RITA CHAO (凌雲) "RITA CHAO WITH THE QUESTS" (1967)

Rita Chao, best known to her Mandarin-speaking fans as 凌雲 (…Ling Yun, Ling Ying or Seow Mei-Mei, depending on your preferred source of information…), was born in Singapore, probably sometimes in 1949 or early 1950; she grew up there, where she received her education.

Anyway, according to some reports, her family originated from the city of Hangzhou (杭州), which is located in the Zhejiang Province (浙江省) in Eastern China, not so far from Shanghai (上海).

Rita, the youngest of six children with three brothers and two sisters, started singing at the tender age of 8 and was already working as a singer and actress at 14. At school she was not very interested in her academic studies, instead she excelled with performance arts: singing and acting.

Luckily enough, she was born in a family of artists: her grandmother, Zhao Yongchun (趙永春), was a known Chinese Opera singer, and her mother Jing Yu Xian (荊玉仙) was a Chinese Opera singer too. Growing up in this environment allowed her to be familiar with life in the entertainment business, and helped to mentor her future career.

Her parents and relatives saw her potential as an artist quite soon, and decided to pull Rita out of school to follow the Opera troupe on their performances. Rita was given chances to perform Chinese Opera on stage and her performances were very good.

It is unclear when and where Rita embraced Pop music... However, at the end of 1965 - when she was just 15 - while touring Malaysia with her former group, she joined a band called Super XX.

In the meantime Zhao Yongchun, determined to turn her beloved granddaughter into a star, increased her vocal training, became her manager and successfully arranged for her to perform in various nightclubs in Singapore.

Rita was discovered on the local entertainment scene by Su Yin (舒雲), a.k.a. Henry Foo, a Singaporean singer, songwriter and lyricist, who at the time was also the A&R manager for the Chinese section at Columbia / EMI.

In 1966 she was signed by the label and released her very first 7" EP. On this record, she was paired with the top guitar band from Singapore, The Quests. The EP sold over 50.000 copies, and for Rita it was instant stardom.

During those days Rita met Sakura Teng (櫻花). As the story goes, Sakura was already a star singing at various Cabarets throughout South East Asia. On one occasion before going on stage, Sakura and Rita were backstage talking; they instantly clicked and started singing together. Sakura thought they had a very distinctive sound and that night she decided to add a segment to the show in which they would sing a duet. Obviously, they received a stunning reaction from the public and decided to join forces...

Well, probably that is just the romantic version of the story...: since both singers were doing quite well, it is an easy guess that EMI felt that pairing them would give both their careers a boost. In 1967 Rita and Sakura began performing as a double act and constantly toured Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan, building a fan base at each port of call.



During her heyday Rita Chao recorded many great Mandarin covers of popular English songs and she was part of the pioneers who launched the Rock Movement in Singapore. Along with Sakura, they were both known as 'A Go-Go Queens of the Sixties"; in those days, they used to perform at the now defunct New World Amusement Park and they both lived in Jalan Besar.

Rita's career lasted about ten years. In 1975, when her last solo album was released, she declared in an interview that she was about to make a movie in Hong Kong and that she was tired of singing all the time... In 1980-81 she briefly returned on the scene releasing two albums with Sakura, just before disappearing completely.

For more than three decades there has been no news about her in the media, only during recent years unconfirmed information appeared on the Internet that she may have been suffering from a psychiatric illness that required long-term treatment.

In early February 2015 the news about her death spreaded: Rita's 90-years-old mother confirmed that the former singer passed away in July 2014; she has been suffering from colon cancer for about three years when she died at the Singapore General Hospital surrounded by her mother, brothers and sisters. Her ashes were scattered at sea after a short wake and funeral attended by family and friends. The family did not inform show business friends as they wanted the past to be forgotten...

Most of the information included in this post was translated by our best friend Brian (...thank you!!!) from a rare article found in the May 19, 1970 edition of "Hong Kong TV Magazine" available in this post on the great macaenese5354 blog.

I am also in debt with Joseph C. Pereira, whose books "Apache Over Singapore" and "Beyond the Tea Dance" are a constant and invaluable source of information and inspiration, thanks!!!

"Rita Chao With The Quests" includes the following tracks:

01. 隔壁的冤家 (The Boy Next Door) (2:01)
02. 薄情郎 (He's Untrue) (3:23)
03. 別纏住我 (Only Friends) (3:35)
04. 搖搖搖 (Shake Shake Shake) (1:49)
05. Hanky Panky (3:11)
06. 愛人你變了 (I Know) (3:17)
07. 去年今天 (Lonely Heart) (3:36)
08. 媽媽的勸告 (Bachelor Boy) (2:07)
09. Sixteen Candles (3:16)
10. 小姑娘 (Let True Love Begin) (3:05)
11. 往日的舊夢 (Gonna Be Alright) (2:23)
12. 我不能沒有你 (Wooly Bully) (2:07)

All tracks were remastered in March 2019 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.

Rita Chao as she appears on the front cover of the album

Preceded by four stunning 7" EPs - all available here on Stereo Candies - Rita Chao's debut album was released sometime in early/mid 1967 by Columbia / EMI in Singapore with catalogue number 33 ESX 603.

The album comes in a lovely flipback laminated sleeve with a two-colour printed matte back. The front cover uses a flipped picture of Rita Chao that earlier graced her 我不能沒有你 (The Boy Next Door) EP, while the back offers a slightly psychedelic collage of four different pictures that portrait her in three different outfits, including the one she is wearing on the front cover.

The vinyl copy in my possession is a first pressing with green labels that was manufactured in Australia, probably just weeks before EMI's Singapore pressing plant came on-line in June 1967. The second pressing has black labels similar to those that you can see in the post I dedicated to Sakura's debut album.

The colours on the front cover of my original copy are quite pale in comparison to the reconstruction that I'm offering in this post. You can catch a glimpse of the original cover in this picture available on the Stereo Candies Instagram account. I thought that somehow my copy was defective, or that maybe it had been exposed to direct sunlight for a long time but, as I was searching the Internet prior to compile this post, I discovered that other copies bear the same defect... The other record that appears in such picture is an infamous sounding bootleg that exploits this same cover, but features a different tracklisting that also includes tracks released a few years later.

As the title clearly implies, on this album Rita Chao is accompanied by The Quests, the legendary Singaporean group which was very active during the mid-late '60s, both as a backing unit - most notably for Rita herself and Sakura - and as performers in their own right with a very long series of singles and four full-lenght albums. It's about time that I also start taking care of their recordings, but that's another story, so let's move on to the usual track-by-track commentary...



Side 1 opens with "隔壁的冤家 (The Boy Next Door)", a song written by Johnny Madara and David White that was originally performed by American girl group The Secrets in 1963. The same year the song was turned into a huge hit in Singapore by The Crescendos, you can listen to their version own by clicking here.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to find any information about "薄情郎 (He's Untrue)", I would believe that it is an original composition, but the presence of a Mandarin + English title seems to prove the contrary... Maybe some reader of this blog can shed some light on the subject? Anyway, this track features Reggie Vergese in top form offering a great performance on acoustic guitar, including a mandolin-style solo.

"別纏住我 (Only Friends)" is a Mandarin cover of "Ton meilleur ami", a song originally performed by French singer and actress Françoise Hardy in 1962. An English version of this song was popularized in Singapore by Heather and The Diamond Four.

The very short and lively "搖搖搖" (Shake, Shake, Shake) was originally included in the 1966 movie "何日君再来" (Till the End of Time), which was a huge success in Singapore and launched the acting career of the young 胡燕妮 (Jenny Hu). The voice singing the original tune belongs to Chinese singer and dubbing artist 静婷 (Tsin Ting); you can watch the original music number here.

"Hanky Panky" is a song written in 1963 by Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich for their group, The Raindrops. It was famously remade by rock group Tommy James and the Shondells, who took it to No. 1 in the United States in 1966. On this version, The Quests add their trademark guitar sound and wild drumming, turning Rita's performance in a Garage classic. Here's a link to The Raindrops' original version.

The original version of "愛人你變了" (I Know) was written by Robert Suriya of Naomi & The Boys and was included on the band's second EP released in 1965 by Philips. "快樂誕辰" (Happy Happy Birthday) was also included in the same EP, and is a cover of a 1957 Doo Wop number by The Tune Weavers (...original version is here).



Side 2 starts with "去年今天 (Lonely Heart)", a Mandarin cover of The Thunderbirds' "My Lonely Heart", one of the most popular original compositions in the history of Singapore Pop Music, which was written in 1966 by Harvey Fitzgerald - the band's lead singer - and Gerry Pasqual, their manager. The magic of the original version is reinforced by Rita's memorable performance and the evocative Mandarin lyrics would send shivers down the spine of the coldest human on Earth. This is a M-A-S-T-E-R-P-I-E-C-E!!!

"媽媽的勸告 (Bachelor Boy)" is a cover of a song written by Cliff Richard and Bruce Welch. Originally performed by Cliff Richard with musical accompaniment by The Shadows in 1963, it was also included on the successful movie "Summer Holiday".

"Sixteen Candles", the immortal youth anthem written by Luther Dixon and Allyson R. Khent, was originally performed by American Doo-wop group The Crests in 1958. On this release Rita sings a slightly adapted version of the original English lyrics; a version with Mandarin lyrics was also recorded and released during the same year.

While the "atmosphere" of all the other covers on the album is rather faithful to the original, this rendition "小姑娘 (Let True Love Begin)" - a 1961 number by legendary pianist and singer Nat King Cole - is clearly marked with Rock'n'Roll elements which are not present in the original. This song was written by Mark Barkan along with Sandy Baron and George Eddy. Another interesting version recorded by The Crests in the early '60s is linked here for comparison.

"往日的舊夢 (Gonna Be Alright)" is a Mandarin cover version of Gerry and The Pacemakers' hit. The song was written by Gerry Mardsen and originally performed by the group in 1964.

The album ends with "我不能沒有你 (Wooly Bully)", a cover of a popular song originally recorded by novelty Rock'n'Roll band Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs in 1965. Wikipedia offers much more information about the song here, and you can listen to the original version courtesy of YouTube. Another clip that shows the band performing a playback on TV is also available here.

The following clips offer a complete preview of the remastered album, enjoy!

More information about Rita Chao is available here:

http://www.discogs.com/artist/385494-Rita-Chao

https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/%E5%87%8C%E9%9B%B2

https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/rita_chao_and_sakura

http://madrotter-treasure-hunt.blogspot.com/search/label/rita%20chao

http://blog.roodo.com/macaenese5354/archives/25610568.html

http://blog.roodo.com/macaenese5354/archives/25707290.html

https://questing.wordpress.com/category/rita-chao-%E5%87%8C%E9%9B%B2/

https://questing.wordpress.com/category/sakura-rita-duet-%E6%AB%BB%E8%8A%B1-%E6%B7%A9%E9%9B%B2/

http://mocamborainbow.blogspot.com/2008/07/rita-chao.html

http://www.smartshanghai.com/articles/nightlife/music-tuesday-far-out-east-2

http://singapore60smusic.blogspot.com/2009/01/rita-chao-pop-go-go-for-william-dad.html

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

https://www.flickr.com/photos/dk_gilbert/sets/72157625310673913

http://www.geocities.jp/a104gs/rita.chao.html

http://www.geocities.jp/a104gs/rita.lp.html

http://www.geocities.jp/a104gs/sakura.rita.chao.html

http://women.asiaone.com/women/people/agogo-princess-rita-chao-died-6-months-ago

http://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/entertainment/a-go-go-queen-rita-chao-dies-of-colon-cancer

If you have any other useful information about Rita Chao and "Rita Chao With The Quests", or if you spot any dead links, please get in touch with me at stereocandies [at] hotmail [dot] com or leave a comment in the box below, thank you!

THE SHEEP RECORDS STORY #21: LOS BANDITOS "OPIUMPARTY" (2002)

Sheep Records was a Swiss underground label specialized in Garage-Rock, Surf, Lounge and other Rock'n'Roll oddities. Run by Christian Müller from Zürich, along with friends Andi Frick and Andreas Egi, it was active from 1996 to 2004 and published about 30 releases, mostly on 7" vinyl singles.



In october 2006, after about two years of hiatus, all the contents of the now defunct Sheep Records website were deleted from the Internet, and replaced with a blank page announcing that "Der Kebab ist gegessen" ("The kebab is eaten"), a last goodbye and a reference to the label's cataloguing system that included the prefix "kebab" for vinyl releases and "gigot" for CD releases.

Following The Men From S.P.E.C.T.R.E.'s "With the Finger On the Trigger" (...featured here...) released in 1999, "Opiumparty" by Los Banditos was the second full-lenght release in the then growing Sheep Records catalogue.

Recorded and mixed the previous year, the album was released in January 2002 in CD format with cat. number Gigot 021 and as a vinyl LP with cat. number Kebab 021. Tracks order for the two formats was a little bit different, with the CD release also containing one bonus track not included on the LP.

"Opiumparty" features mostly original material from a band that, at the time of release, had already reached maturity and could easily craft their compositions using many different elements. Two covers are also included of the album: "Ca Plane Pour Moi", a 1977 hit-single by Belgian musician Plastic Bertrand (...here's the original version), and "Beim Hully-Gully Bin Ich König", a 1964 original by East German combo Die Sputnicks.

The short Sheep Records press-release presents the record with these words: «This is the third album by the East German combo Los Banditos. Their sound is an explosive mixture of 60's beat, surf, twang, rock'n'roll, garage, trash, easy listening & love, sex & crime mixed up with some future sounds from the 21st century. In other words: the perfect soundtrack for wild dance parties.»...



"Opiumparty" contains the following tracks:

01. Nackt Im Taxi (3:25)
02. Oh Mädchen Komm (3:19)
03. Was Kann Ich Tun (3:11)
04. Monika Und Janette (2:55)
05. Ca Plane Pour Moi (3:32)
06. Hot Rod Sally (2:15)
07. Mittagsruhe Im Polizeirevier (3:40)
08. Ytrapmuipo (4:38)
09. Cairo (4:11)
10. Hochzeit In Bristritja (2:55)
11. Kalaschnikow (2:01)
12. China Strip (3:12)
13. Illuminatis (7:44)

bonus track

14. Beim Halligalli Bin Ich König (Ultramono) (2:58)

All tracks were remastered in July 2018 and are available in FLAC lossless format along with complete artwork reconstruction and printable PDF files.

For my remaster of this album I used audio tracks sourced from the CD release, but the tracklisting reflects that of the LP release - which I thought is the best - with the cover of Die Sputniks' "Beim Hully-Gully Bin Ich König" offered as a bonus track.

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



Here's the complete credits and personnel list of the album:

Django B.B. Silbermann: bass and vocals
Com. Rodriguez Flamingo: guitar, keyboards, organ and vocals
Superjoe Paco Louis: effects and percussion
Jiri Buschnik: drums
Mr. 2000 Volt: guitar and sitar

Recorded at Elektronik Tempel Studio, Saalfeld, in January 2001.

Recording engineer: Dr. Jens Leuschner

Mixed at Superstar Studio, Saalfeld, in July 2001 by Mr. 2000 Volt and Django B.B. Silbermann

Mixing engineer: Dr. Don Eck

Produced by Steffen Gräf.

Mastered by Dan Suter at Echochamber, Zürich.

Artwork by Franco and Django B.B. Silbermann.

Additional musicians:

Johannes Schrantz: violin and viola on "Cairo"

Miss Zero: vocals on "Nacht Im Taxi" and "Hot Rod Sally"

Almuth Eger: vocals on "Mittagsruhe Im Polizeirevier" and "Illuminatis"

Thomas Uhlmann: clarinet and transverse flute on "Hochzeit In Bristritja" and "Illuminatis"

Greetings and thanks to: Slf-Clubhaus + Salem, Claudia&Michael@x-vision, Sabine 1+2, Sandra, Monika + Jeanette, Fam, Leuschner, Fifty Foot Combo, Flaming Sideburns, King Khan, The Men From S.P.E.C.T.R.E., Robert and The Roboters, Ray and The Rockets, Die Sputnicks, Yucca Spiders, S. Jansen, Wassu + Nina, Jana, Andrea, D. Siegesmud, Revolverblatt, East-Club Heiko + Jaqueline, Unique, Wild at Heard, Kassa + Rose Tom, Under Pressure, Lutz + Hans, Villingen-Gang, Siggi + Moni, Kradhalle, Françoise, B. Parrish, Phil Dirt, Norman, Steve, Sheep Records, Artkontor, Matthias Rutishauser U.V.A......

The "Opiumparty" tour poster, circa 2002

The following short reviews of "Opiumparty" are sourced - and translated - from the web:

«Sweet 60's Beat combined with 70's Fuzz, Eastern patterns, Surf, organ and - before all - great melodies. Their explosive soft-sex-rock-sound with warm organs, catchy guitar licks and some very expressive analog-stuff-shows, makes Los Banditos a very creative and therefore interesting band. This Bandito album is already their third and has instrumentals (with some additional and very welcome female "lalala's") but also songs with vocals. Whether they are sung backwards, Elvis-like, or with maniacal laughter, it sure makes "Opiumparty" a highly varied album.» - Karl Ruddel / Highvintage.net


«60's Instrumental and Surfbeat paired with Erotic Movies and Italo-Western soundtracks - wrapped up with as much glamour as possible - is the sound of Los Banditos. The fact that the quintet from Jena blends this mixture with original vintage equipment from the former East Germany gives the stylish bandits not only a distinctive sound, but also a certain charm. In comparison to their two previous albums, their Surf Music sound is kept more in the background in favour a of a more mature approach that includes occasional vocal numbers and East German "Big Beat" folklore, which would perfectly suit any spy movie from the '60s. If you are into this this sound cocktail, the album is really worth your money. Sexy party music for sexy people - even without opium.» Achim Lüken / Ox-fanzine.de

Here's a short Los Banditos biography as found here:

In 1996 the band was founded as a trio in Jena, Germany. The Banditos first specialized in Surf, but soon enough line up and musical competence were steadily broadened, so that four years later we're facing a five-headed gang that is still celebrating its music on a solid Surf base and is unmistakeably inspired by the East-German "Big Beat" bands of the early Sixties (yes, this term did exist already 40 years ago), but is integrating the sexy groove of the Sixties/Seventies Soul into its music, performing classical R'n'B vocal pieces and with the help of the DJ, who is a regular band member, creates an own version of Post Easy Listening Pop. This mixture is produced on original vintage GDR-equipment: Musima de Luxe guitar, Musima Billant 76 bass and Weltmeister T/O 200.5 organ.

The Banditos' live gigs turn out to be a challenge for your dancing as well as for your laughing abilities. Glamour is served in family packs and the prescribed combination of musical drugs, namely Sixties Beat, Surf, sound tracks of spy thrillers, Spaghetti Westerns and blue movies, Black Soul, Las Vegas Glamour, Shadows melodies and brave postmodern Pop makes even the death move. At the latest with their interpretations of "Je t’aime… moi non plus" and "Oh Tannenbaum" (whose melody is also the state hymn of Maryland) every hall goes wild.

But of course the Banditos are not only game for popular party tunes. In the first place elegance and understatement are dominant. In an adequate atmosphere it is not unlikely that an Los Banditos concert takes up to three hours. And there's not one moment of boredom included. Their own compositions, titled "Fremder Planet" (Unknown Planet), "Porno Uschi" (Porn Uschi), "Unbekannte wilde Frau" (Unknown Wild Woman) or "Zwischenfall im Orbit" (Incident In Space) don't have to hide behind their versions of classics or obscurities.

Self evidently, the Banditos are now all year around on tour, not only at home, but also in Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Slovenia, The Netherlands, Belgium and Danmark. Their divine "Sex" video clip ran several times on Viva; Arte broadcasted a complete concert and they have been hired to write the music for Karen Finleys thestre play "The Theory of Total Blame". Of course they appear also frequently in the radio, in fanzines and the press. Some samples? Spex: "Best Surf/Instrumental record of approximately the last 18 month." Flying Revolverblatt: "Fantastic Instrumental sound between Surf &Easy Listening." Ox: "The heroes of Trash Surf Beat… were the only ones who managed to make the 700 lethargic bastards move."

Los Banditos sometime in the 00s

The following clips offer a preview of the remastered album, enjoy "Nackt Im Taxi", "Was Kann Ich Tun", "Hot Rod Sally", "Ytrapmuipo", "Cairo", "Hochzeit In Bristritja" and "Illuminatis"!

The original clips for "Hot Rod Sally" and "Hochzeit in Bistritja" are also included as a bonus.

Los Banditos are still rocking after more than twenty years since their foundation, and their latest album "Apokalypse Der Liebe", released in 2016, is another heartfelt addition to their catalogue.

If you enjoy "Opiumparty" I strongly encourage you to show them your appreciation purchasing their available albums and singles.

Here below you can watch one of their recent concerts which was filmed at the BC Club in Ilmenau, Germany.

More information about Sheep Records and Los Banditos is available here:

https://web.archive.org/web/20140810033155/http://www.surfnroll.de/interviews/sheep/sheep.html

http://www.losbanditos.de

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Los-Banditos/116466851763320

http://www.discogs.com/artist/362031-Los-Banditos

https://myspace.com/banditen/photos

http://www.parocktikum.de/wiki/index.php/Los_Banditos

http://www.schuette-raibach.de/seiten/mitglieder/oliver_jahn/los_banditos.html

The Sheep Records story will continue in the next months. All your inputs are more than welcome, if you want to get in touch please write to stereocandies [at] hotmail [dot] com or leave a comment in the box below, thank you!

RITA CHAO (凌雲) "HANKY PANKY" (1967)

Rita Chao, best known to her Mandarin-speaking fans as 凌雲 (…Ling Yun, Ling Ying or Seow Mei-Mei, depending on your preferred source of information…), was born in Singapore, probably sometimes in 1949 or early 1950; she grew up there, where she received her education.

Anyway, according to some reports, her family originated from the city of Hangzhou (杭州), which is located in the Zhejiang Province (浙江省) in Eastern China, not so far from Shanghai (上海).

Rita, the youngest of six children with three brothers and two sisters, started singing at the tender age of 8 and was already working as a singer and actress at 14. At school she was not very interested in her academic studies, instead she excelled with performance arts: singing and acting.

Luckily enough, she was born in a family of artists: her grandmother, Zhao Yongchun (趙永春), was a known Chinese Opera singer, and her mother Jing Yu Xian (荊玉仙) was a Chinese Opera singer too. Growing up in this environment allowed her to be familiar with life in the entertainment business, and helped to mentor her future career.

Her parents and relatives saw her potential as an artist quite soon, and decided to pull Rita out of school to follow the Opera troupe on their performances. Rita was given chances to perform Chinese Opera on stage and her performances were very good.

It is unclear when and where Rita embraced Pop music... However, at the end of 1965 - when she was just 15 - while touring Malaysia with her former group, she joined a band called Super XX.

In the meantime Zhao Yongchun, determined to turn her beloved granddaughter into a star, increased her vocal training, became her manager and successfully arranged for her to perform in various nightclubs in Singapore.

Rita was discovered on the local entertainment scene by Su Yin (舒雲), a.k.a. Henry Foo, a Singaporean singer, songwriter and lyricist, who at the time was also the A&R manager for the Chinese section at Columbia / EMI.

In 1966 she was signed by the label and released her very first 7" EP. On this record, she was paired with the top guitar band from Singapore, The Quests. The EP sold over 50.000 copies, and for Rita it was instant stardom.

During those days Rita met Sakura Teng (櫻花). As the story goes, Sakura was already a star singing at various Cabarets throughout South East Asia. On one occasion before going on stage, Sakura and Rita were backstage talking; they instantly clicked and started singing together. Sakura thought they had a very distinctive sound and that night she decided to add a segment to the show in which they would sing a duet. Obviously, they received a stunning reaction from the public and decided to join forces...

Well, probably that is just the romantic version of the story...: since both singers were doing quite well, it is an easy guess that EMI felt that pairing them would give both their careers a boost. In 1967 Rita and Sakura began performing as a double act and constantly toured Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan, building a fan base at each port of call.



During her heyday Rita Chao recorded many great Mandarin covers of popular English songs and she was part of the pioneers who launched the Rock Movement in Singapore. Along with Sakura, they were both known as 'A Go-Go Queens of the Sixties"; in those days, they used to perform at the now defunct New World Amusement Park and they both lived in Jalan Besar.

Rita's career lasted about ten years. In 1975, when her last solo album was released, she declared in an interview that she was about to make a movie in Hong Kong and that she was tired of singing all the time... In 1980-81 she briefly returned on the scene releasing two albums with Sakura, just before disappearing completely.

For more than three decades there has been no news about her in the media, only during recent years unconfirmed information appeared on the Internet that she may have been suffering from a psychiatric illness that required long-term treatment.

In early February 2015 the news about her death spreaded: Rita's 90-years-old mother confirmed that the former singer passed away in July 2014; she has been suffering from colon cancer for about three years when she died at the Singapore General Hospital surrounded by her mother, brothers and sisters. Her ashes were scattered at sea after a short wake and funeral attended by family and friends. The family did not inform show business friends as they wanted the past to be forgotten...

Most of the information included in this post was translated by our best friend Brian (...thank you!!!) from a rare article found in the May 19, 1970 edition of "Hong Kong TV Magazine" available in this post on the great macaenese5354 blog.

I am also in debt with Joseph C. Pereira, whose books "Apache Over Singapore" and "Beyond the Tea Dance" are a constant and invaluable source of information and inspiration, thanks!!!

Here's the track list for this 7" EP:

01. Hanky Panky (3:11)
02. 薄情郎 (He's Untrue) (3:24)
03. 去年今天 (Lonely Heart) (3:36)
04. 媽媽的勸告 (Bachelor Boy) (2:07)

All tracks were remastered from vinyl in June 2017 and are available in FLAC lossless format, along with scans of the original item.

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



"Hanky Panky" was released by EMI /Columbia in Singapore sometimes during 1967. It is one of the most sought after Rita Chao EPs, and therefore one of the most expensive. As far as I know, two different editions of this record exist: the main difference between them is the background colour of the front cover, which is available in blue (here) and purple (the copy on offer in this post); the back cover also uses some different colours for the lettering and the label's logo. Once again, the backing band duties are performed by The Quests and all numbers were also included on Rita's debut album. Now let's have a closer look at each track.

Side 1 opens with the title track "Hanky Panky", a song written in 1963 by Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich for their group, The Raindrops. It was famously remade by rock group Tommy James and the Shondells, who took it to No. 1 in the United States in 1966. On this version, The Quests add their trademark guitar sound and wild drumming, turning Rita's performance in a Garage classic. Here's a link to The Raindrops' original version.

I wasn't able to find any information about "薄情郎 (He's Untrue)", I would believe that it is an original composition, but the presence of a Mandarin + English title seems to prove the contrary... Maybe some reader of this blog can shed some light on the subject? Anyway, this track features Reggie Vergese in top form offering a great performance on acoustic guitar, including a mandolin-style solo.



Side 2 starts with "去年今天 (Lonely Heart)", a Mandarin cover of The Thunderbirds' "My Lonely Heart", one of the most popular original compositions in the history of Singapore Pop Music, which was written in 1966 by Harvey Fitzgerald - the band's lead singer - and Gerry Pasqual, their manager. The magic of the original version is reinforced by Rita's memorable performance and the evocative Mandarin lyrics would send shivers down the spine of the coldest human on Earth. This is a M-A-S-T-E-R-P-I-E-C-E!!!

"媽媽的勸告 (Bachelor Boy)", the last track on the EP, is a cover of a song written by Cliff Richard and Bruce Welch. Originally performed by Cliff Richard with musical accompaniment by The Shadows in 1963, it was also included on the successful movie "Summer Holidays".

The following clips offer a complete preview of the remastered EP, enjoy!

More information about Rita Chao is available here:

http://www.discogs.com/artist/385494-Rita-Chao

https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/%E5%87%8C%E9%9B%B2

https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/rita_chao_and_sakura

http://blog.roodo.com/macaenese5354/archives/25610568.html

http://blog.roodo.com/macaenese5354/archives/25707290.html

https://questing.wordpress.com/category/rita-chao-%E5%87%8C%E9%9B%B2/

https://questing.wordpress.com/category/sakura-rita-duet-%E6%AB%BB%E8%8A%B1-%E6%B7%A9%E9%9B%B2/

http://illfolks.blogspot.com/2014/04/rita-chao-chaod-mary-proud-mary-in.html

http://mocamborainbow.blogspot.com/2008/07/rita-chao.html

http://www.tofu-magazine.net/newVersion/pages/gogo.html

http://www.smartshanghai.com/articles/nightlife/music-tuesday-far-out-east-2

http://singapore60smusic.blogspot.com/2009/01/rita-chao-pop-go-go-for-william-dad.html

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

https://www.flickr.com/photos/dk_gilbert/sets/72157625310673913

http://www.geocities.jp/a104gs/rita.chao.html

http://www.geocities.jp/a104gs/rita.lp.html

http://www.geocities.jp/a104gs/sakura.rita.chao.html

http://women.asiaone.com/women/people/agogo-princess-rita-chao-died-6-months-ago

http://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/entertainment/a-go-go-queen-rita-chao-dies-of-colon-cancer

http://www.lollipop.sg/content/partner-shocked-news-agogo-princess-rita-chao-died-6-months-ago

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 SHEEP RECORDS STORY #20: GUTTER QUEENS "HOT IN HOLLYWOOD" (2001)

I'm a dirty little hustler, I am a dream sleaze disease
You know I'm nitro injected, I am your trembling love machine
Baby make my motor burn, make it burn with your gasoline

Welcome to your forbidden dream, welcome to my hidden dream
Welcome to our dreams, in a black cadillac we'll meet (Hot in Hollywood)
Try my candy stick so sweet (Hot in Hollywood)
A glamourous loving treat (Hot in Hollywood)
Baby turn on the heat

I'm a cool rock'n'roller with a hell of a heartbreak plan
I'm the hip shaking daddy, I'm your loving hoochie-coochie man
Sweet drops we'll be licking, in fantasy lipstick land

Welcome to your forbidden dream, welcome to my hidden dream
Welcome to our dreams, in a black cadillac we'll meet (Hot in Hollywood)
Try my candy stick so sweet (Hot in Hollywood)
A glamourous loving treat (Hot in Hollywood)
Baby turn on the heat

[From the lyrics of "Hot in Hollywood"]



Sheep Records was a Swiss underground label specialized in Garage-Rock, Surf, Lounge and other Rock'n'Roll oddities. Run by Christian Müller from Zürich, along with friends Andi Frick and Andreas Egi, it was active from 1996 to 2004 and published about 30 releases, mostly on 7" vinyl singles.



In october 2006, after about two years of hiatus, all the contents of the now defunct Sheep Records website were deleted from the Internet, and replaced with a blank page announcing that "Der Kebab ist gegessen" ("The kebab is eaten"), a last goodbye and a reference to the label's cataloguing system that included the prefix "kebab" for vinyl releases and "gigot" for CD releases.



The twentieth Sheep Records release was a CD single by Swiss Glam-Punk band Gutter Queens: as far as I know, this is the only Sheep release that was exclusively pressed in this format. Since the single is a sort of 'enhanced' re-press of the band's debut 7" single - also released by Sheep the previous year, see here - it makes sense. The single was released in August 2001 and, although it was indicated as an 'unlimited' release on the label's website, I guess that no more than 1.000 or 2.000 copies were pressed.

Here's the track list and the credits:

01. Hot in Hollywood (4:14)
02. Get Glamed With Rock'n'Roll (3:41)
03. Teenage Wasteland (3:12)
04. Suffragette City (3:05)

Recorded, mixed and mastered in August 2000 (tracks 02 and 03) and June 2001 (tracks 01 and 04) at the Artag Studio in Zürich.

Engineer: Voco FauxPass

Produced by Gutter Queens and Voco FauxPass.

All songs written by Andreas Ziegler, except "Suffragette City" by David Bowie.

All songs performed by Gutter Queens.

With the help of Popkredit der Stadt Zürich, Cassinelli-Vogel-Stiftung, Kanton Schaffhausen, Stadt Winterthur, Voco FauxPass, Linda Bertin (backing vocals on "Get Glamed With Rock'n'Roll" and "Hot in Hollywood"), Dieter Enz, Chris and Egi.

Special thanks to: Gavin Maitland, Beppe Lanna, vipcars.ch

Cover photo by Dieter Enz.



All tracks were remastered from the original CD single release in January 2017, and are available in FLAC lossless format, along with scans of the complete original artworks.

As usual, please have a look at the comments for the download link.

The following text is taken from the original Sheep Records press-release...:

«Sheep Records releases a silver disc (yes a CD!) by our beautiful glam punks the Gutter Queens. "Get Glamed With Rock'n'Roll" and "Teenage Wasteland" already appeared in their almost sold out debut 7". This release brings you also "Hot in Hollywood" and "Suffragette City" by David Bowie. Join the Gutter Queens in their limousine and take a trip to Sleazeland.»

...and here's an excerpt from the Gutter Queens bio available on their own website:

«The Gutter Queens call themselves Rock Sluts and are probably the most exciting and spectacular band to come out of Switzerland. They're ready to conquer the world with lots of charme, make-up, high heels, feather boas, glitz and glamour, and are the "new Definition of Glam Rock". With a sound reminding of the good old days when Rock'n'Roll was a lifestyle, they create a fresh, high energetic and unique mix of 70s Glam, 80s Sleaze and a delightful scent of Punk-Rock. Live they're a sight to see and outrage on stage. A wild show topped with glamtastic outfits, in-your-face attitude and an untamed Rock'n'Roll. Sometimes they get compared to bands like the Stooges, Hanoi Rocks, Cramps and of course the New York Dolls, which certainly had an impact on their attitude and music. Furthermore they count Mötley Crüe, Turbonegro and Guns N' Roses to their influences. Originally founded in Spring 1992 in Schaffhausen, they're now based in Zürich.»

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Gutter Queens, circa 2001-2002

The following clips offer a preview of the remastered single, enjoy "Get Glamed With Rock'n'Roll" and the official music videos of "Teenage Wasteland" and "Suffragette City"!







In early 2002 Gutter Queens has self-released an album entitled "Viva Las Divas", which actually is their only available release. I strongly encourage you to support the band and purchase it on iTunes or Amazon. The album is great, you won't regret it!

More information about Sheep Records and the Gutter Queens is available here:

http://www.surfnroll.de/interviews/sheep/sheep.html

http://www.gutterqueens.com/

https://itunes.apple.com/ch/album/viva-las-divas/id493979699

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Viva-Las-Divas-Gutter-Queens/dp/B006VP8BO0

The Sheep Records story will continue in the next months. All your inputs are more than welcome, if you want to get in touch please write to stereocandies [at] hotmail [dot] com or leave a comment in the box below, thank you!

STEREO TOTAL "DACTYLO ROCK (SEKRETÄRINNEN-ROCK)" (1996)

Wenn ich dich sehe KOMMA
Denke ich DOPPELPUNKT
Der Junge macht mir Kummer
Ich möchte PUNKT PUNKT PUNKT
Dass er mir sagt GÄNSEFÜSSCHEN
Bitte komm mit zu mir
Ja, wann denn FRAGEZEICHEN
Heute um PUNKT vier

Oh oh AUSRUFEZEICHEN, es wäre so schön
Ausruf AUSRUFEZEICHEN KLAMMER AUF, KLAMMER ZU
Oh oh AUSRUFEZEICHEN, es wäre so schön
Ich in deinen Armen, GÄNSEFÜSSCHEN und PUNKT

Heute um PUNKT vier
SEMIKOLON seh ich dich
Du wirst mich abholen
Dann machen wir BINDESTRICH
Du sagst zu mir GÄNSEFÜSSCHEN
Bitte komm mit zu mir
Wozu denn FRAGEZEICHEN
Es liegt allein an dir

Oh oh AUSRUFEZEICHEN, es wäre so schön
Ausruf AUSRUFEZEICHEN KLAMMER AUF, KLAMMER ZU
Oh oh AUSRUFEZEICHEN, es wäre so schön
Ich in deinen Armen, GÄNSEFÜSSCHEN und PUNKT

[From the lyrics of "Dactylo-Rock"]

"Dactylo Rock (Sekretärinnen-Rock)" 12" single, front

During winter 1992-93, Françoise Cactus and Brezel Göring were living in the same neighborhood in Berlin and the legend has it that they casually met while shopping in a bakery in Adalbertstraße.

Françoise was about to close her experience with the French girl-garage-punk-R’n'R-Band Lolitas (...they released six albums in Germany and France and toured all over Europe and America, for more information about them have a look here...) and Brezel was keeping himself busy with an Experimental-noise-copyright-ignoring-tapeloop-soundeffects project called Sigmund Freud Experience (...he released three vinyl records under this guise, 100 copies each...).

In 1993 they started playing together. Their first recording was a ten minute cooking-recipe, in which all ingredients had sexual connotations. The recording is sadly lost... In 1994 they started rehearsaling and recording in Hamburg at the Alien Sound Studio of Peter Stein, and began to perform concerts in small venues in Berlin and Germany.

In those early days, the band logo consisted of two tits that were originally painted on a mix-tape Françoise made for Brezel entitled "Stereo Total", and I easily guess this is how the band's name was born... The logo was later shown on the backside of their first album "Oh Ah"; here you can have a look at the inlay-card of the CD version.

At this time the line-up included Françoise (vocals and drums), Brezel (vocals, guitar, organ and synthesizers) and Lesley Campell from Scotland (distorted guitar). With their unusual mix of music influences and languages, it wasn't easy then to find a label... The band used to play French Chanson, Disco, Rockabilly and Garage in a very minimal, simplified, essential way, often with self-built guitars and cheap electronics; lyrics were both written in French and German.

"Dactylo Rock (Sekretärinnen-Rock)" 12" single, back

At last, in 1995 Desert Records released their first 7" EP entitled "Allo... J'ecoute...", available here on Stereo Candies. This single is strongly linked to Lolitas, in fact the track "Je suis venu te dire que je m'en vais" was recorded in New Orleans by Alex Chilton - who had produced the group's "Fusée d'amour" back in 1989 - and "Avec ma valise" was originally included on "Séries Américaines" in 1987.

During the same year, Palestinian bassist Ghazi Barakat, a.k.a. Iznogood - ex member of the Hardcore / Experimental combo Burst Appendix - joined in and for some time the band became a quartet.

In January 1996, Stereo Total finally released their first album entitled "Oh Ah", which included tracks recorded during 1994 and 1995 at the aforementioned Alien Sound Studio in Hamburg, and a lot of 4-track home recordings.

The CD version of the album was published in Germany by Peace 95, while the vinyl edition came in the form of a 2.000 copies limited edition LP on Little Teddy Recordings; these were divided into four different colours, with respectively 500 copies in black, translucent red, translucent blue and clear translucent.

The album spawned two singles which, once again, were divided equally betweeen the labels: Peace 95 took care about the release of the "Miau Miau" 7" EP, available here on Stereo Candies, while Little Teddy Recordings released "Dactylo Rock" in the form of a CD single.

At the same time, a 500 copies white label 12" blue vinyl of "Dactylo Rock" marked the beginning of Stereo Total's tenure at Bungalow and, as you already guessed, today is the subject of this post.

A picture taken during the same session the produced the "Dactylo Rock" CD-single cover, 1996

Here's the track list for this release:

01. Dactylo Rock (Sekretärinnen-Rock) (2:34)
02. Dactylo Rock (MS 20 Dactylo by Chrislo Haas) (2:22)
03. Dactylo Rock (Tijuana Dactylo by Sons of '68) (1:48)
04. Dactylo Rock (Atatak-Mix by A Certain Frank) (2:36)
05. Dactylo Rock (Dactylo Pop by Pop Tarts) (2:07)
06. Dactylo Rock (Hyper Modern Jazz Mix by Alec Empire) (4:10)
07. Dactylo Rock (Sekretärinnen Inferno by Le Hammond Inferno) (4:44)
08. Dactylo Rock (Bossa Dactylo by Sons of '68) (2:20)

All tracks were remastered from the original CD single and 12" vinyl release in January 2017, and are available in FLAC lossless format, along with scans of the complete original artworks.

As usual, please have a look at the comments for the download link.

"Dactylo Rock (Sekretärinnen-Rock)" CD single, front

The "Dactylo Rock (Sekretärinnen-Rock)" 12" single was one of the earliest records released by Bungalow, the great Pop and Electronica German label founded in the mid '90s by Marcus Liesenfeld and Holger Beier a.k.a. Le Hammond Inferno. Compared to the original CD single issued by Little Teddy Recordings, this release offers an improved track list, with a total of eight tracks instead of seven.

The record is limited to 500 hand-numbered copies. The number of each copy is usually written on one of the white center-labels, but the copy in my possession is not numbered, so I speculate that a few more than 500 copies exist, or maybe not all of them were numbered... The colour of the vinyl itself, the transparent stickered sleeve and the limited pressing make it a nice collectable item anyway.

Side A opens with the original version of "Dactylo Rock (Sekretärinnen-Rock)", a track that has become a favourite during live concerts and perfectly expresses Stereo Total's ability to create simple but very effective little songs. The German lyrics written by Françoise Cactus offer many puns based on the names of punctuation marks as used in written and printed text, and the basic rhythm track is aptly performed on a... typewriter!

Chrislo Haas, best known as founder of the seminal act Liaisons Dangereuses and early member of Der Plan and Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft, delivers a minimal remix which, according to its title, features electronic sounds created with the glorious Korg MS-20 synthesizer. On the CD single this remix is entitled "Chrislos Sekretärin", but the version is just the same.

A "Tijuana Dactylo" version performed by the mysterious Sons of '68 follows. As per its title, the song is played in a Lo-Fi Mariachi style with a faster tempo and French lyrics. In my opinion Sons of '68 is just an alias for Stereo Total themselves... Of course I may be wrong, but this version sounds like a garage rehearsal with guest trumpeteers, and the voice belongs to Françoise Cactus beyond the shadow of a doubt...

First side ends with the "Atatak-Mix" created by A Certain Frank, who are no less than the founders of the German Ata Tak label. Their version is close to the original, but adds interesting tape-machine noises, samples and dance floor-friendly elements.

"Dactylo Rock (Sekretärinnen-Rock)" CD single, back

As first track on Side B we find "Dactylo Pop" by Pop Tarts, a now disbanded young Pop/Punk German band that we'll hopefully be able to feature on this blog in the future. Just like much of their early output, their contribution was recorded live in a Lower than Lo Lo-Fi mode, with rough samples layered on top... You can't help but have a fondness for them!

An "Hyper Modern Jazz Mix" by Alec Empire follows. This version is entitled "Ausrufezeichen" on the CD single track list, but it is the same mix... I must admit that I'm not a big fan of Empire, although I enjoyed some of his earliest work, "Generation Star Wars" above all. I find the 13/27 rhythm track (...or whichever its time signature is...) mostly irritating, and in my opinion the only tiny vocal element sampled from the original is not enough to call this a remix: it is a completely different track and, although variety is usually a positive element when you collect several remixes in a single release, it doesn't fit quite well with the rest of the material, sorry.

Le Hammond Inferno, a.k.a. the Bungalow Records bosses deliver their "Sekretärinnen Inferno" remix, which is a cavalcade through different music styles that also offer a sample of their, ehm... sampling techniques and subtle sense of humour. Well done!

The single ends with another version created by the Sons of '68, entitled "Bossa Dactylo". As the title implies, the song is played in a vague Bossa nova style. Once again this seems to be a live recording and the lyrics are sung in French. Strangely enough this version was not included on the CD single, but was later added as a bonus track on the "Oh Ah" CD released by Bungalow in 1998, along with the aforementioned "Dactylo Pop" version created by Pop Tarts.

Here's the short credits list that appears on the CD single:

Mastering: C-Sa

Cover by Sabina Maria Van Der Linden.

Photo by Thomas Purwin.

Berlin '96

"Dactylo Rock (Sekretärinnen-Rock)" CD single, disc

The following clips offers a preview of the remastered single, enjoy four "Dactylo Rock" remixes by Chrislo Haas, A Certain Frank, Le Hammond Inferno and Sons of '68!









As a bonus, here's the original videoclip for "Dactylo Rock"...



...and a 2013 live performance of the same song filmed in Leipzig, enjoy!





More information about Bungalow and Stereo Total is available here:

http://web.archive.org/web/20130911023255/http://www.bungalow.de/index3.html

http://www.discogs.com/label/1125-Bungalow

http://rateyourmusic.com/label/bungalow_records/

http://stereototal.de

http://stereototal.stereototal.de

http://monokini.free.fr/index.html

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Stereo+Total

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

http://www.facebook.com/StereoTotal

http://www.myspace.com/stereototal

http://soundcloud.com/stereototal

If you have any other useful information about Stereo Total - especially corrections and improvements to this post - or if you spot any dead links, please get in touch with me at stereocandies [at] hotmail [dot] com or leave a comment in the box below, thank you!