Plastics, or The Plastics, were a short-lived Japanese new wave band who rose to prominence in the late 1970s and early 1980s. originally issue #4 Audimat (in French). Their music was a major influence on Japanese pop music and their songs have been covered by many bands, most notably

Polysics is a Japanese Techno/Electronic Music band from Tokyo, who dubs its unique style as "technicolor pogo punk". It was named after a brand of synthesizer, the Korg Polysix. The band started in 1997, but got their big break in 1998 at a concert in ...

Pizzicato Five Pizzicato Five (formerly typeset as Pizzicato V and sometimes abbreviated to P5)Yang Jeff, Dina Can, Terry Hong, (1997) ''Eastern Standard Time'' pg 277 New York: Mariner Books was a Japanese pop band formed in Tokyo in 1979 by multi-instrume ...

, and

Stereo Total Stereo Total was a Berlin-based multilingual, French-German duo which comprised Françoise Cactus (born Françoise Van Hove and formerly co-leader of the West Berlin band Les Lolitas) and Brezel ('pretzel') Göring (aka Friedrich von Finsterwa ...

. In September 2007, '' Rolling Stone Japan'' ranked their debut album ''Welcome Plastics'' at No. 19 on their list of the "100 Greatest Japanese Rock Albums of All Time".

Biography

Fellow new wave bands

Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American rock band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991.Talki ...

The B-52's The B-52's, also styled as The B-52s, are an American new wave band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1976. The original lineup consisted of Fred Schneider (vocals, percussion), Kate Pierson (vocals, keyboards, synth bass), Cindy Wilson (vocals, ...

and Devo were fans of Plastics and were instrumental in getting their albums released in the United States. The band's mainstream exposure began when

Toshio Nakanishi , also known by the pseudonyms Tycoon To$h or Typhoom Tosh, was a Japanese musician and graphic designer who was best known as the founding member of new wave band Plastics in 1976. He was initially a part of the technopop fever in Japan and la ...

designed a tour program book for Talking Heads and gave their frontman David Byrne a tape of Plastics demos. Byrne promptly sent it to the B-52's' manager, who offered to represent them internationally. The band used the Roland CR-68 and CR-78 drum machines for their early albums. In 1980, member

Masahide Sakuma Plastics, or The Plastics, were a short-lived Japanese new wave band who rose to prominence in the late 1970s and early 1980s. originally issue #4 Audimat (in French). Their music was a major influence on Japanese pop music and their songs have ...

had some input on the Roland Corporation's development of the Roland TR-808 drum machine. When its development was complete, the Plastics owned the first TR-808 model, which they used on their 1981 album ''Welcome Back''.Masahide Sakuma
ROLAND TR-808の記憶
, April 5, 2012 On February 19, 1982,

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

's late night comedy show '' SCTV'' aired the promotional video for Plastics' song "Top Secret Man" as part of the "Midnight Video Special" sketch, hosted by Gerry Todd (

Rick Moranis Frederick Allan Moranis (; born April 18, 1953) is a Canadian actor, comedian, musician, songwriter, writer and producer. He appeared in the sketch comedy series ''Second City Television'' (''SCTV'') in the 1980s and several Hollywood films, inc ...

's cover of their song " I Love You, Oh No!" (with the title amended to "I Love You Ono") was used in television commercials for

Sony Ericsson Sony Mobile Communications Inc. ( ja, ソニーモバイルコミュニケーションズ株式会社) was a multinational telecommunications company founded on October 1, 2001, as a joint venture between Sony Group Corporation and Ericsson. ...

in Europe around 2006 and by Dell computers in the US in 2009. On January 16, 2014, Masahide Sakuma died after a battle with scirrhous gastric cancer and a brain tumor. He was 61. On May 10, 2016, Plastics got together to perform their final concert at Blue Note Tokyo. On February 25, 2017, Toshio Nakanishi died after a battle with esophageal cancer, also at the age of 61. The following year, the band released the recording of their final concert under the name ''A'' in memory of Nakanishi.

Band members

* – vocal, synth drums * – vocal, guitar & percussion * – guitar & vocal * – keyboards, guitar & bass programming * – rhythm box

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilation albums

Singles

EPs

Selected compilation appearances

Notes

* The Plastics performed "

Last Train to Clarksville "Last Train to Clarksville" is a song by American pop rock band the Monkees. It was released as the band's debut single on August 16, 1966, and was later included on the group's self-titled album, which was released on October 10, 1966.''The Monk ...

" as a medley with other songs by

the Monkees The Monkees were an American rock and pop band, formed in Los Angeles in 1966, whose lineup consisted of the American actor/musicians Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork alongside English actor/singer Davy Jones. The group was con ...

, namely "Star Collector" and "She".

References

External links

Discography with notes by Nicholas D. Kent

AllMusic Biography by Ian Martin

ExcavatingThe80's Tribute

Trouser Press bio

MySpace Profilecached copy
on the Way Back Machine) {{DEFAULTSORT:Plastics Japanese new wave musical groups Japanese techno music groups Musical groups from Tokyo