Posted on Thursday, 23rd July 2009 by Miri
In the late 70′s and early 80′s, when the era of classical Japanese pop was at its peak (with big-shot names like Pink Lady climbing to stardom), the budding industry of Cantopop (Cantonese pop) was blossoming in Hong Kong and other areas of Southern China. A common trend for Cantopop artists was to begin their career by performing cover songs.
When I was younger, my parents listened to tapes of many old-school Cantopop artists (such as revered “song gods” Roman Tam, Sam Hui, Anita Mui) on their cassette players. Whenever I hear these songs again, it brings me back to a time of my life where all seemed right in the world – when I had no stress of college, income, or living independently. A time when I could lounge around in the humid summer heat next to a rotating fan and admire the stillness of sunny day.
One of my favourite songs is actually Faye Wong‘s 容易受傷的女人 (Easily Hurt Woman):
Imagine my surprise one day, when I was listening to one of Nakajima Miyuki‘s albums… and lo and behold – it was a very familiar-sounding song!
I was both shocked and delighted to hear the familiar tune in another language in which I am familiar. Nakajima Miyuki is revered as one of the goddesses of classic Japanese pop, and her voice has impressed me before, but I never knew that one of my favourite childhood songs actually had roots in her original ルージュ (Rouge):. As a lover of both Japanese and Cantonese pop, I was happy to know that much of Cantopop was inspired from old-school J-pop.
In fact, the song is so popular it’s been covered countless times by singers all over East Asia in every genre possible! How about an 80′s Vietnamese dance version? Prefer something tamer? How about a typical anguished Vietnamese ballad? Try out some dance-techno! Maybe you’d like some folkish Thai swing/foxtrot? It’s even made its way into the English market with a reggae remix! And if you’re more into the original, try Trish Trang’s English version using the original instrumental!
They just don’t make pop music like they used to =(
Tags: cantopop, covers, faye wong, j-pop, nakajima miyuki, old-school, remixes
Posted in Cantonese music industry, Japanese music industry, Multilingual versions | Comments (0)
