Crystal Japan
{{short description|Song by David Bowie}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2014}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Crystal Japan
| cover = Crystal japan cover.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = David Bowie
| album =
| B-side = Alabama Song
| released = Spring 1980
| recorded = 1979
| studio =
| genre = Ambient
| length = 3:08
| label = RCA
| writer = David Bowie
| producer =
| prev_title = Alabama Song
| prev_year = 1980
| next_title = Ashes to Ashes
| next_year = 1980
}}
"Crystal Japan" is an instrumental piece written by David Bowie and released as a single in Japan in spring 1980.{{Cite web|url=https://bowiesongs.wordpress.com/2011/09/01/crystal-japan/|title=Crystal Japan|date=2011-09-01|website=Pushing Ahead of the Dame|language=en|access-date=2019-06-23}} It was recorded during the Scary Monsters sessions that year.Chris O'Leary (2019). Ashes to Ashes: The Songs of David Bowie, 1976-2016: p. 163Nicholas Pegg (2016). The Complete David Bowie: p. 67 The instrumental was used in a Japanese commercial for the shochu Crystal Jun Rock, which also featured an appearance by Bowie, although he said at the time that the track was not specifically written for this purpose.Roy Carr & Charles Shaar Murray (1981). Bowie: An Illustrated Record: p.108 Originally titled "Fuji Moto San",David Buckley (1999). Strange Fascination – David Bowie: The Definitive Story: p.366 it was apparently intended to close the Scary Monsters album until replaced by "It's No Game (No. 2)".
Track listing
- "Crystal Japan" (David Bowie) – 3:08
- "Alabama Song" (Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill) – 3:51
Other releases
- The instrumental was released as the B-side to the single "Up the Hill Backwards" in March 1981. "Teenage Wildlife" was originally slated as the B-side for "Up the Hill Backwards" until Bowie found out the prices fans were paying for the import single of "Crystal Japan", and insisted the track receive a UK release.{{citation needed|date=October 2012}}
- In 1992, the piece was released as a bonus track on the Rykodisc reissue of the album Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps).
- "Crystal Japan" also appeared on the compilations Rare (1982) and All Saints (2001), and on Re:Call 3, part of the A New Career in a New Town (1977–1982) boxed set (2017).{{cite web |url=http://www.davidbowie.com/news/new-career-new-town-1977-1982-57146 |title=A NEW CAREER IN A NEW TOWN (1977 – 1982) - David Bowie Latest News |publisher=DavidBowie.com |date=2016-07-22 |access-date=2017-09-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140729155132/http://www.allaccess.com/hot-modern-ac/future-releases |archive-date=29 July 2014 |url-status=dead }}
- Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails took the melody of "Crystal Japan" and used it as the basis for the track "A Warm Place", released on their 1994 album The Downward Spiral.{{cite web |url=https://www.list.co.uk/article/49029-the-best-david-bowie-tracks-youve-never-heard/ |title=The best David Bowie tracks you've never heard |work=The List |author=Hamish Brown |date=20 February 2013 |access-date=23 June 2020}} Bowie's official website later said the two songs were so similar that "A Warm Place" was "a thinly-veiled cover" of "Crystal Japan".{{cite web |url=https://www.davidbowie.com/2010/2010/07/05/japanese-crystal-japan-tv-campaign-and-45-are-thirty |title=Japanese Crystal Japan Tv Campaign And 45 Are Thirty |publisher=DavidBowie.com |date=7 April 2010 |access-date=23 June 2020}}
Notes
{{Reflist}}
References
- Pegg, Nicholas, The Complete David Bowie, Reynolds & Hearn Ltd, 2000, {{ISBN|978-1-903111-14-7}}