The influence of Giorgio Moroder crops up again and again in the pages of Classic Pop. You won’t need reminding he’s the producer who shaped the sound of disco via his collaborations with Donna Summer and has gone on to work with everyone from Philip Oakey and Blondie to Sigue Sigue Sputnik, Kylie and Daft Punk.
Japan’s first two albums were clearly in thrall to the glam-rock likes of Roxy Music and T. Rex with a healthy dash of Bowie and Lou Reed. But their lightbulb moment surely came when they hooked up with Moroder for the Life In Tokyo single, a pulsing slice of gleaming electropop that was the jumping-off point for sessions for their third LP, Quiet Life.