Kyu Sakamoto
Kyu Sakamoto holds the record for the first number one pop record performed entirely in Japanese, 1963's "Sukiyaki." Though that's a sweet distinction to have, the translated lyrics to the million-selling song are anything but: "Sadness hides in the shadows of the stars/I look up when I walk so the tears wont fall...."
Kyu Sakamoto (pronounced "cue") was born in 1941 in Kawasaki, Japan, the son of a restaurateur. He began singing in jazz clubs as a teenager, before being signed to Toshiba Records in 1959. He had several Japanese pop hits and appeared in movies and on TV and radio programs. On a business trip to Japan, Louis Benjamin, president of U.K. label Pye Records, Ltd, heard Sakamoto's "Ue O Muite Aruko" (I Look up When I Walk). Renaming it after his favorite Japanese cuisine, sukiyaki, Benjamin had a Pye jazz artist record the tune, a Top Ten U.K. hit. Sakamoto's original version began getting airplay on DJ Richard Osborne's show on Pasco, WA, radio station KORD, which due to listener demand put the song in heavy rotation. Capitol Records bought the U.S. distribution rights for the record. Sakamoto's "Sukiyaki" went gold and charted on three of Billboard's charts: number one Pop for three weeks, number 18 R&B, and number one adult contemporary during the summer of 1963. On the flip side was "Anoko No Namaewa Nantenkana." The follow-up single, "China Nights" b/w "Benkyo No Cha Cha Cha" peaked at number 58 pop in late summer 1963. Other Sakamoto singles are "Elimo" b/w "Why" and "Tankobushi" b/w "Olympics Song." His only U.S. LP, Sukiyaki and Other Japanese Hits, was released that same year. "Sukiyaki," now a standard, has been a hit for A Taste of Honey and for '90s R&B group Four P.M. At the age of 43, Kyu Sakamoto died in a plane crash that killed 520 people on August 12, 1985, near Tokyo, Japan.
© Ed Hogan /TiVo
Discografia
15 album • Ordinato per Bestseller
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上を向いて歩こう
Asia - Pubblicato da Universal Music LLC il 13 lug 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Presenting Kyu Sakamoto's Sukiyaki
Asia - Pubblicato da Universal Digital Enterprises il 24 mar 1960
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Best Kyu Sakamoto 90
Asia - Pubblicato da Universal Music LLC il 23 ott 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Ue O Muite Arukou (Mono Version)
Asia - Pubblicato da BNF Collection il 1 gen 1962
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
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Natsukashiki Love - Song
Generi vari - Pubblicato da Sony Music Direct (Japan) Inc. il 6 dic 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sukiyaki (Ue O Muite Arukou)
Pop - Pubblicato da Unknown Pleasures Sound il 28 feb 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sukiyaki
Elettronica - Pubblicato da diaries of golden times il 15 mar 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sukiyaki (Ue O Muite Arukō)
Pop - Pubblicato da Milestones Records il 6 mar 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sukiyaki (1962)
Pop - Pubblicato da JB Production CH il 1 ott 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sukiyaki (Ue O Muite Arukō)
Pop - Pubblicato da Milestones Records il 6 mar 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Benkyou No Cha Cha Cha
Pop - Pubblicato da JB Production il 13 ago 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo