Big in Japan was a punk band that emerged from Liverpool, England in the late 1970s. They are better known for the later successes of their band members than for their own music. According to the Liverpool Echo, Big in Japan were "a supergroup with a difference - its members only became super after they left."

Big in Japan formed in late 1977 in Liverpool around guitarist Bill Drummond and several short-lived lineups that finally settled down around vocalist Jayne Casey, guitarist Ian Broudie, bassist Holly Johnson, and drummer Budgie. Violently theatrical, the band was dividing opinions almost from the moment it emerged, with Casey and Johnson particularly prone to flamboyance. Local producer Clive Langer was a firm friend and fan, however; he produced the band's first single, released by the local Eric's label in late 1977 and featuring a track by the Yachts, under their Chuddy Nuddies alias, on the B-side.

The group's membership proved astonishingly far-sighted. Casey went on to the brilliant Pink Military, Johnson formed Frankie Goes to Hollywood, and Budgie became a Banshee. Broudie moved through a handful of acts -- Original Mirrors, Ellery Bop, Care, and the long-running Lightning Seeds -- and produced dozens of bands across the '80s, '90s, and 2000s, including Echo & the Bunnymen, the Fall, Alison Moyet, and the Coral. Balfe joined Zoo's the Teardrop Explodes and started Food, an EMI subsidiary that introduced Jesus Jones and Blur to the world. Drummond instigated the KLF and its many offshoots.

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