Asia Minor (instrumental)

"Asia Minor"
Single by Kokomo
from the album Asia Minor
B-side"Roy's Tune"
Released1961
GenreRock, classical
Length1:58
LabelFuture Records,[1] Felsted Records
Songwriter(s)Jimmy Wisner
Kokomo singles chronology
"Asia Minor"
(1961) 		"Theme from a Silent Movie"
(1961)

"Asia Minor" is a 1961 instrumental recording by Jimmy Wisner (operating under the name Kokomo so as to not alienate his jazz fans).[2] It is a rock and roll adaptation of Edvard Grieg's "Piano Concerto in A Minor", using shellac on the hammers of a cheap piano so as to induce a honky-tonk sound.[3] He was turned down by 10 labels and had to release the track on his own label Future Records.[1] The song became a hit, reaching No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100[4] and No. 35 on the UK Singles Chart,[5] despite having been banned by the BBC,[1] which at the time refused airplay for music found to violate various standards, including pieces deemed to "[distort] melody, harmony and rhythm".[6]

  1. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference waybackattack was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "All Instrumental Top 20 Songs, every top 20 instrumental, Dec 1959 - Jun 1962". Tunecaster.
  3. ^ Review of Asia Minor. AllMusic
  4. ^ Billboard, AllMusic
  5. ^ "Kokomo". Official Charts Company.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference independent was invoked but never defined (see the help page).