Dzian!

An audio re-post: “Love Sea” by the 1960s Taiwanese surf rock band Blue Star A-Go-Go by sleeplesslyyour:

This is a classic “light music” (輕音樂) sound, an instrumental rendition of an originally vocal pop track. Like many songs of its kind, with a hodge podge sensibility, this track features a country & western passage — shamelessly.

I know nothing about the band. A band with a similar name — Blue Star Chorus — has been featured on Radio Diffusion. The reference to A-Go-Go in the name of the group is curious. The assumed connection between a Ventures-inspired surf rock sound and A-Go-Go in late 1960s Taiwan is even more intriguing.

I’m back in the US. And I’m missing all the records I left with my dad in Taipei. I will continue to post the vinyl tracks that I digitized during my stay in Taipei.

sleeplesslyyours: AUDIO Qing Shan 青山, “Taipei Red Rose” 台北紅枚瑰

Qing Shan 青山, “Taipei Red Rose” 台北紅枚瑰: Post-war pop vocalist Qing Shan sings a few a-go-go tunes on his 1969 album featuring “The Tear of Small Flower.” Qing Shan is accompanied by the Telstar Combo 電星樂隊, a Ventures-inspired surf guitar band popular in the 1960s. Telstar Combo became a backup band for pop vocalists in the late 1960s and 1970s. 

A bone-chilling instro nakasi-surf version of “Cold Rain Song” 寒雨曲, found on a compilation vinyl by Guitar Saint Jiang Ming Wang 江明旺. “Cold Rain Song” is is originally a Japanese enka tune. Listen to how Jiang takes his time for this “Fu”-ful performance—very different from The Vampires’ performance of the song (the source of our performance). I’m particularly struck by the heavy delay and plucked guitar noise in the middle of this performance.

sleeplesslyyours:

I found this Taiwanese nakasi surf rock track on a Ventures-inspired guitar instrumental compilation on vinyl. This track is titled “Jinji” 禁忌 (meaning “taboo”). The chromatic middle eastern musical reference in the beginning of the song reminds me of Omar Khorsheed’s (or Khorshid’s) belly dance surf rock tunes. I took the liberty to digitize it.

A Taiwanese interpretation of American rock interpretation of Middle-Eastern sound? A little complicated :)