NHT118: JAPAN – A Foreign Place

Hi,

Welcome to NEVER HEARD THAT.

There is no doubt that bands which achieve some longevity will develop their sound. There are a few however, which go through a metamorphosis.

This is the case for UK band JAPAN. Starting out as teenagers with a glam-funk style, they very soon crystallised into presenting sophisticated art rock.

Their final album, 1981’s opus Tin Drum, with its uniquely oriental stylings and its otherworldly single Ghosts saw them move to the verge of super stardom – then they called it quits.

Todays feature track, written a couple of years before that album was perhaps a signifier of where they were headed musically.

I hope you enjoy this weeks NEVER HEARD THAT.

Cheers, Andrew Muecke