There are at least two artists that go by the name of Alphaville: 1) Alphaville is a German synthpop/-rock music group which gained popularity in the 1980s. The founding members were Marian Gold (real name Hartwig Schierbaum, born May 26, 1954 in Herford), Bernhard Lloyd (real name Bernhard Gößling, born June 6th, 1960 in Enger, Bielefeld) and Frank Mertens (real name Frank Sorgatz, born October 26, 1961 in Enger, Bielefeld). The band was at first named Forever Young. The band is best known for its two biggest hits, "Big In Japan" and "Forever Young", which was the theme for many high school proms in the 1980s. ...show more

There are at least two artists that go by the name of Alphaville: 1) Alphaville is a German synthpop/-rock music group which gained popularity in the 1980s. The founding members were Marian Gold (real name Hartwig Schierbaum, born May 26, 1954 in Herford), Bernhard Lloyd (real name Bernhard Gößling, born June 6th, 1960 in Enger, Bielefeld) and Frank Mertens (real name Frank Sorgatz, born October 26, 1961 in Enger, Bielefeld). The band was at first named Forever Young. The band is best known for its two biggest hits, "Big In Japan" and "Forever Young", which was the theme for many high school proms in the 1980s.

In 1984 the re-named Alphaville released their debut single "Big in Japan", followed by "Sounds Like A Melody" and "Forever Young", quickly followed by the album Forever Young. Despite its success Frank Mertens left the band in the same year and was replaced by Ricky Echolette (born Wolfgang Neuhaus, in Cologne, August 6, 1960) in January 1985. "Big In Japan" was their biggest U.S. success, shooting to #1 on Billboard's Dance chart.

While they never again had a Top 20 U.S. Dance hit, several of their releases went Top 40 and Top 30 on the Dance charts. They were less successful at mainstream U.S. radio, reflected by their showing on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles charts, where "Big" only reached #66. ...show less