"Adolescent Sex" is a song by English new wave band Japan, released as a single from their debut album of the same name in 1978. It was the band's only single to chart in Europe outside of the UK and Ireland, as it was a Top-40 hit in the Netherlands and Belgium.

Release

The song was first released in Spain in April 1978, with the B-side being the band's previous single "

Don't Rain on My Parade "Don't Rain on My Parade" is a popular song from the 1964 musical '' Funny Girl''. It was also featured in the 1968 movie version of the musical. The song was written by Bob Merrill and Jule Styne. Both the movie and stage versions feature Barbra ...

". This version of "Adolescent Sex" was the same as found on the ''

Adolescent Sex ''Adolescent Sex'' is the debut album by the English band Japan, released in April 1978 by record label Hansa. To avoid controversy over the title, the album was renamed simply as ''Japan'' in some countries. Content According to AllMusic, ' ...

'' album, which was also released in April. In Spring 1978, Japan re-recorded the song, making it sound punchier. This version was then first released in August as the other side of a double A-side single with "The Unconventional" in the UK. It was then released with the B-side "Sometimes I Feel So Low" in Germany in October. This single was then released in the Netherlands, Australia and France in 1979. The re-recorded version was also released in Italy in April 1979 with the B-side "Transmission". In Japan, a limited edition

flexi-disc The flexi disc (also known as a phonosheet, Sonosheet or Soundsheet, a trademark) is a phonograph record made of a thin, flexible vinyl sheet with a molded-in spiral stylus groove, and is designed to be playable on a normal phonograph turntabl ...

single was released in October 1978 with the band's second album '' Obscure Alternatives''. A Japanese fan club competition got entrants to write lyrics in Japanese, inspired by songs from ''Adolescent Sex''. The winners' lyrics were read by

David Sylvian David Sylvian (born David Alan Batt, 23 February 1958) is an English musician, singer and songwriter who came to prominence in the late 1970s as frontman and principal songwriter of the band Japan. The band's androgynous look and increasingly ...

and the single is purely spoken word, with no musical content.

Reception

Reviewing the song retrospectively for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

, Amy Hanson wrote ""Adolescent Sex" flays wide into classic funk bass-beating thumps, glammed out guitar, snotty punk vocals and proto disco cum wave synths. Put back together, though, and fed through Japan frontman David Sylvian's pockmarked brain, the song is an onslaught of a bewildering battery of stylistic nervous breakdowns, all so gorgeously twined that the resulting brew is simply stunning". In reviewing the ''Adolescent Sex'' album for '' Perfect Sound Forever'', James Paton described the song as "seeing Sylvian regurgitate his mainstay lyrics of love and dancing, twisting them into some punky song about prostitution that marks the return of the siren synth, with

Barbieri Barbieri is an Italian surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Alberto Barbieri, Argentine academic * Antonio María Barbieri (1892–1979), Uruguayan Cardinal * Anthony Barbieri (born 1963), American writer and performer * Domenico ...

lending the composition a certain creepiness with his keys that prevents it from falling flat on its face".

Track listings

7" (Spain) # "Adolescent Sex" – 3:43 # "

" – 2:54 7" (Germany, Netherlands, Australia, France) # "Adolescent Sex" (re-recorded version) – 4:11 # "Sometimes I Feel So Low" – 3:44 7" (Italy) # "Adolescent Sex" (re-recorded version) – 4:11 # "Transmission" – 4:45 7" (Japan) # "Adolescent Sex" – 2:03 # "Adolescent Sex" – 2:25 # "Lovers on Main Street" – 2:36 # "Suburban Love" – 2:33

Charts

References

{{Japan (band) 1978 songs 1978 singles Songs written by David Sylvian Japan (band) songs Hansa Records singles