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
Diskografie
15 Album, -en • Geordnet nach Bestseller
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Presenting Kyu Sakamoto's Sukiyaki
Asien - Erschienen bei Universal Digital Enterprises am 24.03.1960
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
上を向いて歩こう
Asien - Erschienen bei Universal Music LLC am 13.07.2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Best Kyu Sakamoto 90
Asien - Erschienen bei Universal Music LLC am 23.10.2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Ue O Muite Arukou (Mono Version)
Asien - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1962
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
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Natsukashiki Love - Song
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei Sony Music Direct (Japan) Inc. am 06.12.2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sukiyaki (Ue O Muite Arukou)
Pop - Erschienen bei Unknown Pleasures Sound am 28.02.2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sukiyaki
Electronic - Erschienen bei diaries of golden times am 15.03.2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sukiyaki (Ue O Muite Arukō)
Pop - Erschienen bei Milestones Records am 06.03.2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sukiyaki (1962)
Pop - Erschienen bei JB Production CH am 01.10.2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sukiyaki (Ue O Muite Arukō)
Pop - Erschienen bei Milestones Records am 06.03.2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Benkyou No Cha Cha Cha
Pop - Erschienen bei JB Production am 13.08.2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo