trinkelbonker

My love affair for Japan started in the early 1970s when Deep Purple released the classic “Made In Japan” album (1972). That album was a game changer. After that, everybody wanted to record live albums in Japan. Later, in 1975, when Deep Purple visited Japan for the final time before they broke up in the 1970s, the band was at its most flamboyant. Tommy Bolin on guitar (the guy looked like Elvis with long hair), David Coverdale on vocals (long before his Whitesnake band took off for the stars), Glenn Hughes on bass and vocals, Jon Lord on keyboards (the Gandalf of hard rock) and Ian Paice on drums. I was 15 when the pop magazines of the day printed articles and posters about this visit to Japan and I was totally taken in to how incredibly cool it all was. Later, we found out about the troubles they had gone through at that time, but to me the era – and especially the way they looked in Japan – always remained magical. And as the years passed, the live albums from Japan by countless bands kept on coming. The first actual band from Japan that I ever heard was Murasaki. So glad to know George Murasaki these days, and I will present a new interview with him on this blog before they visit Sweden in July. Culturally, I always loved Japanese movies. Godzilla, all the Akira Kurosawa movies (Toshiro Mifune was the John Wayne of Japan) etc etc. Over the years I heard some Japanese bands, Bow Wow, Loudness, but not too many. I loved the Japanese rock publications though. When I visited photographer Michael Johansson, whom often had pictures in them, I was delighted to check them out. I have collected many of them over the years and this has accelerated aggressively in later years. Enter 2017. I discover Babymetal. A bonafide bag of joy. In a world that was fairly boring and set, it was a great revelation. I know now that I share this opinion with a lot of old school rock fans. Just read the comments to their videos. Babymetal rekindled the spirit of rock and they also opened the gates to Japanese music for many people. I am sure they have had a massive impact. Books will be written about all this. But for me the music scene in Japan is just so brilliant and fresh. So much talent. Japan now has some of the best rock and metal acts in the world. Lovebites, Nemophila, Band-Maid, Bridear (so glad to have presented an interview with them on this blog), Fate Gear (keep your eyes open!), Roselia (pretty deep into the rabbit hole here!), Muses (Toto territory, but utterly brilliant), Hagane, Lonesome Blue, East Of Eden, Coven Japan, Unlucky Morpheus and many many others. The 2020s will in the long run be increasingly dominated by Japan. I am sure about that. The festivals and the rock publications that are not onboard the Japanese train will lose credibility fast. Their loss. Wow, this turned into a bit of a rant. And I was just going to thank the Tommy Bolin community for their support for the blog this morning! Funny how one thought can sometimes morph into something a little larger. Anyway, my love for Japan felt like a good subject matter. Had some fun writing this which is the main thing. Peace & love.

(Picture shows records and magazines with pictures of the Deep Purple tour of Japan in 1975, my publications)

…