"Big in Japan" is the debut single of the German

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s ...

band Alphaville. It was taken from their 1984 debut album '' Forever Young''. The single was a success in many countries, including Germany, Sweden and Switzerland. It was also the group's only UK Top 75 hit, reaching No. 8 on the UK Singles chart. The song also reached number one on the

Hot Dance Club Play Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as t ...

in December 1984.

Lyrics, music and theme

The group had a

Roland System-100M The Roland System-100M was a modular analog synthesizer manufactured by the Roland Corporation in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was the successor of the Roland System-100, a semi-modular keyboard. In the 1980s, shortly after its introducti ...

which they first used to create the

bassline Bassline (also known as a bass line or bass part) is the term used in many styles of music, such as blues, jazz, funk, Dub music, dub and electronic music, electronic, traditional music, traditional, or classical music for the low-pitched Part ( ...

. The timing of the song was influenced by "

The Safety Dance "The Safety Dance" is a song by Canadian new wave/synth-pop band Men Without Hats, released in Canada in 1982 as the second single from ''Rhythm of Youth''. The song was written by lead singer Ivan Doroschuk after he had been kicked out of a cl ...

", changing the speed to

double-time In popular music, half-time is a type of meter and tempo that alters the rhythmic feel by essentially ''doubling the tempo resolution'' or metric division/level in comparison to common-time. Thus, two measures of approximate a single measure o ...

, halfway through the song. The melody was developed by all three members of the band, working in their provincial home studio.

Marian Gold Marian Gold (born Hartwig Schierbaum; 26 May 1954) is a German singer-songwriter who gained fame as the lead singer of the German synth-pop recording act Alphaville, but also has recorded as a solo artist. He is known for his tenor multi-octav ...

developed most of the lyrics while going to a dentist. The theme was based on two friends who were involved in the sordid drug scene of Berlin's Zoo station. The song tells of such lovers who fantasize about being drug-free. The refrain " big in Japan" symbolises this idea of being successful in another world. Said Gold, "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." Gold later explained "we originally weren’t sure whether we should put it on the album, because it’s a bit autobiographical in that it reflects my time in West Berlin in the late 70s, with the drug scene around the train station and the zoo, and all the underground things. It has nothing to do with Japan." The phrase was inspired by the name of the real band, Big in Japan, whose album Gold had recently bought. He 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 ..." As the song reached the top of the German charts, the number one song which it displaced was "

Relax Relax may refer to: Aviation * Roland Z-120 Relax, a German ultralight aircraft design for the 120 kg class Music Albums * ''Relax'' (Blank & Jones album), 2003 * ''Relax'' (Das Racist album), 2011 Songs * "Relax" (song), a 1983 song by Fran ...

" by

Frankie Goes to Hollywood Frankie Goes to Hollywood were an English synth-pop band formed in Liverpool in 1980. The group's best-known line-up comprised Holly Johnson (vocals), Paul Rutherford (backing vocals), Peter Gill (drums, percussion), Mark O'Toole (bass guit ...

whose lead singer,

Holly Johnson William Holly Johnson (born 9 February 1960) is an English artist, musician, and writer, best known as the lead vocalist of Frankie Goes to Hollywood, who achieved huge commercial success in the mid-1980s. Prior to that, in the late 1970s he was ...

, had formerly been in the band Big in Japan – a remarkable coincidence, according to Gold. Gold later said that "we never got to speak with him but he must have wondered 'who is this German group with a song named after my band?'" The video was directed by

Yello Yello is a Swiss electronic music band, which formed in Zürich in 1979. For most of the band's history, Yello has been a duo consisting of Dieter Meier and Boris Blank; founding member Carlos Perón left in 1983. Their sound is often charac ...

Dieter Meier Dieter Meier (born 4 March 1945) is a Swiss industrialist, musician and conceptual artist. He is the frontman of the electronic music group Yello, which was co-founded (with ex-member Carlos Perón) by music producer Boris Blank. He is a vocali ...

Original 1984 release

Track listings

;7" single #"Big in Japan" (7" Version) – 3:52 #"Seeds" – 3:15 ;12" maxi #"Big in Japan" (7" Version) – 3:52 #"Seeds" – 3:15 ;12" maxi Germany & France WEA 249417-0 #"Big in Japan" (Extended Remix) – 7:25 #"Big in Japan" (Extended Instrumental) – 6:10 ;12" maxi US WEA 0-86947 #"Big in Japan" (Extended Vocal) – 7:25 #"Big in Japan" (Instrumental Version) – 6:10 #"Big in Japan" (7" Version) – 3:58

Charts and sales

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Sales and certifications

1992 Re-release

Alphaville re-released the song, with new remixes, in 1992 to coincide with the release of their compilation album ''

First Harvest 1984–92 ''First Harvest 1984–92'' is a greatest-hits compilation by Alphaville. The cassette version of ''First Harvest'' omits "Sensations," "Red Rose" and "Big in Japan" (Culture mix). Track listing # " Big in Japan" (Original 7" Version) – 3:54 ...

''.

Track listings

;EU CD single "Big in Japan 1992 A.D." #"Big in Japan 1992 A.D. Freedom Mix (Single Edit)" – 3:14 #"Big in Japan The Mix (Single Edit)" – 4:14 #"Big in Japan 1992 A.D. Freedom Mix (Extended Version)" – 4:51 #"Big in Japan The Mix (Extended Version)" – 6:05 *"The Mix (Extended Version)" is the same as the "Culture Mix" from ''First Harvest 1984–92''. ;EU CD single "Big in Japan Swemix Remix" #"Big in Japan (Swemix Remix 7")" – 3:57 #"Big in Japan (Swemix Remix 12")" – 8:27 #"Big in Japan (Swemix DUB)" – 6:44 ;EU 12" vinyl single "Big in Japan 1992 A.D." #"Big in Japan 1992 A.D. Freedom Mix (Extended Version)" – 4:51 #"Big in Japan 1992 A.D. Freedom Dub" – 4:56 #"Big in Japan The Mix (Extended Version)" – 6:05 *The 12" single was printed on white vinyl and contains the unique "Dub" version of the Freedom remix

Charts

"Big in Japan 1992 AD" reached number two in Finland and number 15 in Sweden.

Guano Apes version

In 2000,

Guano Apes Guano Apes are a German rock band formed in 1994 in Göttingen. The band consists of Sandra Nasić (vocals), Henning Rümenapp (guitars, backing vocals), Stefan Ude (bass, backing vocals), and Dennis Poschwatta (drums, backing vocals). AllMusic ...

released a cover version as their lead single for their second album ''

Don't Give Me Names ''Don't Give Me Names'' is the second album by the German band Guano Apes, released in 2000. It includes the hit single " Big in Japan" (a cover of the Alphaville song), which peaked at #9 on the German charts and remains one of Guano Apes' mos ...

'' on 12 April 2000. The music video shows the band performing in an empty arena, followed by a fan trying to locate the band.

Track listing

CD single

#Big in Japan – 2:49 #Gogan – 2:47 #I Want It – 3:17

7" single

#Big in Japan – 2:48 #I Want It – 3:15

Maxi single

#Big in Japan – 2:49 #Gogan – 2:47 #I Want It – 3:17 #La Noix – 2:19 #Big in Japan (Space Jazz Dubmen Mix) – 4:32

Charts

References

External links

Lyrics of this song
* {{authority control Synth-pop songs 1984 debut singles 1984 songs Alphaville (band) songs European Hot 100 Singles number-one singles Guano Apes songs Number-one singles in Germany Number-one singles in Sweden Number-one singles in Switzerland Songs about Japan Songs written by Marian Gold Songs written by Bernhard Lloyd Songs written by Frank Mertens Warner Music Group singles Japan in non-Japanese culture 2000 singles

Lyrics, music and theme

Original 1984 release

Track listings

Charts and sales

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Sales and certifications

1992 Re-release

Track listings

Charts

Guano Apes version

Track listing

CD single

7" single

Maxi single

Charts

See also

References

External links