Cantonese Boy

Last updated
"Cantonese Boy"
Japan Cantonese Boy.jpeg
Single by Japan
from the album Tin Drum
B-side "Burning Bridges" (7")
Released14 May 1982 (1982-05-14)
RecordedAugust 1981
Studio Odyssey Studios (London)
Genre
Length3:44
Label Virgin
Songwriter(s) David Sylvian
Producer(s)
Japan singles chronology
"Ghosts"
(1982)		"Cantonese Boy"
(1982)		"I Second That Emotion"
(1982)

"Cantonese Boy" is a song by English new wave band Japan, released in May 1982 as the fourth and final single from their 1981 album Tin Drum . The single peaked at number 24 on the UK Singles Chart. [1] The song refers to the enlistment of a Cantonese boy to the Chinese Red Army. [2]

Contents

Release

"Cantonese Boy" was released with the B-side "Burning Bridges" on the 7-inch single, taken from the band's previous album Gentlemen Take Polaroids . The 12-inch single two different B-sides: "The Experience of Swimming" and "Gentlemen Take Polaroids", which were originally released on the "Gentlemen Take Polaroids" single in October 1980. A double 7-inch single was also released: the 7-inch single of "Cantonese Boy" and the two 12-inch B-sides, switched around, making it exactly the same as the "Gentlemen Take Polaroids" single.

Reception

Reviewing the song for Record Mirror , Sunie Fletcher described it as "a skillful, fluent and textured piece of music" and that as a single "it's a less obvious proposition than its predecessors, "Ghosts" and "Visions of China"", as "its chief shortcoming is the lack of a hook, as they say in the trade, but it's pleasurable listening for all that". [3] Dave Rimmer for Smash Hits wrote that it is "a good song", but "can't really be counted as much more than a stop-gap measure until the boys in rouge re-unite and pen something new". [4]

Track listings

7": Virgin / VS 502 (UK) [5] [6]

  1. "Cantonese Boy" – 3:44
  2. "Burning Bridges" – 5:20

Double 7": Virgin / VS 502 (UK)

  1. "Cantonese Boy" – 3:44
  2. "Burning Bridges" – 5:20
  3. "Gentlemen Take Polaroids" – 3:28
  4. "The Experience of Swimming" – 4:02

12": Virgin / VS 502-12 (UK)

  1. "Cantonese Boy" – 3:44
  2. "The Experience of Swimming" – 4:02
  3. "Gentlemen Take Polaroids" – 7:06

Personnel

Japan

Technical [7]

Charts

Chart (1982)Peak
position
Ireland (IRMA) [8] 20
UK Singles (OCC) [1] 24

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References

  1. 1 2 "Japan: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.
  2. ↑ Papazova, Julijana Zhabeva (2012-11-03). "The Analysis of the Album Tin Drum by Japan and its Intercultural and Musical Meaning". Journal of Creative Communications. 7 (3): 193. doi:10.1177/0973258613512444. ISSN   0973-2586.
  3. ↑ "Singles". Record Mirror : 15. 15 May 1982. Retrieved 5 November 2020– via flickr.com.
  4. ↑ "Singles". Smash Hits . 13–26 May 1982. p. 21. Retrieved 5 November 2020– via sites.google.com.
  5. ↑ "Japan Nightporter - History of Japan by Paul Rymer". www.nightporter.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
  6. ↑ "Japan - Discography - Tin Drum". lifeintokyo.net. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
  7. ↑ "Japan - Cantonese Boy". Discogs. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
  8. ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Cantonese Boy". Irish Singles Chart.
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