THE APOLLO "HONG KONG FASCINATION - APOLLO 12 GUITAR MUSIC" (太陽神樂隊 "美麗的香港", 1969)

It's with great excitement and renovated interest that, after a long break, I return to feature an instrumental Hong Kong album on this blog. I promise it won't take so long next time...

So, today here we have another nice LP by The Apollo (太陽神樂隊), released at the end of the '60s by New Wave Record Co. (新風), whose complete title is "Hong Kong Fascination - Apollo 12 Guitar Music (美麗的香港)".

As with most of the label's output, the exact release date for this album catalogued as NWLP 12 is not written anywhere on the cover. Anyway, other releases bearing a later catalogue number are proven to have been published in 1969, so I guess that this LP was released around the same time or slightly earlier.

Recently I discovered that some of the albums released in Hong Kong by New Wave Record Co. (新風) were also released by well-known Malaysian label Life Records (麗風) with the same covers, but with different catalogue numbers. This strengthened my theory that New Wave was probably a Life sublabel or that, at least, they licensed selected albums for the Hong Kong market... Well, that was until I discovered that New Wave also released albums originally produced by Fung Hang Records Co. - another renowned Hong Kong label - with slightly-adjusted covers...

At this point I'm quite confused about the nature and role of New Wave, and the only other option that comes to mind is that sometimes it acted as a budget label, but I have no proof about it... I'm still hoping that some reader of this blog can shed some light on the subject, thank you!



The Apollo (太陽神樂隊) were an Hong Kong prolific studio band that reached a cult status in the region during the late 60s / early 70s. Their name has probably been borrowed from the Teisco / Kawai manufactured Apollo model guitar from that time period.

They recorded a lot of instrumental albums, a few of them for New Wave Record Co. (新風) and most of them for Life Records (麗風). They were also featured as a backing band on countless releases by popular singers like Teresa Teng (鄧麗君), Pancy Lau (劉鳳屏), Frances Yip (葉麗儀), Stella Chee (奚秀蘭), etc. It should be noted that in the early days of the label, they were the only available band at Life headquarters, so this comes as no surprise...

Their own instrumental records, often arranged by band leader Oscar Young (楊道火), a key-figure in the Hong Kong / Singapore music scene of the late 60s / early 70, usually feature a prominent guitar sound that has spawned a lot of imitators.

Labeled as a guitar music album on the cover, "Hong Kong Fascination" mainly features the electric guitar as solo instrument but, as usual in the Far-East instrumental albums of this period, the organ plays an important role in the arrangements, aptly providing accompaniment and counterpoint. On this release we can also hear a few traditional Chinese instruments, mostly mallet and assorted percussions, flutes, etc. A couple of tracks also include brief saxophone solos.

For the English translation of the song titles I used on-line tools. The results are not perfect - to say the least - but they give more than a rough idea.

By the way, I would be really grateful if someone could help me with this release: I need a correct translation of the songs titles. If you can help and share your knowledge please get in touch with me at stereocandies [at] hotmail [dot] com or leave a comment in the box below, thank you so much!

"Hong Kong Fascination - Apollo 12 Guitar Music" (美麗的香港) contains the following tracks:

01. 今天不回家 [Not Coming Home Today] (2:45)
02. 新桃花江 [The Return of the Peach Blossom River] (2:56)
03. 美麗的香港 [Beautiful Hong Kong] (2:16)
04. 萍水相逢 [Chance Meeting of Strangers] (3:03)
05. 上山崗 [On the Hillock] (2:19)
06. 淚的小花 [Flower of Tears] (2:49)
07. 像霧又像花 [Like Fog and Like a Flower] (2:29)
08. 戀愛的季節 [The Season of Love] (2:20)
09. 姑娘十八一朵花 [A Girl at 18 Is Like a Flower] (2:43)
10. 天上人間 [Heaven On Earth] (2:34)
11. 痴情恨 [Beloved Unfaithful] (3:43)
12. 你幾時回家 [When Will You Come Home?] (2:08)

All tracks were remastered from the original vinyl in April/May 2017 and are available in FLAC lossless format, along with complete artwork reconstruction and printable PDF files.

Please have a look at the comments section for the download link.



Here's what I discovered searching information about the music included on this release.

Originating from the soundtrack to the movie of the same name, the original version of "會今天不回家" (Not Coming Home Today) was a huge success for 姚蘇蓉 (Yao Su Rong) in 1969. Later on the song was also covered by other popular singers like 櫻花 (Sakura, available here) and 张露 (Chang Loo, available here).

I am not sure if "新桃花江" (The Return of the Peach Blossom River) is a traditional piece or an original track, anyway it was successfully recorded in 1968 by 鄧麗君 (Teresa Teng, available here) and 凌雲 / 櫻花 (Rita Chao and Sakura, available here).

The title track, "美麗的香港" (Beautiful Hong Kong), is also one of the best cuts on the album. I was inclined to think that this was an instrumental rendition of the same song recorded by 潘迪華 (Rebecca Pan) in 1969, but I can't notice much resemblance... Do you?

"萍水相逢"(Chance Meeting of Strangers) is a song originally performed in 1960 by 吳鶯音 (Wu Yingyin), one of the Seven Great Singing Stars. Through the years the song has been covered many times, you can listen to the original version here.

I wasn't able to discover the exact origin of "上山崗" (On the Hillock)... It seems that during the late '60s this song was recorded by many singers - among them 吳剛 (Wu Kang) - and also by a few bands as an instrumental piece, including The Stylers (...available here...) and The Saints (...here).

Between 1969 and 1970 "淚的小花" (Flower of Tears) was recorded by so many artists, and I really couldn't find out who is the very first performer... I suppose that the originator could be 姚蘇蓉 (Yao Su Rong, available here) or 陳芬蘭 (Chen Fern Lan, here) - but who knows... Even The Quests recorded their own instrumental version in 1970.



At the end of the '60s, "像霧又像花"(Like Fog and Like a Flower) was another huge hit for 姚蘇蓉 (Yao Su Rong), you can listen to the original version here. The song was later covered by many other singers, including a young 徐小鳳 (Paula Tsui), available here, and 黃鸝 (Wong Li), available here.

"戀愛的季節" (The Season of Love) is the Mandarin version of a famous late '60s Japanese song. Among others, it was performed - once again - by 姚蘇蓉 (Yao Su Rong), 鄧麗君 (Teresa Teng, available here), 孔蘭薰 (Kong Lan Xun, here), and 劉鳳屏 (Pancy Lau, here).


"姑娘十八一朵花"(A Girl at 18 Is Like a Flower) is a 1966 movie starring 陳寶珠 (Connie Chan), 呂奇 (Lui Kei) and 薛家燕 (Nancy Sit). The original theme song was covered, among others, by 刘韵 (Yun Liu, available here) and 鄧麗君 (Teresa Teng, here),

The original version of "天上人間" (Heaven On Earth), was probably recorded first by actress and singer 李麗華 (Li Li-Hua) sometimes during the '40s / '50s; here's a link to her performance. The song resurfaced during the late '60s, and both Maurice Patton & The Melodians and 楊小萍 (Yang Xiao Ping) recorded their versions in 1968.

I really have no idea about who performed the original version of "痴情恨" (Beloved Unfaithful), but in the late '60s and early '70s many of the usual suspects recorded it, among them we remember 姚蘇蓉 (Yao Su Rong, available here) and 黃鸝 (Wong Li, here).

The album closes with "你幾時回家" (When Will You Come Home?). I wasn't able to find much information about this song... I speculate that the original was performed by 劉鳳屏 (Pancy Lau, available here), but 姚蘇蓉 (Yao Su Rong) and 周玲寶 (Chow Ling Po) also recorded it around the same time...

Here's some of my favourite tracks taken from "Hong Kong Fascination", please enjoy "今天不回家", "美麗的香港", "萍水相逢", "上山崗", "戀愛的季節", "姑娘十八一朵花" and "你幾時回家"!

If you enjoyed this post, I'd like to remind you that I already dedicated to the New Wave Record Co. (新風) a few entries.

A few more information about The Apollo (太陽神樂隊) and New Wave Record Co. (新風) is available here:

http://blog.roodo.com/muzikland/archives/2512021.html

http://www.discogs.com/artist/1638765-Apollo-The-2

http://rateyourmusic.com/artist/%E5%A4%AA%E9%99%BD%E7%A5%9E%E6%A8%82%E9%9A%8A

http://www.freewebs.com/ritachao/apollothe.htm

http://radiodiffusion.wordpress.com/category/hong-kong/

http://www.radiodiffusion.net/extra/Apollo_Guitar_Ad.jpg

http://rateyourmusic.com/label/new_wave_record_co_

I'm still struggling to find somebody who can help me with translations:

if you can translate from Chinese to English please get in touch with me at stereocandies [at] hotmail [dot] com or leave a comment in the box below, thank you so much!

LIANG RE ZHAO "PLAYS HARMONICA MUSIC - SAFE TRAVELS" (梁日昭 "表演口琴音樂 - 一路順風")

Well, before the dances begin, so to speak, I would like to sincerely and deeply thank a reader of this blog who was so kind to offer me the help I needed so much, in order to properly present this and other releases from the Far East on these pages... I suppose you're reading this Brian, so THANK YOU!!!, this post is dedicated to you.

So, after a long break, it's time to feature another nice instrumental album released at the end of the '60s by New Wave Record Co. (新風) in Hong Kong. I can't almost believe than more than eighteen months are passed since I took care of NWLP 10, time really flies... Anyway, in the meantime I suddendly realised that New Wave was probably a sublabel of well known Malaysian label Life Records (麗風)... Can anyone please confirm this supposition of mine?

As with most of the label's output, the exact release date for this LP catalogued as NWLP 11 is not written anywhere on the cover. Anyway, other releases by the same label bearing a later catalogue number are proven to have been published in 1969; moreover this album contains the title-track from the movie "负心的人" (Jilted, or Heartless Person) which was a huge success in Hong Kong during the same year. So, proof is enough for me to easily guess that "梁日昭表演口琴音樂 - 一路順風" (or "Liang Re Zhao Plays Harmonica Music - Safe Travels") was released in 1969 too.

Liang Re Zhao (梁日昭) performing live in 1969

Liang Re Zhao (梁日昭), also known as Yat Chiu Leung, Y.C. Leung and Peter Leung, was born in 1922 in the Guangdong Province, China, and spent his youth in Shanghai. As a grown man, besides his activity as a music teacher, he was part of The Shanghai-Sino Harmonica Society, and became a popular performer on local radio stations.

In 1947 he moved to Hong Kong, set up the Musaphone Harmonica Society and produced his own brand of harmonica under the name "VOCO". With Musaphone he promoted all kinds of harmonicas, the traditional type (also known as the tremolo harmonica), the chromatic type, as well as melodicas. As part of his dedication to this instrument, he taught in schools, organized harmonica bands and promoted music on radio and TV stations.

During the late '50s he brought to life the Leung Yat Chiu's Big Band along with friends and family members; in 1957 they made their debut on Rediffusion Television, the very first cable television station in Hong Kong.

In the early '60s he hosted a popular radio program entitled Harmonica Music, which usually aired on sunday morning. During the years he also served many times as a judge in music contests, both in Hong Kong and China, and was featured as one of the main accompanists on many records released by famous artists of the time on the Pathé label. Starting from the late '60s he has released a few harmonica music albums credited to his own name,

Liang Re Zhao has pushed tremolo harmonica to its limit and has composed a few titles especially for his beloved instrument, including the famous "農家樂" (The Happy Farmers, available here courtesy of YouTube); he taught in many schools until the last day of his life, which sadly occourred in 1999.

Today he is best remembered for his teaching philosophy, which advocated equal opportunities for students of both sexes at a time when general education for girls - and especially music education - was still discouraged.



The backing duties on this album are performed by The Apollo (太陽神樂隊), an Hong Kong prolific studio band that reached a cult status in the region during the late '60s / early '70s. Their name has probably been borrowed from the Teisco / Kawai manufactured Apollo model guitar from that time period.

They recorded a lot of instrumental albums, a few of them for New Wave Record Co. (新風) and most of them for Life Records (麗風); they were also featured as a backing band on countless releases by popular singers like Teresa Teng (鄧麗君), Pancy Lau (劉鳳屏), Frances Yip (葉麗儀), Stella Chee (奚秀蘭), etc. It should be noted that in the early days of the label, they were the only available band at Life Records headquarters, so this comes as no surprise...

Their instrumental records, often arranged by band leader Oscar Young (楊道火), a key-figure in the Hong Kong / Singapore music scene of the late '60s / early '70s, usually feature a prominent guitar sound that has spawned a lot of imitators.

"Harmonica Music - Safe Travels" (口琴音樂 - 一路順風) contains the following tracks:

01. 情人的眼淚 [Lover's Tears] (4:11)
02. 遙遠寄相思 [Sending Sadness From Afar] (2:40)
03. 可愛的馬 [A Cute Horse] (1:53)
04. 清明的月 [The Moon at Qing Ming] (2:19)
05. 情難守 [The Difficulty of Guarding Love] (2:31)
06. 一路順風 [Safe Travels] (2:52)
07. 我還是永遠愛著你 [I Will Still Love You Forever] (2:06)
08. 一吻定情 [One Kiss To Mark Our Love] (2:15)
09. 我在你左右 [I'm By Your Side] (3:00)
10. 負心的人 [Heartless Person] (2:11)
11. 水長流 [Water Flows Long] (3:07)
12. 幾度花落時 [When the Flowers Fall] (2:34)

All tracks were remastered from vinyl in April 2015 and are available in FLAC lossless format or high-quality 320 Kbps MP3 files. Both formats offer complete printable PDF artwork.

Please have a look at the comments for the download links.



Here's what I discovered searching information about the music included on this release:

"情人的眼淚" (Lover's Tears) was the signature number of 潘秀瓊 (Poon Sow Keng) and was included in the original soundtrack of "小雲雀" (The Lark), a 1964 movie produced by the Shaw Brothers; here's her own version and a clip from the movie. The song was later performed by many singers, including 姚蘇蓉 (Yao Su Rong, here) among others.

"遙遠寄相思" (Sending Sadness From Afar) was popularized during the '40s by 張伊雯 (Zhang Yi Wen, here); as usual it was later reprised by other singers, including 陳芬蘭 (Chen Fen Lan, here) and 鳳飛飛 (Feng Fei-Fei, here).

"可愛的馬" (A Cute Horse) is an evergreen adapted with Mandarin and Cantonese lyrics from an original Japanese song; it is often found in the repertoire of many male singers, including Taiwanese 郭金發 (Guo Jin Fa, here) and 葉啟田 (Yeh Chi-tien, here).

"清明的月" (The Moon at Qing Ming) was first recorded in Shanghai by 吴莺音 (Wu Ying Yin, here), one of the Seven Great Singing Stars of China. 黄清元 (Wong Ching Yian), who is nothing less than a legend in the Singapore and Malaysia music scene, also recorded his own version.

"情難守" (The Difficulty of Guarding Love) is another very old song originally performed by 張伊雯 (Zhang Yi Wen, here) which has become a sort of standard; you can listen to a lot of different versions on YouTube, including the one performed by 姚蘇蓉 (Yao Su Rong, here).

"一路順風" (Safe Travels), the track that gives the title to the collection of instrumentals presented on this album, originates from a Japanese song which was given new lyrics. I wasn't able to find information about the original performer, but you can listen to a version recorded by 鳳飛飛 (Feng Fei-Fei) in 1975 here.



Am I dreaming or the intro of "我還是永遠愛著你" (I Will Still Love You Forever) has something in common with the bassline of Iron Butterfly's "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida"?!? Anyway, this is an old Taiwanese folk love song which during the years has been performed by many famous female singers including 姚蘇蓉 (Yao Su Rong), 鄧麗君 (Teresa Teng), 湯蘭花 (Tang Lang Hwa), 劉鳳屏 (Pancy Lau) and 陳芬蘭 (Chen Fen Lan).

The original version of "一吻定情" (One Kiss To Mark Our Love) was adapted, once again, from a Japanese song recorded by singer / actor 橋 幸夫 (Yukio Hashi) in 1964. 黃菱 (Wong Ling) performed the original Mandarin version in 1967 which was later covered by 劉鳳屏 (Pancy Lau) in 1970.

The music of "我在你左右" (I'm By Your Side) originates from a Korean song entitled "샌프란시스코" (San Francisco) performed by singer 백설희 (Baek Seol Hui) in the '50s. The song had a great success in Hong Kong in 1969 when it was used in "负心的人" (Jilted, or Heartless Person), a popular movie which launched 汤兰花 (Tang Lan Hua) career: here's her version of the song.

"負心的人" (Heartless Person) is the theme song from the movie of the same name discussed above. The original version was performed by 汤兰花 (Tang Lan Hua, available here); other versions were later performed by 姚蘇蓉 (Yao Su Rong) and 劉鳳屏 (Pancy Lau).

"水長流" (Water Flows Long) originates from a 1959 Japanese song entitled "大川ながし" by 美空ひばり (Misora Hibari). It was later translated into a Taiwanese song in 1967, "快樂的農家" and recorded by 陳芬蘭 (Chen Fen Lan). The song was also recorded by 鄧麗君 (Teresa Teng), 姚蘇蓉 (Yao Su Rong), 劉鳳屏 (Pancy Lau, available here) and many others.

The album ends with "幾度花落時" (When the Flowers Fall), a song recorded, among others, by 鄧麗君 (Teresa Teng, available here) and 凌雲 (Rita Chao, here).

Here's some of my favourite tracks taken from this release, please enjoy "情人的眼淚" (Lovers Tears), "我還是永遠愛著你" (I Will Still Love You Forever), "一吻定情" (One Kiss To Mark Our Love), "負心的人" (Heartless Person) and "水長流" (Water Flows Long)!

If you enjoyed this post, I'd like to remind you that I already dedicated to the New Wave Record Co. (新風) a few entries, here's the direct links for NWLP 5, NWLP 6, NWLP 8, NWLP 9 and NWLP10.

A few more information about Liang Re Zhao (梁日昭), The Apollo (太陽神樂隊) and the New Wave Record Co. (新風) catalogue is available here:

http://www.anthonyyao.com/ayao88c/peterleung.html

http://www.davidtklo.org.hk/280204.htm

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%E6%A2%81%E6%97%A5%E6%98%AD

http://www.hkmemory.org/jameswong/text/index.php?p=home&catId=450&photoNo=3

http://blog.roodo.com/muzikland/archives/2512021.html

http://www.discogs.com/artist/1638765-Apollo-The-2

http://rateyourmusic.com/artist/%E5%A4%AA%E9%99%BD%E7%A5%9E%E6%A8%82%E9%9A%8A

http://www.freewebs.com/ritachao/apollothe.htm

http://progressive.homestead.com/HONGKONG.html

http://bbs.qianlong.com/thread-1350672-1-1.html

http://www.radiodiffusion.net/extra/Apollo_Guitar_Ad.jpg

http://rateyourmusic.com/label/new_wave_record_co_

http://radiodiffusion.wordpress.com/category/hong-kong/

http://www.vinylparadise.com/LPCollec/company/fh_life/fh_lp005.htm

http://www.vinylparadise.com/8music/1/music1b2.htm

THE APOLLO "APOLLO 10" (太陽神樂隊 "我在你左右", 1969)

Here comes another nice instrumental album from Hong Kong! "Apollo 10" (or "我在你左右", which can probably be translated as "I'm By Your Side") was released at the end of the '60s by New Wave Record Co. (新風).

As with most of the label's output, the exact release date for this LP catalogued as NWLP 10 is not written anywhere on the cover. Anyway, other releases by the same label bearing a later catalogue number are proven to have been published in 1969; moreover the album contains a few songs popularized by the movie "负心的人" (Jilted, or Heartless Person) which was a huge success in Hong Kong during the same year. So, proof is enough for me to easily guess that "Apollo 10" was released in 1969 too.

This LP is credited to The Apollo (太陽神樂隊), an Hong Kong prolific studio band that reached a cult status in the region during the late 60s / early 70s. Their name has probably been borrowed from the Teisco / Kawai manufactured Apollo model guitar from that time period.

They recorded a lot of instrumental albums, a few of them for New Wave Record Co. (新風) and most of them for Life Records (麗風); they were also featured as a backing band on countless releases by popular singers like Teresa Teng (鄧麗君), Pancy Lau (劉鳳屏), Frances Yip (葉麗儀), Stella Chee (奚秀蘭), etc. It should be noted that in the early days of the label, they were the only available band at Life Records headquarters, so this comes as no surprise...

Their instrumental records, often arranged by band leader Oscar Young (楊道火), a key-figure in the Hong Kong / Singapore music scene of the late 60s / early 70, usually feature a prominent guitar sound that has spawned a lot of imitators.



Labeled as a guitar music album on the cover, "Apollo 10" (我在你左右) mainly features the electric guitar as solo instrument but, as usual in the Far-East instrumental albums of this period, the organ plays another important role in the arrangements, providing accompaniment and counterpoints that are often panned to the far sides of the mix to reach for that early days massive stereo effect.

Thanks to OCR technology I was able to import the original texts and tried to obtain an English translation using on-line tools. The results are not perfect - to say the least - but they give more than a rough idea about the song titles.

By the way, I would be really grateful if someone could help me with this release: I need a correct translation of the songs titles. If you can help and share your knowledge please get in touch with me at stereocandies [at] hotmail [dot] com or leave a comment in the box below, thank you so much!

"Apollo 10" (我在你左右) contains the following tracks:

01. 會情郎 [Beau] (2:22)
02. 我在你左右 [I'm By Your Side] (1:52)
03. 男人的眼淚 [Men's Tears] (2:43)
04. 他還是永在我心上 [You Will Remain In My Heart Forever] (2:37)
05. 養鴨人家 [Beautiful Duckling] (2:04)
06. 淡水河邊 [Tamsui River Edge] (2:46)
07. 負心的人 [Ungrateful People] (2:32)
08. 幾度花落時 [When the Flowers Fall] (1:40)
09. 母子淚 [Mother and Son] (3:00)
10. 關達拉美拉 [Guantanamera] (3:15)
11. 提起愛情煩惱多 [Love Brought More Troubles] (2:25)
12. 往日的舊夢 [Unforgettable Dreams] (2:23)

All tracks were remastered from the original vinyl in September 2013 and are available in FLAC lossless format or high-quality 320 Kbps MP3 files, both formats include completely restored PDF artwork. Please have a look at the comments for the download links.





Here's what I discovered searching information about the music included on this release:

The original version of "會情郎" (Beau) was popularized by Chinese singer and dubbing artist 静婷 (Tsin Ting). According to Wikipedia, she is best known as the Marni Nixon of Hong Kong cinema: she dubbed many of Shaw Brothers' Huangmei Opera movies from the 1950s to the 1960s. Here's her version of the song.

The music of "我在你左右" (I'm By Your Side) originates from a Korean song entitled "샌프란시스코" (San Francisco) performed by singer 백설희 (Baek Seol Hui) in the '50s. The song had a great success in Hong Kong in 1969 when it was used in "负心的人" (Jilted, or Ungrateful People), a popular movie which launched 汤兰花 (Tang Lan Hua) career. Here's her version of the song and another version performed by 美黛 (Mei Dai).

"男人的眼淚" (Men's Tears) was originally performed by 黄清元 (Wong Ching Yian), who is nothing less than a living legend in the Singapore and Malaysia music scene.

"他還是永在我心上" (You Will Remain In My Heart Forever) is another song taken from the movie "负心的人" (Jilted, or Heartless Person); it is performed by 汤兰花 (Tang Lan Hua) in the tear-jerking finale sequence.

I guess that "養鴨人家" (Beautiful Duckling) could be the theme song from the 1965 popular movie of the same name starring 唐寶雲 (Tang Pao-Yun); I'm not completely sure about that, though... And I also guess that "淡水河邊" (Tamsui River Edge) is a Taiwanese song inspired by the river located in the Tamsui District in New Taipei, which is popular as a site for viewing the sun setting into the Taiwan Strait.

"負心的人" (Heartless Person) is the theme song from the movie of the same name discussed above. The original version was performed by 汤兰花 (Tang Lan Hua, available here); other versions were later performed, among others, by 姚蘇蓉 (Yao Su Rong, here) and 劉鳳屏 (Pancy Lau).

"幾度花落時" (Whispering To Ask Several Times, in lack of a better translation...) was performed by 姚蘇蓉 (Yao Su Rong, available here) in 1969 on her successful "今天不回家" (Not Coming Home Today) album.

The original version of "母子淚"(Mother and Son) was performed in 1969, once again, by 汤兰花 (Tang Lan Hua, available here); I wouldn't be surprised if also this song was taken from the soundtrack of  "負心的人" (Ungrateful People), but I'm not sure about it.

...and now for something completely different, here comes no less than a version of "Guantanamera" (...translated into "關達拉美拉"...) complete with chorus... Well, this argues in favour of how popular on a global level was this song at the end of the '60s.

"提起愛情煩惱多" (Love Brought More Troubles) was popularized by 鄧麗君 (Teresa Teng, available here) in 1968; the song was also performed later by other singers, including 張慧 (Cheung Wai, here).

"往日的舊夢" (Unforgettable Dreams) was originally performed by 美黛 (Mei Dai) sometimes in the '60s, you can listen to it here.

Here's some of my favourite tracks taken from "Apollo 10", please enjoy "會情郎", "我在你左右", "他還是永在我心上" and "負心的人"!

If you enjoyed this post, I'd like to remind you that I already dedicated to the New Wave Record Co. (新風) a few entries, here's the direct links for NWLP 5, NWLP 6, NWLP 8 and NWLP 9.

A few more information about The Apollo (太陽神樂隊) and the New Wave Record Co. (新風) catalogue is available here:

http://blog.roodo.com/muzikland/archives/2512021.html

http://www.discogs.com/artist/1638765-Apollo-The-2

http://rateyourmusic.com/artist/%E5%A4%AA%E9%99%BD%E7%A5%9E%E6%A8%82%E9%9A%8A

http://www.freewebs.com/ritachao/apollothe.htm

http://progressive.homestead.com/HONGKONG.html

http://bbs.qianlong.com/thread-1350672-1-1.html

http://www.radiodiffusion.net/extra/Apollo_Guitar_Ad.jpg

http://rateyourmusic.com/label/new_wave_record_co_

http://radiodiffusion.wordpress.com/category/hong-kong/

http://www.vinylparadise.com/LPCollec/company/fh_life/fh_lp005.htm

http://www.vinylparadise.com/8music/1/music1b2.htm

In the next months I will post more Hong Kong/Taiwan/Singapore/etc. Pop/Instrumental records released in the late-60s / mid-70s. As usual, I would like to provide information about these releases and their authors.

Unfortunately the Internet doesn't offer much information - written in English - about these artists and this is the reason why I need help: if you can translate from Chinese to English please get in touch with me at stereocandies [at] hotmail [dot] com or leave a comment in the box below, thank you so much!

It's been difficult to obtain these vinyls, some are not in the best conditions and I'm currently working hard to properly master them. It seems that these artists and their music are poorly known in the West, of course it's a real pity because they made stunning releases: I'd like to share them with you with a proper presentation, hope that someone will be able to help.

THE APOLLO "MOON STARS" (太陽神樂隊 "星星 月亮", 1968)

It's time for another cool and groovy instrumental album here on Stereo Candies. "Moon Stars" (星星 月亮) was released during the late 60s by New Wave Record Co. (新風) in Hong Kong; if you follow this blog, by now you should be familiar with this label since I posted a few of its previous releases: NWLP 5, NWLP 6 and NWLP 8.

I can't provide an exact release date for this LP catalogued as NWLP 9, but other releases by the same label bearing a later catalogue number - which are proven to have been published in 1969 - clearly place this album sometimes earlier, probably in 1968.

This LP is credited to The Apollo (太陽神樂隊), an Hong Kong prolific studio band that reached a cult status in the region during the late 60s / early 70s. Their name has probably been borrowed from the Teisco / Kawai manufactured Apollo model guitar from that time period.

They recorded a lot of instrumental albums, a few of them for New Wave Record Co. (新風) and most of them for Life Records (麗風); they were also featured as a backing band on countless releases by popular singers like Teresa Teng (鄧麗君), Pancy Lau (劉鳳屏), Frances Yip (葉麗儀), Stella Chee (奚秀蘭), etc. It should be noted that in the early days of the label, they were the only available band at Life Records headquarters, so this comes as no surprise...

Their instrumental records, often arranged by band leader Oscar Young (楊道火), a key-figure in the Hong Kong / Singapore music scene of the late 60s / early 70, usually feature a prominent guitar sound that has spawned a lot of imitators.



The album comes in one of the most gorgeous and promising covers that I ever encountered in a lifetime of crate digging... Unfortunately, as often happens in these cases, the music isn't up to the level of the sleeve, but anyway "Moon Stars" remains a more than decent example of its kind.

Labeled as a guitar music album, it mainly features the electric guitar as solo instrument, but as usual the organ is another important part of The Apollo recipe: it provides accompaniment and counterpoints that are mostly recorded on separate tracks and panned on the far sides of the mix to reach for that early days massive stereo effect.

Thanks to OCR technology I was able to import the original texts and tried to obtain an English translation using on-line tools. The results are not perfect - to say the least - but they give more than a rough idea about the song titles.

By the way, I would be really grateful if someone could help me with this release: I need a correct translation of the songs titles. If you can help and share your knowledge please get in touch with me at stereocandies [at] hotmail [dot] com or leave a comment in the box below, thank you so much!

"Moon Stars" (星星 月亮) contains the following tracks:

01. 一吻定情 [One Kiss To Mark Our Love] (2:04)
02. 偷心的人 [The Man Who Stole My Heart] (2:27)
03. 第二梦 [The Second Dream] (2:32)
04. 水長流 [Water Always Flows] (3:35)
05. 山前山后百花开 [When the Flowers Bloom On Mount Qian Shan] (2:09)
06. 知道不知道 [Do You Know or Do You Not Know?] (2:45)
07. 茶叶青 [Green Tea] (2:02)
08. 初一到十五 [The First To the Fifteenth] (1:31)
09. 故乡之歌 [The Hometown Song] (2:21)
10. 抛红豆 [Scattering Red Seeds] (2:16)
11. 恨不相逢未嫁时 [I Wish We Met Before Getting Married] (2:43)
12. 星星.月亮 [The Stars, the Moon] (2:11)

All tracks were remastered from the original vinyl in December 2012 and are available in FLAC lossless format or high-quality 320 Kbps MP3 files, both formats include completely restored PDF artwork. Please have a look at the comments for the download links.





Here's what I discovered searching information about the music included on this release:

The original version of "一吻定情" (It Began With a Kiss) is a Japanese song recorded by singer / actor 橋 幸夫 (Yukio Hashi, available here) in 1964. 黃菱 (Wong Ling) performed the original Mandarin version, that you can listen here, in 1967 and 劉鳳屏 (Pancy Lau) also performed a superb version of the song on her "劉鳳屏之歌" album in 1970; I strongly encourage you to check this other post of mine.

"偷心的人" (The Man Who Stole My Heart) was recorded in 1968 by 姚蘇蓉 (Yao Su Rong) in her album "偷心的人" which also starred 電星樂隊 (The Telstar Combo) as backing band.

"第二梦" (The Second Dream) is another song recorded by Japanese actress and singer 李香蘭 (Shirley Yamaguchi) in 1944; the original is available here.

"水長流" (Water Always Flows) was first recorded in 1969, it originated from a 1959 Japanese song popularized by 美空ひばり (Misora Hibari). The song was also performed by 劉鳳屏 (Pancy Lau, available here), 姚蘇蓉 (Yao Su Rong, here) and 鄧麗君 (Teresa Teng, here).

The original version of "山前山後百花开" (When the Flowers Bloom On Mount Qian Shan) was recorded in 1962 by 劉韻 (Liu Yun, available here). The song was also later covered by 姚蘇蓉 (Yao Su Rong, available here), 劉鳳屏 (Pancy Lau, here), and 奚秀兰 (Stella Chee, here).

"知道不知道" (Do You Know or Do You Not Know?) was performed by many female singers including 劉韻 (Liu Yun, available here), 姚蘇蓉 (Yao Su Rong, here) and 鄧麗君 (Teresa Teng, here).

"茶叶青" (Green Tea) was originally recorded by 華怡保 (Ruby Wah) in 1961. The song was also later performed by 張露 (Chang Loo, available here), 鄧麗君 (Teresa Teng, here) and 鳳飛飛 (Feng Fei Fei, here).

"初一到十五" (The First To the Fifteenth) was originally recorded in 1965 by 劉韻 (Liu Yun, available here). ) for the movie "落馬湖" (Gun Fight at Lo Ma Lake). This song was originally a ShanXi Ballad / 山西民謠 .

"故乡之歌" (The Hometown Song) was one of the signature songs of 林沖 (Lam Chung, available here). Once again, this number originates from a Japanese song; it was also performed earlier by 張露 (Chang Loo, available here),

I wasn't able to find any relevant information about "抛红豆" (Scattering Red Seeds)... "恨不相逢未嫁时" (I Wish We Met Before Getting Married) was originally performed by 李香蘭 (Shirley Yamaguchi) in 1944; it's a poignant ballad lamenting about untimely love that came too late. It's a popular song covered by many artists, including the late 邓丽君 (Teresa Teng, available here).

The title-track "星星.月亮" (The Moon, the Stars) seems to be an original composition created by the band especially for this album, you can listen a preview clicking on the video here below.

A few more information about The Apollo (太陽神樂隊) and the New Wave Record Co. (新風) catalogue is available here:

http://blog.roodo.com/muzikland/archives/2512021.html

http://www.discogs.com/artist/1638765-Apollo-The-2

http://rateyourmusic.com/artist/%E5%A4%AA%E9%99%BD%E7%A5%9E%E6%A8%82%E9%9A%8A

http://www.freewebs.com/ritachao/apollothe.htm

http://progressive.homestead.com/HONGKONG.html

http://bbs.qianlong.com/thread-1350672-1-1.html

http://www.radiodiffusion.net/extra/Apollo_Guitar_Ad.jpg

http://rateyourmusic.com/label/new_wave_record_co_

http://radiodiffusion.wordpress.com/category/hong-kong/

http://www.vinylparadise.com/LPCollec/company/fh_life/fh_lp005.htm

http://www.vinylparadise.com/8music/1/music1b2.htm

http://forum.lorein.cn/viewthread.php?tid=21126&extra=page%3D1&ordertype=2&page=1

In the next months I will post more Hong Kong/Taiwan/Singapore/etc. Pop/Instrumental records released in the late-60s / mid-70s. As usual, I would like to provide information about these releases and their authors.

Unfortunately the Internet doesn't offer much information - written in English - about these artists and this is the reason why I need help: if you can translate from Chinese to English please get in touch with me at stereocandies [at] hotmail [dot] com or leave a comment in the box below, thank you so much!

It's been difficult to obtain these vinyls, some are not in the best conditions and I'm currently working hard to properly master them. It seems that these artists and their music are poorly known in the West, of course it's a real pity because they made stunning releases: I'd like to share them with you with a proper presentation, hope that someone will be able to help.

PANCY LAU (劉鳳屏) - THE VERY BEST OF PANCY LAU VOLUME 1 [1968-70]

Here's a post dedicated to my personal "very best" of Hong Kong singer Pancy Lau (劉鳳屏); I created this compilation as an introduction to her beautiful world.

This first part gathers together 25 tracks culled from singles and albums released during 1968-70. A second part focused on more recent recordings will be posted at a later date.

According to the information I was able to find on the Internet, all songs are sung in Mandarin. A few more details about some of them is available below.

Pancy Lau, who is also known as the Sweet Diva, grew up around cabarets and music clubs. She frequently traveled around Asia in places like Taiwan and Malaysia to perform at various venues. Her years of experience have helped to build her strong vocal foundation. Pancy Lau possesses a naturally sweet and beautiful voice, which is pleasant and moving to hear. Her music and success has touched fans from all around the world. The following biography is mostly based on this original feature that our friend Brian was kind enough to translate for us, THANK YOU!

Pancy Lau (Lau Fung Ping, 劉鳳屏 or 刘鳳屏, also referred to as Liu Feng Ping) was born sometimes in the late 40s / early 50s in a family of musicians; her father Lau Bak Lok (劉伯樂) - also known as Tin Ngai (天涯) - was a well-known Cantonese Opera Star. He was her very first music teacher, and guided her through the entertainment world.

Her career started when she was around 8 or 9 years old singing Cantonese Opera. As a teenager she transitioned to singing songs she enjoyed: Pop music. During the early 60s she participated two times in the Sing Tao Daily Singing Competition in Hong Kong with no significant results.

Pancy Lau, circa 1968

During these days, she learned the importance of enunciation when singing Mandarin pop songs: without proper enunciation, songs lose their beauty and meaning. Her passion for music fueled her drive to succeed. Realizing that her Mandarin wasn't great, she took this opportunity to improve herself and spent six months studying with teacher Lui Jing Jing (呂晶晶) from Shanghai. In 1965 at the 6th Annual Sing Tao Daily Competition, she won first place singing Lee Heung Lan's (李香蘭) song "Three Years" (三年).

Upon winning the competition, Pancy's parents suggested that she start working at the Golden Crown Night Club (金冠). It was here that she became a star taking the stage as their principal singing artist. Pancy quickly gained popularity: originally performing only one show a night at 8:00pm, she was soon booked for four shows a night due to high demand, from 8:00pm to 12:30am. Though it was a lot of hard work, she felt a sense of satisfaction, which made all of her prior hardships worth it.

Television Broadcasts Limited (電視廣播有限公司), commonly known as TVB, commenced broadcasting in Hong Kong on 19 November 1967. Pancy Lau was one of the first musical artists who participated in the popular show "歡樂今宵" (Enjoy Yourself Tonight), which was the longest running variety show in Hong Kong's television history. Other famous artist from this show included Betty Chung (鍾玲玲), Stella Chee (奚秀藺), Sandra Lang (仙杜拉) - one half of The Chopsticks duo along with Amina (阿美娜) - and Sylvia Lai (森森).

At this time Pancy was so popular that she was booked seven days a week. She was singing at the night club on Saturdays and the cabaret on Sundays which ran both afternoon and night shows. She was doing 13+ shows per week. At this point she was at the peak of her career.

Pancy Lau, circa 1970

In 1968 Fung Hang Records released her debut album entitled "My Heart Is Beating - 我的心蹦蹦跳". This was her only release to feature an English translation of the title on the cover. The album was the first in a long series of recordings that continued for more than fifteen years.

Following two EPs entitled "水長流" ("Water Flows Long") and "山前山後百花开" ("When the Flowers Bloom On Mount Qian Shan"), Pancy Lau's second album was finally published in late 1969. "快回頭望一望" ("Quickly Take a Look Behind") contained twelve songs, including the eight tracks already released on her previous EPs.

The record was a huge success with no less than four editions published - and sometimes also bootlegged - by different labels in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. At the time, a lot of popular music was coming from being featured on television or were theme songs from television drama series. The album, however, did not need any push from the media to become an instant hit, as it contained enough fresh material to estabilish itself as a modern classic.

1970-71 were probably the most successful years for Pancy Lau, with many other EPs and LPs released on Fung Hang Records (風行) and New Wave Record Co. (新風). However, at the peak of her career, stress began to take its tall, too many commitments and accumulated fatigue took over. Furthermore, after the release of her fourth album, Pancy had come down with Tracheitis and Goiter. Tracheitis is an acute upper respiratory infection while Goiter is an abnormal enlargement of the thyroid gland. Fearing surgery would ruin her voice, she turned to medicine. She lost her voice regardless and was forced to take a six months break to control the illness and recover.

Pancy Lau, circa 1977

Pancy Lau released many more albums during the 70s and early 80s, mostly on Life Records (麗風) and Fung Hang Records (風行), but also on other smaller labels. Since the mid-70s Pancy switched from Mandarin Pop to the more popular Cantonese Pop and in 1974 she had another hit with "紅燭淚" (Red Candle Tears), a theme song from a successful TV series.

During the years she continued to have a loyal following and to perform in many television shows, but was never able to match the huge success - and the magic - of her early releases.

In 1988 Pancy got married and moved with her husband to Canada; she stopped singing in public and making records to become an appreciated singing teacher in Vancouver, where she still lives today.

In 2006 she was featured in an episode of the popular TVB show 友緣相聚 (Where Are They Now?) conducted by iconic TV personality 沈殿霞 (Lydia Sum a.k.a. Fei-Fei / 肥肥); since then she has enjoyed a comeback performing a few concerts for the joy of old and new fans.

Pancy Lau, late 70s / early 80s

"The Very Best of Pancy Lau Volume 1 [1968-70]" contains the following songs:

01. 莫負青春 (2:20)
02. 我的心蹦蹦跳 (2:08)
03. 阿里郎 (1:44)
04. 紅睡蓮 (2:22)
05. 誰能替我傳心意 (2:36)
06. 我的心裡有個他 (2:09)
07. 姑娘的心意 (2:00)
08. 一吻定情 (2:33)
09. 我還是永遠愛著你 (2:47)
10. 山前山後百花開 (2:15)
11. 黃葉舞秋風 (2:10)
12. 難忘負情的你 (2:46)
13. 快回頭望一望 (2:53)
14. 採檳榔 (2:57)
15. 銀花飛 (2:46)
16. 夢的祈禱 (2:02)
17. 戀愛的季節 (1:50)
18. 寂靜的夜 (2:25)
19. 淚的衣裳 (2:15)
20. 磁性的迷惑 (2:30)
21. 讓我慢慢告訴你 (2:38)
22. 你幾時回家 (1:44)
23. 討厭的電話鈴 (2:14)
24. 月光小夜曲 (3:20)

All tracks were remastered from the original vinyls and CDs in September and October 2012, and are available in FLAC lossless format or high-quality 320 Kbps MP3 files, both formats include complete printable artwork as PDF files. Please have a look at the comments for the download links.

Pancy Lau's debut album "我的心蹦蹦跳 - My Heart Is Beating", FHLP 1001, 1968

Here's a few information about the songs included on this "best of". The translations of the song titles are approximate in most cases, but anyway... I would like to thank duriandave from Soft Film 軟性電影 for his kind and precious help with the most difficult titles.

01. "莫負青春" (Don't Turn Your Back on Youth) is a song from the movie with the same title; it was originally performed in 1947 by singer / actress 周璇 (Zhou Xuan), one of China's seven great singing stars. You can listen and watch the original version here.

02. "我的心蹦蹦跳" (My Heart Is Beating) is the title track from FHLP 1001 (...see Pancy Lau discography here); it was also performed by 江鷺 (Kong Lo) and 鍾玲玲 (Betty Chung), I'm not sure about who was the original performer... Anyway, Kong Lo's version is available here.

03. "阿里郎" (Arirang) is one of the most famous Korean traditional folk songs. In its original form it has been sung for more than 600 years: who would even think about it listening to the swinging version presented here? There's plenty of versions available on YouTube.

04. "紅睡蓮" (Red Water Lilies) was originally a Japanese song recorded by 李香蘭 (Shirley Yamaguchi) in 1940 (available here). Mandarin versions were later recorded by 美黛 (Mei Dai), 張露 (Chang Loo) and many others.

05. "誰能替我傳心意" (Who Can Replace the Object of My Affection) was also recorded by 陳依齡 (Irene Chan, her version is available here) and 张小英 (Chang Siao Ying, here).

06. "我的心裡有個他" (There is Somebody in My Heart) was adapted from a Japanese song recorded by 翁倩玉 (Judy Ongg, available here) in 1967. This version appeared on Pancy Lau's first EP in 1968 and is one her earliest recordings. The song was also recorded by 鄧麗君 (Teresa Teng).

Pancy Lau's second - and most successful - album "快回頭望一望", FHLP 608, 1969

07. "姑娘的心意" (A Maiden's Heart) is another adaptation of a song imported from Japan. The original was popularized by 美空ひばり (Misora Hibari, available here - the song begins at about 2:00); the Mandarin version was also successfully performed by 張露 (Chang Loo).

08. "一吻定情" (One Kiss To Mark Our Love) is my favourite Pancy Lau song for sure: the arrangement is simply marvellous, probably the grooviest Far-East track I happened to listen ever! The original version was, once again, a Japanese song recorded by singer / actor 橋 幸夫 (Yukio Hashi, available here) in 1964. 黃菱 (Wong Ling) performed the original Mandarin version, that you can listen here, in 1967.

09. "我還是永遠愛著你" (I Will Still Love You Forever) is an old Taiwanese folk love song which during the years has been performed by many famous female singers including 姚蘇蓉 (Yao Su Rong, available here, the song begins at about 3:00), 鄧麗君 (Teresa Teng, available here), 湯蘭花 (Tang Lang Hwa, here) and 陳芬蘭 (Chen Fen Lan, here).

10. The sweet "山前山後百花开" (When the Flowers Bloom On Mount Qian Shan) is another one of the early Pancy Lau recordings committed to vinyl in 1969. The original version was recorded in 1962 by 劉韻 (Liu Yun, available here). The song was also later covered by 姚蘇蓉 (Yao Su Rong, available here) and 奚秀兰 (Stella Chee, here).

11. "黃葉舞秋風" (Dance of the Autumn Yellow Leaves) features a sort of bonna-nova arrangement. This song was performed by 周璇 (Zhou Xuan) in 1947 in the movie "長相思" (An All-consuming Love) starring herself, the original version is available here.

This is supposed to be Pancy Lau's third album "劉鳳屏之歌", NWLP 2021, 1970...

12. "難忘負情的你" (Your Unforgettable Love) is taken from Pancy Lau's fourth album (...FHLP 635, see her discography here...), I wasn't able to find any relevant information about it...

13. "快回頭望一望" (Quickly Take a Look Behind) is the title track from Pancy Lau's 1970 second album (...FHLP 608...) and his one of her signature songs. During the years it has been covered many times and has become a karaoke classic.

14. "採檳榔" (Picking Betel Nuts) is a popular Taiwan song, it was performed by many female singers, including Zhou Xuan (周璇, available here) and 鄧麗君 (Teresa Teng), an '80s live version is available here) who remembered about this being the very first song her mother taught her to sing as a child.

15."銀花飛" (Silver Flower) is another old Chinese classic popularized by Zhou Xuan (周璇), the original version is available here.

16. During 1969/70 "夢的祈禱" (A Prayer For You) was also performed by 姚蘇蓉 (Yao Su Rong, available here) and 林竹君 (Lena Lim, here).

17. "戀愛的季節" (The Season of Love) is the Mandarin version of another famous late '60s Japanese song. Among others, it was performed by 姚蘇蓉 (Yao Su Rong, available here), 鄧麗君 (Teresa Teng, here) and 謝雷 (Xie Lei). Once again, Pancy Lau's version benefits of a supergroovy arrangement on her own version!

18. "寂靜的夜" (The Silence of the Night) is a Mandarin version of the Japanese classic "ウナ・セラ・ディ東京 - Una sera di Tokyo" (One Night in Tokyo), which was initially performed in 1963 by vocal duo ザ・ピーナッツ (The Peanuts) with the title "東京たそがれ」" (Tokyo Twilight). When touring Japan in1964, famous Italian singer Milva recorded her own version adding the 'Una sera di Tokyo' line to the refrain. The song became successfull and The Peanuts re-recorded it with the new title and lyrics.

... and this is probably her fourth album "難忘負情的你", FHLP 635, also released in 1970.

19. "淚的衣裳" (Dress of Tears) is another Mandarin version of a Japanese song originally recorded by 翁倩玉 (Judy Ongg, available here) in 1969. This was also part of the repertoire of the usual suspects: 姚蘇蓉 (Yao Su Rong, available here), 謝雷 (Xie Lei, here), 林竹君 (Lena Lim, here) and many more...

20. "磁性的迷惑" (Magnetic Seduction) was previously performed by 姚蘇蓉 (Yao Su Rong, available here) in a 1969 movie whose title eludes me...

21. "讓我慢慢告訴你" (I Will Tell You) was included on Pancy Lau's third album for Fung Hang Records (...FHLP 635...). This song was also performed by 鄧麗君 (Teresa Teng), available here), 龙飘飘 (Long Piau Piau, here) and 尤雅 (Yu Ya).

22. I don't have any information about "你幾時回家" (When Will You Come Home?); I was only able to discover that this song was covered by 周玲寶 (Chow Ling Po) and 太陽神樂隊 (The Apollo)... By the way, did I mention that The Apollo is the backing band on many of the tracks featured on this collection?

23. "討厭的電話鈴" (An Annoying Telephone Call) is an original composition that appears as the closing number on Pancy's debut album. Yes, that telephone bell is really irritating!

24. The sweet "月光小夜曲" (Moonlight Serenade) derives from a Japanese song originally recorded by 渡辺はま子 (Hamako Watanabe) in 1941. The Mandarin version was popularized in the early '60s by 紫薇 (Zu Wei, available here); it was also performed by 陳芬蘭 (Chen Fen Lan, here) and many others..

Pancy Lau, circa 2008

The following videoclips are taken from episode #19 of TVB show 友緣相聚 (Where Are They Now?), enjoy!

More information about Pancy Lau is available here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Hong_Kong

http://home.ied.edu.hk/~hkpop/music/hkpophistory.html

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dk_gilbert/sets/72157608139056712/

http://www.goldenage.hk/b5/ga/ga_article.php?article_id=1079

http://paper.wenweipo.com/2007/04/21/EN0704210024.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUIeOiDudhg&feature=related

http://tw.myblog.yahoo.com/vinyl-history/article?mid=42&l=f&fid=12

http://www.funghang.com/200610/asp/disc_list.asp?class1=6&singer=%E5%8A%89%E9%B3%B3%E5%B1%8F

http://blog.roodo.com/muzikland/archives/2578425.html

http://baike.baidu.com/view/5637119.htm

http://www.vinylparadise.com/4pop_can/1/066LFP0A.htm

http://www.inkui.com/a1/A/A4A8B8CB7ABE6FF6C1CF_a.html

http://robokon.orgfree.com/5080/5080_LauFungPing.htm

http://mypaper.pchome.com.tw/chrishui/post/1276979467

http://rateyourmusic.com/artist/%E5%8A%89%E9%B3%B3%E5%B1%8F

http://www.whatsinmag.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1004%3A2012-04-02-19-44-12&catid=75%3A2012-03-30-21-17-42&lang=tw

I'm currently trying to compile a Pancy Lau exhaustive discography, my work-in-progress is available here.

All my posts dedicated to Pancy Lau on this blog are available here.

In the next months I will post more Hong Kong/Taiwan/Singapore/etc. Pop/Instrumental records released in the late-60s / mid-70s. As usual, I would like to provide information about these releases and their authors.

Unfortunately the Internet doesn't offer much information - written in English - about these artists and this is the reason why I need help: if you can translate from Chinese to English please get in touch with me at stereocandies [at] hotmail [dot] com or leave a comment in the box below, thank you so much!

It's been difficult to obtain these vinyls, some are not in the best conditions and I'm currently working hard to properly master them. It seems that these artists and their music are poorly known in the West, of course it's a real pity because they made stunning releases: I'd like to share them with you with a proper presentation, hope that someone will be able to help.