beautiful song

Love it.

This song has an interesting history....It was based on an old Chinese folk song and it's original title when translated meant...."Look up when you walk". The singer that sang it in the 60's died in the late 80's early 90's. The lead singer of A Taste of Honey", loved the original and started writing new lyrics to it....she then lost the rights to the guy who then sang it in the 60's....Through some work, she was able to obtain the rights again.....and the rest as they say, is history.

shorttrini said:

Thanks for posting I LOVE the original as well, but the taste of honey version turned out great...

vainandy said:

Hate it.

And all twenty other versions of it too.

shorttrini said:

Japanese, I think.

From http://www.japanorama.com/kyuchan.html

Kyu Sakamoto (Sakamoto Kyu in Japanese) was born Hisashi Oshima (Oshima Hisashi in Japanese) on 10 November 1941 in Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture. He made his show business debut in 1960.

His biggest hit, Ue o Muite Aruko (I Look Up When I Walk; Sukiyaki in the West), 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. (After three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard chart, Sukiyaki was deposed by Easier Said Than Done by The Essex.) To this date, Sukiyaki remains the biggest international hit by a Japanese popular singer.

Credit for the song's popularity also is due to the music by Hachidai Nakamura and the lyrics by Rokusuke Ei, who is said to have written this touching evocation of loneliness after his heart was broken by the actress Meiko Nakamura.

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.

Nicknamed Kyu-chan (an affectionate diminutive) for his sincerity and charming smile, he also recorded such popular songs as "Shiawase Nara Te o Tatako" and "Miagete Goran Sora no Hoshi o."

Sadly and prematurely, 43-year-old Kyu Sakamoto was killed on 12 August 1985, when JAL Flight 123, a 747 bound from Haneda Airport in Tokyo to Osaka, lost pieces of its tail sections and spiraled downward nightmarishly for 30 minutes (long enough for some passengers to scribble shaky farewells to their families). The plane crashed and burned on a thickly wooded mountain about 60 miles northwest of Tokyo, killing 520 and injuring four, in the worst single airplane disaster in aviation history.

Although Kyu Sakamoto's golden voice was stilled, his songs remain popular in Japan and overseas.

Why am I posting so much about a song I don't even like?

FunkMistress said:

well thanks, anyway! That was unintentionally informative, ...




...

FunkMistress said:

What about philip bailey's "walking on the chinese wall".

Oh, hell no

Especially to the original. So fuckin' cutesy.

I heard the beginning of this song on the radio about 15 minutes ago...I turned the radio off

shorttrini said:

Another interesting fact: A Taste of Honey's record label (RCA) didn't want to release this song as a single! They released two uptempo singles from the album that became only minor hits ("Rescue Me" and "I'm Talking About You") and were ready to give up on the album.I don't know how it happened (perhaps some radio DJs began playing it,or the girls kept pestering the label,lol) but finally,"Sukiyaki" was released as the third single in early 1981.It became a massive hit,their biggest hit single since "Boogie Oogie Oogie".

They're performing it on this recent live-DVD .


Funny thing with that DVD-performance is that Hazel Payne ( pictured on the left ) performs along with her ,
playing gracefully on a traditional Japanese koto .






From what i've known is that Janice Marie Johnson went solo in 1984 and so far didn't reunite with Hazel .




On her site she's presented with another kitten which i believe is called Suzan Thomas .




In Janice's site-biography , Hazel and the other original members ,
Donald Johnson and the late Percy Kimble are not even mentioned .




So is there any beef going on ? I've seen that kinda thing more times on sites from artists who went solo .
What's up with all that drama ? Like fucked-up relationships or whatever .



Taste of Honey II




http://www.voyagespettacoli.it/home.php



Anyone fans of these tracks ? :



- Don't You Lead Me On - 1980

- Sayonara - 1982
Written by Al McKay from EW&F , and Tony Haynes who is a longtime composer-companion of Robert Brookins ( Afterbach , EW&F , Stanley Clarke Band )

I saw A taste Of Honey recently on one of those PBS-TV "70s Disco" specials,and I assumed it was the two original girls (Janice and Hazel)

DavidEye said:

I saw that too. Looked like the original girls to me

PurpleRighteous1 said:

Yebb , on this DVD they do Sukiyaki .

100MPH said:

But there are still 2 camps . Both ladies have their own site , like shown by the group-pictures above .
Hazel's site is currently under construction though ,
but some gallery-pics from her "already" sorta launched site are on the web .
I only found it strange that in Janice her biograpgy not any other member is mentioned .. even not Percy Kibble , who sadly passed away in 1999 .
.
.
.
[Edited 7/14/06 10:08am]

is this the "its all because of you...im feeling bad and blue" tune?

sosgemini said:

I even like the corny 4pm version.

You don't like this song, then this means you hate soul.

DavidEye said:

Yep. We had a thread about this cut awhile back. I dig this song massively. Always have.

Snot Dayuumm!!!!


Hazel Payne stills looks good

shorttrini said:

Thanks for perking my interest....the first song I knew by these lovely women was "boogie oogie oogie"

"Sukiyaki" was the best remake of this song ever(not to mention the biggest) with good reason.

Reminds me alot of Rose Royse's "Love Don't Live Here Anymore"

Thanx.
[Edited 7/18/06 7:32am]

dseann said:

You are very welcome. It's one of my favorites too. Ironically, u mentioned Rolls Royce. My favorite by them, is I wanna get next to you.

shorttrini said:

I wanna get next to you isn't one of my favorite Rose Royce songs.....it's one of my favorite songs period....