“Television” by Japan

"Television" sits on Adolescent Sex, the debut album the English band Japan put out through Hansa in March 1978, and David Sylvian wrote it alone, words and music. The record went out simply as Japan in some countries to sidestep a row over its title, and while it did little business in the UK, it found warmer ears abroad, above all in Japan itself.

That Japanese pressing gave the song a strange new name: several titles got scrambled in translation, and "Television" turned into "Temptation Screen". AllMusic heard the album as a jumble of punk snarl left over from the moment, a few glam riffs and a surprising load of electronics, a band with a foot in several camps at once.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz.