Artists who became more popular in Japan than in their own land

Neubauten

I forgot Spinal Tap

Shampoo!

Jesse and the Rippers

Lots of obscure powerpop acts. Wondermints, Merrymakers and Trampolines for starters.

A lot of Finnish metal bands apparently, Sonata Arctica is the first to come to mind.

Menswear.

izzy stradlin
marty friedman

Big In Japan

how true is the whole "big in japan" thing, I wonder? I'd always believed Shampoo were all huge in Japan and stuff but if you look in a karaoke box's list of songs you don't find Shampoo songs (or Silver Sun, or any of those other groups who were supposed to be all daininki in nippon), and you'd think that if they'd been so big there'd be some trace left of their existence. I sort of suspect that there's a bigger culture of devoted niche fans in Japan, but it doesn't seem all that reflected in, you know, mainstream success, or even recognition.

Cheap Trick

alphaville

BMX Bandits

Sultans of Ping

Power Of Dreams

C Sharp Major: good question. Still, as the Japanese is the second biggest record market on the world, even a group with a strong cult following could sell more records there than home.

John Coltrane was supposedly dumbstruck upon his first Japanese visit to find a crowd of fans gathered at the airport awaiting his arrival. (Which makes me kinda wonder if Impulse! was screwing him out of his foreign-market record royalties...)

Durutti Column

Dead or Alive have had 17 number one hits in Japan

Everyone on el records, I think.

I think Gorky's Zygotic Mynci were huge in Japan.

swing out sister!

"Few of the band's releases charted highly on the pop listings in Western countries after the successful debut album (though they became radio-airplay staples on jazz stations). The band, however, became extremely popular in Japan. Their song "Now You're Not Here" (from their fifth album "Shapes And Patterns", one of several released only in Japan) was used as the theme to a Japanese TV program, and received a Japanese 'Grand Prix' (the equivalent of a Grammy) for best international single in 1997."

"Filth and Dreams", their sixth album, proved yet again that Swing Out Sister was eager to reinvent themselves. The album was released in Japan in March 1999, and it remains the only album not released in any other country."

this album only came out in france:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/cb/Banana_exotica.JPG

still need to hear that cover of careless whisper...

lotta underground rap dudes

The Climax - SPACE RADIO ONE

Tuning the dial at midnight
I found that unknown station only one time
The song gradually got louder
Hearing "ONE HUDRED PUNKS"
for the first time

(...Can you hear me?...
...Can your really hear this broadcast?...)

This song on the radio that day
surely came from outer space
The song selection and timing they were fate...

The radio played that song
The song that gave me the sensation
The song selection and timig they were fate...

Diving down the road at night
Turned into my favorite radio station FEN
Hearing the spacy intro
'WON'T GET FOOLED AGAIN'
for the first time

(...Can you hear me?...
...Can your really hear this broadcast?...)

The song on the radio that day
Rocketed me to outer space
The song selection and timing they were fate...

The radio played that song
The soung that gave me the sensation
The song selection and timing they were fate...

On that sad night
When she left for good
Elvis sang"I'll remember you"
What a gently beautiful one

The song selection and timing
A diving broadcast wasn't by chance
what wonderfully beautiful songs

Mr.Big were still touring in Japan up to a few years ago.

My friend Kevin is in a band called Fake Shark Zombie, who put out their record first in Japan & have played a good handful of shows there. Their quirks seem to win big favour with Japan, but not their hometown of Vancouver as much.

From what I understand, former Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman has gotten so popular for playing guitar with a Japanese pop star that he is now a TV host in Japan.

Whiteout.

anyone over five foot ten.

xxxpost. That's "Fake Shark Real Zombie". I know they are barely known in Vancouver but "big favour in Japan" - weird.

Dead or Alive have had 17 number one hits in Japan

Not that Japan has two different hitlists, one for Japanese acts and one for foreign acts. Japanese acts always almost outsell the foreign ones by a lot.

;_;

Ned Doheny

John Coltrane was supposedly dumbstruck upon his first Japanese visit to find a crowd of fans gathered at the airport awaiting his arrival.

ditto miles davis. and the live albums tell the tale: all the us-recorded live stuff has cash registers interrupting the bass solos, whereas live in japan sounds like it was recorded in a massive concert hall.

(Which makes me kinda wonder if Impulse! was screwing him out of his foreign-market record royalties...)

of course they were. they were a record label, weren't they?

despite having a song called "big in japan," green were never popular there. but they were huge in holland and belgium.

No one gonna mention Japan?

Bon Jovi, Jon Spencer, Hanoi Rocks

everything - I can't believe I messed up their name! Of a friend too, which is quite shameful. "Fake shark real zombie" that is :)

To add to j-rock's comment, Mr. Big have a disproportionate presence on karaoke song lists over there. The Carpenters should also be on the list. My friend's Japanese wife credits Karen Carpenter's easy-to-understand diction with helping her to learn English.

Surf guitar (the Ventures in particular) is still loved over there.