and for the oldies...(hee)

[krausy]

The more time goes on the more you realise just how talented Japan were...when you think of Steve's drumming ability at the tender age of 17/18!... , and the fact the songs themselves were well constructed and intelligent.

Oh heck yeah they were!!!! When I first heard them I was amazed at how good they were. And all those years I was led to believe the first albums were crap!! That just shows how wrong it is to actually believe and listen to what a critic says. I loved them from the minute I heard them and you can see and hear the progress that has been made over time.

I know David is not fond of that period of the band and/or his life, but that is nothing to be ashamed of. Just like everyone else in whatever they do, they progress and master their craft and that was just his beginning.

[arieleleven]

Well, this takes me back a ways... I had just started college in '79 when I came across Obscure Alternatives in a record store and liked what I saw...don't know why I never noticed either of their first 2 LPS before that? (I had grown up loving T.Rex, Bowie, Roxy Music and the Dolls, and though at that time I was also very much into Patti Smith and most of the NY and British punk rock/new wave stuff, I never lost my taste for Glam. ) So I bought it, liked it, got the first LP too, and when Quiet Life came out a few months later, I really became a fan. The following year while taking a "sabbatical" from school (I had decided that I had too many wild oats to sow just then and the classroom could wait till I was done sowing), I visited friends in NYC and there I met a girl who was running the US Japan fan club. Till then, I had basically just been a fan in loving the music but not knowing too much about them as people, right? But she gave me some promo materials, etc on the band and that really sparked my interest...and the rest is history, ha. I moved to NYC later that year to work and simultaneously became a Club Kid and became fully immersed in Japan Fandom with a group of friends there. (If I can find it, I will upload a particularly silly photo of me in 1981 with pink and blonde hair a la Mick Karn circa 1979/80...all I can say is, yikes. ) I remained a devoted fan through the years (though perhaps I became more restrained as time passed, ha) till the early 90s...I really liked (still do) the Rain Tree Crow album but at this time I sort of started branching out into other areas musically and in life...I guess it was just sort of a natural turn for me. But I kept all my photos and fan stuff all these years...I just couldn't bear to part with it for some reason, and now I am glad I kept it so I can pass it on to everyone here. I listened to an old tape of Polaroids/Tin Drum while on a recent road trip -- I hadn't really listened to Japan in years, I confess -- and I got sucked right back in as if no time had passed at all. This music is so timeless and special to me, and so many fond memories are wrapped up in it for me, but it is more than just nostalgia for me. It is current -- and I am loving the recent music I have been hearing by these guys as well.

Anyway, that's basically my story.

[krausy]

and that is a great story, and thanks for sharing EVERYTHING with us. What is sooo special about it is you were right there in the middle of it all, from the beginning and onward, and you have insight that we do not have. I regret that I came up in that time and did not have any exposure to them until 1982.


Please do not hold back on the info and stories. So do you keep in touch with any of those people you met back then, meaning the hard core fans and/or the gal who ran the fan club? What are they doing now?

[arieleleven]

and that is a great story, and thanks for sharing EVERYTHING with us. What is sooo special about it is you were right there in the middle of it all, from the beginning and onward, and you have insight that we do not have. I regret that I came up in that time and did not have any exposure to them until 1982.


Please do not hold back on the info and stories. So do you keep in touch with any of those people you met back then, meaning the hard core fans and/or the gal who ran the fan club? What are they doing now?

Thanks for the kind words, Krausy. In some ways, because I came of age when Japan were still an actively functioning unit, I guess I sort of was in the middle of it all as you say, but at the same time, because I never got to see them in concert or otherwise in person (unlike, say, Duran, Spandau and INXS, etc.), they always seemed worlds away, as if they existed in a different universe...does that make any sense? I don't mean to sound whiny or petulant here because I never got to see Japan -- after all, there are an awful lot of us out there who never had that chance! It was fun, though, collecting the records and going out clubbing dressed Japanish and getting to see one of their videos was always a thrill.

As far as my former compatriots in Japandom go, sadly, some died too young, due to excessive living, AIDS, or car accidents. Others I just lost contact with over the years...like Regina, who used to run the fan club. I have no idea what she is up to these days. I am still happily in touch with several very close friends from those years (all married with kids or married with animals)...however, none of them even listen to Japan anymore nor the current projects (actually I think one does have some Japan songs on her iPod, but she has no current interest in them otherwise). They have been bemusedly tolerating my recent renewed interest but I suspect they all think I am having some sort of midlife crisis, ha. So you see, finding this site has been sort of a godsend both for me and everyone in my life because now I have a place to sit in my figurative rocker and share my old stories, ha, such as they are!

[krausy]

I completely understand how you feel. I too have had a resurgence of interest in the bands that have had the biggest influence on my life and musical tastes, especially Duran Duran and Split Enz. Japan was a renewed interest but on grander scale now because for twenty years the only albums I heard were Tin Drum and David's Gone to Earth. I think my coworkers and family think it a bit strange but never really ridicule. My nieces are used to me by now and I still influence their tastes.....

Music to me is a comfort, a large part of my life, and some represents a time period of my existance--making me recall different events and in particular, how I felt, the people I knew, or loved...............

Sometimes I just don't understand how one can go through their whole life and music NOT be a huge part of it----to me that type of life seems so empty, so utterly SILENT---I do believe I would go mad without music.

[arieleleven]

I completely understand how you feel. I too have had a resurgence of interest in the bands that have had the biggest influence on my life and musical tastes, especially Duran Duran and Split Enz. Japan was a renewed interest but on grander scale now because for twenty years the only albums I heard were Tin Drum and David's Gone to Earth. I think my coworkers and family think it a bit strange but never really ridicule. My nieces are used to me by now and I still influence their tastes.....

Music to me is a comfort, a large part of my life, and some represents a time period of my existance--making me recall different events and in particular, how I felt, the people I knew, or loved...............

Sometimes I just don't understand how one can go through their whole life and music NOT be a huge part of it----to me that type of life seems so empty, so utterly SILENT---I do believe I would go mad without music.

I totally agree with you especially re: your last two paragraphs here. I feel as if I have a soundtrack to my life (a pretty large one by now, ha) and different songs evoke different memories, etc. I always thought that most people feel this way but in recent years I do believe I have come across some for whom music is nada -- and that really is very sad indeed, I think.

Your nieces are very lucky to have such a cool aunt with such excellent tastes!

Ahhh Split Enz! The instrumental part of Six Months in a Leaky Boat still gives me goose bumps, and I think Message To My Girl is the most purely honest and gorgeous love song ever. (I confess I have always been a sucker for a good love song as well as a really good pop song....and if that makes me terminally uncool, so be it. )

And don't even get me started on Duran, ha! (I fear I may already be wearing out my welcome here, I have been posting so much this past week! )

[krausy]

Awww, thanks for your kind words Ariel-----in fact, I got a text from my niece Stephanie tonight thanking me for a cd I bought and had sent to her---it is the one called "Only After Dark" a compilation of old school dance songs by John Taylor and Nick Rhodes of DD!!!!! I played it for her when I was visiting last month and she loves it!!!

I am sooo glad to have someone who knows the Enz material---I have spent many a year feeling like the only person in the state----sometimes the whole United States---that loves them and understands them. Those two songs you mentioned are favorites, and just about everything else too.

I understand about love songs/ pop songs----I too appreciate the quality songs in both categories; in fact, my musical tastes go in all sorts of crazy directions.

[Poisoned_Apathy]

Awww, thanks for your kind words Ariel-----in fact, I got a text from my niece Stephanie tonight thanking me for a cd I bought and had sent to her---it is the one called "Only After Dark" a compilation of old school dance songs by John Taylor and Nick Rhodes of DD!!!!! I played it for her when I was visiting last month and she loves it!!!

I have that compilation and it's great!! The best thing is that I have sent it to some friends and they liked it too!!! Right now ,I'm a lot into the music from that period of time and I'm really glad that some of my friends appreciatte it too.

[lastgoldstar]

it is the one called "Only After Dark" a compilation of old school dance songs by John Taylor and Nick Rhodes of DD!!!!!

Ooh, I didn't know it had come out already! I saw when it was first released, but only in the UK or whatever, and didn't think about it again till now.

[krausy]

it is the one called "Only After Dark" a compilation of old school dance songs by John Taylor and Nick Rhodes of DD!!!!!

Ooh, I didn't know it had come out already! I saw when it was first released, but only in the UK or whatever, and didn't think about it again till now.

I love it---it is sooo worth having. I hope they do a volume 2!!!!! A little disappointed they did not include some Japan but who knows---could have been an "issue" with that so oh well---I like what did get on there!!!

[sheisnot]

Trey Gunn once mentioned that David is the only person he has ever come across that doesn't have to push to get his vocal sound.

You know, I've always wondered if that was the case, for one reason (and I must admit this has fascinated my ear): you hardly ever hear breath sounds in David's singing, whether it's recorded or live. With other singers you can very clearly hear them taking breaths before the next line. I sometimes find myself actively listening for that in DS's work and most of the time it just isn't there. His voice always sounds so, well, natural and not forced at all. The only song I can think of where you can clearly hear his indrawn breath is "Linoleum", but it's obvious he's doing that on purpose.

[Poisoned_Apathy]

I hope they do a volume 2!!!!! A little disappointed they did not include some Japan but who knows---could have been an "issue" with that so oh well---I like what did get on there!!!

I was a little bit disapointed too for that. I watched an interview with Nick where he says that probably they'll release a second volume!!

[lastgoldstar]

you hardly ever hear breath sounds in David's singing, whether it's recorded or live.

Y'know, funny you mention it, because I just noticed that yesterday. I think I was listening to Nine Horses and everything else was silent, and I tried but couldn't hear any deep breaths. I noticed that in some of the Japan stuff, too.

A little disappointed they did not include some Japan

I thought the same thing when I saw the tracklisting. Maybe there was more of a John Taylor influence on the included tracks... is he a Japan fan like Nick?

[Poisoned_Apathy]

I don't know if John is such a Japan fan as Nick , but I don't think the tracklisting is more influenced by him since Nick was the DJ at the Rum Runner and the compilation try to recopilate the tracks they used to play there. In addition ,Nick has done most of the promotion for the album , including some articles where he explains what means each song for him and how he remember the days at the Rum Runner.

[krausy]

Yeah, Nick probably has a little more interest in this as he was the DJ and probably picked alot of the selections. John and Nick were friends since young kids, and did alot of things together, including the club scenes. Plus with them being the founding members of the band, it was a nostalgic project for both of them.


Hurrah on the news of a possible volume 2!!!!!!!