Singing along to Japan

Lead vocalist DAVID SYLVIAN sounds a little too much like ROXY MUSIC’S BRYAN FERRY for his own good some times, but the influence JAPAN – the band, not the country – had on me became apparent the other day when I found myself singing along (loudly) to “Gentlemen Take Polaroids” while driving from home to work.
During my high school years, Japan was one of the bands that separated the musical hipsters from the wannabes -- the band's sound was an acquired taste.
Although the band hit the British Top 40 nine times from 1981 to 1983, they never really made much of an impression in the States.
They only toured once, and even then they only made four stops – two on the East Coast and two in the West.
"Japan was never successful in America,” bassist MICK KARN said in 1996. “We went there in 1978. It was at a time when punk was at its height, and we weren't accepted at all. David really built up a phobia about ever going there again. So we never made it back -- a shame.”
The shame is that too few people around here know Japan songs such as “Ghosts,” “The Art of Parties” and “Quiet Life.”