Alphaville (band)
Encyclopedia
Alphaville is a German
synthpop
group which gained popularity in the 1980s. The founding members were Marian Gold
(real name Hartwig Schierbaum, born 26 May 1954 in Herford
, North Rhine-Westphalia
), Bernhard Lloyd (real name Bernhard Gößling, born 6 June 1960 in Enger
, North Rhine-Westphalia
), and Frank Mertens (real name Frank Sorgatz, born 26 October 1961 in Enger, North Rhine-Westphalia). The band was at first named Forever Young before changing to Alphaville. They are best known for their two biggest hits, "Big in Japan
" and "Forever Young
". As of 2010 they have sold over 6,000,000 albums.
band Big in Japan. In autumn 1984, they released their debut album, Forever Young, produced by Colin Pearson, Wolfgang Loos and Andreas Budde. Despite its success, Frank Mertens left the band that year and was replaced in January 1985 by Ricky Echolette (born Wolfgang Neuhaus, in Cologne
on 7 August 1960), who was credited on the Forever Young album.
"Big In Japan" was Alphaville's biggest hit, topping the charts in Germany
, Greece
, Switzerland
, Sweden
, Venezuela
and the U.S. Billboard Dance Chart
(the group's only Top 10 on any Billboard chart). The single also reached the Top Five in Italy
, the Netherlands
, Norway
, Austria
, Ireland
and South Africa
. It became the group's only Top 20 single in the UK, peaking at #8.
The band's next two singles, "Sounds Like a Melody
" and "Forever Young
," were also both Europe
an Top 5 successes, although the former track failed to make an impression on the American charts.
Amid reports that pop star Laura Branigan
was featuring the song on her next album, Hold Me, Alphaville's "Forever Young" was re-released as a single in the US, but it did not prove to be massively popular. Branigan's version, though promoted on stickers adorning the album, subsequently remained an album cut in the US. She would go on to perform the song as an encore at nearly every concert she performed, until her death in 2004. The Alphaville version was released a third time in the US in 1988, to promote Alphaville: The Singles Collection, and peaked at #65, their highest charting (and also last) single on the Billboard Hot 100
. International re-releases of Alphaville's "Forever Young" followed in 1989, 1993, 1996, 1999, 2001, 2005 and 2009. Several covers have been recorded featuring male or female vocalists often erroneously attributed to be Alphaville's Marian Gold or Laura Branigan.
, was released and its first single "Dance With Me
" was a Top 20 hit in Germany
, France
, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, South Africa and in remix form on the US Hot Maxi Singles chart
, and reached the Top 30 in Austria, Italy and in the US Club Play chart
. The album's second single was "Universal Daddy
". For their third single, the band released "Jerusalem" in Germany only, while they went with "Sensations" for Austria, France, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. The final single from Afternoons in Utopia
was "Red Rose
", in 1987.
The LP
was followed up in 1989 with The Breathtaking Blue
, including the acclaimed (if not so successful) singles "Romeos
" and "Mysteries of Love". The album was released as a CD+G
, including black & white stills with original lyrics and German translation. As an alternative to individual music video
s, the band enlisted nine directors, among them Godfrey Reggio
(Koyaanisqatsi
), to create a film entitled Songlines
based on the album's tracks.
The next album, Prostitute, was not released until 1994. The first single released was "Fools
", followed by the second and last single from the album, "The Impossible Dream". In 1996, Ricky Echolette left the band.
Salvation, a back-to-the-roots opus, followed in 1997.
Stark Naked and Absolutely Live
was released in 2000
In 2001, they released both their remix album Forever Pop
and a DVD
entitled Little America, which documented two concerts performed in Salt Lake City, Utah
, USA.
Bernhard Lloyd did not contribute to the 2003 album CrazyShow
, and shortly after its release on March 18, 2003, he officially left the group. The current core stage members of Alphaville are Marian Gold (vocals), Martin Lister (keyboards), David Goodes (guitars) and Jakob Kiersch (drums).
The album "Catching Rays On Giant", the first commercial studio album in 13 years, was released on November 19, 2010 and entered the official German album charts at number 9 in its first week of release. It is available in two formats, one as a 12-track CD and the other a deluxe edition with CD plus 4 bonus tracks and DVD. It is also available digitally from various download platforms. The DVD in the deluxe package includes the video to the first single and a documentary titled "Audiovision" which is there in a normal version and also in a 3D version. The package contains 3D glasses to enable the viewer to enjoy this. The band held an album release party, where they played a short unplugged set, at the Quasimodo Club in Berlin on the evening of 18 November 2010 to which their closest fans and friends were invited.
The album uniquely features band member Martin Lister on lead vocals on the track "Call Me Down".
, 1992, and United
, 1996, both mixing personal creations and covers), alongside his work in the band.
Lloyd also worked on a project named Atlantic Popes with singer Max Holler, a 13-track CD. In 1996, Frank Mertens started a musical project called Maelstrom, which was a combination of ambient
-style music, impressionistic and colorful art in the form of paintings and sculptures, and etheric poetry
. This project seems now to have been abandoned, though, as Mertens has not been visibly active with it.
At present the band is still touring and working on new material and have signed new deal with the Universal Music Group. The first single and album releases were available at first only in Germany and through online shops and download platforms in German-speaking countries. The first single from album was titled "I Die For You Today". This became available as a digital download on October 8, 2010. The single was released in CD format on October 22, 2010. It entered the official German charts at number 15 in its first week of release and stayed in the top 100 for 8 weeks. Invited by the designer Michael Michalsky
, Alphaville performed songs from the new album as well as old hits at the StyleNite
on 21 January 2011 during Berlin Fashion Week.
Alphaville is touring the album Catching Rays On Giant across Germany in March 2011 with 12 dates currently planned.
The second single from the Catching Rays On Giant album is the track Song For No One, to be released on 4 March 2011.
" was featured in the movie Listen to Me (1989) featuring Kirk Cameron
in one of his first film roles. It appeared also in an episode of the sitcom It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
entitled "Underage Drinking: A National Concern
" during a scene in which the main characters attend a high-school prom. Additionally, "Forever Young" was played in a high school prom-related scene in the 2004 film Napoleon Dynamite
. The American car company Saturn also used "Forever Young" in a promotional advertisement for the Saturn Ion
.
Swedish Melodic Metal Band Embraced
did a cover of "Big in Japan
" on their 1998 Album Amorous Anathema
. In 2000, Guano Apes
also covered "Big in Japan" in their second full-length album, Don't Give Me Names
. A puppet version of Wayne Rooney
sings a karaoke version of "Big in Japan" on an episode of I'm on Setanta Sports
. Rooney's team, Manchester United was in Japan that week for the FIFA World Cup Championship. Oakley's
2005 snowboarding DVD entitled The Community Project featured Alphaville's "Big in Japan" in the Japan sequence. In 2008, "Big in Japan" was featured in the commercial for the Swedish TV show Stor i Japan (Translated: Big in Japan) and was also used several times within the show, using different cover versions as the opening theme. VH1 Classic
's show 120 Minutes often features the song.
In the first part of 2006, Australian guitar band Youth Group
took their remake of "Forever Young" to #1 in the Official Australian Charts, thanks in part to exposure the track had received from being on popular US TV series The O.C.
and its fifth TV soundtrack CD, Music from the OC: Mix 5. In 2007 and 2008, "Forever Young" was used in a commercial for Tourism New Zealand in their Worldwide "100% Pure New Zealand" Campaign. In 2009, "Forever Young" was featured in HBO's Big Love
episode #27 after Sarah Henrickson
tells her brother Ben in the sunrise after prom that she is pregnant.
The German
-Tunisian rapper Bushido
sampled the song "Forever Young" on his 2008 song "Für immer jung
" featuring Karel Gott
. The song appeared on his eighth album Heavy Metal Payback
.
In 2009, the single "Young Forever
" from the album The Blueprint 3 featured Jay-Z
rapping over a version of the song "Forever Young" sung by Mr Hudson.
The Alphaville song "Big in Japan
" was sung by contestant István Szarka on the Hungarian talent show Megasztár
in May 2010. The song quickly became a YouTube
sensation dubbed "Bikicsunáj
", complete with subtitles mocking Szarka's lack of understanding and poor pronunciation of the English lyrics. Adrien (member of the band BB Brunes
) and Keren Ann
sang « Big in Japan» during the television/radio programme Taratata broadcasted on France2, France4 and Europe1 in March 2011.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
synthpop
Synthpop
Synthpop is a genre of popular music that first became prominent in the 1980s, in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic art rock, disco and particularly the "Kraut rock" of...
group which gained popularity in the 1980s. The founding members were Marian Gold
Marian Gold
Marian Gold is the lead singer of the German synthpop group, Alphaville.His multi-octave tenor voice appears in Alphaville's 1980s pop singles, including "Forever Young", "Big in Japan", "Sounds Like a Melody" and "Dance with Me".Since the early 1990s, Gold has taken Alphaville from a studio-based...
(real name Hartwig Schierbaum, born 26 May 1954 in Herford
Herford
Herford is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, located in the lowlands between the hill chains of the Wiehen Hills and the Teutoburg Forest. It is the capital of the district of Herford.- Geographic location :...
, North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...
), Bernhard Lloyd (real name Bernhard Gößling, born 6 June 1960 in Enger
Enger
Enger is a town in the Herford district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.-Geography:Enger is situated between the Teutoburg Forest and the Wiehen Hills, approx...
, North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...
), and Frank Mertens (real name Frank Sorgatz, born 26 October 1961 in Enger, North Rhine-Westphalia). The band was at first named Forever Young before changing to Alphaville. They are best known for their two biggest hits, "Big in Japan
Big in Japan (song)
"Big in Japan" is the debut single of the band Alphaville. It is from their 1984 album Forever Young. The title comes from a phrase Big in Japan, which was used to describe Western bands who are popular with Japanese audiences while garnering little attention in their home country.The single was a...
" and "Forever Young
Forever Young (Alphaville song)
"Forever Young" is the title track from German rock/synthpop group Alphaville's 1984 debut album of the same name. Though it was not the group's highest-charting European hit and failed to reach the American Top 40 despite three separate U.S...
". As of 2010 they have sold over 6,000,000 albums.
Beginnings - Forever Young
Alphaville formed in early 1982, when Marian Gold and Bernhard Lloyd met each other at the music project Nelson Community. Some months later, Frank Mertens joined the project. Together the three wrote Forever Young and recorded their first demo of the same name. In 1984, the newly-renamed Alphaville released their debut single, "Big in Japan", which Gold wrote in 1979 after hearing the music of Holly Johnson'sHolly Johnson
Holly Johnson is an English artist, writer and musician, best known as the lead vocalist of Frankie Goes to Hollywood, and former bassist for Big in Japan.- Big in Japan :...
band Big in Japan. In autumn 1984, they released their debut album, Forever Young, produced by Colin Pearson, Wolfgang Loos and Andreas Budde. Despite its success, Frank Mertens left the band that year and was replaced in January 1985 by Ricky Echolette (born Wolfgang Neuhaus, in Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
on 7 August 1960), who was credited on the Forever Young album.
"Big In Japan" was Alphaville's biggest hit, topping the charts in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
and the U.S. Billboard Dance Chart
Billboard charts
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...
(the group's only Top 10 on any Billboard chart). The single also reached the Top Five in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
and South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. It became the group's only Top 20 single in the UK, peaking at #8.
The band's next two singles, "Sounds Like a Melody
Sounds Like a Melody
"Sounds Like a Melody" is a song by West German rock/synthpop group Alphaville, from the group's debut album Forever Young. The single was released on May 14, 1984.In Sweden, the song topped the very first Tracks ever on September 8, 1984....
" and "Forever Young
Forever Young (Alphaville song)
"Forever Young" is the title track from German rock/synthpop group Alphaville's 1984 debut album of the same name. Though it was not the group's highest-charting European hit and failed to reach the American Top 40 despite three separate U.S...
," were also both Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an Top 5 successes, although the former track failed to make an impression on the American charts.
Amid reports that pop star Laura Branigan
Laura Branigan
Laura Ann Branigan was an American singer-songwriter and actress of Italian and Irish ancestry. She is best known in the United States for her 1982 Platinum-certified hit "Gloria" and in Europe for the number-one single "Self Control"...
was featuring the song on her next album, Hold Me, Alphaville's "Forever Young" was re-released as a single in the US, but it did not prove to be massively popular. Branigan's version, though promoted on stickers adorning the album, subsequently remained an album cut in the US. She would go on to perform the song as an encore at nearly every concert she performed, until her death in 2004. The Alphaville version was released a third time in the US in 1988, to promote Alphaville: The Singles Collection, and peaked at #65, their highest charting (and also last) single on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
. International re-releases of Alphaville's "Forever Young" followed in 1989, 1993, 1996, 1999, 2001, 2005 and 2009. Several covers have been recorded featuring male or female vocalists often erroneously attributed to be Alphaville's Marian Gold or Laura Branigan.
Subsequent albums
In 1986, their second album, Afternoons in UtopiaAfternoons In Utopia
Afternoons in Utopia is the second album released by Alphaville in 1986, by Warner Music. The album was recorded between September 1985 and May 1986, and Alphaville employed no less than 27 guest musicians and singers to record the songs...
, was released and its first single "Dance With Me
Dance with Me (Alphaville song)
"Dance with Me" is the first of five singles from Alphaville's second album, Afternoons in Utopia. It was released in March 1986, ahead of the album.-Reviews:...
" was a Top 20 hit in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, South Africa and in remix form on the US Hot Maxi Singles chart
Hot Dance Singles Sales
Hot Dance Singles Sales is a chart released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States, established in 1985. It measures the sale of commercially released singles that deal with dance music and remixes...
, and reached the Top 30 in Austria, Italy and in the US Club Play chart
Hot Dance Club Play
The Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs...
. The album's second single was "Universal Daddy
Universal Daddy
Universal Daddy is the 6th single by Alphaville, and their second from their album Afternoons in Utopia.-Reviews:This song was described as one of the album's best songs and reminiscient of the kind of music that their contemporaries the Pet Shop Boys might produce.-Track listings:7" single#...
". For their third single, the band released "Jerusalem" in Germany only, while they went with "Sensations" for Austria, France, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. The final single from Afternoons in Utopia
Afternoons In Utopia
Afternoons in Utopia is the second album released by Alphaville in 1986, by Warner Music. The album was recorded between September 1985 and May 1986, and Alphaville employed no less than 27 guest musicians and singers to record the songs...
was "Red Rose
Red Rose (Alphaville song)
Red Rose is the fifth and final single from Alphaville's 1986 album, Afternoons in Utopia. It was released in April 1987, and is their ninth single overall....
", in 1987.
The LP
LP album
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
was followed up in 1989 with The Breathtaking Blue
The Breathtaking Blue
The Breathtaking Blue is the third album released by the German band Alphaville in 1989. A companion video, Songlines was released in 1990. The Compact Disc release of this album was one of the first commercial CD+G format discs...
, including the acclaimed (if not so successful) singles "Romeos
Romeos
Romeos is the first single from Alphaville's 1989 album The Breathtaking Blue. It was released a month ahead of the album, and was the first single by Alphaville to be released as a CD single, previous singles having preceded the format's rise in popularity.-Reviews:Graeme Kay praised singer &...
" and "Mysteries of Love". The album was released as a CD+G
CD+G
CD+G is an extension of the compact disc standard that can present low-resolution graphics alongside the audio data on the disc when played on a compatible device...
, including black & white stills with original lyrics and German translation. As an alternative to individual music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
s, the band enlisted nine directors, among them Godfrey Reggio
Godfrey Reggio
Godfrey Reggio is an American director of experimental documentary films.-Life:Born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. Reggio co-founded La Clinica de la Gente, a facility that provided medical care to 12,000 community members in Santa Fe, and La Gente, a community-organizing project in...
(Koyaanisqatsi
Koyaanisqatsi
Koyaanisqatsi also known as Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance, is a 1982 film directed by Godfrey Reggio with music composed by Philip Glass and cinematography by Ron Fricke....
), to create a film entitled Songlines
Songlines (Alphaville video)
Songlines is a video released by the German band Alphaville in 1990, created during the production of Alphaville's 1989 album The Breathtaking Blue...
based on the album's tracks.
The next album, Prostitute, was not released until 1994. The first single released was "Fools
Fools (Alphaville song)
Fools is the first single from Alphaville's fourth album Prostitute, and their fourteenth single overall. It was released in July 1994.-Track listings:CD Maxi Single# "Fools " - 3:54# "Fools " - 3:59...
", followed by the second and last single from the album, "The Impossible Dream". In 1996, Ricky Echolette left the band.
Salvation, a back-to-the-roots opus, followed in 1997.
Stark Naked and Absolutely Live
Stark Naked and Absolutely Live
-Credits:*Lead Vocals: Marian Gold*Keyboards: Martin Lister*Guitars: Rob Harris*Drums and percussion: Shane Meehan*Backing Vocals: Martin Lister, Rob Harris & the crowds...
was released in 2000
In 2001, they released both their remix album Forever Pop
Forever Pop
Forever Pop is a collection of new remixes of older Alphaville songs and singles. The people responsible for some of the remixes include notables such as Paul Van Dyk, Mark Plati, and De-Phazz.-Reviews:...
and a DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
entitled Little America, which documented two concerts performed in Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
, USA.
Bernhard Lloyd did not contribute to the 2003 album CrazyShow
CrazyShow
CrazyShow is a limited-edition four-CD album by Alphaville, composed of new material as wellas rare and remixed tracks, and three cover versions...
, and shortly after its release on March 18, 2003, he officially left the group. The current core stage members of Alphaville are Marian Gold (vocals), Martin Lister (keyboards), David Goodes (guitars) and Jakob Kiersch (drums).
The album "Catching Rays On Giant", the first commercial studio album in 13 years, was released on November 19, 2010 and entered the official German album charts at number 9 in its first week of release. It is available in two formats, one as a 12-track CD and the other a deluxe edition with CD plus 4 bonus tracks and DVD. It is also available digitally from various download platforms. The DVD in the deluxe package includes the video to the first single and a documentary titled "Audiovision" which is there in a normal version and also in a 3D version. The package contains 3D glasses to enable the viewer to enjoy this. The band held an album release party, where they played a short unplugged set, at the Quasimodo Club in Berlin on the evening of 18 November 2010 to which their closest fans and friends were invited.
The album uniquely features band member Martin Lister on lead vocals on the track "Call Me Down".
Projects
Gold has released two solo albums (So Long CelesteSo Long Celeste
So Long Celeste is the first solo album by Alphaville singer/songwriter Marian Gold, released in 1992. Included on the album were cover versions of "The Shape of Things to Come" by The Headboys and "One Step Behind You" by Furniture....
, 1992, and United
United (Marian Gold album)
United is the second solo album by Alphaville singer/songwriter Marian Gold, released in 1996.-Track listing:# "Danger in Your Paradise" - 4:39# "Caroline" - 5:04# "Feathers and Tar" - 5:20# "Missionary" - 4:31# "For the Sake of Love" - 5:20...
, 1996, both mixing personal creations and covers), alongside his work in the band.
Lloyd also worked on a project named Atlantic Popes with singer Max Holler, a 13-track CD. In 1996, Frank Mertens started a musical project called Maelstrom, which was a combination of ambient
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
-style music, impressionistic and colorful art in the form of paintings and sculptures, and etheric poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
. This project seems now to have been abandoned, though, as Mertens has not been visibly active with it.
At present the band is still touring and working on new material and have signed new deal with the Universal Music Group. The first single and album releases were available at first only in Germany and through online shops and download platforms in German-speaking countries. The first single from album was titled "I Die For You Today". This became available as a digital download on October 8, 2010. The single was released in CD format on October 22, 2010. It entered the official German charts at number 15 in its first week of release and stayed in the top 100 for 8 weeks. Invited by the designer Michael Michalsky
Michael Michalsky
Michael Michalsky is a German fashion designer and designer of lifestyle products. He is the founder and head designer of the fashion label MICHALSKY. He is also the Creative Director of the luxury handbag manufacturer MCM since 2005...
, Alphaville performed songs from the new album as well as old hits at the StyleNite
Stylenite
The Stylenite is a cultural event organized by Berlin’s designer Michael Michalsky. It has evolved from Michalsky’s fashion shows and takes place twice a year during Berlin Fashion Week...
on 21 January 2011 during Berlin Fashion Week.
Alphaville is touring the album Catching Rays On Giant across Germany in March 2011 with 12 dates currently planned.
The second single from the Catching Rays On Giant album is the track Song For No One, to be released on 4 March 2011.
Alphaville in popular culture
Alphaville's song "Forever YoungForever Young (Alphaville song)
"Forever Young" is the title track from German rock/synthpop group Alphaville's 1984 debut album of the same name. Though it was not the group's highest-charting European hit and failed to reach the American Top 40 despite three separate U.S...
" was featured in the movie Listen to Me (1989) featuring Kirk Cameron
Kirk Cameron
Kirk Thomas Cameron is an American actor best known for his role as Mike Seaver on the television situation comedy Growing Pains , as well as several other television and film appearances as a child actor...
in one of his first film roles. It appeared also in an episode of the sitcom It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is an American television sitcom that premiered on FX on August 4, 2005. New episodes continue to air on FX, with reruns playing on Comedy Central, general broadcast syndication, and WGN America—the first-ever cable-to-cable syndication deal for a sitcom...
entitled "Underage Drinking: A National Concern
Underage Drinking: A National Concern
"Underage Drinking: A National Concern" is the third episode of the American situation comedy series It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. It aired on August 18, 2005 on the FX Network in the United States. The episode was the first to be directed by Dan Attias...
" during a scene in which the main characters attend a high-school prom. Additionally, "Forever Young" was played in a high school prom-related scene in the 2004 film Napoleon Dynamite
Napoleon Dynamite
Napoleon Dynamite is a 2004 comedy film co-written and directed by Jared Hess and Jerusha Hess and stars Jon Heder as Napoleon Dynamite. The film was Jared Hess' first full-length feature and is partially adapted from his earlier short film, Peluca....
. The American car company Saturn also used "Forever Young" in a promotional advertisement for the Saturn Ion
Saturn ION
The Saturn Ion was a compact car sold by the Saturn marque of American automaker General Motors between the 2003 and 2007 model years. It used the GM Delta platform. The Ion replaced the Saturn S-Series in 2003,...
.
Swedish Melodic Metal Band Embraced
Embraced
Embraced is a Swedish black metal band, formed in Malmö, Sweden in 1993. They released their first demo in 1997, and signed with Regain Records; they then toured Sweden, Finland, and Germany. After adding another keyboardist and guitarist, they released their full-length Amorous Anathema in 1998....
did a cover of "Big in Japan
Big in Japan (song)
"Big in Japan" is the debut single of the band Alphaville. It is from their 1984 album Forever Young. The title comes from a phrase Big in Japan, which was used to describe Western bands who are popular with Japanese audiences while garnering little attention in their home country.The single was a...
" on their 1998 Album Amorous Anathema
Amorous Anathema
-Track listing:# "A Dying Flame" - 6:35# "The End... and Here We All Die" - 8:36# "Nightfall" - 5:29# "Princess of Twilight" - 4:59# "Into the Unknown" - 4:15# "Memento of Emotions" - 7:06# "The Beautiful Flow of an Autumn Passion" - 3:14...
. In 2000, Guano Apes
Guano Apes
Guano Apes are an alternative rock band formed in 1994 in Göttingen, Germany. The group members are Sandra Nasić , Henning Rümenapp , Stefan Ude and Dennis Poschwatta ....
also covered "Big in Japan" in their second full-length album, Don't Give Me Names
Don't Give Me Names
Don't Give Me Names is the second album by the German band Guano Apes, released in 2000. It includes the singles "Big in Japan" , "No Speech", "Living in a Lie" and "Dödel Up"....
. A puppet version of Wayne Rooney
Wayne Rooney
Wayne Mark Rooney is an English footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Manchester United and the England national team...
sings a karaoke version of "Big in Japan" on an episode of I'm on Setanta Sports
I'm on Setanta Sports
Special 1 TV is a satirical football television programme, produced by Blue Elf Productions and Caboom Entertainment....
. Rooney's team, Manchester United was in Japan that week for the FIFA World Cup Championship. Oakley's
Oakley, Inc.
Oakley, Inc., based in Foothill Ranch, California, makes sport equipment including sunglasses, sports visors, and ski goggles, as well as watches, clothing, bags, backpacks, shoes, prescription glasses, football and hockey eyewear, Golf gear and other accessories...
2005 snowboarding DVD entitled The Community Project featured Alphaville's "Big in Japan" in the Japan sequence. In 2008, "Big in Japan" was featured in the commercial for the Swedish TV show Stor i Japan (Translated: Big in Japan) and was also used several times within the show, using different cover versions as the opening theme. VH1 Classic
VH1 Classic
VH1 Classic is a television network, launched on May 8, 2000. It is operated as part of MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom and primarily features music videos and concert footage from the 1970s through the mid-1990s, though it formerly included a wider range of genres and time periods...
's show 120 Minutes often features the song.
In the first part of 2006, Australian guitar band Youth Group
Youth Group
Youth Group are a rock band based in Newtown, Sydney, Australia signed to Ivy League Records.- Biography :Youth Group formed in Sydney in the late 1990s. They have released four albums in Australia, with the three most recent albums also gaining releases worldwide...
took their remake of "Forever Young" to #1 in the Official Australian Charts, thanks in part to exposure the track had received from being on popular US TV series The O.C.
The O.C.
The O.C. is an American teen drama television series that originally aired on the Fox television network in the United States from August 5, 2003, to February 21, 2007, running a total of four seasons...
and its fifth TV soundtrack CD, Music from the OC: Mix 5. In 2007 and 2008, "Forever Young" was used in a commercial for Tourism New Zealand in their Worldwide "100% Pure New Zealand" Campaign. In 2009, "Forever Young" was featured in HBO's Big Love
Big Love
Big Love is an American television drama that aired on HBO between March 2006 and March 2011. The show is about a fictional fundamentalist Mormon family in Utah that practices polygamy...
episode #27 after Sarah Henrickson
Sarah Henrickson
Sarah Elizabeth Henrickson is a character on the HBO series Big Love. She is portrayed by Amanda Seyfried. Sarah is the eldest child of Bill Henrickson with his first and legal wife Barbara Henrickson...
tells her brother Ben in the sunrise after prom that she is pregnant.
The German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
-Tunisian rapper Bushido
Bushido (rapper)
Anis Mohamed Youssef Ferchichi, , better known as Bushido, is a German rapper. The word Bushido is Japanese and means "Way of the Warrior". He also uses the pseudonym Sonny Black, based on Dominic Napolitano. As of 2009, he sold more than 1,5 million albums in Germany alone...
sampled the song "Forever Young" on his 2008 song "Für immer jung
Für immer jung
"Für immer jung" is a song by Czech schlager singer Karel Gott, and a cover of Alphaville's hit song "Forever Young", with German song lyrics...
" featuring Karel Gott
Karel Gott
Karel Gott is a Czech Schlager singer, and an amateur painter. He is considered as the most successful male singer in former Czechoslovakia and currently in the Czech Republic; he has being voted the Most Favorite Male Singer in the annual national pool Český slavík in total thirty-six times...
. The song appeared on his eighth album Heavy Metal Payback
Heavy Metal Payback
Heavy Metal Payback is the sixth solo album by German rapper Bushido, released October 10, 2008 under the record label ersguterjunge. The title of the album was taken from an earlier song entitled "Heavy Metal Payback" from Aggro Ansage Nr. 2. 3 Singles were released: "Ching Ching", "Für immer...
.
In 2009, the single "Young Forever
Young Forever
Young Forever is the debut album from Scottish indie band Aberfeldy. It was recorded in mono using one microphone and produced by Jim Sutherland.-Track listing:# "A Friend Like You"# "Slow Me Down"# "Love Is An Arrow"# "Tie One On"# "Summer's Gone"...
" from the album The Blueprint 3 featured Jay-Z
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...
rapping over a version of the song "Forever Young" sung by Mr Hudson.
The Alphaville song "Big in Japan
Big in Japan (song)
"Big in Japan" is the debut single of the band Alphaville. It is from their 1984 album Forever Young. The title comes from a phrase Big in Japan, which was used to describe Western bands who are popular with Japanese audiences while garnering little attention in their home country.The single was a...
" was sung by contestant István Szarka on the Hungarian talent show Megasztár
Megasztár
Megasztár - Voice of the Year is a Hungarian voice talent television series that started in 2003 and is currently in its fifth season, on TV2...
in May 2010. The song quickly became a YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
sensation dubbed "Bikicsunáj
Bikicsunáj
Bikicsunáj is an Internet meme that appeared in Hungary in May 2010.László Szarka, a 40-year-old security guard from Ököritófülpös, Hungary sang the Alphaville song "Big in Japan" with very poor English pronunciation on the first episode of the fifth season of Megasztár, a talent show on TV2...
", complete with subtitles mocking Szarka's lack of understanding and poor pronunciation of the English lyrics. Adrien (member of the band BB Brunes
BB Brunes
BB Brunes is a French pop rock band, part of the "new French rock scene" .In 2000, Adrien Gallo, Karim Réveillé and Raphaël Delorme, childhood friends, formed the band "Hangover" with songs exclusively in English. Some years later, Raphaël left the band at the moment when they were signing their...
) and Keren Ann
Keren Ann
Keren Ann Zeidel is a singer-songwriter-composer-producer and engineer based largely in Paris, Tel Aviv and New York City. She plays guitar, piano and clarinet, engineers and writes choir and musical arrangements.-Life and career:...
sang « Big in Japan» during the television/radio programme Taratata broadcasted on France2, France4 and Europe1 in March 2011.
Discography
- Forever Young (1984)
- Afternoons in UtopiaAfternoons In UtopiaAfternoons in Utopia is the second album released by Alphaville in 1986, by Warner Music. The album was recorded between September 1985 and May 1986, and Alphaville employed no less than 27 guest musicians and singers to record the songs...
(1986) - The Breathtaking BlueThe Breathtaking BlueThe Breathtaking Blue is the third album released by the German band Alphaville in 1989. A companion video, Songlines was released in 1990. The Compact Disc release of this album was one of the first commercial CD+G format discs...
(1989) - Prostitute (1994)
- Salvation (1997)
- Catching Rays on GiantCatching Rays on GiantCatching Rays on Giant is the 6th studio album by Alphaville, and it was released on November 19, 2010 in Europe.- Track listing :...
(2010)