80s asia

my interest in synth, new wave, post-punk music and love for 80s themed dance parties led me to find out a little bit more about 80s pop scene than other people. as I was going trough my 80s songs I discovered a tendency of songs referencing to Tokyo, Japan, China, Bangkok, etc. not one song, not two, not three, but a whole lot of them. and I was not the only one that was curious about that, I stumbled upon several forum threads that were discussing the oriental fad in 80s music.

there are many small and big factors that influenced the craze of East Asia culture in the Western pop industry: some songs where referencing to war conflicts e.g. Cambodian, Vietnam wars; in the U.S. asian population grew by 70% in the 80s; Japan was the leading exporter of computers, sound systems, photo cameras, other electronic devices - Japan was seen as a country of the future; the new romantics were always in search of ways to breathe new life into their wardrobe - the aesthetics of traditional asian looks were a great influence on them.

I got inspired by Radiolab's Colors episode to make not a simple song mix, but rather a song collage just to introduce you with the variety of songs which refer to East Asia. 

song list:

(0.20) David Bowie - China Girl

(0.50) Brian Ice - Tokyo

(1.09) The Vapours - Turning Japanese

(1.23) Japan - Visions of China

(1.45) Lee Marrow - Shanghai

(2.02) Fancy - Chinese Eyes

(2.21) Vivabeat - Man from China

(2.34) Mozzart - Jasmin China Girl

(2.43) Men Without Hats - Living in China 

(3.00) The Synthetics - Japanese Toys

(3.10) Devo - Mongoloid

(4.25) Siouxsie and the Banshees - Hong Kong Garden 

(4.41) The Creatures - Japan

(4.57) A Flock of Seagulls - Tokyo

(5.13) Go West - Chinese Whispers

(5.29) Kim Wilde - Cambodia

(5.45) The Adicts - Chinese Takeaway

(5.54) Rational Youth - Holiday in Bangkok

(6.10) Vicious Pink Phenomena - My Private Tokyo

(6.28) Murray Head - One Night in Bangkok

(6.50) Japan - Life in Tokyo

(7.09) The Dead Milkmen - Beach Party Vietnam 

(7.23) Heaven 17 - Geisha Boys And Temple Girls

(7.39) The Flirts - Oriental Boy

(7.58) Pel Mel - No Word from China

(8.10) Dead Kennedys - Holiday in Cambodia 

(8.20) Aneka - Japanese Boy

(8.43) Fun Fun - Living in Japan

(8.58) Level 42 - The Chinese Way

(9.14) Red Rockets - China