Ghosts (Japan song)
| "Ghosts" | |||||||
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| Single by Japan | |||||||
| from the album Tin Drum | |||||||
| B-side | "The Art of Parties" (Version) | ||||||
| Released | March 1982 | ||||||
| Format | 7" and 12" vinyl | ||||||
| Recorded | 1981 | ||||||
| Genre | Synthpop, art pop[1] | ||||||
| Length | 3:55 | ||||||
| Label | Virgin | ||||||
| Writer(s) | David Sylvian | ||||||
| Producer(s) |
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| Japan singles chronology | |||||||
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"Ghosts" was a single by the British band Japan from the 1981 album Tin Drum.
Release
It reached number five in the UK Singles Chart in 1982. Although it was their biggest hit, this was not enough to stop the band splitting a few months later.
Bereft of drums, the minimalist track would not be described as a "commercially viable" single in most circumstances. However, Japan's popularity at the time, in addition to the early 1980s fashion for new wave music, allowed the single to become unexpectedly popular. The band performed the song on The Old Grey Whistle Test in 1982.[2]
In 2000 David Sylvian re-recorded "Ghosts" using the original Japan backing track and included it on his compilation Everything and Nothing.
In popular culture
A cover of "Ghosts" is available on the song list for the dance game DDRMAX: Dance Dance Revolution 6thMIX.
The song was played in episode six in the BBC series of Ashes to Ashes, a spin-off of Life on Mars, and, since April 2008, it has been used in the trailers for another BBC series, Waking the Dead.
The song's lyric provides the title for theorist Mark Fisher's 2014 critical work Ghosts of My Life: Writings on Depression, Hauntology and Lost Futures.
The song appeared on the 2006 DJ mix album "Late Night Tales: Air".[3]
Deftones covered this song as an iTunes exclusive for their album Diamond Eyes.
The song is also featured in the 2008 Norwegian film The Man Who Loved Yngve.
Ghosts has been sampled by:
- Bomb the Bass for their 1991 single Winter in July which reached #7 in the UK Singles Chart.
- Goldie for the 1993 drum and bass track Ghosts of my Life under his Rufige Kru alias.[4]
- Tricky for the song Hey Love from the 2013 album False Idols, with writing credit to David Sylvian of Japan.[5]
Track listings
- 7" VS472, 7" picture disc VSY72, 12" VS47212
Side A:
- "Ghosts" (single mix) - 3:55
Side B:
- "The Art of Parties" ("Version" - live) - 5:18
References
- ↑ Allmusic Amy Hanson review for the GhostsTrack
- ↑ The Old Grey Whistle Test Vol. 3 (DVD). BBC Video. 2006.
- ↑ "Air . Releases . Homepage . LateNight Tales". Latenighttales.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-07-08.
- ↑ "Rufige Kru's Ghosts of My Life sample of Japan's Ghosts (Album Version)". WhoSampled.com. Retrieved 2015-07-08.
- ↑ "Tricky's Hey Love sample of Japan's Ghosts". WhoSampled.com. Retrieved 2015-07-08.
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