The Hot 100 launched in 1958, just 13 years after the end of World War II. The war was still well within living memory, and I have to imagine that it left deep psychic wounds all across the globe. And ...

Growing up, family parties would wind down around our favorite special occasion appliance. My father clumsily ran cables from the karaoke machine into our television, transforming the living room into ...

(CBS 11) - Today's song was a #1 hit from 1963… and sung all in Japanese!! Kyu Sakamoto (born November 10, 1941 in Kawasaki, Japan and died on August 12, 1985 in a plane crash) was a Japanese adult ...

Underlying the sweetness of Kyu Sakamoto's unexpected hit song "Sukiyaki" was a story of sadness and loss. (Courtesy of the artist) ...

In 1963 Japanese pop star Kyu Sakamoto topped the American pop charts with a song titled "Ue O Muite Aruko" ("Let's look up as we walk") and, weirdly, retitled Sukiyaki in the U.S. The song promptly ...

A number of American artists and bands have achieved significant success in Japan but very few Japanese musicians have become popular in the United States. In fact, only one Japanese artist has ever ...

The 1960s will always be associated with counterculture and the Summer of Love, but the decade’s pop charts were full of novelty, schlock, and bubblegum. We're ...

At Fuji Rock Festival this past weekend, Mac DeMarco set aside a portion of his show to cover “Sukiyaki,” an old classic by Japanese crooner Kyu Sakamoto. Midway in, he brought out surprise guest Post ...