Rapper FIRST time REACTION to Alphaville - Big In Japan ! What is this lol…

[@heidiv5488]

Lead singer Marian Gold is straight, so the "waiting for my man" line would refer to a dealer rather than a lover.

[@MathildaFlow]

100 %

[@karessalongmire1783]

I though he said waiting for my band?

[@liamsand8168]

Exactly, like Lou Reed said "I’m Waiting For My Man, Twenty-six dollars in my hand" (The Velvet Underground).

[@melvin7094]

According to Wikipedia the theme was based on two friends who were involved in the sordid drug scene of West Berlin's Zoo station. The refrain "big in Japan" symbolises the idea of being successful in another world, a fantasy about being drug-free. Gold said: "That line has a certain meaning. It means that if you're a complete loser, you're telling other people, 'I'm not a loser because in Japan I'm really big.' It's the lie of the loser and it fitted perfectly into the story of these junkies, which the song is about, in a very tragic way."[5] Gold later explained: "We originally weren’t sure whether we should put it on the album, because it’s a bit autobiographical in that it reflects my time in West Berlin in the late 70s, with the drug scene around the train station and the zoo, and all the underground things. It has nothing to do with Japan."

[@Dutchlad112]

That explains alot, this song was always a mystery to me xD

[@therosabella67]

Yes. There is also a movie called Berlin’s zoo about young kids doing heavy drugs. I was never able to watch it because also back home in Sardinia Italy a lot of young kids were doing heroin and were dropping like flies. Very sad, a lot of them also got HIV. Very hard to watch. My brother also ended up dying of HIV.

[@Agg1E91]

Wow. I never knew about any of this. Adds a different layer to listening to this, going forward!

[@spruce381]

They were below average - Japan the band - David Slyvian. Production - ABC, from Sheffield - all of my heart, one track from an awesome album. I’m not even English, but these drug addled posh boys aren’t your bag. Even Smiley Culture - police officer, Rap/toasting is another level. ❤

[@spruce381]

@@therosabella67 Christine F time. I saw smack wipe out a generation in Dublin, no art, including trainspotting could make that drug desirable.

[@katjawege6886]

This is so 80ies. ❤We all were crazy about this song 🎉

[@therosabella67]

I love Alphaville!! Takes me back to my 20’s

[@FinallyTuned]

“Forever Young” by Alphaville is so cool.

[@nammis77]

For sure. React to this one Pegasus.

[@Demossaulo]

I came here to say that.

[@evanm1815]

Forever young is epic

[@jp3813]

This is a thread full of people who skipped the entire intro where the reactor talked about that song already.

[@banamarco]

​@@Demossaulo He reacted to it 7 months ago

[@joakimlofberg8345]

The theme was based on two friends who were involved in the sordid drug scene of West Berlin's Zoo station. The refrain "big in Japan" symbolises the idea of being successful in another world, a fantasy about being drug-free. Gold said: "That line has a certain meaning.

[@andy60234]

Lol, not Britney boy girl?

[@GuillermoQuezada]

"New Wave" is quirky, strange and weird, but damn do I love it. Give me more!

[@sasapejcin3568]

Also those sick 80s synths! 🥰🥰

[@julianatomasek9793]

100%

[@e.s.7272]

‘Big in Japan’ is a way of saying that if you are unsuccessful in your own neighbourhood, you would certainly have been successful elsewhere (Japan). In this song, it refers to a couple who are addicted to heroin and want to get off the drug. The couple imagine what life would be like without drugs, but they don't succeed. ‘Big in Japan’ is set in Berlin's drug milieu at Zoologischer Garten station.

[@pasi4118]

Big in Japan means that you can be big in Japan, i.e. somewhere other than your own country. Tells about drug users ("waiting for my man" i.e. waiting for a dealer). When you're big in Japan tonight... In other words, somewhere "elsewhere" you can feel big for a while, even though it's zero.

[@user-qr8ki8ue4i]

Love them. (80's kid, here). "Forever Young" means different things to me as I get old.

[@silvertongue3003]

Don’t think Japanese people are to worried as Americans when people celebrate their culture, I mean we were all ninjas once

[@allenwhitmer8192]

A lot of Americans aren't too worried about it either, in fact, I'd say most. Just the usual suspects...

[@MathildaFlow]

Absolutely. They do seem to think that everyone lives in their melting pot of hate. We don’t. Also, this was 40 years ago.

[@criss6945]

This was a big hit in the '80s. "Forever Young" was the most known one on that album. My favorites were "Fallen Angel", "Victory of Love", "Germany with love" and "Summer in Berlin" but all of songs were great.

[@deborahpaley21]

I absolutely freaking love this song, love Alphaville. Do Forever Young too. Marian Gold is the lead singer. They still perform and make music. An album I like is from '94, called Prostitute.

[@tnnt5636]

German band. Covered by the Guano Apes, also german, you should listen to that. Absolutely different style.

[@CavHDeu]

⬆️ this

[@tlucas9798]

Their song “A victory of love” was revolutionary in this genre

[@MrsHyde92]

I really recommend 'Sounds like a melody'! Unique song!! ❤🎶🎵🎶

[@solarluftheizung]

Alphaville is a German pop band founded in 1983 in Münster, Westphalia, by Marian Gold, Bernhard Lloyd and Frank Mertens. They became internationally known through songs such as Big in Japan and Forever Young.

[@anglosaxon5874]

Wow didn't know they were from Münster. I used to live up the road in the Osnabrück area.

[@hahatoldyouso]

LOVE this group

[@scpatl4now]

Man, I just discovered this channel and in 2 days of watching I have seen you move from Dolly Parton to Roy Clark to Patsy Kline to Simon and Garfunkel and now Alphaville (that's a big dang jump there). I think it is great you are listening to these wildly different things. I hope you find some inspiration to your own art by doing it since I'm guessing these videos don't get monetized.

[@tuijakarttunen9164]

Marian Gold told: "I had an appointment with my dentist and I had this rhythm of the bassline in my mind as I was walking along. I created a lot of the verses for Big In Japan on my way to that dentist. I had a couple of friends and we were living under very serious conditions in West Berlin at that time, basically living on the street and some of our friends were drug addicts. They lived in the heroin scene around the Berlin Zoo and I started to write about them. This song is about that drug scene in the late 70s. It’s a fictitious story about a pair of lovers that are trying to get away from the drugs but they never succeed, they imagine themselves in a kind of dreamland where they are drug-free, but they never succeed in getting there and it’s quite a tragic story.”

[@d.l.607]

If you think he would be cancelled for this song try reacting to David Bowie - China Girl (Official Video) (he would get life in jail without parole for that 😀)

[@Sebo1969]

Sounds like a Melodie is the burner from this group.

[@StrongAndRaw]

Fan of Alphaville here 🖐!!!

[@pssthpok]

This song hit me at the right time, and I danced to it in clubs. Good to seeing it getting some play in the modern world. Glad you appreciate it.

[@pfalzgraf7527]

You are pulling out all my childhood hits! Love your take on them! great comment, good reaction!

[@Peter_Cetera]

I LOVE the 80th sound!!!

[@aidenharmston402]

Alphaville🔥🔥

[@fatimasoares7261]

"Dance with me" and "Sounds like a melody" are great songs.

[@pcooper3559]

Big in Japan was also a punk band from Liverpool.

[@Mandalore3737]

reminds me of Baltimora tarzan boy

[@seansavage4766]

dude you are right! very similar. Tarzan Boy might be better though...that listerine bottle was killin it

[@BearWitch-i6r]

Baltimora was a little bit later...

[@frankerben7666]

Great memories, my youth! Big in Japan... it sounds like a melody!☺😉 Greetings from Germany! YOu should sometimes listen to "Weck mich bitte auf" (Please, wake me up!) - Samy Deluxe, you will like it a lot (with English subtitles) !!! PS: the "japanese Girl" is the waitress from the favourite sushi- restaurant next door!😂😉

[@gegendenklimagemachtenmenschen]

👍

[@gregorygant4242]

​@@gegendenklimagemachtenmenschenWhere from in Germany ?

[@gegendenklimagemachtenmenschen]

@@gregorygant4242 - Hamburg

[@CavHDeu]

Sounds like a melody

[@Pokafalva]

'Big in Japan' was also the name of a Liverpool band in the 1980s. The song also alludes to that band. 'It's easy when you're Big in Japan' also refers to that band once they had success in the UK. It was then 'easy' for them.

[@photonspark]

Alphaville's 1984 debut album Forever Young (where this song comes from) was a masterpiece, not a bad track on there. Synth pop , excellent production, killer vocals. Victory of Love, Summer in Berlin, Sounds like a Melody, Forever Young etc etc

[@anglosaxon5874]

Part of the video [the white painted lady] reminds me of Visage 'Fade to Grey' video.

[@jazzylyn5857]

That is a proper banger. Love Fade to Grey.

[@deborahpaley21]

love your comments today. hey it's the 80s, creativity ruled.

[@AgenteusaRR]

forget lyrics, bands back then were so creative, so many different sounds, different riffs, you could really tell one band from another. They were german by the way and I had a chance to see them live once (didn't plan was an out band) and he REALLY could sing. And what even funnier he plays the gayest stereotype in most his videos and yet he's straight :P

[@victorialira]

Well, at least in David Bowie's song " Little China Girl" there is a chinese girl! 😂 But I love Alphaville ❤

[@dariussawkulycz4320]

Nice reaction like always! Forever Young it is biggest hit all time but Big in Japan was very big for the first 20 years but now in my opinion is Sounds like a Melody from 1984 pure 80 synthpop and a strange video like usually for Alphaville

[@Jaglilpill75]

Sandra : In the heat of the night and Maria Magdalena is so much better 🥰🥰🥰🥰

[@fredkelly4365]

Such a great song. 12" version good too.

[@maryt2290]

BP the thing to keep in mind is that half the time we didn’t understand what the hell the lyrics were and didn’t have google to look them up. We just loved the hook and the beat. I love it that you deep dive on the lyrics because I often get surprised on songs I thought I knew for 40+ years 😮

[@hgianos65]

One of my favorite 80’s jams , big hit in Europe not so much here , but clubs played it

[@TopDogStatus25]

Man Germans and their music. Goodness they are great

[@epongeverte]

This song and band were big in the 80s.

[@mickymoist]

I clicked on this fast... thinking it was Tom Waits 'Big in Japan'. Then I had a fleeting curiosity as to whether Tom Waits song was a cover of this song... but again, no. Totally separate songs. P.S. Check out Tom Waits!!!

[@ekruegerster1]

Check out the newly released orchestral version of this song! If someone’s not famous, they can always say “I’m big in Japan.”

[@Fluttermoth]

I own this on 7" vinyl Been standing by this song as a classic for 40 years, I was right, goddammit!

[@marty6945]

"Big in Japan" is an established term for music bands mostly from Western countries, which never had a significant success in these countries, but nevertheless were very successful in Japan.

[@asbocazbo]

Sounds Like A Melody extended version is FIRE ❤

[@DaveB-hg7el]

When I first saw the title of this video, I was happy to see you reacting to a song by Tom Waits, who has a song with the exact same title. The sound is completely different, and you might like his song too. Lol 🙃, peace 💚

[@MarkoMakela-kk7qf]

Hi Mr Pegasus again! Longf time no hear...LoL... Anyway in 80's there were some singers with very original voices like Kim Carnes and it's kinda refreshing sometimes listen those older songs too. Sometimes the modern producers make songs a bit too similar regardless of the artists...

[@birdy1964-s2n]

A big hit back in the day. "Forever Young" by Alphaville is a top tune. 👌 🎵

[@asl7235]

In the 80,s being big in Japan was a statement of making it, in the 80,s Japan (Tokyo) was 100 years in the future for westerners.

[@CharlieNickell]

Forever Young my friend!!!!

[@alistairmcdougall9625]

Great song from my teenage years❤

[@saverioc2929]

“Forever Young” the best

[@tmr626]

People will also find that the awesome German rock band Axel Rudi Pell does an excellent cover version of the Alphaville song "Forever Young."

[@silverstitch28]

Still Love it ❤

[@kathleenorr9237]

Remember this one!! Thank you ❤

[@lorrainecole1156]

These guys were from Germany. Euro pop was just coming into their own in the 80s.

[@SilverBullet1980]

Song is epic!

[@Areyousayingidontknowmyname]

I think you should do Duran Duran The Chauffeur 😊

[@cinthialreves]

React to "Sounds like a Melody" and "forever young" from this group.

[@susanjohnston8267]

Great Review on a very unusual song. Love Marian Golds voice, super crisp. Considering you are doing obscure 80s music, could you consider - T-Pau - China in your Hand The Housemartins - Caravan of Love Fine Young Cannibals - She Drives Me Crazy

[@anglosaxon5874]

The Americans say 'my man' refering to a friend or someone they like, NOT just sexual! lol I hear a lot of black Americans use it.

[@saverioc2929]

When this song came out everything was being made in Japan not china. It's a fantasy about being drug-free. Big monsters - Godzilla is a fictional monster, or kaiju. Kaiju is a Japanese word meaning "strange creature". In English, it has come to mean "monster" or "giant monster", referring to creatures of a large size seen in movies from Asia.

[@JoshuaRomero-o4e]

they put Some UPBEAT MUSIC like the japan did the 80'S CITY POP MUSIC

[@GediKnight22]

:-D love that song

[@deborahpaley21]

yeah, i'm waiting for my man tonight, needs no explanation

[@jermynryan2286]

Like will ferrell said: nobody knows what it means.....but its provocative!

[@titusgeorge9280]

Appreciate the earlier explanation of the song…but when we hear “Big In Japan” we think of bands like Mr. Big and Dream Theater that are HUGE in Japan but don’t do much in the US.

[@wolf762x51]

Yeah, he's straight. My Man refers to man servant, a term that the Brits used for hundreds of years , and it can refer to any man in theior employ that works for them, but usually reserved only for drivers, chefs, envoys, and the gentlemen that set up their bookkeeping, handled their money, and did all of the dealings with hotels, restaurants, entertainment etc,.

[@wolf762x51]

That's in a general sense, I see it has a different , specific meaning when referring to the Zoo and the drug culture in West Germany.

[@actuariallurker9650]

Big in Japan means you are a BIG fish in a SMALL pond....you're not a star here but you know, I'm big somewhere else so you should put up with me

[@evanm1815]

Exactly how I have always understood ot, you might not know of me but I'm big in Japan ( which no one could really confirm becase few people had been there) And I actually know about somecartist that did not sell many records in Europe but were very popular in Japan 😅

[@Wayne1017FP]

Now you gotta what the cover from Guano Apes ❤

[@rightlefter1285]

He does say “waiting for my man tonight” and is acting camp, however, from what I read, he’s straight and apparently has 10 kids with 4 different women. 😂

[@JoseDaniel-o8z]

Isso são lendas mesmo❤❤ ficaram na história ❤❤😮😮 oiço sempre eles🎉.

[@todd8688]

Marion gold said its about losers who haven't made it but they can say they are big in Japan. The Man is his dealer

[@mickypescatore9656]

Hi, Robert! 1984. So I remember. I was with my first boyfriend ! 🤣I believe it was on number one of the german charts for a while. (This band is german). Typical 80`ies!!!!!! Funny, maybe it was a very cheep production?

[@JohnHazelwood58]

"Related" topic ... do "Murray Head - One Night In Bangkok" next! :)

[@scpatl4now]

I love this song...but if you want another (better) track from Alphaville you should check out Dance with Me (extended remix)

[@Alithia451]

There is a cool 2022 Symphonic Version, same singer Marian Gold.

[@Gen75x]

This would have got Aneka cancelled now but the lyrics are very sweet. This is another 80's song. Japanese Boy - Aneka kzbin.info/www/bejne/j6q3o6iIfb-mfLMsi=ABCVYUaKt4xSnOge

[@Delthfaithe]

The video is SO 80´s but song is so good

[@ninawildr4207]

My man refers to his dealer😂

[@justincase490]

you should check out the cover of this song by guano apes. That band was big in europe in the 90's but never realy got big in Japan or USA.

[@bentesjursen5673]

🕺💃

[@inspiredfunkmark]

This song confused the hell out of me when I first heard it. Became "Big in your pants" when people were drunk... think it got big because the synth sounds were so new..

[@hoechel]

As this song is actually not about Japan, I do not think, that is inappopriate that a western is dressing as a geisha. Anyway, that cancelling culture is an american thing, which I do understand becaus of their white washing history. Europe mostly do not care about this a lot because our concept of race is not the same as in the US. However it is swapping over to Europe more and more.

[@stevehamilton8824]

Classic new wave band. Short lived but had a couple of big hits, like this one. Love this song and band. The song is about bands that have outlived their popularity in American or Europe still being big in Japan. There are a lot of bands/artists that are bigger in Japan than those countries that they come from or the west.

[@seantreme8772]

Gotta do a Forever Young

[@anderslekander5508]

They have two legendary songs,this and young forever, you also should react to offspring with pretty fly for a white guy or Frank zappa with Bobby Brown 😊

[@scifimonkey3]

Want to know who is really big in Japan then check out the Ladies of LOVEBITES, BAND MAID and BABYMETAL.

[@pagemeredith4532]

You should check out the The Vapors and their song I think I'm Turning Japanese another 80's hit. Big In Japan, to me, alwayd had a sorrowful emotion tone to the song, even if I didn't understand all the lyrics. I knew that it was about some type of emotional strife or struggle.

[@asbocazbo]

Turning Japanese is about masturbation i heard 😂

[@williamjoback1436]

Weird Al Yankovic "Genius in France"

[@silvertongue3003]

Wow I never been so close to first

[@TheSwedeMcCoy]

For Eighties Zynth music you should try Visage - Fade to Grey

[@PANIC_aka_PinD]

Why not ACTUALLY do something that is big in Japan :p . Try reacting to some BAND MAID ... maybe SHAMBLES. Hard rock Japan style :) .

[@gregorygant4242]

German group great 80's hit back then ! Because in the 80's the Japanese economy was on top everyone, especially Americans ,thought it would take over other economies .They were all wrong after the late 80's Japan's economy took a nose dive .

[@julianatomasek9793]

You need to react to some Pet Shop Boys, OMD, Erasure, The Smiths, Love and Rockets :) Thank you