Plastics, or the Plastics, were a short-lived Japanese new wave band who rose to prominence in the late 1970s and early 1980s. originally issue #4 Audimat (in French). Their music was a major influence on Japanese pop music and their songs have been covered by many bands, most notably

Polysics is a Japanese techno/ electronic band from Tokyo, who dubs its unique style as "technicolor pogo punk". It was named after a brand of synthesizer, the Korg Polysix. The band started in 1997, but got their big break in 1998 at a concert in Toky ...

, Pizzicato Five, and Stereo Total. In September 2007, '' Rolling Stone Japan'' ranked their debut album ''Welcome Plastics'' at No. 19 on their list of the "100 Greatest Japanese Rock Albums of All Time".

Biography

Fellow new wave bands

Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1975.Talking Heads

The B-52's The B-52s, originally presented as the B-52's (with an errant apostrophe; used until 2008), are an American band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1976. The original lineup consisted of Fred Schneider (vocals, percussion), Kate Pierson (vocals, k ...

and

Devo Devo is an American new wave band from Akron, Ohio, formed in 1973. Their classic line-up consisted of two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs ( Mark and Bob) and the Casales (Gerald and Bob), along with Alan Myers. The band had a No. 14 ...

were fans of Plastics and were instrumental in getting their albums released in the United States. The band's mainstream exposure began when Toshio Nakanishi designed a tour program book for Talking Heads and gave their frontman

David Byrne David Byrne (; born May 14, 1952) is an American musician, writer, visual artist, and filmmaker. He was a founding member, principal songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist of the American New wave music, new wave band Talking Heads. Byrne has ...

a tape of Plastics demos. Byrne promptly sent it to the B-52's' manager, who offered to represent them internationally. The band used the

Roland Roland (; ; or ''Rotholandus''; or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the Matter of France. The historical Roland was mil ...

CR-68 and CR-78

drum machine A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument that creates percussion sounds, drum beats, and patterns. Drum machines may imitate drum kits or other percussion instruments, or produce unique sounds, such as synthesized electronic tones. A d ...

s for their early albums. In 1980, member Masahide Sakuma had some input on the Roland Corporation's development of the

Roland TR-808 The Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer, commonly known as the 808, is a drum machine manufactured by Roland Corporation between 1980 and 1983. It was one of the first drum machines to allow users to program rhythms instead of using preset patterns. ...

drum machine. When its development was complete, the Plastics owned the first TR-808 model, which they used on their 1981 album ''Welcome Back''.Masahide Sakuma
ROLAND TR-808の記憶
, April 5, 2012 On February 19, 1982,

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

's late night comedy show '' SCTV'' aired the promotional video for Plastics' song "Top Secret Man" as part of the "Midnight Video Special" sketch, hosted by Gerry Todd (

Rick Moranis Frederick Allan Moranis (; born April 18, 1953) is a Canadian actor, comedian, musician, producer, songwriter and writer. Moranis appeared in the sketch comedy series '' Second City Television'' (''SCTV'') in the 1980s and starred afterward in s ...

). Stereo Total's cover of their song " I Love You, Oh No!" (with the title amended to "I Love You Ono") was used in television commercials for

Sony Ericsson Sony Mobile Communications Inc., originally Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB, was a Multinational corporation, multinational consumer electronics and telecommunications company, best known for its Mobile phones, mobile phone products. The ...

in Europe around 2006 and by

Dell Dell Inc. is an American technology company that develops, sells, repairs, and supports personal computers (PCs), Server (computing), servers, data storage devices, network switches, software, computer peripherals including printers and webcam ...

computers in the US in 2009. On January 16, 2014, Masahide Sakuma died from scirrhous gastric cancer and a brain tumor. He was 61. On May 10, 2016, Plastics got together to perform their final concert at Blue Note Tokyo. On February 25, 2017, Toshio Nakanishi died from esophageal cancer, also at the age of 61. The following year, the band released the recording of their final concert under the name ''A'' in memory of Nakanishi.

Band members

* – vocal, synth drums * – vocal, guitar & percussion * – guitar & vocal * – keyboards, guitar & bass programming * – rhythm box

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilation albums

Singles

EPs

Selected compilation appearances

Notes

* The Plastics performed "

Last Train to Clarksville "Last Train to Clarksville" is a song by American rock band the Monkees. It was released as the band's debut single on August 16, 1966, and was later included on the group's self-titled album, which was released on October 10, 1966.''The Monkees ...

" as a medley with other songs by

the Monkees The Monkees were an American pop rock band formed in Los Angeles in the mid-1960s. The band consisted of Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones (musician), Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith, and Peter Tork. Spurred by the success of ''The Monkees (TV series), Th ...

, namely "Star Collector" and "She".

References

External links

Discography with notes by Nicholas D. Kent

AllMusic Biography by Ian Martin

ExcavatingThe80's Tribute

Trouser Press bio

MySpace Profilecached copy
on the Way Back Machine) {{DEFAULTSORT:Plastics Musical groups established in 1976 Musical groups disestablished in 2016 Japanese new wave musical groups Japanese techno music groups Musical groups from Tokyo 1976 establishments in Japan 2016 disestablishments in Japan English-language musical groups from Japan