My perception of music was shattered once I landed in Japan, where I stumbled across a treasure trove of sounds that was not limited by geography, genre, or the "Top Forty” on KISS FM. My first walk through the mall opened my ears.
From the moment I stepped off the plane, I was exposed to depths of music that had been alien to me, but infinitely more superb. There were Europeans offerings— Italian, British, and Swedes — with their remarkable spin on Soul, Jazz, Rock and pop, yet uniquely their own. USEN radio, a cable radio network in Japan with its 440 channels, pre-dates American cable radio by some twenty years—or more.
I felt bad for the people back home, victims of the stranglehold that the music moguls continues to have on the American music industry today. Breaking the bounds of "musical slavery" was what Prince was advocating before his untimely death.
Anyway, some of my favorite Japanese artists include Dreams Come True (the lead singer, Miwa Yoshida, reminds me of Karen Carpenter) Mai Kuraki, and Mondo Grosso to name a few.
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