Melon - Serious Japanese

Melon, the Japanese synthpop group founded by ex-Plastics Toshio Nakanishi and Chica Sato, released the "Serious Japanese" single in 1985, between their albums Do You Like Japan? and Deep Cut. A couple odd things about the single are that the song title is actually called "Serious Japan", and it did not appear on any of the group's albums. Another interesting fact about the song that I just learned today is that it is a reworking of the Plastics song "Diamond Head"; visit the Picnic Land blog to hear the original version. On the back cover thanks are given to, among others, "Angie for telling me dirty words", and the dirty words abound in this song, with Toshio and Chica rapping lines like "What's happening bitch", "Too much much shit", "Don't be so fucking serious", etc. An earlier version that included a sample from the movie Rumble Fish was recalled, though samples from The World According To Garp ("Don't you dare say 'sperm' in this house") and other films remain. As on Deep Cut, Nakanishi and Sato are joined by Gota Y (EMU-2 operator & rhythm programmer) and Prince Kudo (DJ & keyboard player). The 12" contains two extended versions of "Serious Japan"--Tokyo Mix (by Franswah) and San Francisco Mix (by Joseph Watt)--and a single edit by Franswah. This record is Melon's most fully-realized foray into the electro genre; get the vinyl rip here or here (new links 1/3/2010). And here is a live performance from YouTube (with the dirty words replaced with clean ones):

Melon - Deep Cut

Back to Japan: Deep Cut, released in 1987, was the second album from ex-plastics Toshi Nakanishi and Chica Sato as Melon. (See here for their first album, Do You Like Japan?) On this album the band also includes Kudo (turntable, keyboard) and Gota (drums, computer programming, keyboard, guitar, backing vocals); guest musicians appearing on some tracks are Guy Pratt, bass; John L. Walters, Lyricon; Preston Heyman, percussion; Frank ricotti, percussion; and Colette, backing vocals. (See the discogs.com listing for specific track credits.) Deep Cut opens with a cover of Les Baxter's "Quiet Village" (made famous by Martin Denny), and the whole album has a loose "techno-exotica" theme, as evidenced by the song titles:

1. Quiet Village
2. Uptown Downtown
3. Hard Core Hawaiian
4. Hawaiian Break
5. Time Enough For Love
6. Somewhere Faraway
7. Faraway
8. Pleasure Before Your Breakfast
9. Funkasia
10. The Gate of Japonesia

Also notable is the electro vibe that Gota brings to Melon's sound (which was state-of-the-art back then), with "Pleasure" and "Funkasia" being real dancefloor contenders. Get the vinyl rip here or here.

Melon: Do You Like Japan?

1982 release from ex-Plastics members Toshio Nakanishi and Chica Sato. Wikipedia sez of Nakanishi:

His first band, Plastics, had a world tour with Talking Heads and The B-52's in 1980. When the band broke up in 1982, he went to New York and formed Melon with Percy Jones of Brand X, Dougie Bowne of The Lounge Lizards, Bernie Worrell of Funkadelic and Chica Sato, trying to merge funk with Japanese Group Sounds.

And pulling it off pretty well, I might add. Do You Like Japan? is the first Melon album; it also features playing by Masami Tsuchiya, Haruomi Hosonom, and Yukihiro Takahashi. This was a Japan-only release, I think, on Alfa Records. Nine songs, vinyl rip, get it here or here.