Kyu Sakamoto
(Read all about Kyu Sakamoto after the video)
Kyu Sakamoto (坂本 九 Sakamoto Kyū?, born Hisashi Oshima (大島 九 Ōshima Hisashi?), 10 December 1941 – 12 August 1985) was a Japanese singer and actor, best known outside Japan for his international hit song "Ue o Muite Arukō" (known as "Sukiyaki" in English-speaking markets), which was sung in Japanese and sold over 13 million copies. It reached number one in the United States Billboard Hot 100
in June 1963, making Sakamoto the first Asian recording artist to have a
number one song on the chart. Sakamoto died on August 12, 1985, in the
crash of Japan Airlines Flight 123, the deadliest single-aircraft accident in history.
Life and career
Early years: 1941–1949
Childhood in Kawasaki and Kasama
Kyu Sakamoto was born in 1941, in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture
to Hiroshi Sakamoto, a cargo tender officer, and his wife Iku Oshima.
He was the youngest of his father's nine children, which is why he was
nicknamed Kyu-chan (九ちゃん Kyū-chan?), meaning "nine". It is also an alternate reading of the kanji of his given name Hisashi (九?).
In the summer of 1944, during the air raids over the greater Tokyo area, his mother took her children to live with their grandparents in rural Kasama.
They moved back to Kawasaki in 1949. Hiroshi Sakamoto's company had
been closed by the American occupation forces and he opened a
restaurant.[1]
1956–1958
Teenage life
In
1956, Kyu Sakamoto's parents divorced. Iku was given custody over her
minor children and they adopted the surname Oshima. The older children
kept their father's name. Kyu started playing in high school, but he
soon began singing. He joined the Japanese pop-band The Drifters in 1958.
First recordings (1959–1960)
JVC and Toshiba Records
In
May 1958, when Sakamoto was 16 years old he joined the Japanese
pop-band The Drifters that had been formed three years earlier. Sakamoto
was unhappy about his position in the band as second singer and this
often led to fights with the other members. His big breakthrough as a
band member came 26 August 1958 when he sang at the annual music
festival "Western Carnival" at the Nichigeki hall. After a quarrel that
ended in a fight with two of the other members, Sakamoto left the band
in November 1958.
For a short period of time, Sakamoto returned to his studies and
focused on entering the university. But in December 1958, he joined his
classmate's Hisahiko Iida's band called "Danny Iida and Paradise King".
He replaced Hiroshi Mizuhara as singer. Sakamoto's career took off, he
ended his studies and left school. In June 1959, the band got a record
deal at the JVC record company. "Danny Iida and Paradise King" and
Sakamoto released their song "Kanashiki rokujussai" in August 1960,
which became a great hit. In the time after they released a number of
songs that became very popular. This led to Sakamoto obtaining a record
deal at the Toshiba Records company and left "Danny Iida & Paradise King" aiming at a solo career.[2]
Solo career (1961–1985)
Debut album and international success (1961–1964)
Kyu Sakamoto (far left) being interviewed live on the Swedish talk show Hylands hörna in October 1964.
Sakamoto's solo career was inaugurated with the love song "Ue o Muite Arukō" written by Rokusuke Ei and Hachidai Nakamura. The song was first heard on the NHK
entertainment program "Yume de Aimashou" on 16 August 1961. It was a
great success and was released on a red vinyl on October 15. It remained
the highest selling record until January 1962, three months after its
release.
His international breakthrough came in 1963 during a visit to Japan by Louis Benjamin, owner of British record company Pye Records.
Hearing the song several times, Benjamin decided to bring it back to
England. Due to concerns that the title would be too hard for English-speakers to pronounce or remember, the song was renamed "Sukiyaki". The new title was intended to sound both catchy and distinctively Japanese, but had no actual connection to the song.
Initially, Pye Records released an instrumental version of the song recorded by Kenny Ball and His Jazzmen. After it went on to become a hit in England, His Master's Voice
(HMV) released the original which also sold well, reaching sixth place
in HMV's most sold records. Capitol Records released the song in the USA
with the alternate title, eventually selling over one million copies,[3] and remaining number one on the "Billboard Hot 100 number one single" for three weeks in June, 1963.
After the international success of "Sukiyaki", Sakamoto went on a
world tour that lasted from summer of 1963 to the beginning of 1964.
Among the countries he visited were the United States (including
Hawaii), Germany, and Sweden. During his time in the U.S., he was
invited to appear in several television shows. On 13 August 1963, he
landed at Los Angeles International Airport and was a guest of The Steve Allen Show[4] that evening. He was supposed to be a guest on The Ed Sullivan Show as well, but this appearance was canceled due to a scheduling conflict with the production of his upcoming movie, Kyu-chan Katana o Nuite.[5]
Kyu Sakamoto had only one other song reach the U.S. charts, "China
Nights (Shina no Yoru)" (Capitol 5016), which peaked at number 58 in
1963. His only American album, Sukiyaki and Other Japanese Hits
(Capitol 10349), peaked at number 14 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart
(now known as the Billboard 200) in 1963 and remained on the Pop Albums
chart for 17 weeks.
He received his sole foreign Gold Record of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) by Capitol Records on 15 May 1964 in Hotel Okura, Tokyo.
Later appearances
During the 1964 Summer Olympics, he was featured on the Swedish TV-program Hylands hörna broadcast live from Tokyo.[6]
In 1968, Sakamoto and Hachidai Nakamura participated in the international singing contest "Festival Internacional da Canção" in Rio de Janeiro with the song "Sayonara, sayonara".[7]
Marriage and family
In 1971, Sakamoto married Japanese actress Yukiko Kashiwagi. The couple had two daughters, Hanako and Maiko.
Death
On August 12, 1985, Kyu Sakamoto died in the crash of Japan Airlines Flight 123, the deadliest single-aircraft accident in history.[8]
He is interred at Chōkoku-ji Temple in Minato, Tokyo.[9]
Legacy
His most popular song, "Ue o Muite Aruko" ("I look up when I walk") remains the only Japanese song to reach number one on the Billboard pop charts in the United States,
a position it maintained for three weeks in 1963. It was also the first
ever Japanese language song to enter the UK charts, though it only
climbed to number 6 with no further chart entries.
"Sukiyaki" has been covered multiple times over the years, beginning with the instrumental by Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen. Sukiyaki was also covered as an instrumental, by English pianist Johnny Pearson, during 1982. Well-known English-language cover versions include a 1981 cover by A Taste of Honey and a 1995 cover by 4 P.M., both of which made the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100. In 1989, Selena's self-titled album
contained a Spanish translation of the Taste of Honey cover which was
released as a single in 1990. The English lyrics have also appeared in
whole or in part in songs by performers including Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh (1985's "La Di Da Di"),[10] Salt-N-Pepa (1985's "The Show Stopper"), Snoop Dogg (1993's "Lodi Dodi", a "La Di Da Di" cover), Bone Thugs-n-Harmony (1995's "Bless Da 40 Oz."), Raphael Saadiq (1995's "Ask of You", another to make the Hot 100), Mary J. Blige (1997's "Everything") and Will Smith (1999's "So Fresh", featuring Slick Rick).
An American version by Jewel Akens
with different American lyrics written for it. Titled "My First Lonely
Night (Sukiyaki)" in 1966, the song reached number 82 on the Billboard Hot 100.
On 16 March 1999, Japan Post issued a stamp commemorating Kyu Sakamoto and "Sukiyaki".[11] The stamp is listed in the Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue as Japan number 2666 with a face value of 50 yen.
"Sukiyaki" is also the song played on the platform before the train doors close at Tomobe Station in Kasama, Ibaraki, Japan.[citation needed]
"Ue o Muite Aruko" was featured in the soundtrack of the 2011 Studio Ghibli film From Up on Poppy Hill. In one scene, an animated Kyu Sakamoto is seen performing the song on the television.
An instrumental version of "Ue o Muite Aruko" was used in episode 2 of the Amazon series "The Man in the High Castle", a reimagining of life in the United States had the United States lost World War II.
In the series, set in 1963, the year the song debuted, Japan is given
control over the West Coast, and "Ue o Muite Aruko" can be heard playing
in a bar.
"Sukiyaki" was also featured in season 2, episode 2 of the television show "Mad Men", a show about advertising in the 1960's.
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