#alphaville

Alphaville - Big in Japan 1984

"Big in Japan" is the debut single of German synth-pop band Alphaville, that led to the production of their 1984 album Forever Young. The single was a success in many countries, including West Germany, Sweden, and Switzerland. It reached number 8 on the UK Singles Chart and number 1 on the US Hot Dance Club Play chart.

Lead singer Marian Gold developed most of the lyrics while visiting a dentist. The theme was based on two friends who were involved in the sordid drug scene of West Berlin's Zoo station. The refrain "big in Japan" symbolises the idea of being successful in another world, a fantasy about being drug-free. Gold said: "That line has a certain meaning. It means that if you're a complete loser, you're telling other people, 'I'm not a loser because in Japan I'm really big.' It's the lie of the loser and it fitted perfectly into the story of these junkies, which the song is about, in a very tragic way."

The phrase was inspired by the name of the band Big in Japan. Gold said: "As you know, there's a considerable musical market in Japan. If you wanted to become famous, what you should do was to form a hard rock group and then release an album over there; it would definitely sell well… so the story went…" In reaching number 1 on the West German singles chart, the song displaced "Relax" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood (poll #645), whose lead singer Holly Johnson had been a member of the band Big in Japan. Gold considered this a remarkable coincidence and later said: "we never got to speak with him, but he must have wondered 'who is this German group with a song named after my band?'".

"Big in Japan" received a total of 82,2% yes votes! Previous Alphaville polls: #347 "Sounds Like a Melody", #671 "Forever Young".

Alphaville (1965)