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About This Track
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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Forever Young
Alphaville
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- Amazon $11.99
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First Harvest 1984-92
Alphaville Buy- Download Album
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Stark Naked and Absolutely Live
Alphaville Buy- Download Album
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SWR1 - Achtzig 80er
Various Buy- Download Album
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Shouts
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altkleider wrote:
super
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sirthorty wrote:
remember graduation school trip towards Austria when this song released to the world....phantastic memories :-)
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luisa20051972 wrote:
reminds me my childhood...so long ago!
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Bee4Cee wrote:
;-)
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divx111 wrote:
bardzo dobre wspomnienia
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altkleider wrote:
einfach klasse
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Kawabiker1958 wrote:
klasse top
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crocy2 wrote:
a big song...
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MILESOFTRANCE wrote:
AWESOME::::::::::::
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McHeir wrote:
the beginning is so good! ;p
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MJRocker1987 wrote:
Jam.
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rikrijean wrote:
...with the best known.......very great song......love it.....
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altkleider wrote:
suppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppper
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BEATLES77709 wrote:
.. ich weiß sixtyfive ... ;-) .. absoluter wahnsinn ....
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sixtyfive1010 wrote:
ich war gestern auf dem Konzert, einfach Wahnsinn. Erinnert an die gute alte 80er Zeit.
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yottskry wrote:
"no-mark artist called, oh yeah, Jay Z....." The great thing about being in the UK is winding up Jay-Z fans by calling him "Jay Zed" :)
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silvasonicsurfa wrote:
...if you like this just check out their other massive hit Forever Young which has been covered recently by some no-mark artist called, oh yeah, Jay Z.....
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silvasonicsurfa wrote:
.....great track, not heard this slightly different version with the fractured intro though.......
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TX34 wrote:
suuuuper !!!! pierwsza klasa
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thirdpet wrote:
good track.
Track Stats
1,014,280 Scrobbles
224,898 Listeners
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Recent Activity
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LaatikkoPoni and muchaz loved Alphaville – Big In Japan. 12 minutes ago
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musicofer added Big In Japan to the playlist Pop. 4 hours ago
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Spacefloat, fullerj44 and scottieseaman loved Alphaville – Big In Japan. 12 hours ago
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Dionizos300 added Big In Japan to Dionizos300’s library. yesterday evening
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seregqa777 and beretux loved Alphaville – Big In Japan. yesterday afternoon
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seaotter1964 added Big In Japan to seaotter1964’s library. yesterday morning
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seaotter1964 added Big In Japan to the playlist liste01. yesterday morning
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DEHUMANIZER95, mazurex, Hellyeah14 and 13 other people loved Alphaville – Big In Japan. Monday evening
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ozeloterp added Big In Japan to the playlist. Sunday afternoon
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