According to Asian Billboard Top 100 reports, Tom Goss, who plays both the washboard and harmonica on the ledge across from the UgLi, has a huge fan base in Japan. Goss holds a place in the hearts of Japanese women and girls comparable to the way they feel about erasers shaped like sushi, Harajuku girls, and iPhone cases with bunny ears.
Goss first gained popularity in Japan in the ‘90s after touring the countryside performing for local peasants. Hideki Fujimoto, a self-proclaimed “superfan,” claims that “Tom is the best performer out of America since Lady Gaga, or the blind scat singer from the corner of 32nd Street and Martin Luther King Blvd. in Chicago!”
Japanese music executives predict that Goss’ holiday album will have sold 600,000 copies (bringing in 862,800,000 yen) by Christmas time. Goss’s popularity in Japan led him to joins the ranks of minor league baseball players, comic book artists, and Bob Saget, all of whom have little clout in the Western World.
For his part, Goss says he is not surprised by his international notoriety. “I always knew I would make it big. My sound is really one of a kind, particularly in a region where the music scene is flooded with J-pop”.
Regarding his future, along with what he plans to do with his expected wealth from royalties, he said, “I may buy a new flannel shirt.”
