( *Please do visit channel 1 www.youtube.com/@dazzp2*) This is totally dedicated to David's solo career with a few oddities
As always *I never have not would monetise these channels ,these are for us all and generations when we are no longer here to enjoy David ......Thank you sir
Japan made brilliant, fantastic pop records. Looked supremely cool. I always thought the cerebral ambitions were a bit dull and pretentious though. Can't say ive changed.
@@liborsionko I'd sorta agree to part disagree , their first two albums were pushed to get noticed , if you ask anyone "Do you remember Japan"? They automatically say one of two songs , Quiet Life and Ghosts , let's face it , no one was dancing in 1978/9 to Love is Infectious or Don't Rain on My Parade . The band had in my mind got a really great sound that gave them their brand I'll put it as with Quiet Life album , it had raw street sound with Halloween and Alien , then the sound that David self consciously along with Mick Karn with The Other Side of Life with a couple of covers to keep ,let's face it , the band afloat , without success in Japan we'd not be chatting Quiet life . You gotta admit Gentleman Take Polaroids was a breath of fresh air when compared to what id never spend pocket money on that was in the charts at that time , thank god for Cabaret Voltaire, Cocteau Twins , Bill Nelson , it was an awful era for Japan to be , and this is where I'll agree , frustrated , Bored , I mean Japan just finished the recording of Tin Drum and a Certain Mr "Le Bon" was asking in Virgin Records if David wanted a copy of their demo ! That would send me into nowhere land , but thanks for your input , and like I said it was like excellent music sending serious contenders against one another , once a band start to drift it's all over ...👍
The disjointed cut ups of Japan tracks are annoying and distracting. I'm sure that David would find this unnecessary and perhaps disrespectful considering the nature and content of this piece.. It is enough to just hear his voice and thoughts.
Growing up behind the iron curtain, I first discovered DS around the time Rain Tree Crow came out. In love with his music ever since. The Boy With The Gun is the alarm clock sound on my phone. Thank you for sharing the interview
David will always be an absolute favorite of mine. While I haven't loved everything he's done musically, much of the music that he's made over the years continues to speak to my soul in a deep sort of way that nothing else can match.
Thanks for that, i managed to find it in the end, its on the o/s kick panel more or less, i thought it was amodule so i i gnored it..cheers...instruction book misleading, prob for a LHD car..F in essex,
Absolutely spot on , I've said time and time again , what chance did Japan have at this era in the UK when you'd got people like "Showwaddywady", Rod Stewart and Gary Glitter , plus a little Boney M for good measure thrown in dominating the charts , what chance had Adolescent Sex and Obscure Alternatives have ?
It's vts from a lot of searching and asking for fair share Japan fan To Japan fan re post , it's amazing how many Japan fans have videos but don't wanna start any kinda channel , I'd definitely recommend you visit Paul Rymer Japan ( unofficial ) fans page , it's so so cool , www.nightporter.com ..he's a great guy , drop Paul a line , he's got a lotta info , thanks so much for your comment buddy , they were something else ( I don't think David S would agree though around this era lol ) ❤
Japan was somewhat ahead of their time to be New Wave yet not Punk or Post Punk. Thoughtful and beautiful alternative music. Very underated and listening and seeing this video now just enforces my feelings that Japan was coming from a very unique and special place. Its art.
An amazing man in many ways. David may not wish to listen back to his music with Japan but if he did I'm pretty sure he'd be proud of the music he made then. Amazing sound, great music imo. He may not choose to listen but I'm on it all the time! x
very very cool ... I wonder what would have driven him to do a Japan song solo without the rest after breaking up Japan. He didn't have a solo work finished I get that so why play solo ? For the interview and to let his audience know what he's up to I guess.
Absolutely great question , it totally sidetracked many who thought , Last gig done , Oil on Canvas released inc video , he will be promoting etc etc , he wasn't , people forget it was another 30 months in the Making was "Brilliant Trees", so I'd guess at one plausible answer , hypothesis, he imo from Tin Drum , even tracks Like Night porter and My New Career from Polaroids , I definitely think David knew what he was wanting from the solo career and with that being said wanted a strong team of talented musicians to collaborate with ,the great cast of characters brought in to help DS in his craft, including Richard Barbieri and Steve Jansen, former Japan bandmates, Holger Czukay of Can, and Japanese instrumentalist Ryuichi Sakamoto, Mark Ishan , so possible that he wanted this message out there , Again , only my thoughts , but without doubt a great question for David this would have been , let's face it , he never liked the interviews with Japan because they were so damn boring questions wise the media always asked , he hated the solo role in any interview and as we know always had Mick Karn with him ( RIP MK ) in these sessions , Bare in mind Japan hit the highest in the charts during their 5 short years and albums , ,Tin Drum for me was the best album of 1982 , period , so I'd throw a little bit of Virgin records were pressuring these solo slots to fund possibly Brilliant Trees and the next 2 1/2 years making no £ from the team who David was about to work with ,, 2 and a half years it took to write , fine tune and finish , what a solo album debut eh ! Again only my thoughts publicity .....
@@dazzp2 Right , I'm sure his label would have said ok we need to market the solo thing . What are you going to play 😅? . It was publicity. Still, I've never seen DS doing a Japan song so close to breaking up Japan hahaha, thought it was odd and very cool !
Because Sylvian always talks about Ghosts in interviews as a break from everything he had written prior, and even apart from anything else on Tin Drum. He dropped the intellectualism for honesty. It's the only Japan song he bothered to rerecord vocals for around 2000 (I forget if it was for Everything & Nothing or a Tin Drum reissue). Ironic that Mark Fisher famously thought of Tin Drum, but specifically of Ghosts as the apotheosis of superficiality, whereas Sylvian considers it the beginning of his "psychological and emotional archeology". No wonder he also drops the vocal style he used in the last Japan albums for something more natural in Brilliant Trees, although interestingly when he later returned to rerecord Ghosts, he resumed the old vocal style...
I think the light has gone out of his soul..... America made Sylvian boring. Bowie, too, was more interesting before he uprooted to USA ( i heard he lived in NYC because thats where Iman wanted to be).
I think the light has gone out in his soul..... America made Sylvian boring. Bowie, too, was more interesting before he uprooted to USA ( i heard he lived in NYC because thats where Iman wanted to be).
I’m very late to hear this but hearing his thoughts as of a year and a half ago is such a treat. I’m so very happy to hear that David still considers Japan’s work to be some of the best at the time even though they didn’t, and still don’t, get the recognition they deserve(d). While David may be selective about what he shares I’m so grateful for what he does via any medium.
Funnily enough you are the first person to ask , The answer is No , it was really mixed so great by a guy @matt_one , I came across it and asked if I could share it , but not his video , he really Is a great artistic guy I thought this needs to be listened to and shared , check his channel out x
Still laughing years later, come on Peter get the cast together again..one last time sir! We need a laugh with this shower of politicians ruining our lives. Perhaps Potter could also be Mayor of Manchester, the material is all there for people of such genius!
What does Paul Morley know anyway !! His opinion didn't stand the test of time as Obscure Alternatives and Gentlemen Take polaroids have. F'n great albums.
Those two albums as we know for definite were David's vision to what have become timeless ,genius even , writing and production at the finest with David's work on solo and collaboration with amazing people past and present ✌️
@@dazzp2 Timeless Genius is right. Of all the bands I saw and collected vinyl of from the late 70's through mid-80's Japan and Sylvian are one of a handful of bands I listen too daily and even love them more.
David not looking back at the work of Japan reminds me of Prince, who also always looked forward and didn't like to look back. David, however, takes it to the next level by not playing Japan songs when he toured. Prince, on the other hand DID play much of his older music from his career. I think it would've been great had David had the intellect and optimism to fully look back at the work he created with Japan because the five albums of work greatly inspired me. It had structure and commerciality in a way that disappeared from David's solo work as it progressed. All that Japan music going back to their first album has touched countless lives throughout the planet and it's full of passion, spirit, innovation, intelligence, fearlessness and gravitas. Personally, I think if David were to look back at all the songs he created with Japan, maybe he would be inspired by some of the music of that era of his life and reinterpret the musical styles into new music that he would create in the 21st century. As David's solo career progressed and he moved away from songwriting in a traditional and commercial sense, his music resonated with me less and less. To me, the peak of Japan was Gentlemen Take Polaroids and Quiet Life. By the time of Tin Drum, it lacked the upbeat, dynamic, danceable quality that songs like Life in Tokyo, Methods of Dance, Gentleman Take Polaroids, Halloween, European Son and Quiet Life and even the glorious Swing exhibited. I feel they should've explored that direction a lot more than they did because that was the musical direction they took that inspired me the most then and to this day. I was taken aback when their final album Tin Drum arrived. Not only was founding guitarist Rob Dean gone, but so was that exhilarating sound in the songs mentioned above. It almost became a David Sylvian solo album in sound and scope and its the only album of theirs I have no need to revisit because it's such a disappointing departure to me. I can't get over David deliberately walking away from the New Romantic meets Disco type dance style that I absolutely adored. I was gobsmacked and still am. On a side note when David was talking about his creative involvement with the album covers, it always bothered me with Japan's 3rd, 4th and 5th albums that only David was on the cover. I always felt that since Japan was a band, all five members should have been on the cover in an artistic way, except of course for their final album Tin Drum, which would've been the four of them minus guitarist Rob Dean. Ultimately by David being so resistant to looking back, he's doing his legacy a disservice. How glorious would it be for him to be involved in the reissue of Japan's back catalogue, complete with up-to-date liner notes and essays written by him. Also he could go back in and craft new remixes and new re-imaginings of Japan's past work, be involved in the remastering as well as release any unreleased songs and demos that have never come out. He could even reassemble the remaining members Steve Jansen, Richard Barbieri and Rob Dean to finish any unfinished songs they may have in their collection of unreleased works. By bringing up musician Scott Walker, it's almost like David is using Scott's disinterest in looking back as an excuse to justify him not looking back. At the end of the day I'm disappointed that David has not listened to a note of Japan's music since the band broke up. It's disappointing, depressing and sad. Of course it's his choice. I just don't agree with it.
I feel personally this is the finest comment , unedited I'll add ,I've ever read on a feed, wow ., , adding to that you'd have done a far far better interview too , godbless you sir , keep the faith 🙏🙏
The thing with Tin Drum is its Chinese-influenced sound. The album revolved around that theme, and while I do think it's a great album, I also noticed some of the things you mentioned. It was somewhat "gimmicky", and while it worked ("Ghosts" was their biggest hit), it didn't do so without taking a huge toll on the band's emotional range, and I find Dave in particular being the most affected member by such constraints. Like you said, there is no upbeat quality like in Methods of Dance, to which I also add there is no emotionally touching songs like Nightporter on it (and Ghosts is not at that level). The irony is that, while David had the aforementioned limitations, it was his brother Steve who benefited the most with the album, as I find his drum work in the album very stellar, to the point I feel he puts at the same level of quality as Mick Karn, who, suffice to say, was an incredibly versatile musician. The difference between Mick and Steve is that Mick's quirkiness gave him some sort of independence from the rest of the band, while Steve was mostly the pillar for it.
In 2024…Tool (so your brother, RB) are doing SO well…Sufficient to see YOUR and I fans would LOVE to see you David play a guest spot with Porcupine Tree!…Nine Horses is stunning.
There are millions of us that appreciate you, David…We ask nothing of you (cause you've already given us so much)…But if you wish to elaborate, we are here with you………😔
Thanks, when I first heard Jason many years ago I started listening to his wonderful show *Matters*,, he chats with great musicians from much simpler days than we have now .I love his direct approach and his not "Asking questions" we already know or would be the typical Cliche, and then he gained my full attention after this as you say wonderful non scripted interview , I love a very *IMPORTANT* point David says in this , and I think "Wow" that's a genius in thought ,,, he states "The work , the Album , the tracks etc may become important in the future! How so so spot he is , I mean how many times have we "Grown " to absolutely love a particular song or album !? So David never used the word "It's a Grower "! He explained the pressure of not having a collaboration with his regular crew, and not being without saying "On a time slot " as record companies which we know see $$$ before a person , so he had that time to even be picky , tracks that never left ( which I've read before when #Robertfripp said there's so much unreleased material he'd love to have released ,,,, don't we all Robert ! ) his own studio , I think #Jasoncurtis really gave a great interview and if other journalists hit similar notes , who knows , so finally that takes me to David's outlook on his work , nothing is less important than the best , but even then , someday someone *Might love it*. How spot on @Davidsylvian.net.....thanks again to Jason , David, and you for your comment , it's always appreciated for the artist 🙏
@@dazzp2 Absolutely. What sets David Sylvian apart in pop is his approach. He is primarily focused on the creation of art using music as his medium. He speaks of the work and not of tunes and tracks and licks. He's a sculptor, a painter, a writer. A very rare artist.
Love this so much thank you for posting. A truly incredible artist, from Japan to Rain Tree Crow , his solo work and anything else he touched. There's just too many songs I love, all the snippets you played in this clip are wonderful.
Thank you to my moderators for highlighting this great comment , we appreciate all visitors and its a great world wide group of individuals that , ic i, finding and revisiting the great man work,,, bless you
I have listened to this very interesting interview many many times . As I’ve said I’m a huge Sylvian fan for so many years Back to Japan days ridiculed by so many friends as Puffy Blokes in Make up ? . As an ex Dj if I’d ventured to play any Japan tracks I’d .
The thing that annoyed Japan was it wasnt as David said " fancy dress, he hated the NEW ROMANTIC circle so much, they all said way back during the first album drop, its our way of life, they were the band bare in mind who upported Blue oyster cult New york Dolls ?? paul help me on that NYD, id encourage anyone to visit Pual Lymer unnoficial real deal Japan site its incredible and took him years to accuilate his great colection, not just sweat n tears, but £££££ too, so please repect his site, ask paul for prior permission if youd like to share even donae a jpeg here there www.nightporter.co.uk thanks guys
