Artist · chart history
Japan
Band Catford United Kingdom Active 1974–1982 UK new wave band
Japan formed in 1974 in Catford, United Kingdom and was active until 1982. Japan has 18 chart appearances on 7 radio countdowns from 4 stations on RockLists, spanning 1991–2024. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Quiet Life”, which appears on 2 lists with a best position of #317. The station that charted Japan most often is CFNY 102.1 The Edge (Toronto, ON), with 9 appearances.
Japan came out of Catford, South London, in 1974, and they spent the rest of the decade turning themselves from glam-rock pretty boys into something far stranger and more elegant. David Sylvian sang and played guitar and keyboards, Steve Jansen played drums and Mick Karn played a bass that slid and slithered like it had a mind of its own; Richard Barbieri on keyboards and Rob Dean on lead guitar came in the following year.
The early records on Hansa, Adolescent Sex and Quiet Life, still had some swagger and sleaze in them, as "Television" and "Suburban Love" show. But the androgynous look got sharper and the music got cooler, taking in art rock, electronics and sounds from far outside the Western pop playbook. Gentlemen Take Polaroids in 1980 is all poise and shadow, and Tin Drum, a year later, went further east still with "Visions of China", "The Art of Parties" and "Talking Drum".
Just as it all started paying off (nine UK top 40 hits, "Ghosts" in the top five, six gold albums in Britain) they split in December 1982. They came back together briefly under the name Rain Tree Crow for one album in 1991.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by Japan on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Quiet Life | 2 | #317 | – | – | |
| 2 | Gentlemen Take Polaroids | 3 | #747 | – | – | |
| 3 | 1 Second That Emotion | 1 | #355 | – | – | |
| 4 | Adolescent Sex | 1 | #363 | – | – | |
| 5 | Television | 1 | #373 | – | – | |
| 6 | The Art of Parties | 1 | #1173 | – | – | |
| 7 | Still Life in Mobile Homes | 2 | #647 | – | – | |
| 8 | Visions of China | 1 | #1501 | – | – | |
| 9 | Ghosts | 1 | #646 | – | – | |
| 10 | All Tomorrow's Parties | 1 | #712 | – | – | |
| 11 | Nightporter | 1 | #874 | – | – | |
| 12 | Talking Drum | 1 | #1808 | – | – | |
| 13 | Suburban Love | 1 | #991 | – | – |
Albums with charting songs
Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.
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