Ae-ja
Kim (1940 - 1987)
Sook-ja
Kim (1939ish - )
Min-ja
Kim (1940ish - )
Mama Kim’s plan DID succeed -- and within the
next year!
The two sisters, Ae-ja and Sook-ja (aged 9 or
10), and the cousin, Min-ja (aged 8 or 9),
learned -- phonetically -- two American
songs.
Mama Kim taught them basic stage movement and
dance moves.
They learned to play traditional Korean
instruments:
Over
time, their knowledge of how to play musical
instruments grew incredibly diverse:
banjo, guitar, drums, bass fiddle, xylophone,
piano, saxophone, mandolin, bongos, flute,
accordion, clarinet, trombone, violin, among
others.
Oh,
and bagpipes, too. Bagpipes!
The
girls started performing at American military
bases in Korea. They were a huge -- and
perennial -- hit. They repeatedly played
all of the army camps and, as they blossomed
in their teens, their reputation crossed the
Pacific Ocean.
7
years after the girls began performing, the
talent booker for Las Vegas’ Thunderbird Hotel
came to Korea to see them. Impressed, he
offered them a one-month booking at his
hotel.
It took an entire year for their visas to be
approved, but once they hit Vegas, they were
an immediate sensation. The Stardust
Hotel quickly stole them away, and a short gig
in the hotel's lounge turned into an 8-month
engagement.
An
early Kim Sisters Las Vegas act:
The thing to realize is that, 63 years ago,
they were the first Asian singers to have any
success in America.
They were the personification of the word
“exotic.”
And
their repertoire was intentionally designed to
be very, very American:
When
the Saints Go Marching In/Tiger Rag
Plus,
they were adorable:
--
and an endless bundle of energy.
They
were featured in Life and Newsweek
magazines.
In
New York City, they played the Latin
Quarter, the Waldorf Astoria, and the
Americana Hotel.
They even had a hit single covering The
Coasters’ novelty song, “Charlie Brown”:
Charlie
Brown
What
truly sealed their reputation as first-class
entertainers was the exposure they got with
20 appearances on "The Ed Sullivan Show"
over an 8 year period. Ed loved them
and got America to love them, too.
He
even arranged for the visa to bring their
mother to the United States and brought her
on the show to perform with them:
The
Ed Sullivan Show
Sadly
their mother died at 48 in 1965.
There
was more musical talent in their
family. Their 3 brothers, who
patterned themselves after American rock ’n
roll bands, had success as The Kim Brothers:
The
Kim Brothers
By
the mid-60’s, The Kim Sisters were
regularly featured on other variety TV
series, like " The Dinah Shore Chevy
Show," "The Dean Martin Show,"
and,
as seen here, The Hollywood Palace:
Here, in 1966, is one of their final
performances on "The Ed Sullivan Show,"
doing a spirited Sound of Music medley:
The
Sound of Music Medley
In
1967, all three women married, and, at
that time, Min-ja grew estranged from the
sisters.
But the two Kim Sisters continued to
perform in Las Vegas on into the early
1990s (bringing an older sister into the
act and then a replacement for Ae-ja when
she died of lung cancer in 1987).
Sometimes they teamed up with The Kim
Brothers.
One of the first songs The Kim Sisters
recorded in America in 1960 was “Try To
Remember.” Someone has posted the
song on youtube, accompanied by many
photos of The Kim Sisters’ performances at
army bases in Korea in the 1950’s:
Try
to Remember
|