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This piqued my interest - do you have any particular examples?

by briankelly 6y ago

mathattack 6y ago
Alissa Milano was big there as a singer.
- tomcam 6y ago
  Obviously we need to re-evaluate our foreign relations with them
brigandish 6y ago
Do you know Beautiful Sunday by Daniel Boone or Welcome to the Edge by Billie Hughes? I certainly don't. Most of the others are played relentlessly in corner shops, malls and radio stations. I've heard so many Carpenters songs now I may as well be trapped in the 70s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_singles_in_Japan#List_of_best-selling_singles_by_Western_acts https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_singles_i...
- girzel 6y ago
  Ha! I showed up in Beijing in 2001 at the age of 22 or something, and was met with frank disbelief when I not only failed to sing along with "Yesterday Once More", but failed to recognize The Carpenters at all.
GolDDranks 6y ago
Here's one, not sure if it's popular in Western countries, but it sure is in Japan. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL7gxqk0fkU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL7gxqk0fkU
- Bayart 6y ago
  Polnareff was huge in native France. French artists from the 60s and 70s tended to be big all over Europe and some places in the Middle East and Asia, but completely ignored in the English-speaking world.
  - m4rtink 6y ago
    No wonder, he is a ladies man & has a cool stand that looks like a knight in shining armor!
howlgarnish 6y ago
Boney M is inexplicably huge in Thailand, and at one point every rickshaw driver in India had a cassette of the Vengaboys. See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_in_Japan_(phrase) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_in_Japan_(phrase)
freetime2 6y ago
Maybe not the best example, but The Carpenters may be better known in Japan at this point than in the US. I think the first song by them that I ever heard was in Japan. > As recently as 2009, another Carpenters retro album (40/40) reached No. 3 on Japan’s overall charts [1] http://splashingrocks.blogspot.com/2013/01/opening-splash-east-asia-and-carpenters.html http://splashingrocks.blogspot.com/2013/01/opening-splash-ea...
- defen 6y ago
  Now I finally understand why a Sesame Street song was in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
swatkat 6y ago
There's a phrase for that - "Big in Japan"[0]. Many 80s one-hit-wonders of the west were big in Japan (or any other eastern countries). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_in_Japan_(phrase) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_in_Japan_(phrase)
zhte415 6y ago
Michael Learns to Rock were huge pan-Asia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Learns_to_Rock https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Learns_to_Rock

This piqued my interest - do you have any particular examples?

mathattack 6y ago

Alissa Milano was big there as a singer.

tomcam 6y ago
Obviously we need to re-evaluate our foreign relations with them

brigandish 6y ago

Do you know Beautiful Sunday by Daniel Boone or Welcome to the Edge by Billie Hughes? I certainly don't. Most of the others are played relentlessly in corner shops, malls and radio stations. I've heard so many Carpenters songs now I may as well be trapped in the 70s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_singles_in_Japan#List_of_best-selling_singles_by_Western_acts https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_singles_i...

girzel 6y ago
Ha! I showed up in Beijing in 2001 at the age of 22 or something, and was met with frank disbelief when I not only failed to sing along with "Yesterday Once More", but failed to recognize The Carpenters at all.

GolDDranks 6y ago

Here's one, not sure if it's popular in Western countries, but it sure is in Japan. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL7gxqk0fkU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL7gxqk0fkU

Bayart 6y ago
Polnareff was huge in native France. French artists from the 60s and 70s tended to be big all over Europe and some places in the Middle East and Asia, but completely ignored in the English-speaking world.
- m4rtink 6y ago
  No wonder, he is a ladies man & has a cool stand that looks like a knight in shining armor!

howlgarnish 6y ago

Boney M is inexplicably huge in Thailand, and at one point every rickshaw driver in India had a cassette of the Vengaboys. See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_in_Japan_(phrase) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_in_Japan_(phrase)

freetime2 6y ago

Maybe not the best example, but The Carpenters may be better known in Japan at this point than in the US. I think the first song by them that I ever heard was in Japan. > As recently as 2009, another Carpenters retro album (40/40) reached No. 3 on Japan’s overall charts [1] http://splashingrocks.blogspot.com/2013/01/opening-splash-east-asia-and-carpenters.html http://splashingrocks.blogspot.com/2013/01/opening-splash-ea...

defen 6y ago
Now I finally understand why a Sesame Street song was in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker

swatkat 6y ago

There's a phrase for that - "Big in Japan"[0]. Many 80s one-hit-wonders of the west were big in Japan (or any other eastern countries). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_in_Japan_(phrase) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_in_Japan_(phrase)

zhte415 6y ago

Michael Learns to Rock were huge pan-Asia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Learns_to_Rock https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Learns_to_Rock