Aneka

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Aneka
Birth name	Mary Sandeman
Born	November 20, 1954
Origin	Scotland
Genre(s)	Pop
Occupation(s)	Singer
Years active	1981–1984
Label(s)	Hansa International

Aneka (born Mary Sandeman, November 20, 1954) is a Scottish singer, who hit number one in the UK singles chart in August 1981 with her song, "Japanese Boy". She was well known for the Oriental image she adopted for the song.

Contents 1 Career 2 Singles 2.1 UK singles 2.2 Germany singles 2.3 Swiss singles 2.4 Sweden singles 2.5 Austrian singles 2.6 Norway singles 3 Album 3.1 Swiss Charts 4 Songs performed by Aneka 4.1 From her album 4.2 B-Sides 4.3 Singles not put onto an album 5 References

[edit] Career

Sandeman recorded the song "Japanese Boy" in 1981. Impressed with the results, her record company, Hansa decided to release it as a single with full promotion. Arriving at the name 'Aneka' in a telephone directory, Sandeman fashioned a suitable image for the song. Released in the Summer of 1981, "Japanese Boy" made an impressive leap in the charts and reached No.1 for one week in August. ^[1]

Buoyed by this level of success, the record company comissioned an album and looked to find a follow-up single. The song "Little Lady" was chosen, but caused some concern as to what her image would be now, as it was felt that a Japanese look would be inappropriate for the song as well as giving the artist a limited lifespan. In the event, Sandeman adopted a 19th Century lady image, but retained the same high-pitched voice as used for her hit. The song failed to chart highly in the UK, reaching only No.50 - securing her the label of 'One Hit Wonder'.^[2] The song however fared much better in Europe and gave her a second hit.

Sandeman's debut album "Aneka" was released at the same time and featured a mix of upbeat pop tracks in the vein of "Japanese Boy" and a selection of slow-paced numbers, sung in her 'true' singing voice. The album however failed to chart.

A third and final single was released in early 1982. This was "Ooh Shooby Doo Doo Lang", which told a light-hearted tale of a singer bemoaning the fact that she is relegated to backing vocals, but goes on to mention Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder as well referencing both "Japanese Boy" and "Little Lady". ^[3](By a curious co-incidence, McCartney and Wonder were at that time in the charts with a collaborative single!) The song missed the UK Chart and this effectively saw the end of Aneka.

Two further singles were released over the next two years, "Heart To Beat" in 1983 and "Rose Rose I Love You" in 1984, but none of these found success. ^[4] Sandeman dropped the Aneka name and continued with the folk-singing career she had begun before her fame.

Aneka has had a modest revival in recent years, when "Japanese Boy" was featured in the videogame Grand Theft Auto: Vice City on Flash FM.^[5]

Sandeman featured in a 2006 Channel 4 documentary titled 'Bring Back The One Hit Wonders'. Justin Lee Collins attempted to organise a one-off performance of as many 'one hit wonders' as possible but despite getting in touch with Sandeman, she declined to take part as she didn't want to travel to London (from her home in Scotland) and had 'no desire' to perform the hit that made her place in pop history. She revealed though that "Japanese Boy" sold 5 Million copies around the world.

"Japanese Boy" was certified Silver by the BPI and was the 22nd best-selling single of 1981 in the UK.

[edit] Singles

[edit] UK singles

• (August 4, 1981) "Japanese Boy", Chart Run: 60-19-4-1-2-3-6-13-21-34-49-62->12 wks, #1 peak; #57 (Australia)
• (November 3, 1981) "Little Lady", Chart Run: 64-50-59-70->4 wks, #50 peak

[edit] Germany singles

• (September 24, 1981) "Japanese Boy", #3 Peak^[6]
• (December 31, 1981) "Little Lady", #10 Peak
• (June 3, 1982) "Ooh Shooby Doo Doo Lang", #18 Peak

[edit] Swiss singles

• (October 11, 1981) "Japanese Boy", #1 Peak

[edit] Sweden singles

• (September 25, 1981) "Japanese Boy", #1 Peak^[7]
• (January 12, 1982) "Little Lady", #14 Peak

[edit] Austrian singles

• (November 1, 1981) "Japanese Boy", #4 Peak ^[8]
• (February 1, 1982) "Little Lady", #7 Peak
• (May 15, 1982) "Ooh Shooby Doo Doo Lang", #8 Peak

[edit] Norway singles

• (May, 1981) "Japanese Boy", #4 Peak

[edit] Album

[edit] Swiss Charts

• (February 9, 1982) "Aneka" #19 peak (3 Weeks in Charts)

[edit] Songs performed by Aneka

[edit] From her album

• "Ooh Shooby Doo Doo Lang" (Released as Single)
• "Tuwhit Tuwhoo"
• "Japanese Boy" (UK #1) (Canada #43) (US Dance #15)
• "Put Out The Light"
• "Come Back To Me"
• "Ahriman"
• "It'll Be Alright"
• "Be My Only Karma"
• "I Was Free" (Released as Single in Europe)
• "Little Lady" (Released as Single)

[edit] B-Sides

• "Ae Fond Kiss"
• "Alister McColl"
• "Starshine"
• "Could It Last A Little Longer"
• "Chasing Dreams"

[edit] Singles not put onto an album

• "Heart To Beat"
• "Rose, Rose I Love You"
• "Good Time Fanny"

[edit] References

Preceded by "Green Door" by Shakin' Stevens

UK number one single ("Japanese Boy") August 23, 1981

Succeeded by "Tainted Love" by Soft Cell