" an indication of the direction Japan would now take, the 12'' mix of which can be found on "Assemblage"
"Quite Life" was a major departure from the first two albums in both sound and look but it was the 1980 effort"Gentlemen Take Polaroids" that would lift them into the limelight of the just below the surface New Romantic movement that had internal politics not ripped the band apart two years later Japan would surely have gone onto great success than what they did achieve.
While I'm not the last word on all things 80's music I will say this if you don't own a copy of their 1981
magnus opus "Tin Drum" your 80's collection is incomplete,"Tin Drum" is one of the quintessential 80's albums and it gave Japan their biggest chart success w/ the most unlikeliest of singles "Ghosts" which reached #5 in the singles charts.
"Ghosts" ranks right up there w/"Nightporter" off of "Polaroids" for the best Japan song ever,I can't tell you how often I'd be sequestered in my bedroom w/ the lights off playing both albums back to back,w/ David Sylvian's velvet baritone voice singing the words"
could I ever explain,this feeling of love it just lingers on,the fear in my heart keeps telling me which way to turn" I was just blown away by the romance of it all.....sadly wasted on a then 18 year old boy but none the less powerful stuff!!
Sadly b4 the end of 1982 it all came to a head for Japan,the internal bickering between band members meant they called it a day which was a crushing blow but did mean solo projects to look forward to,but the wounds of the split were still there to be seen no David Sylvian on "Titles'' Mick Karn's debut solo effort and vice versa on "Brilliant Trees" David Sylvian's solo debut two years later,meanwhile both Steve Jensen and Richard Barbieri played on both!!!
However a thaw in the feud three years later saw David Sylvian lend his vocals to two tracks of off Karn's sophomore effort"Dreams Of Reasons Produce Monsters","Buoy" is one of my all time favorite "Japan" songs and show up on David's "Everything And Nothing" retrospective.
The often rumoured Japan reunion did happen in 1991 albeit under the moniker of Rain Tree Crow,the first collaboration w/ all four members since "Tin Drum" some 10 years earlier.....
however it would prove to be a short lived affair,more one off than reunion as the bickering that had broken them up in the first place resurfaced,the fact that Karn,Jensen and Barbieri were out voted by Sylvain that the name Rain Tree Crow and not Japan be used perhaps underlined the power struggle w/ the foursome.
We would enjoy some solo efforts from David Sylvian and Mick Karn while Barbieri and Jansen would form The Dolphin Brothers and also work closely w/ Mick Karn.
Steve Jensen can often be found working w/ David Sylvian which should come as no great surprise given he's David's younger brother and Richard Barbieri would later lend his considerable keyboard/synth prowess to prog rockers Porcupine Tree.
The list of musicians who've asked Mick Karn to work w/ them reads like a whos who,Midge Ure,Kate Bush,Gary Numan,and Pete Murphy and all of them expressed great sorrow at the untimely death of Mick two years ago.
To think we'll never hear anyone manipulate those fretless bass sounds like Mick did defies all reasoning and I was touched that of all the epitaphs given to him in the press after losing his battle w/ cancer John Taylor of Duran Duran called Karn quote"one of the great visual and sound stylists of the late 70s/early 80s".
For those of you who missed Japan's all too brief career I recommend "Assemblage" and "Exorcising Ghosts" as two great places to start discovering them and for those of you like me who miss watching Mick Karn on stage the dvd "The Best Of Japan" which feature some but sadly not all of their 82 Hammersmith Odean "Oil On Canvas" farewell continues to be a treat for the eyes,the ears,the heart and soul.
