| artist: | KYU SAKAMOTO |
| label: | TOSHIBA JP-5083 |
| release: | 1961, Japan, 7" 45rpm |
| A-side: | Ue O Muite Aruko (Sukiyaki) () |
| B-side: | Anoko-No Namae-Wa Nantenkana () |
| notes from reelgeorgeinc (eBay): | Remember Kyu Sakamoto? His biggest hit, "Ue o Muite Aruko" (I Look Up When I Walk" (aka "Sukiyaki") was released in Japan in 1961. After its release in the U.S. in 1963, the song's earnestness and melodic beauty proved irresistible despite its incomprehensible lyrics. Against all odds, on 15 June 1963, the song ousted Leslie Gore's It's My Party to become the No. 1 popular song in the U.S. Sukiyaki remains the biggest international hit by a Japanese popular singer. Why the title Sukiyaki? The explanation is simple: intercultural ignorance. Western DJs needed a song title that was at once easily pronounceable and associated with Japan. So, "Sukiyaki" was it, even though the word is not mentioned in the song, and it has nothing to do with food. The song was such a big hit that Capitol hoped they could take some of his other huge Japanese hits and turn them into US hits as well. Alas, it never happened. On this single from September of 1963, he's taken the perennial pop hit "China Nights" and updated it. This was a song that was enormously popular in Japan in the late '40s and early '50s. On the flip is "Benkyo No Cha Cha Cha." |