Bob McGrath - The 1960s Jero

[sublight]

Found this video (a collection of stills with him singing as the audio) of Bob McGrath, an American singer who was 'Big in Japan' during the mid '60s, performing Irish ballads and other traditional songs in Japanese.

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If he looks familiar, it might be because you recognize him from the TV show he later starred in, and where he's now been performing for the last 40 years.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

Well, tickle me Elmo...what an amazing find!
I'd always thought this bloke was another one of the muppets, he was such a grouch. But it turns out he was definitely a big bird in these parts in the You Only Live Twice era, making so much he still needs to Count his Ernie-ings.

.....sorry for the bad puns;)

[Yokohammer]

Holy cr*p! What a find!
I know it's trivia, but the unexpected connection between the guy on Sesame Street and singing Japanese songs in the 60's is a real kicker!

Thanks for that.

[Mulboyne]

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to sublight again.

Love this stuff.

[omae mona]

Wow, amazing find, sublight! Here is a video of Bob appearing on the U.S. television game show "To Tell The Truth" in 1966, talking about his stardom in Japan.

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[Mulboyne]

...Here is a video of Bob appearing on the U.S. television game show "To Tell The Truth" in 1966, talking about his stardom in Japan.

A couple of the panellists knew too much about Japan to be fooled by the other two guys.

[Yokohammer]

A couple of the panellists knew too much about Japan to be fooled by the other two guys.

I was stunned by the woman's mention of Kami Meguro. What of interest is there in Kami Meguro? And why would anyone even know the name in the 60's? Was there some sort of military facility there or something?

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

I know it's trivia, but the unexpected connection between the guy on Sesame Street and singing Japanese songs in the 60's is a real kicker!

Actually, if you think about it, the gap between the audiences of his respective performances really isn't that large.

[sublight]

I bought some Sesame Street DVDs for my son a while back and when I was thumbing through the liner notes last night there was a little trivia section that mentioned Bob was a "pop star" in Japan before Sesame Street. My MIL had never heard of him, so I did some looking online and found the video.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

Sublight, it was a great find. I grew up with Bob McGrath (didn't know his name, he was just "the bloke from Sesame Street,") so it was interesting to know he was a hit here.

For some reason, when I think of foreigners/Americans with hit songs in Japan, my mind always goes back to Betsy & Chris, who had a huge hit with the song Shiroi ha Koibito no Iro.



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Incidentally, this song was written for them by the recently deceased Kazuhiko Kato.

Apologies if this stuff is old hat to people....

[Mike Oxlong]

Actually, if you think about it, the gap between the audiences of his respective performances really isn't that large.

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Screwed-down Hairdo again.

[Yokohammer]

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to <insert name of intended recipient> again.

I'm having the same problem.

I thought I was being pretty liberal with my greenies lately, but now I can't seem to bestow them on anyone.

perhaps some kind of cyber-karma in the works ...