History of the song "Big In Japan" (1984) - Alphavill
Содержание
The title of the track is kind of a joke! "Big In Japan" was released as the band's debut single in the winter of 1984. The song about “how cool it is to be the king (meaning popular musicians) in Japan” instantly gained success in several countries of the world, taking first lines in the national charts!
Creating a composition
"Big In Japan" is one of the two most recognizable Alphaville songs. Subsequently, many covers were created for it, which were given fame by such performers as Sandra, the alternative rock quartet Guano Apes and others. In his song, Marian Gold touched on a very relevant problem for those years:
“This song was born very quickly! Japan is a blessed market for the promotion of a mass of musicians, bands and performers... So, for example, here any hard rock band can easily sell their disc with a space circulation of several million copies... And this despite the fact that in their homeland or in the same UK their albums will not be in demand at all. That's exactly what we thought when creating this track!
Released in 1984, This is Spinal Tap! also touched on this issue... The film satirized a fictional rock band that had a hit single in Japan, but as it turned out, their popularity in other countries was completely washed away...
The meaning of the song
The song itself tells the story of a couple who dreams of getting rid of drug addiction and imagines how wonderful their life would be without heroin, clients, with lively emotions, sincere feelings ... As for the line about the Zoo, the lyricist explained it this way:
“Berlin's Zoo station remains a historic meeting place for drug addicts. That's why I made it the scene!"
In an interview, Gold also added:
“The only ones who got the point right were Bernhard Lloyd and our then publisher Andy Budde. By the way: they immediately saw in the song the key to success in terms of marketing!”
The title of the song is a reference to the Big In Japan band. Marian said in his interview:
“…I bought a Big in Japan record from a guy. That's where I borrowed the phrase for the chorus. It's so interesting... You can be a nobody in your home country and still be cool in another place. Every little-known musician can become the king of another dimension! Eh… Japan is so far away…”
Irony of fate or pure coincidence, but when the track was released in 1984, the track struggled for a long time in the Top charts with the Frankie Goes to Hollywood band, whose soloist is the ex-vocalist of Big in Japan!
Music video
As for the music video, it was directed by Dieter Mayer of Yello. The mysterious "Japanese" was played by his charming wife!
