Yes Music Podcast · Kevin Mulryne and Mark Anthony K

707. - Yes - Big in Japan with Glenn Williams

·53 min·3 clips

New prog bands are "almost zero" in Japan, but Steve Hackett still sold out eight shows.

Kevin Mulrhyne and Mark Anthony Kaye speak with Glenn Williams, a rock writer based in Japan. The conversation is about Yes, but it soon widens into how Japan has listened to international rock over the decades. Glenn comes to the chat through patron Paul Hales, which gives the segment a straightforward fan-to-fan feel. The first major historical marker is The Ventures, which Glenn says were the first band to really break in Japan. The Beatles arrived later, with their first Japanese gig on June 30, 1966. From there, the discussion follows how pop groups took off and how the center of gravity kept shifting between Britain and America. T. Rex, the Bay City Rollers, and Queen all come up as examples of acts that stayed strong there. Glenn and the hosts also talk about how Japan has followed international trends while still building its own domestic market. He gives a clear picture of how market share has changed over time. In the 1980s, international music accounted for roughly 31 to 32 percent of sales and ticket sales. By around 2000, that had fallen to about 21 percent. Today, international music is less than 9 percent of the market. The conversation does not leave that shift abstract. It ties it to what listeners notice on the ground, from imports to live shows. The hosts ask about the conditions for live music in Japan. They also ask why the country has long been considered a great place to record live albums. Glenn explains how different genres are viewed there. Progressive rock gets its own mention, because listeners will want to know how popular it is nowadays. The episode closes by circling back to the appeal of Japanese Yes editions, the broader music scene, and the sense that the country still matters to fans of the band.

As heard by us

A Japan-focused look at Yes, imports, and the changing balance between international and domestic music.

This episode uses Yes as a way into Japan's role in rock distribution, live music conditions, and the shifting balance between international and domestic music.

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Why you'd press play

A Japan-focused Yes chat with a rock writer based in Japan, plus scene, import, and record-company detail.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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