Put The Needle On The Record - Week #69

Put The Needle On The Record Week #69 Japan - Gentlemen Take Polaroids

For this weeks feature we go back to November 1980 and the Japan album "Gentlemen Take Polaroids".

"Gentlemen Take Polaroids" was the 4th album released by Japan and their first released via Virgin Records. I will be honest I wasn't a massive fan of Japan, I liked some of their singles but their albums did nothing for me, with the exception of this album, which is definitely their best long player and features some outstanding tracks, especially "Gentlemen Take Polaroids", "Nightporter", "Taking Islands In Africa" (Co-Written with Ryuichi Sakamoto) and "Methods Of Dance".

The album sold reasonably well, however, it received mixed reviews by music critics.

Two singles were released off the album, the title track and my favourite track on the album (which reached number 60 in the UK Singles chart) and "Nightporter", released after the band split up (which reached number 29 in the UK Singles chart).

The album reached number 51 in the UK Album chart.

Track Listing

Gentlemen Take Polaroids
Swing
Burning Bridges
My New Career
Methods Of Dance
Ain't That Peculiar
Nightporter
Taking Islands In Africa

If you have this album in your collection, dig it out and give it a spin!