The other week when I posted Life In Tokyo by Japan, I was pleasantly surprised at home many folk came on and commented positively about it. One of the comments was from my wee brother who has been out living in Florida now for the best part of 20 years and he reminded me that as a teenager he had been a big fan of Japan.
I've dug into the cupboard and fished out the only bit of solo material post-Japan I have from David Sylvian - a 12" single that reached #17 in the UK charts back in late 1984. With apologies for the fact there's a big chip in the vinyl that affects the first 45 seconds or so....
mp3 : David Sylvian - Red Guitar (full length version)
It was lifted from the solo debut LP Brilliant Trees which went Top 5 and seemed to indicate that the enigmatic and charismatic singer was set for a lengthy and successful solo career. And while it has been a lengthy career that continues today, it has not been successful in a commercial sense, largely as a result of Sylvian choosing for the next few years to concentrate on instrumentals and trying to find a different sort of fanbase. He certainly disappeared off my radar from the mid 80s onwards....
The b-side to this single is a different version of a track of olden days (again, with apologies for the chipped vinyl):-
mp3 : David Sylvian - Forbidden Colours (version)
Originally composed by Ryuichi Sakamoto with lyrics by David Sylvian, it was the vocal version of the main theme from the film Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence and was a hit single in 1983:-
mp3 : Sylvian/Sakamoto - Forbidden Colours
mp3 : Sylvian/Sakamoto - The Seed And The Sower *
Happy Listening
* The b-side of the original single was a Sakamoto composition that was also used in the film.
9 comments:
Great post JC. I had loved the Tin Drum album and heard this on the radio and was hooked on Sylvian from then on.
Yes, he did concentrate on instrumentals for a few years (Plight & Premonition, Flux and Mutability (both with Holger Czukay of Can) and the second LP of Gone To Earth), but his deep treble voice came through at that time too (listen to the first LP of Gone To Earth, esp. River Man and Silver Moon, Mick Karn's Dreams of Reason and , in the 00's, the Blemish and Manafon albums).
Great to see Sylvian on TVV.
Red Guitar is about as poppy as he gets
just to add to ximeremix's comment
I think the best 2 (Secrets of the Beehive and Dead Bees on a Cake)
there is a great double compliation lp Everything and Nothing that is a great place to start
JC...I have this at my parents in Glasgow..somewhere...collecting dust in the loft...I think I picked up all the 12" singles from Brilliant Trees. Gone To Earth and Secrets of the Beehive are my faves. Beautiful music. Still keeping track of his stuff...no chance of Nightporter 12"?
I agree with the others- you need to give Secrets of the Beehive a listen. A great album from start to finish.
Still love japan and the David Sylvian solo stuff to this day.
Keep up the good work.
SC.
Very interesting stuff I had forgotten all about. I always liked the Sakamoto collaborations. This post got me poking around the web at Sylvian/Japan info and I learned with dismay that Mick Karn died in January, which is a terrible bummer. Did not realize the extent of music Sylvian has apparently been making all this time.
Another great TVV post about an under-appreciated star from our old sky.
Thanks for the Sylvian post - I have many of his 12", even what I believe to be his first solo release 'Bamboo Houses/Music", but never came across "Red Guitar". While I haven't a single negative word about "Beehive", it's my favorite as well, "Brilliant Trees" itself is a more uptempo (this is relative) and very enjoyable record from start to finish. Odd how well his solo stuff holds up.
thanks again jim great post & thanks for S & S love it hope you have a good day on sunday
son of the rock.
David Sylvian is an artist, pop or otherwise, who I can honestly say has been and integral part of my enjoyment of music for the past 30 years.
His musical journey and explorations have opened my mind and ears. He will always be a songwriter and singer, but one who sees no boundaries to the music he makes.
I would never expect everyone to like every direction his music has taken, some of it is really not meant for casual listening, but there are some real pop moments in his musical canon, not the least of which is Red Guitar.
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