# Where does that stereotypical "oriental" song come from? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 3, 2005, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-that-stereotypical-oriental-song-come-from/288196 "2005-02-03T17:15:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2006, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-that-stereotypical-oriental-song-come-from/288196/141 "2006-06-13T12:28:16Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > I’ll pay you up tonight. I"ve already emailed an Administrator. What screen name do you want to keep? Not so fast, **Samclem,** – don’t we get to run him thru our initiation rites first? Propose an impossible task? See if he knows how many words end with -gry? ---
**Author:** ![mani](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@mani](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mani)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2006, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-that-stereotypical-oriental-song-come-from/288196/142 "2006-06-13T14:34:03Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Not so fast, **Samclem,** – don’t we get to run him thru our initiation rites first? Propose an impossible task? See if he knows how many words end with -gry? In my native language Swedish I can only think of one: “gry”. Is “ogry” an English word? Anyway, this is very cool of you, **samclem** , and I feel a bit weird about the situation. I’d keep **mani** if I get past these initiatory purgations. ---
**Author:** ![mani](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@mani](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mani)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2006, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-that-stereotypical-oriental-song-come-from/288196/143 "2006-06-13T16:27:16Z")
Yeah, I know, this means I lose. Like I care anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-that-stereotypical-oriental-song-come-from/288196/144 "2006-10-10T03:14:00Z")
Here is a short clip from the 1974 movie [The Wrestler](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0070930/). After Ed Asner says “China,” you can hear it very faintly. Not _exactly_ the KFF riff, but very, very close. (I apologize for the crude quality, but my capture equipment isn’t.) > **[Photo Storage](https://s98.photobucket.com/albums/l269/hosmackah/unknown1/)** > > Store your photos and videos online with secure storage from Photobucket. Available on iOS, Android and desktop. Securely backup your memories and sign up today! ---
**Author:** ![asian\_riff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecccb3/32.png) [@asian\_riff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asian_riff)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-that-stereotypical-oriental-song-come-from/288196/145 "2010-05-05T06:12:08Z")
Sorry to bump really old threads, but I think this may be the earliest example of the exact oriental riff that has been found so far: “Chop Suey”; August 24th, 1930; produced by Paul Terry and directed by Frank Moser for Terrytoons Studios On youtube here: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Eczf92kKB4](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Eczf92kKB4) The riff occurs 47 seconds in. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-that-stereotypical-oriental-song-come-from/288196/146 "2010-05-05T06:15:14Z")
Thank you for your contribution, **asian\_riff**. You’ve bumped two old threads on this subject. I’m going to close this one down - one thread at a time is plenty. [The discussion about the song is continued here.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=486664) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-that-stereotypical-oriental-song-come-from/288196.md?page=7)