Bands Make Their Mark

The band tradition in Taiwan dates back to the time when the US military forces had bases on the island. It was de rigueur to have a live band at all the bars frequented by American soldiers. Veteran radio program host Tao Hsiao-ching recalls that when she wanted to organize a concert in the 1960s, there were already a lot of bands to choose from.

Apart from bands that worked the bars, there were others that went into the pop music scene. One example was "The Five Flower Petals," a five-girl band. Lead singer Tsai Mi-mi had a very sweet voice ("Mama! Mama! Give me a guitar. . . ."), and she was nice looking too. But the Flower Petals weren't so much a band as a collection of teen idols.

A number of bands appeared in the 1960s that sang mostly Western songs. Their lead singers sometimes got noticed by music companies and became famous singers. The most famous ones were Huang Ying-ying, Julie Su, Kao Ling-feng, and Billy.

Campus bands across the island began writing their own music and lyrics in the 1970s. Notable examples include The Travelers and Wood Guitar. These bands, and the folk music they sang, reigned supreme on into the 1980s until the sudden rise of a number of extremely popular rock bands. Some of the more notable 1980s rock bands were The Chiu Chiu's, The Red Ants, and several bands featuring Hsueh Yueh. Looking back on the origins of band music, Tao Hsiao-ching attributes its popularity to the albums of Lo Ta-yu and the fact that many proprietors of pubs and other establishments that hire live music started putting emphasis on "the band sound." The social commentary in the lyrics of these songs also elicited a strong response.

According to Wang Tsu-shou, a senior reporter at Minsheng Daily, "Youth bands were so popular, we thought for a while that we had entered into a sort of 'Age of the Band,' but it turned out to be short-lived."

The high tide of band music spurred the formation of many student bands, and KHS Musical Company used to organize an annual campus rock band competition where many singers and bands got their first big break, including Chang Yu-sheng, Tai Cheng-hsiao, and The Orient Express. The latter, which was composed entirely of good-looking guys, was the only group that released an album together after going professional, however, while Chang and Tai opted to strike out on their own as solo artists. As Tao Hsiao-ching explains, band music only appealed to a limited market, and it was very expensive to keep a band operating. For these reasons, music companies preferred to sign up only the lead singers. This remained the prevailing pattern in the industry from Kao Ling-feng's time through the appearance of Chang Yu-sheng.

Then China, Harlem Yu & Ding Jian Pai Dang, Baboo, and Wu Bai and his band all released albums in 1992. The music world was electrified, and people began talking once again about the arrival of "the Age of the Band," but the market for this music was still weak. The only one of these albums that became a big hit was Harlem Yu & Ding Jian Pai Dang, and this album's strong sales were due in large part to the fame of the singer, Harlem Yu. Wu Bai, in the meantime, held fast to his rock style and struggled into the mid-90s. Then, playing to small pub audiences, he finally hooked up with a band called China Blue and rocketed to immense popularity as locally rooted Taiwanese culture began to take on a certain cachet. The success of Wu Bai & China Blue has rested primarily, however, on Wu's reputation as a singer and songwriter, while the band has played more of a supporting role.

Amidst this rebirth of youth bands in the 1990s, there has been a very interesting undercurrent. Groupie, LTK Commune, and a raft of other underground bands have quietly been carving out a niche for themselves in the pub scene. Both mainstream and non-mainstream music companies (such as Friendly Dog and Crystal Records, respectively) have begun to release their albums, thus giving a small number of enthusiasts ample opportunity to keep up to date with the underground music scene. The trend has kept these underground bands going strong. Though perhaps little noticed, bands in Taiwan have risen to new heights this year.

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Kao Ling-feng went by his real name, Ko Yuan-cheng, when he led Phonix, one of Taiwan's leading bands in the late 1960s and early 70s.

(Courtesy of Chang Meng-jui)