Instrumentals Or Foreign Language Songs Topping The Charts

I happened to hear the Frerrante and Teicher version of the theme song for the movie Exodus and at the time, it was an instrumental that reached number 2 on the Billboard charts.

And there was the song Sukiyaki - a number one, foreign language (Japanese) hit on the USA charts.

You would think with access to the Internet, there would be more break-out hits today that are instrumentals or sung in foreign languages.

I haven’t heard any big instrumental/foreign language chart hitting songs in ages. Have I missed them? Or are they non-existent?

Also, feel free to mention/post links to some of your old favorites - but would be most interested in any new instrumentals/foreign language songs that perhaps came close to becoming big hits here in the US?

That would only be the case if Americans were interested in foreign language pop songs but had limited exposure to them. I don’t think that’s the case. I think most people have a strong preference for pop music with lyrics in their native language, or at least in a language that they understand. In the US that’s mostly going to be English.

Off the top of my head I can’t think of anything more recent than “Macarena”, which was more than 15 years ago.

[…]

I just spent a little time on Wikipedia looking up some Latin pop singers that have been popular in the US and it looks like both Ricky Martin and Shakira have had songs in Spanish that were modest hits in the US, although it doesn’t look like either ever made it into the top 10, or even the top 20, with a non-English song. Shakira’s “La Tortura” (a song I’m totally unfamiliar with, but I’m not that hip) made it to #23 on the Billboard Top 100 in 2005.

None recently that I can think of, but in the 80’s the themes from Miami Vice (#1) & Hill Street Blues (#10) made the charts.

Theme from Hawaii 5-0 The Ventures
Pipeline the Chantays
*Love’s Theme * Barry White and the Love Unlimited Orchestra
Music Box Dancer Frank Mills
Jessica Allman Brothers

And while they were not entirely without lyrics (one word each)
Wipeout The Surfaris
Tequila The Champs

Dominque The Singing Nun

I don’t listen to much of mainstream radio. I don’t know if anything by Enigma has hit the top of the charts, but they are a mix of English, Latin, Italian, French and Hindi.

I don’t know if Ali Doro by Zucchero (with John Lee Hooker) made it to the top. There is an English version and an Italian Version.

What pops into my mind is Miserlou (or Misirlou, depending who sings it), which was first a surf hit in the early 60s by Dick Dale, but resurfaced with the movie Pulp Fiction and the cover by the Black Eyed Peas (who added a vocal track).

Americans are becoming far more culturally isolated. Look at foreign language films:

“According to Toby Miller in the 1960s imported films accounted for 10% of the US box office, in 1986 we had 7% and now less than 1%.”

While music and film undergo different market forces, the main commonality seems to be phobic-level views toward foreign language materials and the perception of these being “niche” products.

E.g., the decline of art house cinemas and the rise of multiplex theaters is said to hurt foreign language films. But that’s only if you think that’s where those films should play. Ditto with foreign language music. If you don’t think they belong on the leading stations in a market, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

La Bamba would never hit it big if it debuted now. After all, there’s Spanish-language stations for “those” songs now. Riiight.

Despite the Internet, overwhelmingly the music market is controlled by the major labels and they decide what most people listen to. They focus on acts that can sell millions of songs, the rest just bring in chump change.

Note that even moderately successful groups have to tour to make money and promote their music. It’s not really possibly for a foreign language artist to have a major tour and reliably make money. E.g., K-pop singer Rain’s American tours have been troubled at times. Some cancellations, lawsuits, etc.

According to Billboard.com, Nena’s 99 Luftballoons peaked at number 2 on the Hot 100.

“Eres Tu” in 1973/74 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eres_T%C3%BA_(Mocedades_song)#Worldwide_success

Some oldies:

Guantanamera, The Sandpipers, which was a mixed English/Spanish language song that reached #9.

The Pink Panther Theme, Henry Mancini, reached the top ten.

Peter Gunn Theme, also by Mancini, won two Grammys.

Classical Gas, Mason Williams, hit the top ten

The (instrumental) theme from The Summer of '42 was pretty popular, I don’t know if it charted though.

As for foreign language, Carlos Santana did well with Oye Como Va.

Don’t forget Volare

(I have no idea how it charted. I just wanted to give everyone an earworm.)

Vaya con Dios was also popular, thanks to the Frito Bandito.

I thought that was Cielito Lindo

Noted above, Guantanamera, taken from the Cuban Revolution, and El Condor Pasa, taken from striking Peruvian miners by Simon & Garfunkle. Thanks Commies!

One case that was mentioned in a recent thread was the Rum and Coke-a-cola song, that Morey Amsterdam thought he’d heard as a folk song while on vacation, only to be sued for copyright violation.

Leroy Anderson’s Blue Tango. According to various sources, it was the first instrumental to go to #1 and/or go gold.

This can’t be. There were tons of huge instrumental hits from the Big Band era. For instance, Glenn Miller’s In the Mood and Benny Goodman’s Sing, Sing, Sing (which despite the title had no lyrics). Is it possible there were no charts in the 30s and 40s?

I found this list of 100 most popular instrumentals, as determined by its highest chart ranking, and how long it stayed on the charts. Blue Tango is on the list, but lots of the other songs pre-date it. The author’s reference material covers 1940-87, so isn’t helpful for finding any more recent hits.

Actually the title is “Nel Blu Dipinto di Blu” when originally released in 1958 and sung by Domenico Modugno in Italian. The song reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song was written by Franco Migliacci and Domenico Modugno and later recorded by many artists under the name “Volare” [To Fly].

Well, it wasn’t a #1 hit in its first release. It only reached #1 in 1987 with the release of that Ritchie Valens biopic starring Lou Diamond Phillips, with Los Lobos covering the song.

Gah! Just for that, you’ve been sentenced to 24 hours with Jose Feliciano’s Feliz Navidad. So there.

Take Five, Dave Brubeck Quartet, reached #25 on the Hot 100, #5 on Easy Listening.

I Got a Woman, Jimmy McGriff (on the B3) hit #20 in 1962.