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!

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.

THE APOLLO "SPRING AGAIN" (太陽神樂隊 "大地回春")

Once again, here comes a very nice instrumental album published by New Wave Record Co. (新風) in Hong Kong during the late 60s. Just like for the previous posts about NWLP 5 and NWLP 6, I am not able to provide an exact release date for this LP catalogued as NWLP 8. Oh, and by the way, in case you were wondering about it, it seems that a NWLP 7 doesn't exist, at least according to my own tireless and long research... If you own a copy or if you have any information about it please let me know.

Anyway, other albums released on the same label with a later catalogue number are proven to have been published in 1969, so I guess that we could place "Spring Again" (大地回春) a little bit 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... Phew, what a hard schedule!

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...



...and "Spring Again" (大地回春) is in fact labeled as a guitar music album; most solos are obviously performed on the electric guitar but the organ plays an important part in the group's nice alchemy, providing accompaniment and counterpoints that, recorded on separate tracks, are panned on the far left and right side of the mix to reach for that early days massive stereo effect..

The back cover provides an English translation of the titles, so for once I am able to present a correct track list; since I can't read/write Chinese, sometimes it is very hard to properly present these Far-East records here...

"Spring Again" (大地回春) contains the following tracks:

01. 採檳榔 [Chai Pin-Laang] (3:05)
02. 大地回春 [Spring Again] (2:01)
03. 送郎一朵牽牛花 [A Flower For You] (2:58)
04. 媽媽說我沒人嫁 [Mother Says I'm Not Wanted] (2:22)
05. 加多一点点 [Add a Little] (2:13)
06. 兩相依 [We Two] (2:36)
07. 王老五 [Bachelor's Song] (2:04)
08. 姑娘的心意 [Young Emotion] (2:34)
09. 搭錯線 [Wrong Number] (2:18)
10. 意乱情迷 [Bewildered] (1:53)
11. 忘不了的你 [Colours of the Rainbow] (2:56)
12. 漁家女 [Fisher Girl] (3:06)

All tracks were remastered from the original vinyl in May/June 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:

採檳榔 [Chai Pin-Laang] is a popular Taiwan song whose title can be translated as "Picking Betel Nuts", it was performed by many female singers, including Zhou Xuan (周璇) - one of the Seven Great Singing Stars - and Teresa Teng (鄧麗君) who remembered about this being the very first song her mother taught her to sing as a child.

大地回春 [Spring Again] is a classic Mandarin song from the late 40s. It was first recorded in Shanghai by Wu Ying Yin (吴莺音) - another one of the Seven Great Singing Stars of China - and has become a synonymous of the Chinese New Year festivities. 送郎一朵牽牛花 [A Flower For You] is another song brought to success by Wu Ying Yin (吴莺音) in the late 50s.

姑娘的心意 [Young Emotion] was successfully performed by Chang Loo (張露) and later by Pancy Lau (劉鳳屏), while 忘不了的你 [Colours of the Rainbow] is a 1966 hit by Judi Jim (詹小屏) who used to sing both Mandarin and Western songs. 漁家女 [Fisher Girl] is best remembered in the version performed by singer/actress Zhou Xuan (周璇) during the gramophone era, and that's all I know...

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 NEW WAVE ORCHESTRA "CHINA NIGHT" (新風樂隊 "中國之夜")

I had the chance to buy this LP more than twenty years ago in the bargains section of a small second-hand records shop. This is one of the many records in my life that I compulsively purchased just because I was attracted by the cover. I'm so glad that I did it, judging a record by its cover sometimes is quite a rewarding experience!

Being written in Chinese charachters, a language that unfortunately I'm not familiar with, the only information I could get reading the cover was that the LP is entitled "China Night", it was "Made in Hong Kong" - released by New Wave Record Co. with catalogue number NWLP 5 - and it promised some kind of "guitar-based" stereo music to be played at 33 RPM.

The cover is made of thin cardboard and is laminated both on the front and the back, the vinyl is protected by a transparent plastic rounded sleeve. Without further clues, in that pre-Internet era, I guessed that the album was released in the late 60s / early 70s; after my first listen I was more inclined to place it more firmly sometimes in the 60s.

But enough with my memories, what about the music? The album offers 14 tracks of top-notch Exotica / Lounge instrumental magic that I could listen to forever and ever without getting tired of it.

I guess that if someone had traced the original masters and re-released this album on CD at the peak of the great Incredibly Strange Music / Space Age Pop / Cocktail Music - or whatever you want to call it - revival in the mid 90s, this would have turned into a memorable release, at least in my opinion.



So, the pre-Internet era is over, and what have I discovered in my search for information about this beautiful vinyl release, more than twenty years since the day I purchased it, while preparing this post? Well, not much as I would have liked to, I must admit... Chinese logograms are still a barrier and the only information - written in English - that I was able to find is this post on the precious Radiodiffusion Internasionaal music blog.

The album is credited to The New Wave Orchestra, according to the source mentioned above they "were apparently a creation of their record label" and "were most likely comprised of studio musicians".

Althought I wasn't able to discover the exact year when "China Night" has been published, 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 in the late 60s, probably around 1967-68.

Thanks to OCR technology I was able to import the original texts and tried to obtain an English translation using some on-line tools. I guess that 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; translation of the brief backsleeve notes and the logograms on the front cover would also be much appreciated. 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!

"China Night" contains the following tracks:

01. 中國之夜 [China Night] (2:34)
02. 黃葉舞秋風 [Dance of the Autumn Yellow Leaves] (2:15)
03. 賣糖歌 [Candy Seller Song] (3:44)
04. 苦酒滿杯 [Bitter Tasting Wine] (2:33)
05. 何日君再來 [What Day Does Mr. Li Returns?] (2:37)
06. 花月盟 [Flower Month Pledge] (2:38)
07. 月光小夜曲 [Moonlight Serenade] (2:34)
08. 大傻瓜與小丫頭 [The Little Girl and the Big Fool] (2:48)
09. 意難忘 [Unforgettable Italy] (2:46)
10. 蔓莉 [Man Li] (2:54)
11. 午夜香吻 [Midnight Kiss] (3:12)
12. 蘇州夜曲 [Suzhou Nocturne] (3:16)
13. 阿蘭娜 [A Lanna] (2:53)
14. 綠島小夜曲 [Green Island Serenade] (2:45)

All tracks were remastered from the original vinyl in October/November 2011 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.





The album opens with the title track. "China Night" seems to be a well-known song dating back to the late 30s, you can find more information about it and listen to what probably is the first recorded version here; many other different versions of the song are available on YouTube.

Being a "guitar music" album, that is obviously the main instrument on offer here. Most solos are performed on electric guitar; I'm not sure about it but probably the guitarist name is written somewhere on the cover. The organist work is worth a mention too since it offers very nice backgrounds and counterpoints.

The rhythm section goes straight to the point and works for the cause of keeping everything in motion but in a relaxed way. Drums are clean and crispy, basslines are simple and precise, a few percussions are also a welcome addition on certain tracks since they enhance the lounge side of things.

I am certainly no expert on the subject, but all the music on "China Night" seems to be based on Oriental Scales; well, not quite surprisingly I hear you say... ehm, right!

Traditional instruments are also part of the arrangements: chinese violins sometimes are layered under the guitar to emphasize certain passages, mallets instruments are scattered here and there for good, while woodwinds colour the more sad or languishing moments with their tones. Other strings instruments have also probably been used on these recordings.

Technically speaking the album works quite fine. A few effects are used, mostly reverb on some organ parts, but everything is kept down to Earth, so to speak. All instruments are well-panned so that they never clash against each other and the result is always very clean.

I enjoy this album as a whole and, as I wrote earlier, I could never get tired of it. Having said that, my favourite track is #06 (花月盟): it takes me on a journey far away each time I play it.

The following videoclip is made from images of many front and back covers of LPs that are part of the New Wave Record Co. catalogue. Most of them seem to be quite interesting, and needless to say that the music in the soundtrack is a real killer, to say the least!

A few more information about "China Night" and the New Wave Record Co. catalogue is available here:

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

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=china+night&aq=f

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.