I’ve been listening a lot to the group JAPAN of late. The last few months have seen me compiling a BSOG [boxed set of god] for the group’s rarities after coming across an extremely hot BBC live concert from their luxurious “Gentlemen Take Polariods” period tour. Anyone who has even a passing familiarity with JAPAN most likely knows of their sophisticated, mature period dating from 1980 through 1983, at which time the band called it quits. It wasn’t always that way. Somewhere in 1979 a switch was flicked and the group made a quantum leap from grimy street trash of a New York Dolls persuasion, to Roxy Music influenced musicians of an extremely high caliber. It is significant that JAPAN were among the first of their generation to make this move, which would amount to an artistic tsumani of sorts by the dawn of the new decade.
By 1981, you couldn’t [relax and] swing a dead cat without hitting a New Romantic, the much-derided genus of posing musicians who based their career path on the ground freshly trod a few years prior by the twin icons of Roxy Music and David Bowie. But JAPAN were far enough ahead of their time to have influenced even a few of those bands, Duran Duran among the toppermost of the poppermost. Not only did the debut album sound like an unauthorized sequel to Japan’s game changing third album, “Quiet Life,” but their synth player, Nick Rhodes all but modeled himself on JAPAN’s lead singer David Sylvian.
The fact remains that when JAPAN sought out the acumen of ground-breaking producer Giorgio Moroder to produce their seminal “Life In Tokyo” single, the whole band seemingly emerged from a chrysalis as resplendent new butterflies operating on a whole new plateau. Nowhere was this more apparent than with JAPAN’s bass player, Mick Karn. By the time of their third album, he had made the leap from traditional to fretless bass. While his sound was undoubtedly influenced by Jaco Pastorius, Karn was the first to stake out a claim for this new sound in the post punk landscape. That Karn was also fluent on saxophone meant that he was able to help JAPAN reach those Roxy Music heights to which they aspired in the bargain.
As JAPAN progressed through that fertile ‘79-’81 period, Karn expanded his artistic pallette to include all manner of varied instrumentation, like the African flute and dida, which he played on their magnum opus, “Tin Drum.” That album managed the neat trick of careening far past Roxy Music artistically into dramatic new territory. The rhythms that Karn and drummer Steve Jansen managed to concoct were exceedingly complex and Karn managed to be the one piece of the puzzle that had perennially eluded Roxy Music; an incendiary bass player! The net result was a standard for musicianship that had progressed by leaps and bounds from their origins and stood as a benchmark for other groups to strive for. It says volumes that when Karn was unavailable for sessions, a wannabee-Karn like Pino Palladino emerged to meet the demand. By the mid-eighties, every band seemed to coalesce around a fretless bass sound reminiscent of Mick Karn’s.
Which is why I’m devastated to learn that Mick Karn has developed cancer and is currently in the advanced stages of the disease. I found this out ten or so days ago when I was cross-referencing rare JAPAN remixes at the very useful Nightporter website and came across the terrible news. All of Mick’s former bandmates from JAPAN have made efforts to abet the Mick Karn Appeal that is raising funds to help Mick and his family as he faces the very worst kind of uncertainty. David Sylvian has released a download with a link to Mick’s home page where the Paypal button is. Steve Jansen is donating the cost of all photographic prints of Mick he sells on his website, and Richard Barbieri along with his current band, Porcupine Tree, have released a live download album of a show from Atlanta with all profits going to the Karn appeal. Across a wide spectrum of music and musician forums, word is getting out and all sorts of people are helping out.
Mick is also fortunate to have Midge Ure as a friend. The pair recorded together on several occasions and Ure brings all of his LiveAid savvy to the table. He’s planning a benefit for Karn and his family as I type these words. He has a commitment from Jansen and Barbieri and there’s no shortage of high powered talent who have relied on Mick’s eloquent bass should they desire to come to his aid. Gary Numan used Karn’s playing on his exquisite “Dance”album. He’s got a huge following. Kate Bush worked with Karn on her “Sensual World” album. She hasn’t done a tour since 1979. If either would appear it might be a license to print money. Fortunately, though Mick lives in Cyprus, he’s finally qualified for medical coverage through the state in the last fortnight, which could see him through to any hospital system in the EU. If there is anything that can be done, his picture is a lot less bleak after obtaining medical coverage. Obviously, beyond his mortality, Mick is most concerned for his wife and son. If you’re reading this and like me, have been moved by the beauty of Karn’s playing, then you know what to do. You are encouraged to donate to the Mick Karn Appeal and send any personal messages to Mick at his official website
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Post-Punk Monk 
'Tis true that Karn's template has been much used. Let's also remember how great "Dreams of Reason Produce Monsters" is. There are many great Karn solo albums to be savored. I just wish Japan CD re-masters were in a uniform set and a bit more readily available than amazon.co.jp – AND I know this community loves Japan and Mick Karn.- RK
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Mr. Kane:"Dreams of Reason Produce Monsters" I would deem beyond great! It is by far my favorite work by Karn. It is my constant companion through life. "First Impression" is one of my favorite compositions ever. There's not a week of my life where I don't think of it.
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Mick Karn was already playing fretless on Japan’s 2nd album, Obscure Alternatives. He wasn’t influenced by Jaco as he hadn’t heard him until much later in his career, long after he developed his signature sound (it’s very likely Mick was influenced by Percy Jones, who played fretless bass on some 70’s Brian Eno albums, and Mick was an Eno fan.) Mick also started off playing bassoon, before the bass guitar, and was playing sax as early as Obscure Alternative in 1978.
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Vincent Atkins – Welcome to the comments! Ah, so you cite Percy Jones as the vector of infection for Mick for fretless bass then? I didn’t know that Mick had encountered Pastorius at a later point. Perhaps I project my own experience as “Mingus” was the first time I had ever heard fretless bass. That sound blew my teenage mind.
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thanks. Mick was always quite reticent and dismissive about any influences, how he never really listened to any one, but he mentioned Stanley Clarke as being an influence. not sure if he ever mentioned Percy Jones directly, i just know he (and others in Japan) were fans of Eno’s 70’s music, and there are some similarities between Percy and Mick in their fretless playing. you mean the album Mingus by Joni Mithchell, with Jaco on it? Mick used to always say early on critics would say Mick must fall asleep listening to Jaco, but he denies every hearing his playing early on.
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Vincent Atkins – Yeah, the only Joni Mitchell album I’ve ever heard! What would Prince and Thomas Dolby think?
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what would Prince and Thomas Dolby think about you having only heard the album Mingus by Joni Mitchel? (if you like Mitchell and Jaco, i’d recommend her album Hejira)
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