JAPAN WILL Reform Again.....

[Despair]

Im off to see Gary Numan tonight,performing his REPLICAS album.
This past year ive also seen OMD doing ARCHITECTURE & MORALITY , and THE HUMAN LEAGUE doing DARE.
All have been huge successes, so i assume all concerned will have made shed loads of money.
Ive been reading with interest on the yahoo site, about Sylvian`s deal, and subsequent dropping by VIRGIN. Although im aware Sylvian is no more than a cult artist these days, i was suprised to read how little his albums sell. Yet im sure he can earn reasonably well from touring.
So slightly suprised that Sylvian has intimated he will no longer tour.
AS Sylvian ???

I firmly believe that JAPAN/RAIN TREE CROW will reform and tour, and make the money all four truly deserve.
Ironically, the biggest stumbling block to this could well be Richard Barbieri, who is possibly the wealthiest of them all with the success of PORCUPINE TREE.
Im sure, after seeing Barbieri at Sylvians solo show last year,that the dust has settled from the RAIN TREE CROW incident, and getting KARN back on board wouldnt be an issue.
A new JAPAN/RAIN TREE CROW album will be recorded on the SAMADHI label, and a tour incorporating the new album, the first RTC album, and selected trax from the first JAPAN phase, will form the basis of the tour.

Sylvian loves that first RTC album, so differences aside, i see no reason, with no involvement from a major label, why this wont occur.
Watch this space. [/list]

[sisterlondon]

Errrr... I don't see that happening, sorry to rain on your parade

[Bern]

I'm afraid I am with Sister London, the phrase "snowball in H*ll" comes to mind

[Despair]

Why would you think this couldnt happen ???

Surely Sylvian cant survive financially, by releasing ever more obscure stuff ??
He`s a father of two teenage girls, who will need Uni fees paying soon.
If he wishes to release more `out-there` music, he would be foolish to not consider earning money in a credible fashion, by reforming JAPAN/RTC. There need be no major label putting pressure on the band. They could release something of the same high standard as the first RTC album. Sylvians integrity would be intact. A tour would cement the legacy, make everyone money, and the cycle would be complete.
I guarentee, a reformation will have been discussed.

What would you suggest the biggest stumbling block ???

The only two things i see as a problem, would be Karn & Sylvians relationship. Has it mended since RTC.
And Richard Barbieri ?? Would he/ could he take time off from Porcupine Tree ??

[sisterlondon]

I guarentee, a reformation will have been discussed.

Why does that sound like "I know something you don't"?

After the DD reunion, to be true, anything can happen. But I just wouldn't like them reunite because of the cash but because of the music. Richard himself said that he didn't say never but that he didn't see it likely (get yourself some Carbon Nation issues )

For your info, PT have a sabatic year for 2008 with just a few festivals. But still... I just don't see it.

[Despair]

Im sure Sylvian would never be so crass as to do it `just for the money`.

Of course he would never do a TIN DRUM tour, but another album with the band would keep the project credible.
It would fulfill his wish to leave HIS back catalogue alone, as far as live work is concerned.

Ultimately Sylvian will still have bills to pay. Richard Chadwick will no doubt keep his eye out for anyway that Sylvian can raise money.
With the likes of NUMAN, OMD, DURAN, YAZOO, THE HUMAN LEAGUE, all doing lucrative shows, it would be churlish not to consider.
There is an age group out there, willing to see the bands from the 80`s, but in a credible setting.
The shows ive seen, have not been nostalgic affairs by any means. They`ve been well presented.
But we all know that for JAPAN/RTC to consider anything similar, it would be done with the utmost integrity, i.e. New music, and the odd JAPAN classic that Sylvian would be comfortable with.
Id see no problem with trax like ;
Despair
Life Without Buildings
Ghosts
Nightporter
The Other Side Of Life
Some Kind Of Fool
Talking Drum etc...
Plus RTC 1 and a new album, being a healthy way to get the band back, for a lucrative tour.

[sisterlondon]

Dunno about the others, but I have to remember that DD never broke up. They just reformed the original line up (but look what happened with Andy later).

Believe me, it would be cool to see the Japan guys together, but I just think they are way too fara away in musical terms from each other now. And like you said, Richard is in a well known band and doing very good with them. Like he also once said, he's not in love now with much of the stuff that Japan made. It was another time, other music, and while we keep loving it, maybe they are not anymore. And for sure, what they would do now wouldn't either sound much like Japan either!

[VaporTrail]

I don't think Syl's that hard up for money that he'd need to rely on reforming Japan. I think it's pretty obvious that all of the members have put those days behind them. Knowing the guys, there is NO way they'd do it just because it was a lucrative option, the only way they'd do it is if they feel they could still explore new ground musically together. But I don't see that happening, all seem quite happy going about their ways as they are now.

[anortherncod]

Much as I'd love it to happen I really don't think it will.

I doubt whether Barbieri is rolling in it... he is only credited as a writer on a couple of PT's tracks and it's the writers who make the most money... isn't it?

Also getting MK on board 'not being an issue'... I don't see how. Do you (as Sisterlondon suggests) know something we don't? If so, please elaborate!

Natasha

[sisterlondon]

Well, about the writers making the big money... that's if the albums sell a lot! Sadly PT isn't a band that sellsthat much (even if FOABP made very well!) but it's on tour where they do the bigger cash. That's what happens with most of the bands nowadays.

[Melaszka]

I'm afraid that my first reaction to this suggestion was to rearrange the words "freezes", "when", "h*ll" and "over" into a well-known phrase.

I wouldn't rule out the boys ever working together again (I seem to remember that in an interview a couple of years ago, after affecting to not care what Mick was thinking or doing these days, Sylvian went silent for about five minutes in shock when the interviewer told him that MK had actually told a journalist recently that he'd like to work with DS again. It seemed clear to the interviewer that Sylvian was both stunned and tempted.) I've always had the impression that they'd both jump at the chance of renewing their friendship/working relationship if the other one suggested it, but are both too proud to be the one to make the first move. But I have no idea really, and am probably talking out of my bottom.

But a Japan tour doesn't seem likely to me. (a) Even in the RTC days, when the guys were desperate for cash from Virgin, DS wouldn't countenance resurrecting the name "Japan" - he stopped speaking to his own brother for about 5 years over that, so it doesn't seem likely he'd make compromises now. (b) He was clear enough in the World Is Everything pre-tour publicity that he wants to put his early solo material behind him and feels it's unlikely he'll ever return to it again. I can't see him returning to even earlier material, much of which he has on numerous occasions publicly dismissed as something he no longer feels any emotional connection to.

I do wonder if he's strapped for cash (I did think that the WIE tour may have been primarily about needing a emergency cash injection). Having said that, though, someone on davidsylvian.net a couple of years ago who seemed to have inside information from Samadhi (a couple of us even started to wonder if it was DS himself incognito) alleged that DS made more money from Blemish than any of his other albums, by cutting out the middlemen and keeping overheads to a minimum. But I just don't know.

Still, it would be great if the band got back together, under whatever name, to record and/or tour new material. Does anyone know anything I don't?

[anortherncod]

Would it be churlish to suggest this question be posed as part of Japanfan's bunch of queries for David?

Or would it be laughed out of the room David reads his emails in?

Also, the money thing...

I'm an idiot and no longer have my copy of A Tourist's Guide To Japan, but I think I remember him saying that they were always strapped for cash right from the start, so it wouldn't be a new situation for any of them. I do sometimes wonder how Mick and Steve especially make a living wage, but then I don't know enough about how the music industry works to be able to answer that.

IF there were to be a reunion I think all members would be very wary of being seen to be jumping on the Here and Now (for example) bandwagon; we would know it wouldn't be for that reason, but why would anyone else?

And lastly; we love the music, that's why we're here, but for the people who actually made it... they're looking back at something they did 26 years ago and more, but have carried on in new directions. We're not talking about, let's say, The Blue Nile (who are touring again in July, more expenses for me) who have been on a slow burner but still make albums together under the same name.

Natasha

[baht habit]

I guess I shouldn't be all that surprised by the strong grip which nostalgia holds on some, but I admit I remain bewildered.
We are now in the third month of the year 2008. Sylvian toured last year while prefacing his decision with the bold declaration that the tour was in the greatest likelihood his final glance back at his past. The man opts to move forward, expand his musical associations and explore new possibilities. Obviously we share a passion for the wonderful music he has created in the past, but we musn't expect him to repeat his endeavors until he grows stagnant...and even worse, we can't be selfish enough to hope for musical regression.
Surely we have all had the good fortune to learn that Sylvian is finishing up work on a new project. Forthcoming will be a new product with new collaborators...daring experimentalists coming together to challenge we listeners. New sounds, strange and foreign as of yet...something new to anticipate. Yet the nostalgia looms large. I remain bewildered.

[Despair]

Bewildered ??
Dont be.

Everyone here has made excellent points as to why it WOULDNT happen.
Im trying to balance that out, as to why, i think, it WILL happen.
Lets forget about Sylvian breaking his promise to leave his own back catalogue behind. That promise would remain intact.
As for performing JAPAN stuff. He`s done the odd ones on his solo tours, which he must still be happy with. Ive included those above, plus im sure the other members would be able to pick one or two.
And of course, SOME KIND OF FOOL` was dusted off for the E&N compilation.
Then you have the whole of the RTC album to play.
As i said before, Sylvian still holds this up as one of his most successful artistic projects. He`d surely be tempted to play this stuff live, with the boys.
And finally, because we know they ALL have integrity.....to work on NEW stuff, to make any tour, at least, contemporary, could be the thing, that ultimately, would swing it for all concerned.

I know a little about the music industry, to believe that Sylvian probably did make more money from BLEMISH than any other album.
He played most of it, produced most of it, and toured it with minimum entourage.
He could do the same with JAPAN/RTC.
Record/write/improvise at Samadhi, no middle men, no advance to pay back, and a huge British/European/Japanese tour, which would probably free up Sylvian, and the others, financially,to continue with more esoterical projects for the rest of their days.

[Waves]

Is was nice to see that the world is everything tour had promotion for Steve's Slope too, but would that work strong enough for all the members
in a reunion tour?
(Has any one knowledge of sales results from Slope)
My feeling would be that IF they meet up again after such a long time,
new music must be on the horizon.