Big In Japan (3:52)
644,355 plays (154,537 listeners)
Background:
The title of the song is a kind of joke/proverb. For instance, many rock bands that are well past their prime continue to be “Big in Japan” long after they cannot draw a large audience in the UK or US.
However, this song is mostly about a couple, who tries to get off a heroin addiction. The lead signer Marian Gold explains this this way:
“I must admit the only ones who understood the meaning of the song correctly were Bernhard (Lloyd) and our then publisher Andy Budde. Bernhard recognized the quality of the song and Andy the ability of its marketing. ‘Big In Japan’ tells about a couple of lovers trying to get off Heroin. They both imagine how great it would be to love without the drug: no steal, no clients, no ice age in the pupil, real emotions, true worlds. Till nowadays Berlin station Zoo is an important meeting place for junkies. That’s why this place became a venue of the song. In 1977 I was quite regular in a club in Kreuzberg, the SO36. I hoped to meet David Bowie. There was the rumor he would be in Berlin for withdrawal treatment in that period. There was a fellow, who sold stuff of independent bands from US and UK. I bought the album of a British band named Big In Japan. “Big in Japan” meant so much as if you are nothing in your environs, you can be big somewhere else. You can be a king in another world. And if you aren’t that, you can tell it at home.
The title of the song is a kind of joke/proverb. For instance, many rock bands that are well past their prime continue to be “Big in Japan” long after they cannot draw a large audience in the UK or US.
However, this song is mostly about a couple, who tries to get off a heroin addiction. The lead signer Marian Gold explains this this way:
“I must admit the only ones who understood the meaning of the song correctly were Bernhard (Lloyd) and our then publisher Andy Budde. Bernhard recognized the quality of the song and Andy the ability of its marketing. ‘Big In Japan’ tells about a couple of lovers trying to get off Heroin. They both imagine how great it would be to love without the drug: no steal, no clients, no ice age in the pupil, real emotions, true worlds. Till nowadays Berlin station Zoo is an important meeting place for junkies. That’s why this place became a venue of the song. In 1977 I was quite regular in a club in Kreuzberg, the SO36. I hoped to meet David Bowie. There was the rumor he would be in Berlin for withdrawal treatment in that period. There was a fellow, who sold stuff of independent bands from US and UK. I bought the album of a British band named Big In Japan. “Big in Japan” meant so much as if you are nothing in your environs, you can be big somewhere else. You can be a king in another world. And if you aren’t that, you can tell it at home.
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Albums featuring this track
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Hit! Hit! Hit! (disc 2)
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Antrologia (disc 2)
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First Harvest 1984-92
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Fetenhits: The Real 80's (disc 1)
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Shouts
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kikibaer wrote:
Oh yeah!
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BLOOD1975 wrote:
read an interview about the song. The theme is about heroin-addiction... I never understood that
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theeighties69 wrote:
da tanzt der Bär ;o)
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peanuthead94 wrote:
Addicting.
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Barbarella009 wrote:
Very goood song!!!!
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buterflyyy wrote:
nice remembrance...mhm
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Arthur-Engler wrote:
it's a BIG sound !
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D4rk_Nemesis wrote:
great song
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slippymusic wrote:
The older brother to Baltimore's 'Tarzan Boy'. '80s sounds for sure.
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LQQKIE wrote:
Great song... part of Retro Fridays member group radio
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TheLoveGuru wrote:
2 songs that I know from this band, Big In Japan and Forever Young. Enough for me!! great, great songs, 2 all-time faves.
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tinajaxie wrote:
It screams mid-80s, I know, but this deserves a long nostalgic afterlife.
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MoroderMadcat wrote:
Moin Moin ,..... Erinnerungen ......, ....... !
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Mynamebone wrote:
Yeah I use to love them! and still do!
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krot7 wrote:
Rio
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mabrey wrote:
So 80´s!!!! Great song
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darkrebell wrote:
Great music, great band;
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rosmaritbrum wrote:
BIG IN JAPAN...GREAT MUSIC...
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tatjana75 wrote:
crass!
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Dj-Coky wrote:
Damn.............. So many freakin years, y el tema sigue sonando just like yesterday. "Q' TEMAZO"!!!
Listeners
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mrcloudy
Listening now
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Top Listener
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Recent Activity
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volkergaedicke added Big In Japan to their Loved Tracks. 46 minutes ago
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Nadja78 added Big In Japan to Nadja78’s library. 1 hour ago
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CEMEH666 and haka44 loved Alphaville – Big In Japan. 1 hour ago
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haka44 and RolliRomanza added Alphaville – Big In Japan to their libraries. 2 hours ago
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bizarretante added Big In Japan to the playlist. 3 hours ago
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AdrOcz tagged Big In Japan with ‘oldies’. 9 hours ago
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Systemnick and fm0899 loved Alphaville – Big In Japan. 9 hours ago
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doktor_mk tagged Alphaville – Big In Japan with synth pop and pop. 10 hours ago
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doktor_mk, craigatcof, karlurban and 5 other people loved Alphaville – Big In Japan. 10 hours ago
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hanutaking added Big In Japan to hanutaking’s library. yesterday evening
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