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Gentlemen Take Polaroids
''Gentlemen Take Polaroids'' is the fourth studio album by the English band Japan, released in November 1980 by Virgin Records. Background ''Gentlemen Take Polaroids'' was the band's first album for the Virgin Records label after leaving Hansa-Ariola, which had released their first three albums. It continued in the vein of their previous album '' Quiet Life'', drawing on its elegant Euro-disco stylings coupled with more ambitious arrangements. In a 1982 interview, David Sylvian commented that by the time of this album, he had become a "paranoid perfectionist" and that he had come to dominate the band's recording sessions, forcing the other members to comply with his vision which ultimately led to the band's break up – a situation he took some responsibility for (he considers 1979's ''Quiet Life'' to be the only album which the band worked on in a truly collaborative manner). This was the last Japan album to feature guitarist Rob Dean, who left the band in spring 1981. Dean ...
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Japan (band)
Japan were an English new wave band formed in 1974 in Catford, South London by David Sylvian (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Steve Jansen (drums) and Mick Karn (bass guitar), joined the following year by Richard Barbieri (keyboards) and Rob Dean (lead guitar). Initially a glam rock-inspired band, Japan developed their sound and androgynous look to incorporate art rock, electronic music and foreign influences. Japan achieved success in the late 1970s and early 1980s, releasing nine UK top 40 hits, including the 1982 top 5 hit single "Ghosts", and scoring a UK top 5 with the live album '' Oil on Canvas'' (1983). Six of the band's albums have achieved Gold status in the UK. The band split in December 1982, just as they were beginning to experience commercial success in the UK and abroad. Its members went on to pursue other musical projects, though they reformed briefly in the early 1990s under the name Rain Tree Crow, releasing an album in 1991. History The band began as a grou ...
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Rob Dean
Rob Dean (born 23 April 1955) is a British musician turned professional illustrator, who rose to prominence playing lead guitar as a member of the English New wave music, new wave band Japan (band), Japan from 1975 to 1981. Biography He is from the Clapton, London, Clapton district of London Borough of Hackney, Hackney, northeast London, England. Japan Dean joined Japan (band), Japan in 1975 at the age of 20. The band began as an alternative glam rock-style band and became a popular New wave music, new wave sensation in the early 1980s. Dean left the band in May 1981 following 'The Art of Parties' tour, as his guitar work had become increasingly marginalised as they developed a more electronic sound. He had previously played on their albums ''Adolescent Sex'' (1978), ''Obscure Alternatives'' (1978) and ''Quiet Life'' (1979).
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The Encyclopedia Of Popular Music
''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' is an encyclopedia created in 1989 by Colin Larkin. It is the "modern man's" equivalent of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music'', which Larkin describes in less than flattering terms.''The Times'', ''The Knowledge'', Christmas edition, 22 December 2007 – 4 January 2008. It is published by the Oxford University Press and was described by ''The Times'' as "the standard against which all others must be judged". History of the encyclopedia Larkin believed that rock music and popular music were at least as significant historically as classical music, and as such, should be given definitive treatment and properly documented. ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' is the result. In 1989, Larkin sold his half of the publishing company Scorpion Books to finance his ambition to publish an encyclopedia of popular music. Aided by a team of initially 70 contributors, he set about compiling the data in a pre-internet age, "relying instead on information ...
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AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Musical ensemble, bands. Initiated in 1991, the database was first made available on the Internet in 1994. AllMusic is owned by RhythmOne. History AllMusic was launched as ''All-Music Guide'' by Michael Erlewine, a "compulsive archivist, noted astrologer, Buddhist scholar, and musician". He became interested in using computers for his astrological work in the mid-1970s and founded a software company, Matrix, in 1977. In the early 1990s, as compact discs (CDs) replaced LP record, LPs and cassette (format), cassettes as the dominant format for recorded music, Erlewine purchased what he thought was a CD of early recordings by Little Richard. After buying it, he discovered it was a "flaccid latter-day rehash". Frustrated with the labeling, he res ...
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Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a music recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, London, Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music company EMI, which owned it until Universal Music Group (UMG) took control of part of it in 2013. It is ultimately owned by UMG subsidiary Virgin Records Limited. The studio's most notable client was the Beatles, who used the studio – particularly its Studio Two room – as the venue for many of the Recording practices of the Beatles, innovative recording techniques that they adopted throughout the 1960s. In 1976, the studio was renamed from ''EMI'' to ''Abbey Road''. In 2009, Abbey Road came under threat of sale to property developers. In response, the British Government protected the site, granting it English Heritage Listed building, Grade II listed status in 2010, thereby preserving the building from any major alterati ...
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B-side
The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company intends to be the initial focus of promotional efforts and radio airplay, with the aim of it becoming a hit record. The B-side (or "flip-side") is a secondary recording that typically receives less attention, although some B-sides have been as successful as, or more so than, their A-sides. Use of this language has largely declined in the 21st century as the music industry has transitioned away from analog recordings towards Digital audio, digital formats without physical sides, such as music download, downloads and Music streaming, streaming. Nevertheless, some artists and labels continue to employ the terms ''A-side'' and ''B-side'' metaphorically to describe the type of co ...
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Richard Barbieri
Richard Barbieri (born 30 November 1957) is an English musician, composer and sound designer. Originally a member of new wave band Japan (and their brief 1989–1991 reincarnation as Rain Tree Crow), he became the keyboard player in the progressive rock band Porcupine Tree in 1993. Besides its founder Steven Wilson, he is the longest tenured member of Porcupine Tree. Biography Japan (1975–1982) Barbieri joined Catford band Japan in 1975. Although initially perceived as a 'hyped' band, Japan went on to record five studio albums culminating in '' Tin Drum'' which stayed in the UK charts for a year. They were one of the most successful chart bands in Europe and Asia in 1982 despite the increasingly experimental nature of their music. The band split up after a world tour in December 1982. Dolphin Brothers and collaborations (1983–1997) After the break-up of Japan, Barbieri continued his association with David Sylvian, playing on the latter's early solo albums (and on the 19 ...
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Erik Satie
Eric Alfred Leslie Satie (born 17 May 18661 July 1925), better known as Erik Satie, was a French composer and pianist. The son of a French father and a British mother, he studied at the Conservatoire de Paris, Paris Conservatoire but was an undistinguished student and did not obtain a diploma. In the 1880s he worked as a pianist in café-cabarets in Montmartre, Paris, and began composing works, mostly for solo piano, such as his ''Gymnopédies'' and ''Gnossiennes''. He also wrote music for a Rosicrucian sect to which he was briefly attached. After a period in which he composed little, Satie entered Paris's second music academy, the Schola Cantorum de Paris, Schola Cantorum, as a mature student. His studies there were more successful than those at the Conservatoire. From about 1910 he became the focus of successive groups of young composers attracted by his unconventionality and originality. Among them were the group known as Les Six. A meeting with Jean Cocteau in 1915 led to the ...
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British Phonographic Industry
BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited, trading as British Phonographic Industry (BPI), is the British recorded music industry's trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards; is home to the Mercury Prize; co-owns the Official Charts Company with the Entertainment Retailers Association; and awards UK music sales through the BRIT Certified Awards. Structure Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies, including ( Sony Music UK, Universal Music UK, Warner Music UK), and over 500 independent record labels and small to medium-sized music businesses. The BPI council is the management and policy forum of the BPI. It is chaired by the Chair of BPI, and includes the Chief Executive, Chief Operating Officer (COO), General Counsel, Chief Strategy Officer and 12 representatives from the recorded music sector: six from major labelstwo each from the three "major" companiesand six from the independent sector, who are selected by voting of all BPI independent label members ...
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Official Charts Company
The Official UK Charts Company Limited (formerly Music Industry Chart Services Limited), trading as the Official Charts Company (OCC) or the Official Charts (formerly the Chart Information Network), is a British inter-professional organisation that compiles various official record charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France. In the United Kingdom, its charts include ones for singles, albums and films, with the data compiled from a mixture of downloads, purchases (of physical media) and streaming. The OCC produces its charts by gathering and combining sales data from retailers through market researchers Kantar, and claims to cover 99% of the singles market and 95% of the album market, and aims to collect data from any retailer who sells more than 100 chart items per week. The OCC is operated jointly by the British Phonographic Industry and the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA) (formerly the British Association of Record Dealers (BARD)) and is incorporated as a ...
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