Japan - Quick 5 min documentary

A short clip of the band's history including some interesting comments from their old manager recalling the first time they met: "They were completely out of context with everything that was going on in youth culture..."
The introduction is from the "I'm Alan Partridge" show, played by Steve Coogan, a great British comedian/performer. The interviews include some discussion on making "real" synth sounds for Tin Drum and Mick's fretless bass style. They go on to talk about why the band broke up and the whole Rain Tree Crow project. It includes interviews with the band (no Sylvian of course!) and updates on what the guys are doing now... or rather at the time when this piece was put together.

[@demetriostsaros]

Mick Karn was from another planet. Such a talent.

[@rachelar]

He's gone back there now and plays on forever more

[@darrenwells2277]

Agreed... I was quite young when Japan were a thing, and being a not very good bass player, someone said Have you heard of Mick Karn and put me onto Japan... my ears opened up so wide, that Fretless Bass is unreal. Mick was unique and taken so soon. There genuinely is no one like him.

[@brianf3207]

Absolutely, a genius. Him and John Taylor is a league of their own.

[@JJ-js9wp]

5 minutes? Somebody do this band justice and give us a real doc. I liked it tho.

[@I_Have_The_Most_Japanese_Music]

Agreed: this needed at least 6 or 7 minutes.

[@rachelar]

15 mins of fame. It was really just a year or so, 1982,when Japan were in the charts every week.. Such is the fleeting world of UK pop

[@justinebourke2811]

Bollocks! Early Japan stuff was really great. Later stuff wonderful...still discovering stuff of theirs and wow! Time to bring Japan back big time.

[@kevinwilkinson2972]

Totally agree

[@RichHare]

100% - a fkin stupid comment - great work - Assemblage still in my car after 43 years!

[@sameeringale4771]

I really feel bad for Mick Karn such a great talent and no one talks about it....

[@cynthianovoselsky3592]

He was amazing

[@rachelar]

We do

[@rachelar]

@@bovinedowie2803 yeah, and most people in the UK were late to embrace the band. Canada, Japan, the Netherlands were way ahead. UK is so faddish and a hyper market l, not as cool a market as it think itself

[@michaellavery4899]

Don't get too down my friend. The people who really matter, hold him in their hearts and will never forget him. RIP Mick. ❤

[@rachelar]

We talk about it

[@MrJpm1989]

Quite life is one of the best album ever made and i say that because its the best in its own style. Forever haunting and each song leave you hanging on to each note. When i listen to any song on that album I'm left with so many emotions and it's almost like a drug wanting more and more. .

[@stevereeves754]

saw japan back in 1980 in Liverpool with my girl friend who is now my wife ,we were blown away at how professional they were as a band, japan should of gone on to better things........

[@troyincanada]

I still listen to the "Quite Life" album. Mick Karns bass really made Japan's sound unique.

[@pinkmazohyst]

This is such low quality but I'm just glad that this is here and exists

[@oldsynth]

I fell in love with fretless bass in 1982, all because of the quiet life album....it changed my life.

[@jonathanwhite5640]

Quite Life is 100% and Mick Kern,and Richard Barbieri are/have been quoted as being inspirational in other Bands line-ups/Style like the circle of 1/5ths we all influence each other.

[@rickk4art]

I think this band is very special....they became something no one could have forseen-they are all great musicians.some of the best in the world!

[@MikeH_PR]

Loving that everyone here defends the early albums 💪

[@khyberkarn]

They were outstanding in every way - very different - but perfect for the 80's. The original guyliners. How they were missed when they split up. Maybe David will wise up and appreciate the fantastic legacy they left behind. The others in the band seem to recognise this. Steve Jansen was always the cutest IMO!

[@davidcochrane2739]

I always thought of them as the 80's Roxy music - so different, so important! Oil on canvas is one of the all time great live albums!

[@Teeb2023]

Hmm... Sorry, but Oil On Canvas is a travesty of over-dubbing, with very weedy production, and I say that as a major Japan fan.

[@naoidfpaiourej3299]

Agree with you Anthony Rodemus. I had the VHS for 20 odd years and could never watch the whole thing in one sitting - it just wasn't enjoyable. Only decades after first getting it did I see it all without stopping when it once turned up on KZbin.

[@Kohntarkosz]

Yeah, I've heard that comparison. I always thought of them as the band that Duran Duran really really REALLY wanted to be. I'm not sure where I got that idea from, beyond the fact that John Taylor played Visions Of China during his Guest VJ spot on MTV back in 83 or 84, whenever it was.

[@davidcochrane2739]

Kohntarkosz Yeah I have to agree with you there! With regards to my Roxy Music comment I don’t necessarily mean musically the same, just in attitude - “Let’s mix it up a bit, throw a few spammers in the works” - Cheers.

[@mikewest1542]

@@davidcochrane2739 , I think Ferry said they based their whole career on Roxy, which of course isn’t true, this was said about ELO doing the same with the Beatles which again wasn’t true !

[@bluntsafety]

I always thought Obscure Alternatives was a good album, since 1979, it still holds up.

[@DarlingUltra]

Thank you very much for putting this on KZbin. So interesting! And I too think that Quiet Life was just a great album, as was Gentlemen take polaroids.

[@blowstudiouk1594]

In the 80s the NME were knives out for Japan and Gary Numan who are now considered two of the most visionary acts of the early 80s. What does that tell you about the NME? Respect to the old - and new - fans of these acts and shame on you NME, I seriously think that by being so negative about artists trying to do something unique you robbed us of more great music.

[@Kohntarkosz]

I remember watchign a documentary about Genesis, and there was a point where one of the band members was talking about the British press in the early 70's, and mentioned there was only about three music magazines in the Uk at the time: Melody Maker, Sounds and NME. The thing was, when he said "the NME", I thought he was saying "The Enemy", and I think that kinda sums up the matter. I mean, in a lot of ways, they really WERE the enemy.

[@witchflowers6942]

Kohntarkosz the NME of creative expression

[@mjh5437]

NME was good in the 1960s to the late 1970s but turned into shoe-gazing,raincoat music arseholes.

[@rgwebb5165]

Numan and Japan are two of my favorite acts of the extraordinary period between 78 and 83. I loved Numan first, the connection was immediate. Japan was a bit more of an acquired taste but I find over time my appreciation of them grows. Their sound changed from one album to the next. It was almost like they were a different band on every album. It makes sense that once they finally became successful with Tin Drum, they had to disband. Better to burn out than it is to rust. As far as this video goes, there is more relevant subjects to cover than what this does. This band has a fascinating story and this is just a teaser.

[@izzyworld8068]

I've never understood why they wheel Paul Morley out for these sort of retrospectives - he hates Japan, Duran Duran etc so why bother asking him? None of his criticisms are constructive and he doesn't appreciate their influences or origins.

[@VanielDeeform]

izzyworld I literally just said something similar in a another comment before seeing yours. Completely agree.

[@crose7412]

@izzyworld Paul Morley literally says that he LIKES 'Tin Drum'.

[@bovinedowie2803]

Morley loved Sylvian. He was a serious fan.

[@izzyworld8068]

@@bovinedowie2803 ok. He hates DD though, or at least can't bring himself to respect them

[@mjh5437]

Morley is a prime example of the kind of egotistical sarcastic,nit-picking,snide miserabalists who used to write for the NME and the reason I stopped buying that rotten rag.

[@trakmac]

I notice that there is no mention of guitarist Rob Dean in this video clip.

[@stuarthandley7102]

what a shame they stopped so early brilliant music good old 80s

[@Agrati1]

The wonder of You Tube! Really interesting documentary and I would like to see more. Fascinating to see the trio some 18 years later! In my opinion Gents take Polaroids is the best album.

[@suginami123]

A superb group of musicians.

[@JamboLinnman]

Paul Morley: “Japan were crap for three albums”. What?! Quiet Life is my favourite album of all time! Surely he meant for two album?

[@stickyundies]

Paul Morley is so wrong. The first two albums were their best - so many great, absolutely brilliant, inventive, fresh hard core songs.

[@roodivalentino2416]

If the band hated them then they sucked

[@MCFCTrick]

Loved both incarnations of the band...the glam and the synth....unique sounds and great songs. Oh and that 'idiot' at the start is UK comedian, Steve Coogan, doing his Alan Partridge alter ego from some years ago....

[@Alieninthenightstudios]

I thought that's who that was...

[@Katehowe3010]

Someone's had a sense of humour bypass!

[@davidbick9049]

@@Katehowe3010 .... Only 12 years to reply, well done you! :D Comment baffling though ... the character Coogan plays is clearly meant to be seen as an 'idiot'. Sooooooo ;-)

[@Katehowe3010]

It could easily be construed that the idiot reference was targeted at Coogan himself, and not the idiot character he portrays. That was how i read it, hence the confused reaction. As for the twelve year gap, i was purely checking out Japan when Partridge popped up!

[@davidbick9049]

@@Katehowe3010 I love Coogan and many of his characters, even the Paul Calf one where he makes him a City fan .... bastid :D I think my favourite is Saxondale though.

[@markrobinson6129]

Mick Karn with eyebrows! I remember the music press gave them hell for years, then there was a review of Tin Drum headlined 'Eastern Promise' that gave them 9/10. Then they split up. Bastards!

[@seaskiandme]

I am so glad I found this vid. I have seen Jansen playing w. Sylvian on tour but I never realized how utterly sexy he is up close! Holy smokes, he makes David Beckham look like Buddy Hackett!!

[@bovinedowie2803]

Now he's fat and bloaty

[@elizabethstephenson3531]

@@bovinedowie2803 He's sixty years old! You can't expect him to look 25.

[@m.pilarojedaferenus2061]

@@bovinedowie2803 He's not fat and bloaty. Back in the early 90's he gained some weight, & then it came off.

[@mjh5437]

@@m.pilarojedaferenus2061 What does Steve Janssen do nowadays?

[@m.pilarojedaferenus2061]

@@mjh5437 the best thing I can tell you is to follow him on Twitter where he posts regularly, particularly the last few weeks, since the Quiet Life album was reissued (it came out in December 1979, so roughly 42 years ago). It raced up the music charts (behind Kings of Leon) @ #2 & #3 (I'd have to look those 2 different charts up, but easily found if you do a search). He's also got an official page on Facebook, & there are several Japan group pages on FB, which are a lot of fun. He's been busy doing a lot of magazine interviews lately, re: the Quiet Life album (Rob Dean has done some, as well) Steve was the host on Tim's Twitter listening party on March 6th (my first, & it was fun & different), & did an interview on BBC6 last week. Very long time since he did a radio interview, so very cool to hear him talk about the album & what life was like for them then (plenty of info on that from articles, and also in Anthony Reynolds' excellent book "Japan, A Foreign Land" (which is endorsed by Steve (since he was one of the many people interviewed for it, & he wanted to put lots of rumors about the band to rest)). He has also shared some different photos of himself during lockdown, either signing prints of his book, Through A Quiet Window, that have sold, or something else that's fun. He's very friendly, hilarious, & humble. He was supposed to be in Sweden part of 2020 recording a 2nd album w/Exit North, but Covid put a kibosh on that. I asked him on Twitter if there's any chance we'll get to see them live in the US in late 2021 or 2022, & he said that if the opportunity comes up they'll take it. So there you go. Lots of info. Has made lockdown a little more bearable & fun to follow him & Japan.

[@ElliottLine]

Thanks for posting this

[@ronniemiddlehurst8096]

Mick Karn was my crush when i was about 11.....he was so beautiful and now hes gone 😢

[@jasonrushton5991]

Brilliant, thank-you!

[@The.Last.Guitar.Hero.]

So sad seeing Mick Karn on there

[@bovinedowie2803]

You can tell here he is ill. He looks gaunt and sickly. This was even before he was diagnosed. Poor oblivious bastard.

[@rachelmorgan7751]

My favourite band 💙💚💛🧡

[@korkeycat]

I was 16 and bought quiet life the single then proceeded to buy everything i could find by Japan, i was lucky enough to see them in Liverpool Empire must have been about 82 had to go on my own because no one else i new was wise enough to realize just how brilliant they were,i still have all my albums on top of my wardrobe n im 44 now...I F***in loved this band.....Oh n Morley is a tit....

[@ajs41]

The video for I Second That Emotion was filmed in the summer of 1980, although the single itself wasn't a hit until July/August 1982. That why the band look a bit different on the video compared to most of their other 1982 output like Ghosts.

[@5studios1room]

Best band ever...

[@rude6669]

thank you !!! i'm hoping for a JAPAN resurgence !!!

[@indrofrancovillani]

Japan "the best band of the 80'"

[@BlueVangaCovers]

The first 2 albums (and something of the third) weren't crap. They were differently nice.

[@mjh5437]

I totally love those first two records,they`re my favourites,I preferred the more guitar-heavy sleazy Glam look and sound they had then.

[@rachelar]

Paul Morley is such a trendy wanker full of himself. By the same token, Propaganda, were crap except for one or two songs

[@richardstoner866]

Totally agree with you…..different and part of their progression….

[@patrickpereira7069]

One of the Best

[@xalexsnappa]

Japan please come back, we're missing you so much ... Davids last tour was great and to get this kind of attitude in the "old" band would be fantastic ...

[@heytheregeorgeygirl]

What on earth is Paul Morely on about here? They were crap for three albums??? Absolute rubbish - I totally disagree. Quiet Life is an absolutely brilliant album. The Smokey Robinson song was not great.

[@CusterFlux]

Morely's being over-blown, though he is right that the boys are unusually brutal when speaking about their first albums: they shouldn't be. The first album may be disjointed, but if Japan had broken up immediately after that, with songs like Adolescent Sex, The Unconventional ... they'd have shown serious potential, not rubbish. The fact they got from that, to their third album, Quiet Life, in less that two years is amazing: these are very, very talented lads with nothing at all to be ashamed of ... the only thing truly rubbish about the band during those first three albums … was their management.

[@TomMarrJohnson]

I agree. They were crap for two albums.

[@blackmore4]

I used to agree about the first two albums being sub-par but I've grown to really like 'Obscure Alternatives'. Despite the hysterically funny title! They'd started to sound really unique with their songwriting and arrangements but Sylvian still sounded very human... and slightly dirty. In spite of the brilliant songs he'd write in the years to come, his vocal style can so easily be interpreted as precious and even a little condescending. I remember a Japan hater I knew saying that his main problem with Sylvian was that he couldn't imagine him having sex or taking a poo! Basely put but not at all irrelevant.

[@rachelkaraoke7461]

Paul Morley one of the most pretentious men of the 80s agreed the Motown cover wasn’t good

[@rachelkaraoke7461]

Mick Karen’s bass was so distinctive

[@MxLee192]

Early Japan is way awesome

[@lscottlane]

The First 3 Albums were are my Fave !!!

[@ariseaman390]

80's was just a wonderful time. I could live there again. Just need a time warp.

[@newromanticgal]

WOW!!!, Interesting Documentary :), Thanks For Sharing :)

[@dpx]

>> i think "Tin drum" is a musical masterpiece. I couldn't agree more! Song for song its a solid album, of of my favourites.

[@Alieninthenightstudios]

So Sublime

[@triciabrown3035]

Well, let's face it, Mick Karn's slippery bass, was Japan.

[@mjh5437]

I always think how his bass sounds really organic and "woody"....Interesting sound.

[@ethanoreilly2002]

Quiet Life?? Not very good, Morley clearly has no clue what he's talking about and 'I second that Emotion' is slick and a clever reinvention

[@ralfypapacino]

Search KZbin for 'Top Ten 80s New Romantics' for a better quality version and the rest of the top ten.

[@nathanisaksson]

I think anyone would agree what a shame it was that they disbanded when they did. I mean, Tin Drum was such a unique album. Imagine if they had kept going. Anyone know anything else like it? And their other albums before it were lacking in my opinion. But maybe it's because I heard Tin Drum first then the others...

[@bemyart90]

I thought you were talking nonsense but I understand your point... Sometimes I wish Japan released another album in Adolescent Sex style, I love them back them though, the boys were cute to pieces, especially Mick and Dave was sorta fatal femme :x

[@kmf980]

Oh I like Paul Morley his opinion is always well received by me...Morley so good looking the way that pelican gullet wobbles when talking..S..T

[@mjh5437]

"Pelican gullet" lol!!.....I always notice that revolting puffy stubbly fat double chin hanging off his chin too lol.

[@jayh7633]

Also the British music press had very little time if any for synth based bands.

[@tomdid1]

What's the point of having someone like Paul Morley commenting on this, he's never had a fucking clue.

[@thoughtsonfitness3249]

Incredibly I have become more appreciative of their first three albums, more so as a much older person now less dismissive and much more measured.

[@yharyhar8]

wow love the keyboardists blue jacket 1: 28

[@ajs41]

This is completely wrong: I Second That Emotion came after Ghosts had already hit number 5 in the charts.

[@crose7412]

It was a re-release; it's easy to establish this fact.

[@johnnyconnelly5706]

Second that Emorion was first released in march 1980..i bought it...red vinyl..it was re-released two years by ariola hansa to cash in on the success of Tin Drum..Japan by then were on Virgin records.

[@dermotoblong]

for your information i do have it actually pal. and adolescent sex. both on vinyl.i went to see sylvian at colston hall a couple of years back as well. so there you go matey!

[@birdzzzondayflu2489]

They broke up for the right reasons and we are left with amazing music

[@levonhelmet]

story goes, sylvian had his tonsils out around quiet life era.after that he took on his new singing & writing style.i couldnt get into them any more. i wanted them to move more in the funky glam direction of adolescent sex. the album that sylvian hates oddly enough .i started listening to this band when i was 14 in 1978.japan was like nothing i had ever heard or seen before.coolest band of the late 70s new wave .i still love them and can appreciate the later albums but not like the first two

[@theothersideisjustashard3237]

for me the first two albums were amazing and then they went in a direction that i hated...not that it was not good...just not my type of music. adolecent sex record was so awesome-like cross of disco punk funk rock n roll- they sounded like no one else and looked outrageous.!

[@martinbales9997]

yes mate , first 2 albums were by far my favs to .

[@mjh5437]

Couldn`t agree more,although I liked some of the later stuff too.

[@mjh5437]

I think their early Glam look was a big influence on early Hanoi Rocks who I love too.

[@dolhijn]

Obscure Alternatives is my favorite.

[@Crumb_B]

David Sylvian changed his voice because it more suited the music they were making.

[@korkeycat]

I,m goin upstairs to get my old Japan albums off the top of the wardrobe...God help the neighbours......F***in class

[@PraDecon]

Watching this I just realized that Morley wrote the snippets of texts used in the "Ink in the Well"-video (also available on KZbin). Check the credits at the beginning of that video. Anyone knows how that came about?

[@HesselGerard]

because Anton Corbijn this -artist - made that video.

[@hangoverlad]

Still got my copy of that Smash Hits magazine locked away...

[@philthyling2]

i would have loved to have heard their next album after tin drum with out the break b4 rain tree crow, tin drum waz the bollox but took a little commitment to love it when it 1st arrived. obviously DS was the boss,

[@phos808]

Agreed...this was really the coolest stuff, I even claim it was the peak of pop music, when all the new romantic bands and minneapolis funk ruled the charts. Musically it was such an interesting time, bands could really play, even bands like kajagoogoo were real cats on their instruments...an seeing bands like human league teaming up with minneapolis producers jam & lewis was just great. I really miss this fusion of wave and r'n'b in todays music.

[@Manli1208]

Dear dpx, can you tell me in what year this documentary was made? Best regards, Liesbeth

[@dpx]

I think it was filmed in 1999.

[@dermotoblong]

hey i never said that. paul morley more or less said that. (not me) i happen to love the earlier albums, but i liked the the last two albums even more!! im a japan fan mate. whether you believe me or not.

[@gregingram1970]

@dermotoblong hmmm i think what you meant to say was: Nick Rhodes had similar shaped hairstyle - but a different colour from davy sylvian - during the first few months of 1981 and, of course, to japan fans, this translates into hero worship and idolisation from Mr Rhodes toward davy sylvian and, more over, justifies duran duran copied japan in every sonic, bass, vocal and stylistic element of duran durans 30 year career and, of course, means that Nick Rhodes did not mirrror Andy Warhol like DS?

[@bassatnight]

I am always amazed that morley made it as a Journalist. He seems to have spent his whole career just slagging bands off. Unless the band happens to come from Manchester he doesn't want to know. This is a guy that promoted Frankie goes to Hollywood ffs!!! He wouldn't know class music if it bit him in the ASS!

[@MisAnnThorpe]

@Akifis I don't see what everyone's problem is. Sylvian seems to think all 5 of Japan's albums were crap!

[@fiendwithoutaface66]

yeah agreed that the guy is an idiot. I think they found their most unique sound during and after Quiet Life on their last two albums but I like their early material as well. Only Tin Drum is really China themed, it's almost like a concept album in that respect. It's very odd how Sylvian all of the sudden in 1979 just changed his singing style, it's like he matured instantly or something. I guess it was the start of his "serious" stage.

[@The.Last.Guitar.Hero.]

Paul Morley is a failed musician who is bitter that he never made it when his contemporaries like Joy Division did.

[@johnnyswitchblade]

What's that first song playing when the guy says "the effeminate futurists"?

[@johnnyswitchblade]

Ahh...I see. A different mix. Now I understand.

[@andysocial61]

paul morley..... bollocks!

[@DerVampyrEngel]

I agree mate to me Paul Morley was and is a right wanker

[@bartsnowfleet]

A firehose of negativity.

[@zane1961]

get well mick

[@mottrex]

Taking Islands in Africa is just sublime..

[@SUPAALBION]

does anyone know why they called themselves japan, and why did they create alot of chinese and japaneze style music? it was great

[@gregingram1970]

@neil1963creed thanks...i think this could be love blossoming?

[@MisAnnThorpe]

@CRAPCANNONS What are you doing picking on the Fun Boy Three? Suggest you have another listen to tracks like; The lunatics have taken over the asylum, Our lips are sealed, The more I see (the less I believe), The tunnel of love, The pressure of life (takes the weight of the body), The telephone always rings and I could go on!

[@paulfranco3239]

💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛

[@dermotoblong]

yeah haha! i'll agree on that!

[@NullStaticVoid]

why such low res?

[@SNORKYMEDIA]

prob copied from a worn vhs tape

[@phos808]

Yeah...maybe we should team up and start the comeback of soulful new wave ;-)You play bass, I play synths...who else wants to join? Anyone with enough hairspray is in the band :-)

[@oldsynth]

Even though I adore japan, I've always been frustrated with Davids aparent self indulgent stubborn streak.

[@corblimeysue]

ii loved 'the weird clothing and the make up'

[@krisscanlon4051]

Hahaha oh Alan !

[@korkeycat]

Started with Obscure Alternatives n went straight to Rhodesia gonna be up all night...........

[@trakmac]

So that's what Richard Barbieri was doing before he joined Porcupine Tree!

[@gregingram1970]

@dermotoblong DDD are, of course, massivley more influential than japan. I dont think any other japan fan will ever achieve shifting my belief. It is a fact and not an opinion. I think this because duran duran have had so many people covering their music and citing them as formative influences. I dont know any artist who has coverd japans music or would say they are influential. I think japan are forgotten now with exception of the small group of people trapped in a tangent universe of 1980.

[@briancox8518]

Japan were not crap in the early stages of there career

[@johnnyswitchblade]

Hey, not so much of a joke...I'd take it seriously and actually make a band like that if I could. I miss New Wave and 80s music.

[@leonardodigiovine6900]

who cares what people think they were good period

[@neil1963creed]

@gregingram1970 I'm 6' 4" and so's my wife!

[@sutsie]

agree totally duran duran were a bunch of haircuts

[@moonuni]

yeah duran duran got a bit more interesting later on japan are legend.