Japanese Boy was a hit pretty much everywhere except, oddly enough, Japan. According to singer Mary Sandeman, it was because the melody sounded too Chinese.
No matter, as elsewhere, this throbbing electronic track about a woman pining for a scarpered lover was massive. The chap’s ethnicity is only revealed in the chorus, so an obvious gimmick to raise the song to a higher status was needed.
It meant that Sandeman, a 33-year-old folk singer from Edinburgh, needed a new name and image, especially when producer Neil Ross put the Oriental riff on the intro.
And so she transformed into Aneka – a name she found in the phone book – and acquired a kimono to become a geisha girl for the sleeve and the TV. A month after entering the charts at No.60 in August 1981, Aneka was replacing Shakin’ Stevens – soon to be a regular client of Japanese Boy songwriter Bobby Heatlie – at No.1, staying there for one week.
Geisha Girl
Japanese Boy sold almost half a million copies in the UK and made Aneka the second-best seller by a solo female artist behind Kim Wilde’s Kids In America. She topped the chart in six countries in total, and while her next best effort in the UK was a follow-up called Little Lady that reached No.50, she managed more Top 10 hits on the continent.
Her album, Aneka, only charted in Switzerland and Finland. In 1984, she dropped the Aneka moniker, reverting to folk singing in Scotland under her real name. She retired from music in the 90s.
Sandeman featured in a 2006 Channel 4 programme titled Bring Back The One Hit Wonders, where comedian Justin Lee Collins attempted to organise a one-off performance by as many one hit wonders as possible. Despite getting in touch with the singer, she declined to take part.
Read More One-Hit Wonders – Best Of The 80s
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