Can anyone name a song that hit Billboard #1

Full disclosure I would never have known that if the story about the song hadn’t popped up on my Flipboard feed this am..

"Ue o Muite Arukō" (上を向いて歩こう, "I Look Up As I Walk" is a Japanese-language song that was performed by Japanese crooner Kyu Sakamoto, and written by lyricist Rokusuke Ei and composer Hachidai Nakamura. Ei wrote the lyrics while walking home from a Japanese student demonstration protesting continued US Army presence, expressing his frustration at the failed efforts.[1][2]

In Anglophone countries, it is best known under the alternative title "Sukiyaki", a term with no relevance to the song's lyrics, as sukiyaki is a Japanese dish of cooked beef.

The song reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 charts in the United States in 1963, one of the few non-Indo-European languages' songs to have done so.

It is one of the best-selling singles of all time, having sold over 13 million copies worldwide.[3][4] The original Kyu Sakamoto recording also went to number eighteen on the R&B chart




Nice Job, Trivia pro!

I was familiar with the song, but had no clue it reached #1 here in the states until this morning as I was reading the fascinating story about the song over my Morning cup of joe. I love my Flipboard app for pulling interesting stories like this that I might not have read otherwise. Thanks for sharing!

I just happen to see a story on non-english hits which talked about mostly spanish language stuff (La Bamba) and I thought back to this song and googled some. It speaks volumes about the value of the internet that something I considered pretty esoteric popped up elsewhere just today...

But if you have a smartphone, give Flipboard a try. Basically you plug in your interests on a whole spectrum of things and it pulls articles they think you might find interesting. I’ve read more cool stuff that I wouldn’t have found otherwise via that app.

record set by Mariah Carey/BIIM

In honor of the singles to claim the Hot 100's top spot the longest, here's a look at the elite leaders to rule for double-digit weeks, an exclusive club now led by two titles with a record 16 weeks at No. 1 each: "Despacito" and Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men's "One Sweet Day,"

http://ew.com/music/2017/08/28/despacito-ties-longest-run-no-1-billboard-hot-100-history/

I used to live in Japan from 1960-1963.
My dad bought me a jewelry box that plays this song.

My dad in 2016.

I am not going to pretend that I actually knew this had ever happened, let alone knew the actual answer. Sukiyaki.

Loved that song in the Kennedy, pre Beatles days. The song sounds upbeat but translated into English they're pretty mellow. He died tragically decades ago in a plane crash.

Which was the dumbest name they could have chosen for a song that had nothing to do with dinner.

As Fred Bronson of Newsweek put it, it was like issuing "Moon River" under the title "Beef Stew."

-- Mal

(only hit #3, according to Wiki)