From the 1920's and up until the communist rule in 1949, Shanghai was known as the 'Paris of Asia' and also the 'Hollywood of the East' for its thriving music and movie industries. Shanghai prospered artistically because of the large international settlements there, which combined all the Western and Eastern influences of the British, French, American, Russian and Japanese with their own culture to create a modern cosmopolitan city. Pathe (which became EMI) recording studios in Shanghai opened in 1916 and by the 1930's it had changed from recording children's educational Mandarin records to recording a huge roster of contemporary Chinese artists and also recordings from the flourishing movie industry. The Shanghai lounge divas were a big part of those exciting times. One such diva was Chow Hsuan... the biggest singing and movie star at the time. One of her biggest hits was "The Wandering Songstress".
In 2003 EMI Hong Kong commissioned Ian Widgery to remix some of the original Pathe recordings and the result was an album 'Shanghai Lounge Divas' (Original 1930's sessions remixed for today) with a bonus CD of the original recordings. The remixes are more downbeat than hard-out house remixes which respects the original recordings and doesn't put them into the background. A great insight into a music scene that I had little knowledge of previously.
Remix
Original
No comments:
Post a Comment