Japan: "Ghosts" C/D?

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My favourite track by Japan ever, and one of the reasons why I really got into them.

This moody track was somewhat different from the rest of the New Romantic stuff from the 80s. On the other hand, it was much better than most of it. Starts out as kind of monotone, but when the song changes, the change does extremely good. Also, this is a case of the arrangement and vocals making the song great, with those great moody synths, not to mention the great use of marimba. And of course, David Sylvian's voice being great as ever.

I love the entire "Tin Drum" album, but this remains their pinnacle, even though Sylvian himself got very close together with Ryuchi Sakamoto on "Forbidden Colours" a couple years later.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 28 April 2005 00:00 (nineteen years ago) link

For me it's the fact this got, what, top 5? It's far more obviously a pop song than, say, "O Superman," but still it does suggest again that something was happening in pop terms then and there in the UK which was unique to time and place.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 28 April 2005 00:01 (nineteen years ago) link

Classic! The arrangement alone is perfect before contemplating the bleak lyrics. I remember being pleased when Momus found link to Messiaen et al here: "Japan's Ghosts took a murky concrete sound inspired by Messiaen and Stockhausen to the top of the singles chart. Never before had pop sounded this introverted, this classical, or this miserable."

― Nag! Nag! Nag! (Nag! Nag! Nag!), Thursday, 28 April 2005 00:43 (nineteen years ago) link

I'm a huge Japan fan, but I have to say this isn't one of my favorite tracks of theirs. What can I say, I'm a fan of the fretless. But even when it comes to non-fretless tracks, I prefer "Nightporter."

― Patrick South (Patrick South), Thursday, 28 April 2005 01:04 (nineteen years ago) link

As well as "Burning Bridges."

― Patrick South (Patrick South), Thursday, 28 April 2005 01:05 (nineteen years ago) link

a classic to this day - one of the first 7"s i saved up my pocket money for.

― jed_ (jed), Thursday, 28 April 2005 01:37 (nineteen years ago) link

Yes, a lovely song, one of my favourites (though not my absolute fave). I too am amazed this was such a chart hit, and that after all these years I still meet so many people who know it - even my 22 year old partner!

I've even seen it used on a BBC tv show to great effect - it was some odd drama about a haunted radio station studio.

― Trayce (trayce), Thursday, 28 April 2005 02:12 (nineteen years ago) link

I love the fact that Sylvian and Barbieri were listening to Morton Subotnick of all people when they were doing this. Oh, and for the record? Morton Subotnick sucks.

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Thursday, 28 April 2005 03:40 (nineteen years ago) link

Haha Patrick! Talking fretless! How could I have guessed you might post in this thread! : )

I love "Ghosts," and quite agree with Ned about what it indicates re: UK pop charts circa early 80s. It's weirder than, say, Bjork ever having another hit in the U.S.

It's my girlfriend's most beloved Japan track. When she first heard it (on a prototype of the 'Heart' mix from my '81 set) she phoned from her car just to ask what it was and say that she loved it.

― I.M. (I.M.), Thursday, 28 April 2005 04:50 (nineteen years ago) link

it's a wonderful song, although i don't think i could try to describe why i liked it without making it sound dreadful to someone who hadn't heard it. Japan were consistently wonderful in general. i would agree that 'Nightporter' is probably the best of their quieter moments. otherwise, 'The Art Of Parties' or maybe 'In Vogue'.

― Lee F# (fsharp), Thursday, 28 April 2005 06:55 (nineteen years ago) link

Is it just me, or did Japan do something really unique that's never quite been replicated since?

― Trayce (trayce), Thursday, 28 April 2005 10:16 (nineteen years ago) link

"Ghosts" is pretentious monotonal rubbish without any tune or rhythm. It is inferior to other hit records of the period such as "Ebony And Ivory."

― Comstock Carabinieri (nostudium), Thursday, 28 April 2005 10:19 (nineteen years ago) link

best post in ever.

― jed_ (jed), Thursday, 28 April 2005 10:46 (nineteen years ago) link

Trayce, I totally agree. The closeset I've heard is some of Masami Tsuchiya's work (who played with Japan on their last tour). Check out Ippu-Do: 'Night Mirage' (1983). Similar elements (Barbieri even plays keys, Percy Jones on fretless).

Haha, hey Ian!

― Patrick South (Patrick South), Thursday, 28 April 2005 11:12 (nineteen years ago) link

To Comstock: If you are trying to ape me, then you completely forget about the fact that I consider "pretentious" a positive word :-)

And only the verse is monotonal.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 28 April 2005 11:24 (nineteen years ago) link

classic, but not nearly as much as I'd hoped it would be.

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Thursday, 28 April 2005 11:25 (nineteen years ago) link

Listening to it recently, I realised that I'd never realised that 'Aftermath' by Tricky nicks the lyric 'Just when I thought I could not be stopped' so the two of them now sit in a happy intertextual space in my brain marked classic.

The way the simple melody breaks out in the chorus after the noodly verse is ace. And number 5? When you had to sell a lot of singles. Must have been the cheekbones.

(I have a problem with fretless bass that it took me a long time to get over.)

― Jamie T Smith (Jamie T Smith), Thursday, 28 April 2005 11:54 (nineteen years ago) link

Classic, but I still think I prefer Burning Bridges on Gentlemen Take Polaroids, which seemed like a dress rehearsal for Ghosts. But I'll shut up before I turn this into an Only Pick One thread. *mumblemumbleTakingIslandsInAfricamumble*

― Deluxe (Damian), Thursday, 28 April 2005 11:58 (nineteen years ago) link

This song scares the shit out of me.

― billstevejim, Thursday, 28 April 2005 12:41 (nineteen years ago) link

Er, this hasn't aged well. I loved it when I was 18. I heard this and "Tin Drum" last week and was disturbed by how badly Sylvian aped Bryan Ferry on one hand and (in his instrumental work) Eno on the other; a cursory listen to "Brilliant Trees" confirmed this. Trembly-voiced nonsense.

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Thursday, 28 April 2005 12:46 (nineteen years ago) link

On the contrary, I find Japan are ageless, and thus don't sound dated, because they were somewhat out of their era by the time of "Tin Drum". I can still listen to all their work and I throughly love it all.

Even the hilarious first two albums have several suprisingly not bad slices of sexy glam-funk on them (I'm thinking in particular of "Suburban Love" from "Adolescent Sex").

I wont for a minute defend their horrible cover of "Don't Rain on my Parade" though, yeugrh.

― Trayce (trayce), Thursday, 28 April 2005 23:28 (nineteen years ago) link

fifteen years pass...

of interest:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3NPhQjjZB0
Pa Salieu • Bang Out

― Regard the timeless piano balladeeress! (breastcrawl), Sunday, 27 September 2020 21:21 (three years ago) link

that's awesome

― assert (MatthewK), Sunday, 27 September 2020 23:48 (three years ago) link

very interesting.

― Gerneten-flüken cake (jed_), Monday, 28 September 2020 00:06 (three years ago) link

At the time I wrote them off as Bowie copyist poseurs (I was a KID!), and I didn't really go for their Smokey cover, but this song utterly seduced me. It has its own kind of genius.

― Dr X O'Skeleton, Monday, 28 September 2020 15:24 (three years ago) link

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