I remember hearing the single 'quiet life' in '81. Bought the album of the same title & played it a lot then purchased ' Gentlemen Take Polaroids'. But it was 'Tin Drum' with its Chinese sounding influence & Karn's guitaring that I wanted to go & see Japan. Saw them at the Birmingham Odeon in 1981. There were a Sylvian impersonators .Great concert but Karn stole the show. The way he glided across the floor while playing his fretless bass superb. Just recently played his first solo album ' Titles'. I wasn't into it much back in the day when I played it, but now I really appreciate how good it sounds. I was a sad day when they split up in '82. But The 'Tin Drum Tour' still ranks in my top 5 concerts of all time.
those were the days, brother. Growing up in O.C. CA. Listening to Japan. Getting import vinyl EPs and LPs of Japan in the mail. Fuck the internet. I saw Japan at the Wiltern.
He perfectly times his moves across the stage and back to the microphone without changing speed. And he never looks at his fretboard. And its fretless!! He knows exactly what he's doing at all times. This is savage calm flexing at it's finest.
That took some practice and a ton of natural talent in the early days there was a few bum notes but the girls screams kind of muffled them ha ha what a rollercoaster ride As time passed and at the end of the day he was a quiet genius and is up with the top of the worlds bass players I emphasise Top Any bass player worthy would agree and if not I would challenge them to remove your frets raise your action be blindfolded then play,,and ohh yeah sing harmonies while Dancing !
@@fifthof1795 Me too. I own Tin Drum on vinyl and that's all. Not very fond on the singer's voice. However, there are a bunch of solo instrumental stuf that's pretty good.
I couldn't have identified it, I've never even heard of the band ...and I wonder why. It's not perfectly my kind of music but the bass is really phenomenal!
Love And miss him so much! Blessed to be able to call him a dear friend. So lucky to have been able to play & tour with him on a Mark Isham album and in Polytown. Every thing he did was creative! Art,sculpture, bass & bass clarinet playing as well as composition! Unique & authentic don’t begin to explain Mick. He was so supportive to me when I was living in London while working with Jeff Beck. Huge influence & inspiration to me. Huge loss to us he left behind.
He made Japans music stand out to me. My 12 year old self would stand in front of a mirror with a tennis racket and mimic his moves. So I went to school and told the music teacher “teach me this”. I was laughed out of that room and only offered the flute as that was what girls played. Never did get to learn but my ear can still pick out bass lines in any song. Less and less now because it seems something hardly used now to give a perfect undertow to the flow of a song. Miss you MK 💔
He got a fretless bass off the back of listening to Japan/Karn in ‘83’… funny thing is, I couldn’t even play the thing lol ! I’ve still got it to this day 👍🏼
I remember seeing the Mick Karn shuffle for the first time & when you have fans in front of you or the camera is high enough it looks like he is floating from side to side & backwards & forwards (vice versa) & to be an amazing one in a million sounding fretless bass player is one thing but doing that while playing & then going back to the mic at the exact time he was due to do backing singing is just out of this world... Taking from us all to soon but he will never be forgotten as he was an amazing musician/solo artist & sculpturer & a 1 in a million fretless bass player... The way he approached the fretless bass not only unique but fearless... Ive never ever seen anyone like Mick play the fretless bass guitar that way before or after him & thats what makes him a 1 in a million & even 4 decades later i still get the same emotional feeling i got when first hearing him & going on to see him move on as a solo artist & collaborator for many huge stars as they too knew he offered a sound & an approach to play the electric fretless bass that had never been heard before & I'll reiterate that ive never heard anyone quute like him since... Its one thing to be able to learn how to play his bass lines but to even come up with them was truly remarkable & as many as i've learned from Mick's back catalogue of fretless bass line i can say yes i can play it & plsy it the way Mick played but i never & could never come up with bass lines like that, especially on a fretless bass guitar... RIP Mick Karn RIP David Bowie " All Your Flames Still Burn Brightly " .....
Mick was the reason that I yanked out all the frets from my bass guitar neck and filled the vacant fret slots with wood veneer. This would have been in the early 80's. I still couldn't sound remotely like Mick but I don't regret doing it!
Definitely one of the best players of all time. It's absolutely maddening that modern music discussion hands all the credit to Pastorius in regards to the fretless bass. In my opinion, Karn's playing style was much more innovative and explored the range and capability of the instrument light-years ahead of other fretless players.
Absolutely! Mick's playing was very rhythmic and melodic, pleasing to the ear, altogether unique. Jaco was definitely a very technically skilled bass player but that's about all you can say about him. I personally like basslines of Percy Jones as well it is a combination of both technique and melodic playing.
When you look at Jacos contribution - bright size life, joni mitchell, weather report - plus Word of Mouth.. Mick Karn was a wonderful bassist and feels trite to compare them, music isn't a competition - but Jaco was the one light years ahead of every other fretless player - and they'd all agree with this. Musicality poured out of him in his short career in a way we've never really seen since in the world of bass.
@@dandyhighwayman4411 Oh look, another obsessive Jaco fan seething and crying that their supremely overrated and over-discussed hero wasn't the center of attention for five minutes. Get a life.
@@Undersea.GliderSo someone expresses their opinion in favor of Jaco in a thoughtful comment and you just result to namecalling? Your comment is the one that comes off as obsessive.
To the public he was just in this band called Japan, to bass players he was extraordinary, a one off, never to be repeated. How many more miracles would we have seen from him had he not passed?! RIP
Absolutely.An utterly unique sounding bassist , who could never be copied. As you say , a true one-off. I don't know how he did it. There have been great and more formally trained fretless players like Jeff Berlin and Pino Palladino to name just a couple , but Karn was on another planet entirely. No one came close to his wonderfully gymnastic and unorthodox style.A dreadful loss to music.
I wouldn't say that; if these clips are from the 70s, Jaco Pastorius was also active around the same time. very different types of music, but both gave equally unique voices to the fretless bass
Comments here as to whether he was the best or not, which are irrelevant as this could be argued forever. I had never heard or seen anybody quite like him, because there hadn't been. He was the first...the first to sound like that and I haven't heard anything as unique since. His technique, along with style and stage presence still give me goosebumps forty years on and that's why Mick Karn is MY greatest bassist ever.
Andrew Bunting That’s exactly how I feel. He edged out Jaco Pastorius (who may have been technically better) for me personally... but Mick just drove so many of Japan’s great songs with such amazing work. I am re-discovering everything he did and will start buying his back catalogue. Heck, I wish I could send his family money directly as well. I still get goosebumps when I hear his work 40 years on as well, Andrew. Well put.
At the time there was a bit of a fret less bass fashion going on, the other big player at the time was Pino Palladino, I believe he played with Paul Young and others. But Mick Karn had a unique quality about his playing.
Pure artistry, on a notoriously difficult instrument - yet he made it all look so easy. His riff on "Son's of Pioneers" is the finest bass playing I've ever heard. A unique talent, very sadly missed
A man who plays bass using supernatural powers. Only way to describe it. Makes that guitar do things that defy the laws of physics. All I can say is there's a hell of a show going on in heaven!
Fantastic! Mick is one of my all time musical heroes. I met him in 89 when he was playing with Bill Bruford. He was so incredibly gracious as to have an impromptu QandA with fans after the show. I shook hands with him and understood the whole “I’ll never wash this hand again!” trope.
@@disprogreavette8545 David Torn was also on stage. Mick was doing all kinds of diverse stuff around then, loads of hired gun stuff also. I remember feeling deeply conflicted when I noticed he was on stage of the Us Festival ...but playing for Brian Adams! I could never stand Brian Adams, but it’s Mick Karn. Haha!
@@leszek8460 I just went down a rabbit hole myself. No, I can’t find the Bruford, Torn, Isham show anywhere. I remember it was at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. It may have been as early as 87. I found reference to that collab on Mick’s official site though. I was beginning to think it was a dream. Ha!
Mick was a class act. He was up there with John Entwistle, Flea, Bootsy, and Larry Graham. He really was that good, but he never got the acknowledgment in his lifetime.
Had the great privilege of seeing Mick Karn play twice with Japan. What a band and all the more unique because of the rhythm section. Steve Jansen messed beautifully with Mick. I was blown away by his unique fretless sound and slick, cool shuffle across the stage. Gone too soon 🙏❤️
Mick Karn class above the rest - Reason why I taught my self fretless bass and purchased a fretless Wal. Saw them twice in one week at Drury Lane back in 1981-2 time and at Wembley. Cheers Mick, Over 2000 gigs have not looked back since.
The unmistakable sound of the "Fretless Bass" it seemed to be really popular back on the 80s, sounded nice with a heavy layer of chorus for or flange....even better with an octave pedal lovely sound..very rare now
Other wonderful fretless players of the era were Nick Beggs and Del Palmer (Kate Bush). My favorite of all is Percy Jones, who predated them (Brian Eno, Brand X).
For me the best bass player of all time.Some of his bass lines sound like a person making a sad wailing sound.Incredible. Love Jaco,Peter Hook but most of all Mick.
Utterly unique and brilliant, Mick Karn was a real one off. One of the rarest qualities in musicians in the popular music field is divergence from the norm, Mick Karn is the ultimate example of this precious quality. On a personal level his work brings a tear to my eye, every time.
No question Mick Karn just owns the show, he is an AMAZING bass player to say the least, as well as sexy and gorgeous!! He has something about him that you just want to be close to him, and David Sylvian’s vocals just add into the entire package! This is one damn fine package…R.I.P. Mick …the heavens are shining now with your presence…sadly missed, never forgotten!! It is to bad JAPAN split up, but I guess they had their differences…Shine like a star 🌟 Mr.Mick Karn!! Luv you always LA ❤️💕🙏⭐️🎸💐🇨🇦
Reading all of these comments makes me appreciate how lucky I am to have Gentlemen Take Polaroids and Tin Drum scored in my memory. If I want to hear a track I can find it in my head and listen to it, instrument by instrument. After all these years it is still there. I realise now that being an HSP and a Japan fan go hand in hand, and by 'Japan' I really mean Karn/Jansen.
The night that they played the OGWT was such a truly memorable night considering it was just on television. Mick was such a star... and he was completely mesmerising live.
Hahaha yeah, the immediate thought is 'wow he doesn't look down, plus its fretless..!' But there's nothing to see but a bare fingerboard anyway, therefore 'fretless' is easier because you haven't got to keep missing those damn frets! 😄
In the 1980s Mick Karn was about as highly regarded as you could get without being godlike. His reputation has just grown. ‘The Karn Shuffle’ is legendary but his bass playing is right up there with the very best.
Awesome! I just got my first bass guitar... I've loved Japan since the 1980s and now I'm listening in a new way! Bass has always been my favorite instrument in all 'dark '80s' music and now I get to learn to play it! This is a great overview (and definitely too advanced for me as a beginner, but it is inspirational!)
I took up fretless bass in July :) Some bassliness are really tough to play but the biggest issue is that there are no tabs for songs such as Gentlemen Take Polaroids, Methods of Dance... I had to work hard to play them (or rather parts of them) by ear. I really love to hear that you started with the bass as well.
Gentlemen Take Polaroids is still one of favourite albums of all time, after Tin Drum they definitely had more music in them ( Rain Tree Crow proves that point) such a shame that they just couldn't continue, but at least we got to enjoy some great solo albums by the band members. And yes Micks Bass playing was unique which was a vital part of the Japan sound.
@@topquark6919 absolutely and no doubt you have listened to the JBK stuff. ...which may as well be Japan minus DS and Ron Dean of course. Personally I think RD had been overlooked by some fans because his contribution to Japan's sound was integral part of the band up until Tin Drum
I feel like an idiot. I have played bass for years and never heard of him. I found him 2 weeks ago. I am very impressed. Very classy..!! Also a great player...makes it seem so effortless. rarely looks at neck on a fretless...wow.. But the classy and coolness is crazy....love it.!!!
Mick is my favourite bass player of all time. No-one plays a fretless like Mick did. Yes, I know there are countless other bassists who play fretless that are *technically* better than Mick was but Mick is the one whose innovation and sound took things to another level for me. The fluidity in his playing is almost otherworldly at times. I miss that guy.
I absolutely agree. His bassliness might not be very complicated but who said they should be. I think that simplicity and as you said fluidity and innovation are the things that made him such a great musician.
@@leszek8460 100%. His unique, inimitable style of playing was also unmistakable on other artists' work too. Not least of all on Gary Numan's 'Slowcar To China' - an incredible bassline, if ever there was one 👍 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Bzz2Ki21E-8.html
@@willyvlyminck201 I believe these video clips are all from Oil on Canvas except for the first from Old Grey Whistle Test. I wish I had known Oil on Canvas was released on video back in the day. I only had the audio for over three decades! Luckily some people have posted these gems on RU-vid. As for the original song releases, they came out on the "Gentlemen Take Polaroids" studio album. Cheers!
One of the most unique bass players ever, with a distinctive “gurgle plop” style that made and pushed Japan to the forefront of 80’s avant garde “pop”. No one played like him before or since. Truly missed
That sideways floating on stage grabbed my attention when i first saw this in the eighties when I was only marginally interested in the band. I watched the entire concert because of it and have been a fan ever since. He does this while playing without missing a note btw. Great music, great visuals. Love them.
@Andy Mann it's been a month. i'll need that report on my desk by 9am (GMT) tomorrow or i'll be speaking with management... and by management... i mean DAD.
Everyone speaks of Jaco and without argument he’s one of the world’s most influential bassist..however people like Mick Karn, Pino, Tony Levin and Tony Franklin were the next wave after Jaco..Mick Karn had such a distinguished “voice” and phrasing that set himself from the pack..Mick had fluidity and a flavor that colored each song he played..there’s nobody that plays like Mick Karn
I saw Japan many years ago, 1981 I believe, and was mesmerised by Mick Karn's bass playing, and his "stage gliding". There was ankle deep dry ice on the stage, and it looked like he was on rails or wheels.
Well, thank you for broadening my horizons: this is the first time I’ve heard Mick Karn. Compelling sound and approach to the bass guitar. Hearing him for the first time reminds me of how I reacted the first time I heard Jaco Pastorius, which was more or less: “Is that a bass guitar?!” (I actually heard him first on Joni Mitchell’s “Hejira,” before I heard him in Weather Report.) Looks like I have some catching up to do.
Priviliged to have seen Japan in 1981, the Art of Parties tour. Mick Karn was just spellbinding and also played a fretless bass during the gig, performing an impromptu 30 second solo during Methods of Dance. They played everything live and were already hardened musicians from the Ariola-Hansa label who had been around the circuit; their substance was much more than their in-vogue image. The band lost that certain something when they shamefully kicked out Rob Dean
What I would give to be on one of those gigs... I agree with you on Rob, I think they took him for granted. He was an amazing musician with great contribution to their sound.
