Chinese Vinyl: Connie Chan Pao Chu (陳寶珠) & Betty Chung (鍾玲玲)

Are Charming Bird (迷人小鳥) and Enter The Dragon (龍爭虎鬥) stars Connie Chan Po Chu (陳寶珠), Betty Chung (鍾玲玲) and other vinyl records depleting?

The song sounds familiar. Betty Chung with, He Wears My Ring; perfect diction too. Who says Chinese vocalists cannot carry an English song well?

The local Chinese vinyl records below and on this blog are collected by enthusiasts from many countries who sometimes come to Singapore and other S. E. Asian cities to buy them. The group includes Caucasians, mainland Chinese, Hong Kong islanders, Malaysians, Japanese and other nationalities.

The practice has been going on for years.  I am uncertain if our locals are aware of it but some buyers are not hoarding them because they can sell them for a higher price but because they appreciate the unique pop culture where English songs are translated and sung in Chinese and of Chinese singers rendering English songs. Such types of vinyl have depleted due to these collectors.

Vinyl 1:

Recorded in 1967, this vinyl was a cash-in for its producers with songs from a very early screen musical with three titles, The Charming Bird, The Charming Little Bird or The Young Lovers.  

The subject could be a reference to the singer Ms. Connie Chan Pao Chu (陳寶珠) or the plane sketch behind her.  It was the period from 1967 to 1969 when airbuses were the talk of the aviation industry and the public excited with flying in larger planes.

A Flight Stewardess was called an Air Hostess then. No coincidence here as the song titles are Air Hostess, Thousand Miles Flying, Twin Birds, and Spring Dream. The songs are in Cantonese and sung by a superstar who is both an actress and a singer. 

This lady has made dozens of movies from 1958 to 1972 and like *Taylor Swift today, has put many boys and girls in a swoon just by hearing her name. She did 31 movies in 1967 alone.

Vinyl 2:

This EP has pretty, sexy and talented Betty Chung (鍾玲玲), another Hong Kong singer and actress in the limelight.  She became popular in the mid-sixties, with her recordings of English covers and Chinese songs from 1966 to 1977. Unlike some Asian singers, Ms. Chung speaks in impeccable English without the hint of an accent. 

In this recording she sings, Bell A-Go-Go, Sugar Town, Puppet On A String and Summer Wine in Mandarin. With her clear voice, perfect pitch and pronunciation, Ms. Chung had gone a long way into her career. She had a part as Mei Ling in Bruce Lee's mega-hit Enter The Dragon in 1973 (image).

Both pieces of vinyl 1 and 2 were produced by Pathe/EMI records, quality, and best selling brand name those times. The recordings are excellent. 

Images: 
Google and A Personal Collection. 

This article is original so don't copy it wholesale. Words and phrases in the writing are like fingerprints of the author. And the information may not be correct.

This posting has been extracted from an earlier one because of its popularity.