Guest post by Nathan Arizona
You could hardly turn on Top 40 radio in 1963 without hearing a pretty, slightly melancholy pop song called “Sukiyaki.” But there was something different about it, and the title gave it away.
For the first time, a song from Japan was soaring up the charts over here. The language barrier wasn’t holding many people back. The tune just had the feel of that familiar Top 40 topic, unrequited teen-age love. And singer Kyo Sakamoto had the fresh good looks of a teen idol. He might have been a model for the pretty-boys of today’s J-Pop.
Listeners might have been a little disconcerted if they knew that in Japan the angelic-looking Sakamoto was so aggressive that had gotten into fights with band members when he thought he wasn’t getting enough attention.
And maybe some would be turned off if they knew the song’s title actually referred to a a Japanese “hot-pot” dish with beef and vegetables. The original title was changed because the record company thought “Sukiyaki” would sound more Japanese to Western ears.
The new title, one critic said, was “like issuing “Moon River’ under the title ‘Beef Stew.’ “
But the tune sounded so good to America teens and listeners throughout the world that “Sukiyaki” became one of the most endearing — and enduring — songs in pop music. It was the first Asian song to hit the U.S. Billboard charts, where it sat at No. 1 for three weeks. It went on to be the 19th-best selling record in history, 3 million and counting worldwide. The success of “Sukiyaki” in the West was seen as a sign that Japan was back in play after its losses in World War II.
A Tidal playlist shows 165 covers of “Sukiyaki” (some from Japan) by artists from A Taste of Honey, Chet Atkins, and exotica specialist Martin Denny to the Ventures, Bobby Caldwell and jazz guys Bob James and Dr. Lonnie Smith.
The moody song might even have inspired a rare time when “Mad Man” Don Draper kept his pants on when opportunity knocked, this time in a Japanese restaurant where a waitress came onto him as “Sukiyaki” played in the background. More likely, though, he was only depressed because he has just had to fire a client.
Sakamoto became the toast of many towns. He had no more American hits, but his death in 1985 put him back in the news. He was on his way to a gig when he became one of 520 people killed in what is still the worst airplane crash in Japanese history.
Here’s the song as heard on American radio in 1963.
A Taste of Honey followed up their hit “Boogie Oogie Oogie” by recording “Sukiyaki.” Here they are on “American Bandstand.”
Nashville’s Chet Atkins brought his mad guitar skills to the song.
Keyboardist Bob James jazzed it up with vocalist Seiko Matsuta.
