[post redacted because independent.co.uk thinks that links to their ridiculous rag are a bad thing. Somebody might want to tell them how the internet works. Or not. We don't really care. They do suck though. Our advice is that you should not click on the link and whatever you do, don't read their truly terrible articles.]
"I'm Big in Japan!": American Celebs Who Are Inexplicably Popular in Foreign Countries
by Anonymous | reply 55 | August 19, 2018 9:43 PM |
Like, we're huge in Europe right now. I mean, we've got records . . . uh, a big record just broke in Belgium.
by Anonymous | reply 1 | August 5, 2018 4:30 PM |
I'll save you the clicks. Lionel Ritchie is big in the Middle East.
by Anonymous | reply 2 | August 5, 2018 4:42 PM |
r2, my name is Lionel RICHIE
by Anonymous | reply 3 | August 5, 2018 4:43 PM |
LOL
by Anonymous | reply 4 | August 5, 2018 6:38 PM |
Swing Out Sister is a terrific band who had a hit with Breakout in the '80s but their subsequent material never took off. But they are popular in Japan and have released Japan-only albums.
by Anonymous | reply 5 | August 5, 2018 6:41 PM |
oops, they are not American.
by Anonymous | reply 6 | August 5, 2018 6:44 PM |
My dick is big in Japan.
by Anonymous | reply 7 | August 5, 2018 9:20 PM |
ewtwe
by Anonymous | reply 8 | August 6, 2018 2:59 AM |
The late Deborah Raffin, was known in the US primarily for her numerous tv movie-of-the-weeks and mini-series, but she was never a big star. However, over in mainland China, she was the biggest western movie star, after her "Nightmare in Badham County" (1976) became such a surprise theatrical hit over there. Thereafter, whenever big US stars were interviewed by the Chinese press, they would be asked if they had ever starred with Deborah Raffin or planned on doing so, and the stars were like, "Um... sure... why not?"
by Anonymous | reply 9 | August 6, 2018 3:47 AM |
Kevin Spacey is big in China!
by Anonymous | reply 10 | August 6, 2018 3:52 AM |
That's interesting!!!
by Anonymous | reply 12 | August 6, 2018 3:12 PM |
The Carpenters are super big in Japan.
by Anonymous | reply 13 | August 6, 2018 3:18 PM |
R5, I really enjoy Swing Out Sister too! I have almost everything they've ever done--although I didn't care for "Filth and Dreams."
by Anonymous | reply 14 | August 6, 2018 3:20 PM |
Okay, she's Canadian, but Avril Lavigne is HUGE in Japan
by Anonymous | reply 16 | August 6, 2018 3:23 PM |
All the models who can't make it in the US market go to Japan and make it there, they go to china too.
by Anonymous | reply 17 | August 6, 2018 3:25 PM |
I can't remember but there was a TV series that was huge in China but only did OK in USA.
by Anonymous | reply 18 | August 6, 2018 3:26 PM |
I think that was Prison Break, r18
by Anonymous | reply 19 | August 6, 2018 3:46 PM |
Cock Robin, a pop band from the 1980s and early 1990s, had a few hits in France. I lived there twice in the 1980s and early 1990s, and they had some hits on the pop radio stations and saw them perform on some of the French tv shows. I was never sure why their songs, which were decent pop songs, never charted well in the US or UK.
Here's my favorite song by them, Worlds Apart from 1990.
by Anonymous | reply 20 | August 6, 2018 5:01 PM |
Pia Zadora has several hit pop/dance records in Europe in the 80s even though her records in the US (with exception of her ‘Pia and Phil’ American songbook album) barely went noticed here.
by Anonymous | reply 22 | August 6, 2018 5:09 PM |
Donald Trump - huge in Russia!
by Anonymous | reply 23 | August 6, 2018 5:42 PM |
I'm big EVERYWHERE!
by Anonymous | reply 24 | August 6, 2018 5:52 PM |
Mr. Big only scored one hit in the US, but are huge in Japan.
Snow also has a Japanese following.
by Anonymous | reply 25 | August 6, 2018 7:17 PM |
The short-lived 1990s series Profit was apparently a hit in France.
by Anonymous | reply 26 | August 6, 2018 7:19 PM |
Audrey Landers was the Stevie Nicks of West Germany in the 80's.
by Anonymous | reply 27 | August 6, 2018 7:51 PM |
Alyssa Milano had a bit of success as a singer in Japan.
by Anonymous | reply 28 | August 6, 2018 7:59 PM |
The Bold and the Beautiful and its actors used to be very big in Europe (Italy, The Netherlands and so on).
by Anonymous | reply 29 | August 6, 2018 8:00 PM |
R29 The Bold and the Beautiful I heard that it's also big in South Africa.
by Anonymous | reply 30 | August 6, 2018 8:47 PM |
Yes, that's true r29 and r30. They are treated like royalty overseas but can live (relatively) anonymously in the States.
However, I have heard that, despite the massive success overseas, it has no bearing on ratings States-side.
by Anonymous | reply 31 | August 6, 2018 8:55 PM |
Kenny G is big in China
[quote] For years the tune, in all its seductive woodwind glory, has been a staple of Chinese society. Every day, “Going Home” is piped into shopping malls, schools, train stations and fitness centers as a signal to the public that it is time, indeed, to go home.
by Anonymous | reply 32 | August 6, 2018 8:58 PM |
Jennifer Love Hewitt had a singing career in Japan
by Anonymous | reply 33 | August 6, 2018 9:39 PM |
Yes 31, I heard the same. It was especially huge in the 90's over here. They would invite the stars to TV shows in the Netherlands and Italy and they would be treated like you say, royalty.
I sometimes wonder why American audiences didn't warm to it, why it didn't have likewise popularity in the States? I know it's not being shown around prime time (like it has in Europe) and that matters, but still, it's a huge difference...
by Anonymous | reply 34 | August 6, 2018 10:02 PM |
Naomi Campbell had a single in Japan.
by Anonymous | reply 35 | August 6, 2018 10:13 PM |
The TV show I was talking about is HUNTER which starred Fred Dryer as Sgt. Rick Hunter, big in China
by Anonymous | reply 36 | August 6, 2018 10:42 PM |
R5 and R14, you may already know this but Swing Out Sister have a new album entitled "Almost Persuaded." I am digging it.
by Anonymous | reply 37 | August 6, 2018 10:49 PM |
Thank you, R37! A quick google search says it reached #7 on the US Jazz Albums chart. Good for them!
Is the style the same thing they've done for the last decade or so--loungy jazzy a la Bacharach--or did they do what I still hope for: a return to the sound of Get In Touch with Yourself?
by Anonymous | reply 38 | August 6, 2018 10:54 PM |
American celebrities aren't as big in Japan as is said in the American media. That said, the one that always made me laugh was the extreme affection for Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer.
by Anonymous | reply 39 | August 6, 2018 10:56 PM |
R38, I'd say it's more jazzy… I'd compare it to their "Somewhere Deep in the Night" album.
by Anonymous | reply 40 | August 6, 2018 11:00 PM |
r23 wins!
by Anonymous | reply 41 | August 7, 2018 3:33 AM |
In the 70' during the tennis boom blonde female tennis players - whether they were any good or not - got lucrative endorsement deals in Japan. One player, Rayni Fox, never ever reached a tournament final and she was huge in Japan. She was cute and had that great name, but not a star stateside. Carling Bassett later parlayed huge deals in Japan and she was good - for a while.
by Anonymous | reply 42 | August 7, 2018 8:36 PM |
Billy Herrington - the King of gachimuchi owns this thread.
by Anonymous | reply 43 | August 7, 2018 9:45 PM |
A lot of the big country stars of the 1980s like Kenny Rogers are big in certain parts of Africa.
Dennis Rodman is popular in North Korea. So are a lot of the 1990s basketball superstars.
The show Tropical Heat aka. Sweating Bullets, and it's lead actor, Rob Stewart are huge in Siberia. Stewart found out on Facebook.
by Anonymous | reply 44 | August 8, 2018 1:59 AM |
Jerry Lewis had that France thing going for him
by Anonymous | reply 45 | August 8, 2018 2:05 AM |
David Hasselhoff in Germany
by Anonymous | reply 46 | August 8, 2018 3:19 AM |
The Runaways were bigger in Japan than they were in the US.
by Anonymous | reply 47 | August 8, 2018 3:52 AM |
Mentioned this the last time we had one of these threads, but when I went to Ialy in 2001 I found out that Bryan Adams was all over the radio there, singing in Italian.
Also Victoria Silvestredt (sp?) had apparently washed up there. I watched her on their Sabado Gigante type Saturday night variety show. Her Italian was pretty good.
by Anonymous | reply 48 | August 8, 2018 4:00 AM |
uoyuouo
by Anonymous | reply 49 | August 8, 2018 3:21 PM |
I know that he's not American but Tom Hiddleston is big in Korea.
by Anonymous | reply 50 | August 19, 2018 8:27 PM |
Jerry Lewis is big in France
by Anonymous | reply 51 | August 19, 2018 8:34 PM |
Al Corley (first Steven on Dynasty) was a recording star in Europe in the 1980s — he even recorded a love ballad with Shirley Bassey.
This was his big worldwide hit, which barely charted in the U.S.
by Anonymous | reply 52 | August 19, 2018 8:40 PM |
ITS sounds like the Japanese really love crap.
by Anonymous | reply 53 | August 19, 2018 8:47 PM |
Debbie Gibson and especially Tiffany were very popular in Japan as well.
by Anonymous | reply 55 | August 19, 2018 9:43 PM |