In 1977 John Joseph Lydon (nee Rotten) made his name defining punk. 12 months later he arguably went one better to invent post-punk. A mere 9 months after breaking up the incendiary Sex Pistols the first output from his new band Public Image Limited arrived in October 1978 in the perfect form of the single Public Image. Suddenly a lot more seemed possible.

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There has been some debate between the three of us as to whether Japan deserve to be categorized as a Post Punk band. They did start their life in 1974 as an almost glam rock outfit looking like the New York Dolls playing a kind of punk/funk hybrid. They then went through various changes in look, style and performance and unwittingly (much to their chagrin) spearheaded the ‘New Romantic’ movement in the early Eighties. But their music became much admired at this time due to it’s unique instrumentation, the cool slick vocal delivery of David Sylvian and the amazing fretless bass of Mick Karn that made them stand out from so many of their contemporaries.

There was never anyone like them, and there has been no one like them since.

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Conjoined in many ways aside from Robert Smith’s stint as touring Banshee guitarist, the links between these two may not be immediately obvious but as post-punk pioneers they stand out for their early albums in particular. Sounds and the way to treat them – once the shackles were gone nothing was off limits.

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In 1977, from the primordial swamp of Glasgow, in the grimy inner-urban heart of Scotland, a rock band emerged. Their name: Simple Minds. But 40 years, and 30 million records later, are they destined to be remembered as one of the most innovative, ground-breaking groups of the early 1980's or are they merely to be recalled as the band whose cheesy pop song played in the background at the end of The Breakfast Club. Did we, indeed, ‘Forget About Them’, or will they live on in our memories as long as music itself is played?

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