The concept predated the phrase Neil Sedaka made it big in Japan with " One Way Ticket" before breaking through in his native United States. The phrase began to appear in several major Japanese foreign-rock magazines, especially Music Life magazine, in the late 1970s, and in most cases, the "big in Japan" artists became popular in Japan due to being featured by Music Life. However, the expression is commonly used ironically to mean successful in a limited, potentially comical, oddly specific, or possibly unverifiable way. Big are generally considered a one-hit wonder for their single " To Be with You".īig in Japan is an expression that can be used to describe Western (especially North American or European) musical groups who achieve success in Japan but not necessarily in other parts of the world. They were one of the two most popular foreign music artists in Japan alongside Bon Jovi. Big are a "Big in Japan" band from the United States. And sound mixer Adam Powers deserves a shout-out for his double-duty contribution: He plays, quite amusingly, the enigmatic Mans, a serene eccentric who’s maybe a tad too eager to guide fellow Westerners through Tokyo.Mr. (Drury, for example, really is an accomplished blackjack player – evidently more successful in real life than he is here - and was featured in the 2011 documentary “Holy Rollers: The True Story of Card Counting Christians.”) And if their “characters” sometimes seem like stereotypes, that doesn’t make them any less believable as they strive to catch a break and keep hope alive.įluid digital lensing by Jeffcoat and Ryan McMackin (drummer for yet another real band, the Maldives) gives “Big in Japan” a feel of spontaneity and documentary-style intimacy. Each plays a variation of his offscreen self, complete with distinctive quirks and/or colorful baggage. Not surprisingly, Drury, Peterson and Lowry are effortlessly convincing as friends and collaborators whose sometimes jokey, sometimes bickering interactions are informed by a shared past. This contrived crisis is such a stale cliche that most viewers may feel unreasonably relieved when it’s tossed aside just as arbitrarily as it’s introduced in the first place. The soulless suit offers to sign the band, but only if – are you ready for this? - one of the band members is dropped from the lineup. Indeed, Jeffcoat gets into trouble only when, late in the game, he attempts to impose a more rigid narrative structure by dropping into the mix a gladhanding record company exec (played by Jeffcoat himself). But the freewheeling discursiveness is more engaging than annoying.
Big in japan band movie#
(Tennis Pro’s pop-rock tunes actually seem more suitable for a Monkees album than a Beatles LP - not that there’s anything wrong with that, mind you.) The movie saunters from scene to scene at an unhurried pace, with only a token storyline to unite musical interludes, mildly comical episodes, whimsical dabs of local color and, briefly, a semi-psychedelic, anime-flavored fantasy. It’s tempting to describe “Big in Japan” as “Lost in Translation” meets “A Hard Day’s Night,” but that might make it sound zanier, or more substantial, than it is. And, more important, it doesn’t prevent the strangers in a strange land from gradually bridging the cultural divide - and establishing camaraderie with some local musicians - with their poppy music and their bemused curiosity.
Here, however, the language barrier often is impenetrable, but not insurmountable.
In another movie with a different agenda, such a setup easily could have led to something downbeat or bittersweet. Once they arrive, however, the bandmates find themselves playing as bill fillers in second- and third-rate clubs, straining to make sense of subway routes to various gigs, and making do with less-than-deluxe accommodations in a disreputable hotel where they must share a room, whether they want to or not, with a hard-working working girl. With Vincent as their official booking agent, they head for Tokyo in the hope of gaining recognition and establishing a fanbase for Tennis Pro. But after a chance encounter with Alex Vincent - another real-life rocker, a former drummer for the grunge group Green River - Phil, David and Sean are encouraged to try one last roll of the dice.
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