Alphaville
On tour
Listen to, buy or share
Buy
-
6,288,710
scrobbles
-
620,286 listeners
-
rafaelcevidanes is listening to
Alphaville – Wishful Thinking
Tags
Biography
There are at least two artists that go by the name of Alphaville:
1) Alphaville is a German synthpop/new wave group which gained popularity in the 80s. The founding members were Marian Gold (real name Hartwig Schierbaum, born May 26, 1954 in Herford), Bernhard Lloyd (real name Bernhard Gößling, born June 6th, 1960 in Enger, Bielefeld) and Frank Mertens (real name Frank Sorgatz, born October 26, 1961 in Enger, Bielefeld). The band was at first named Forever Young. The band is best known for its two biggest hits, “Big in Japan” and “Forever Young”, which was the theme for many high school proms in the 1980s.
In 1984 the re-named Alphaville released their debut single “Big in Japan”, followed by “Sounds Like a Melody” and “Forever Young”, quickly followed by the album Forever Young. Despite its success Frank Mertens left the band in the same year and was replaced by Ricky Echolette (born Wolfgang Neuhaus, in Cologne, August 6, 1960) in January 1985.
“Big In Japan” was their biggest U.S. success, shooting to #1 on Billboard’s Dance chart. While they never again had a Top 20 U.S. Dance hit, several of their releases went Top 40 and Top 30 on the Dance charts. They were less successful at mainstream U.S. radio, reflected by their showing on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles charts, where “Big” only reached #66. The first U.S. release of “Forever Young” failed to scale the charts. In 1985, amid reports pop star Laura Branigan was featuring the song on her next album, Hold Me, Alphaville’s “Forever Young” was re-released as a single in the U.S.
1) Alphaville is a German synthpop/new wave group which gained popularity in the 80s. The founding members were Marian Gold (real name Hartwig Schierbaum, born May 26, 1954 in Herford), Bernhard Lloyd (real name Bernhard Gößling, born June 6th, 1960 in Enger, Bielefeld) and Frank Mertens (real name Frank Sorgatz, born October 26, 1961 in Enger, Bielefeld). The band was at first named Forever Young. The band is best known for its two biggest hits, “Big in Japan” and “Forever Young”, which was the theme for many high school proms in the 1980s.
In 1984 the re-named Alphaville released their debut single “Big in Japan”, followed by “Sounds Like a Melody” and “Forever Young”, quickly followed by the album Forever Young. Despite its success Frank Mertens left the band in the same year and was replaced by Ricky Echolette (born Wolfgang Neuhaus, in Cologne, August 6, 1960) in January 1985.
“Big In Japan” was their biggest U.S. success, shooting to #1 on Billboard’s Dance chart. While they never again had a Top 20 U.S. Dance hit, several of their releases went Top 40 and Top 30 on the Dance charts. They were less successful at mainstream U.S. radio, reflected by their showing on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles charts, where “Big” only reached #66. The first U.S. release of “Forever Young” failed to scale the charts. In 1985, amid reports pop star Laura Branigan was featuring the song on her next album, Hold Me, Alphaville’s “Forever Young” was re-released as a single in the U.S.
Top Tracks
Top Albums
-
Forever Young
345,538 listeners10 tracks
Released:
-
First Harvest 1984-1992
19,817 listeners15 tracks
-
First Harvest 1984-92
106,249 listeners15 tracks
-
Catching Rays On Giant
6,214 listeners12 tracks
Released:
Events
Add eventListening Trend
620,286listeners all time
6,288,710scrobbles all time
Recent listeners trend:
Start scrobbling and track your listening history
Last.fm users scrobble the music they play in iTunes, Spotify, Rdio and over 200 other music players.
Create a Last.fm profile








Get exclusive tour, release & promotion updates on Alphaville from Universal Music.