#164: Big In Japan by Alphaville
City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CKOI
Peak Month: August 1984
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #6
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #66
YouTube: “Big In Japan”
Lyrics: “Big In Japan”
Alphaville is a band from West Germany. Marian Gold (born Hartwig Schierbaum) was born in Herford, West Germany in 1954. Gold was part of the Berlin art collective the Nelson Community, where he formed the band Chinchilla Green in the late 1970s, which also included future Alphaville bandmate Bernhard Lloyd. When Gold, Lloyd and Mertens formed a band in 1982, they originally named it Forever Young, but soon changed the name to Alphaville. Bernhard Lloyd (born Bernhard Gössling) was born in the nearby town of Enger in 1960. Before he joined the band, he did not play keyboards – instead, he was previously a club DJ. Frank Mertens (born Frank Sorgatz) was born 1961, also in Enger, West Germany.