Asian Songbirds of the 1970s (Part 2)

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Let's continue with the Asian female singers from the 70s.

Teresa Teng (pinyin: Deng Li Jun) was a very popular and musically influential singer from Taiwan, who came into the limelight in the early 1970s. She is especially well known for folk songs and romantic ballads. Her voice and songs are instantly recognized throughout Asia and in areas with large Asian populations, to the extent that it has been said, "Wherever there are Chinese people, the songs of Teresa Teng can be heard." 

This lady continued to have much success until her untimely death at 42 from an asthma attack in 1995. However her memory lives on, and her albums continue to be immensely popular. My wife has her complete collection of songs on CD, as I'm sure many other fans do.

So turn up the volume and enjoy her crystal clear voice in "Tian Mi Mi", meaning "Sweet Honey" (I think?) ...

Undoubtedly Teresa Teng's classic song is "Yue Liang Dai Piao Wo De Xin", which is literally translated as "The Moon Represents My Heart". Enjoy ...

Next let's turn to our very own Sarawakian songbird who was prominent during the swinging seventies. ELAS mentioned her in his previous comments, and I recall her music as well. She is Rose Iwanaga, and she, together with her band The Avengers, have the distinction of being the first English-language recording music group from East Malaysia. The Avengers comprised James Ong (rhythm), Jimmy Ho (lead), Peter Ho (bass) and Jalek Zula (drums). I believe the group made 3 albums.

L to R: James, Jimmy, Peter, Jalek, Rose

Here's the best-known of Rose Iwanaga's songs ...

I often wondered what happened to Rose and her band. There are a few websites on them, but no one seems to know. Do any of you?

That's it for today. More in Part 3 ...
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Asian Songbirds of the 1970s (Part 1)

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We grew up in an age of music records (or LPs as they are sometimes called) and later of cassette tapes. Not so easy to find them nowadays, although some of us still swear that the sound quality from LPs cannot be matched by most CDs. In fact just a few months ago, Pip and I went hunting for turntables in KL, in a sudden nostalgic desire to want to listen to some of our old record collections.

In today's post, I want to recall some of the popular Asian songbirds, i.e. female singers, whom we may have grown up with. In the 70s, they were young and attracted an impressive fan base. Today some of them are still performing, though they are no longer that young and their fan base may have dwindled somewhat. Others have taken up new careers and challenges.

Let me begin with my personal favourite, Agnes Chan Mei Ling from Hong Kong. She came onto the scene in the early 70s with her rendition of songs like "Circle Game", "Nobody's Child" and "Devoted to You". She also had a role in some Shaw Brothers' movies like "The Generation Gap". Later she became very popular in Japan and had a string of Japanese numbers.

Well, I hope the sweet voice of this sixteen year old will rekindle your musical memories ...

This lady was obviously an over-achiever. Not only was she a singer and television personality, she also went on to earn a PhD (in Education), became a professor at some Japanese universities, an essayist, a novelist, a wife, a mother of two boys, and ... since 1988, Agnes Chan was the UNICEF goodwill ambassador for Japan. Impressive, huh?

Here's another classic one from her ...

The next singer I'd like to feature is Frances Yip. Remember her? I still have her "Discovery" album, the one where she sings a selection of songs from different Asian countries.

Another musical talent from Hong Kong, Frances Yip was especially well known for singing this Cantonese theme song "Shanghai Beach" from a popular TVB series "The Bund". This was also the series that catapulted Chow Yun Fatt to fame. In a recent interview, Yip reckons she has sung this signature song more than 10,000 times. But she still brings down the house whenever she belts it out.

Frances Yip came into the music scene through winning a Hong Kong television singing contest in 1969 with her rendition of Dusty Springfield's "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me". Her career has spanned 35 years and more than 80 albums.

Here's me and my albums ...

I think I'll stop here for this posting. However this is only the first part. In subsequent parts of this posting, we can have glimpses of your other favourite Asian songbirds. So do put in your comments and recommendations ...
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