When Devo's popularity waned, they should have done what over-the-hill American baseball players did: Go to Japan! They'd still be hugely popular here.
Since Devo didn't come here... The Japanese made their own copy... Now, I really loved early Devo, don't get me wrong. But, in many ways, the Japanese version (copy) is better. Here's proof. Judge for yourself.
When it comes to what is known as B-Boying or Break Dancing, the Japanese are often disparaged as having no rhythm. Quite often, even I think this too. But, then again, I guess the Japanese are no worse than Caucasians (of which, explains why I'm a real loser when it comes to music and dancing; I have zero rhythm since I am half Japanese and half Caucasian!)
Scene from "I Me Mine" - See this awesome video below!
But then again, every once in a while, I see something that the Japanese do (usually a sort of copy) that really impresses me.
Today I want to introduce a Japanese Rock band called that Polysics. No, I am not that impressed with their music at all. I was a big Devo fan in their early days and the Polysics remind me of another Japanese band from the early 1980's called the Tokyo Plastics; so the Polysics do not strike as doing anything new at all.
But they did make a series of videos (with one especially) that really impressed me to this very day. The song is called "I, Me, Mine" and the original video for it has over 1.4 million views in Japan. This is great for a Rock band that is definitely considered a band with a cult following at most.
This guy also does a wild Michael Jackson in the second video!
The girl (and guy) in the video is doing what oldsters like me might call Breakdancing, or B-boying, but I gather that it is actually a sort of Top Rock or Freeze dancing. The girl is amazing. The most amazing part is that their are no cuts or edits in this first video. Watch it.
Here is a different version that I wish would have featured only the guy. He's great too!
Pretty cool, eh? It just goes to show that the Japanese are excellent at conceptualism. While they might not be so great at new ideas, they are sometimes masters making old ideas so much better.
I think these are the best songs and video Devo NEVER made!
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Keywords: Devo, Polysics, B-Boying, high school girl, Mike Rogers, Polysics, Marketing Japan, Mike in Tokyo Rogers, Break Dancing
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