Kyu Sakamoto has the distinction of being the only Japanese artist to ever to score a #1 hit internationally. His song “Ue o Muite Aruko”, known outside Japan as “Sukiyaki”, went to #1 in the US Billboard charts, in 1963, and no Japanese act has managed to crack the top 40 since (
Seiko Matsuda came closest with her single “The Right Combination” in 1990). “Sukiyaki” stands as proof that Japanese pop can have international appeal, and a as challenge, given that nobody has ever been able to match the feat in over 40 years. Kyu Sakamoto was born November 10, 1941 in Kawasaki, the son of a restaurant owner. He began singing in local clubs at an early age, signed with Toshiba in 1959, and released is first record the following year. He had several hits, and appeared on TV and in movies. His biggest hit was “Ue o Muite Aruko” (Looking Up As I Walk), about a man trying to hold his tears, which went to #1 and sold over 500,000 copies in Japan. The song was written by pianist Hachidai Nakamura, with words by Rokusuke Ei, who is said to have written the lyrics after having his heart broken by actress Meiko Nakamura.
Louis Benjamin, the head of the UK’s Pye Records, heard the song while visiting Japan and took a copy home. He had the clarinet led trad-jazz group Kenny Ball & the Jazzmen do a cover version of it, which he re-titled “Sukiyaki” after his favorite Japanese cuisine, and had it go into the top ten. Shortly thereafter DJ Richard Osbourne of the Pas...
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Kyu Sakamoto has the distinction of being the only Japanese artist to ever to score a #1 hit internationally. His song “Ue o Muite Aruko”, known outside Japan as “Sukiyaki”, went to #1 in the US Billboard charts, in 1963, and no Japanese act has managed to crack the top 40 since (
Seiko Matsuda came closest with her single “The Right Combination” in 1990). “Sukiyaki” stands as proof that Japanese pop can have international appeal, and a as challenge, given that nobody has ever been able to match the feat in over 40 years. Kyu Sakamoto was born November 10, 1941 in Kawasaki, the son of a restaurant owner. He began singing in local clubs at an early age, signed with Toshiba in 1959, and released is first record the following year. He had several hits, and appeared on TV and in movies. His biggest hit was “Ue o Muite Aruko” (Looking Up As I Walk), about a man trying to hold his tears, which went to #1 and sold over 500,000 copies in Japan. The song was written by pianist Hachidai Nakamura, with words by Rokusuke Ei, who is said to have written the lyrics after having his heart broken by actress Meiko Nakamura.
Louis Benjamin, the head of the UK’s Pye Records, heard the song while visiting Japan and took a copy home. He had the clarinet led trad-jazz group Kenny Ball & the Jazzmen do a cover version of it, which he re-titled “Sukiyaki” after his favorite Japanese cuisine, and had it go into the top ten. Shortly thereafter DJ Richard Osbourne of the Pasco, Washington radio station KORD started playing Sakamoto’s original version, using the “Sukiyaki” title. Requests for the song put it into heavy rotation, and soon after Capitol picked up the record. The song went to #1 in Billboard for three weeks, and sold over a million copies in the States. A follow up release “China Nights” made it to #58 in Billboard, and an album containing both called
Sukiyaki & Other Japanese Hits was also released. The original Kyu Sakamoto version of the song was also later released in the UK, and like the cover, went into the top 10. “Sukiyaki” was also a hit in Germany, and became quite well known worldwide. Many people have recorded the song, and there are R&B;, reggae, Latin, surf and lounge renditions of it. A number of artists playing in Japan, including Bob Dylan, have performed versions live. In 1981 the American female soul duo A Taste of Honey remade “Sukiyaki” and had it chart for 24 weeks and go to #3 in Billboard. In 1995 a version by 4PM went to #8. The song was also recorded by Latin superstar Selena. Tragically Kyu Sakamoto was killed along with 519 others on August 12, 1985 at the age of 43, in Japan’s worst ever airplane accident.
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