For the older Vets............

[Bob Wright]

How many remember this without a little twinge of nostalgia?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qT8T3Shb8gU

Yeah, its "She ain't got no yo-yo."


Bob Wright

 

[Fox Mike]

That was a wee bit before my time. I was 3 when that was made.

 

[Poco Oso]

Closest I can come.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C35DrtPlUbc

 

[Bob Wright]

That song was played in all the clubs in Tokyo when I was there on R &R in 1959 or so. Anybody who was stationed in the Far East heard it and it brought back many memories.

I remember getting off the train in Shibuya Station then walking up a dark alley to come out into an area a hundred years back in time. There was the smell of wood smoke, food cooking, and inscense. The buildings were mud and paper with rice straw roofs. And on the sidewalk the sound of that song could be heard coming from inside. It was a little cold at that time, and stepping inside a soldier was greeted with warmth and those hot rolled towels. The interior was dimly lighted, smokey and abuzz with talk and music. "Old Soldier" that I was (at 21) the warmth and food aroma gave you a little twinge of homesickness. Which is exactly what inspired that song ~ a Japanese soldier stationed in China seeing a tranquil evening and thinking of his sweetheart back in Japan.

Bob Wright

 

[wwb]

Probably closer to the hearts of a plurality of members here....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InRDF_0lfHk

 

[Poco Oso]

Great group of songs on the right of the page there too, WWB! Memories. It wasn't wood, or food cooking, we were smelling there. :wink: Sounds like a welcome place, Bob. I took R&R in Sydney in '69 and Bangkok in '70. Different places, different attitudes, same idea. Lonely kids looking for... something.

 

[caryc]

The clubs I went into in foreign countries about 7 or so years after you didn't play that kind of music. They were all imitating American music. Some of the bands actually pretty good.

 

[Hugh]

Yeah, its "She ain't got no yo-yo."

You nailed it Bob. My first duty station, a Destroyer, arrived in Yokosuka, Japan in late January 1960; I was 18 years old and first time over seas. Yup, that takes me back to a time I have never forgotten. I'll just hang on to those memories thank you.

 

[exavid]

I first heard that song when I was a kid on Okinawa in 1954. We lived on Kadena AFB and our housing was near the edge of the base. On many nights you could hear the soundtrack from a theater in Shimabuku I well remember hearing that song wafting across the boondocks from that theater on a warm summer night. There's an interesting story about that village.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2488099/posts

 

[Colonialgirl]

Hmmm 1940; I was probably just a gleam in my Dad's eye when he got off his ship; I was born Feb in 1941

 

[graygun]

Closest I can come.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C35DrtPlUbc

I like that one and remember when it came out in the early '60s.

I don't recall Paint it Black being associated with Vietnam back then,only in more recent years...from the tv show Tour of Duty perhaps.

The orient is very exotic;it was fun experiencing some of it in '70...sights,sounds,aromas and other.

 

[GunnyGene]

Some of y'all old guys (older than me) may also recall these. I have some 78's in the original jacket and Columbia album, recorded by Yone Noguchi and others, that I inherited from my father (who served on the Astoria prior to and during WWII until it was sunk). Includes "Anchors Aweigh" for y'all swabbies. :wink:

You might be able to find the sound tracks on the net someplace. I haven't googled them.

 

[Jeepnik]

Closest I can come.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C35DrtPlUbc

Another one that aircraft took from us.

It always amazed me how some songs crossed over from one genre to another and sometimes, like with this one, no one even knew what the lyrics meant.

 

[Jeepnik]

Probably closer to the hearts of a plurality of members here....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InRDF_0lfHk

Funny how that song can bring up both good and bad memories. Seems on hearing one time something good pops into the mind. Another time the memories can rip out your guts. Then at others so much comes flooding back that the tumult of memories is almost overwhelming.

I don't have a copy of that song.

 

[Jeepnik]

The mention of 78's sure brought back a memory. Mom had many 78's. One I would play over and over was "Old Man River". I don't remember who sang it, but for some reason I couldn't play it enough. I can still hear it in my head when I think of that song.

I don't know what ever happened to those 78's. Likely they were just tossed when you could no longer play them on the newer turntables. Kind of sad when you think about it, so much good music (pops, hiss and all) gone for the most part. There are those who've managed to collect some, but for the most part they are gone.