In the 1960s rock ‘n’ roll music began crossing the Atlantic Ocean—with The Beatles and The Who leading the British Invasion of the United States—and the Pacific Ocean, as American and European rock slowly began to take hold in Japan. This insightful study from visionary rock musician Julian Cope explores what really happened when Western music met Eastern shores. The clash between traditional Japanese values and the wild renegades of 1960s and 1970s rock ‘n’ roll is examined, and the seminal artists in Japanese post-World War II culture are all covered. From itinerate art-house poets to violent refusenik bands with penchants for plane hijacking, this is the story of the Japanese youths and musicians who simultaneously revolutionized a musical genre and the culture of a nation.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Though British, this author's exploits as a rocker and musicologist qualify him to explore the modern clash between traditional, conservative Japanese values and the wild, renegade post-WWII rock 'n' roll influence of the West. His breathtaking knowledge of the scene doesn't hurt, either; thorough throughout, Cope (Krautrocksampler) reels out Japanese political, social and cultural history from the mid-Nineteenth Century on before delving into early hits like the prescient 1950s "TV idoru" genre (meaning, literally, TV idols) and the Beetles' generation-defining Japanese tour ("Waving goodbye... was somewhat akin to watching four divinities departing Earth") that sparked the Group Sounds movement. Cope covers everything from psychedelic, progressive and blues rock to chamber, experimental and ambient music, the Miles Davis-influenced jazz scene, the drug culture, the Tokyo production of Hair and, of course, Yoko Ono. Cope also lists, with helpful caveats, his 50 favorite albums of the era, including Speed, Glue & Shinki's Eve, Les Rallizes Denudes' Blind Baby Has Its Mothers Eyes, and the Flower Travellin Band 's Anywhere (from which the book draws its cover, a photo of naked, motorcycle-mounted Flower Travellin' Bandmembers). Though a cavalcade of unfamiliar Japanese names and terms may intimidate, Cope's arresting commentary is alternately serious, opinionated and flip (think Lester Bangs, not Chuck Klosterman), and a great discovery for any fan of rock music.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Review
"This book's astonishing blend of seriousness and hilariousness is testament to perhaps the most remarkable mind in rock today." —Word
"The most obscenely enjoyable book of the year . . . enlightening, thrilling, and occasionally hilarious . . . Cope is a supremely engaging writer whose aim is to entertain, educate, and freak out, like A. J. P. Taylor being spiked by Lester Bangs." —Telegraph
"Fascinating . . . keeps the reader gripped . . . his evocations of all this authentically inauthentic music are enticing and convincing." —Observer Music Monthly
"Cope's first-hand knowledge of the petty rivalries and idiocies of life in the rock 'n' roll business lends his tales the sheen of authenticity. In its own way, Japrocksampler is a brave book." —The Wire
"Fascinating." —Under the Radar
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent,
This review is from: Japrocksampler: How the Post-War Japanese Blew Their Minds on Rock 'n' Roll (Hardcover)
Follows up on Mr. Cope 1995's Krautrocksampler, which detailed Germany's (1st of 3 Axis powers) late 60's early 70's heavy pysch and experimental music scene.
This book details Japan's (2nd of 3 Axis powers) late 60's early 70's heavy pysch and experimental music scene.( Therefore, it Does Not deal with contemporary noise/pysch Acid Mothers Temple, etc or JRock scenes). Beautifully written, enclosed in a hardbound, "trade paperback size" book. Divided into two books: Book One has four chapters that deal with Japan pre and post World War II, the impact of Western/American culture, rock'n'roll, (GS)Group Sounds(the Mops, Jacks, etc) emergence and decline, the confluence of the Japanese avant garde, jazz, and rock scenes with the youth culture explosion of the 60's. Book Two has 8 chapters, which deal with specific bands as follows: Come Together 1969 (Blues Creation) Flower Travellin Band Les Rallizes Denudes Speed, Shinki, and Glue Taj Mahal Travellers and Takehisa Kosugi J.A. Caesar and the Radical Theatre Music of Japan Masahiko Satoh and the Free Thinkers' Union Far East Family Band A Top 50 round up follows with a short list of albums to avoid. A truly great treat for the open minded and curious listener, this book promises to be the groundswell moment just as Krautrocksampler was. This is a great Rock'n'roll read. You will be turned onto new bands. You will learn about new sounds and scenes. You will be hunting down new 'holy grail' albums. (Mr. Cope is there a book on the 3rd Axis power, Italy, due? Pejoratively titled " Woprocksampler"?)
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Cope's done it again!,
By
This review is from: Japrocksampler: How the Post-War Japanese Blew Their Minds on Rock 'n' Roll (Hardcover)
After having written the excellent Krautrocksampler more than 10 years ago, Julian Cope is now tackling 60's and 70's japanese Rock. As in his previous tome, this is a delightfully written book that not just reviews the records, but also provides historic anectdotes and places the book within its historic context. As an example of erudite rock list book writing there is nothing better. The main difference is that while many or most of the artists in the prvious germanophile effort pretty well known within normal rock circles, here this is absolutely not the case and these groups are pretty far-out there. It does make you want to go out and buy these records in these times when the current British or American rock scenes are tired and tiresome at best. Overall, a joy to read.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Passions revisited and expanded,
By Surferofromantica "S.O.R." (Singapore) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Japrocksampler: How the Post-War Japanese Blew Their Minds on Rock 'n' Roll (Paperback)
Julian Cope, the great rock 'n' roll literary yeti, follows up a book flouting his passion for Krautrock (i.e. psychedelic/electronic German music of the Seventies) with a book flouting his passion for Japrock (i.e. psychedelic/electronic Japanese music of the Seventies). The book goes waaaaay back to the thirties, forties and fifties, getting into Stockhausen, John Cage, and the first Japanese musicians to make avant garde music. At some point, Yoko Ono comes into the scene, and eventually John Lennon. The Japanese, at another point, become infatuated with the Ventures, and eventually rock bands appear. This movement goes corporate, and at one point rebels appear and dream up their own mind-bending experiments in sound and amplification. Cope launches into descriptions of his favourite bands Flower Travellin' Band, Les Razllizes Denudes (whose bass player got involved with the highjacking of a plane to North Korea - really!), Speed Glue & Shinki, Taj Mahal Travellers, JA Caesar, Far East Family Band, and a bunch of other long-hairs. Cope's passion is abundant, and it's clear that he's spend tens of thousands of dollars buying Japanese vinyl of all eras, and has probably made use of many Japanese volunteers who translated material and explained situations to him, lingering in the country at many points in his life too, perhaps. His writing is fluid, amusing and creative, and the story is fascinating as it unfolds. The book is intelligent and highly entertaining and Cope's descriptions make me want to hear more of these bands. As criticisms, I'd say that parts of the book are uneven - some musicians are given long biographies, while others are left as mysteries; and considering that writing about music is like dancing about architecture, what we really need to accompany the book is a sampler CD. Cope overuses certain words, such as "melted plastic brain" (we sometimes feel like we need to have dropped acid to understand his descriptions of some of these bands and their musical world-views, as well as his description of their sonic output) and "komische," and there are altogether too many mentions of the Velvet Underground and the various Krautrock bands; I could have also put together a decent list of Japanese typos. But these are probably quibbles - Cope has busted open a field that needs more recognition with humour and verve, a cultural and musical anthropologist (it's a small field) extraordinaire.
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