DAVID SYLVIAN BIOGRAPHY - ON THE PERIPHERY Only available from sylvianbiography LINKS WITH JAPAN! At the end of 1980, Japan released their fourth album, Gentlemen Take Polaroids. This album built upon Quiet Life, and added lush arrangements and intricate harmonies to what had previously been a somewhat more sparse sound on the bands previous releases. The album famously featured the first recorded collaboration between David Sylvian and Ryuichi Sakamoto. Sakamoto was at the time the keyboard player of the iconic Japanese band Yellow Magic Orchestra. It is difficult to overstate the legendary status that he and his partner in crime (and singer and drummer in the band) Yukihiro Takahashi had in Japan at this time. It was also unsurprising that as Japan the band began to gain traction in Sakamotos home country, he and Sylvian should begin to orbit more closely together. Japan the band had really begun to gain some traction in Japan the country in 1979, and from that point up until the recording of Gentleman Take Polaroids in 1980, Sylvian and Sakamoto forged what was to become a firm friendship that endured for many many years. Their first collaboration on the track Taking Islands in Africa came about with an element of luck. Sylvian, Karn, Barbieri, Jansen, and Dean were ensconced in the famous Air Studios at 214 Oxford Street in Central London working on some overdubs for Gentlemen Take Polaroids which was to be released a few months later. Meanwhile, Sakamoto — coincidentally — was also in Air Studios working on his second solo album B-2 Unit, which was heralded as the precursor of much of what was to follow in the electro and hip hop genres in the 1980s. Sylvian and Sakamotos friendship made a musical link up at this time quite likely, and Taking Islands in Africa was recorded in Air Studios, and made it onto the final cut of Gentlemen Take Polaroids, with the pair sharing writing credits. And the title. Well, what it means is to this day somewhat of a mystery. Sylvian himself has been at pains to make the point that it was only on Japans later release Ghosts, and another collaboration with Sakamoto (Forbidden Colours), that he began to write lyrics which had a value that he recognised and a coherence and consistency. So, maybe searching for some compelling interpretation is a futile endeavour. However, one thing is for sure. It was borrowed from a previously written song that also appeared on Gentlemen Take Polaroids, Swing. Tell me when the work is done Tell me when the day is through And Ill drive safely inside my car Taking islands in Africa Shout if someone gets too near Ill know just what I ought to do And Ill arrive safely in my car Taking islands in Africa What better excuse to play what is — for what its worth — one of my favourite Japan songs. https://youtube/watch?v=flHWJoDt3Yo
Posted on: Fri, 21 Mar 2014 14:50:55 +0000
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