Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Saigon Lounge | Vietnamese Pop + Soul 1960s-1970s




Reupped one more time by special request here.

 Those of you who frequent the Bodega know that Your Humble Proprietor has got a constant eye out for pre-1975 Vietnamese music what has been lovingly burned into discs of polycarbonate plastic. I've picked up CDs of this stuff everywhere from the Tu Quynh Pharmacy in Manhattan's Chinatown, to Vietnamese video stores in downtown Montreal, to a number of spots on Argyle Street in Chicago, to a place whose name I forget on Foster Road in Portland, Oregon. 

 There are a lot of Vietnamese living in the Americas -- 1,700,000 in the United States and another 200,000 in Canada. Fortunately for folks like me, many of them love their 60s and 70s pop, the music the elders were listening to before Saigon fell and they were forced to make a new life half a world away. 

 I've long been meaning to put together a mix of some of my favorite tunes for you; now that I've got Photoshop and can do up a Sublime Frequencies-style cover, I decided tonight to go ahead and do just that. I'm betting you're gonna like it ...
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19 comments:

  1. James CourtneyFebruary 25, 2013 at 1:27 PM

    this is delightful

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousFebruary 26, 2013 at 4:30 PM

    Awesome!! and a track list!! mind you, there are two track #16??

    ReplyDelete
  3. GaryFebruary 26, 2013 at 8:23 PM

    01 Groovy Song 3:37 Hung Cuong & Mai Le Huyen

    02 Nguoi O Charlie 5:45 Nhat Truong & Thanh Lan

    03 Chieu Mot Minh Qua Pho 4:59 Khanh Ly

    04 Phuong Buon 3:32 Hoang Oanh

    05 Khuc Hat An Tinh 4:41 Phuong Dung

    06 Thoi 5:34 Thai Thanh

    07 Chang La Ai 4:06 Thanh Lan

    08 Hoai Thu 4:41 Thanh Thuy

    09 Funky Song 3:44 Hung Cuong & Mai Le Huyen

    10 Mua Nua Dem 6:04 Thanh Thuy

    11 Ao Cuoi Hoa Ca 6:51 Tan Tai & Phuong Lien

    12 Nho Mot Nguoi 5:25 Giao Linh

    13 Mua Gat Moi 4:07 Hoang Oanh

    14 Khi Nguoi Yeu Toi Khoc 4:52 Khanh Ly & Elvis Phuong

    15 Ga Chieu 4:25 Thanh Thuy

    16 Mot Mai Gai Tu Vu Khi 6:29 Thai Thanh

    ReplyDelete
  4. BillMarch 4, 2013 at 12:03 PM

    This reminds me of a few years ago when I was in a Japanese restaurant in Manhattan. They were playing what sounded like an Asian orchestra (definitely not Western tuning) playing american pop tunes like Fly Me To The Moon. Any idea what it was?--Bill

    ReplyDelete
  5. onemanpartyMarch 5, 2013 at 6:15 AM

    thanks for these wonderful gems,i'm supplying the first
    noodle bar in Ghent,Belgium called ramen with some mixtpes...thanks for your work!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Quynh NguyenAugust 13, 2013 at 7:46 AM

    Might I ask how to access the whole track list? I can only listen to the first track. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  7. GaryAugust 13, 2013 at 9:21 AM

    Hi Quynh,

    To get the whole thing, in the sentence "Reupped by special request here," click on the word "here".

    That will take you to ADrive, where the file named "Siagon Lounge BP9.rar" will begin to download automatically.

    To open the file, click on it. If it does not open, this means you need to get free software to open .rar files. I can recommend Rar Frog, free at:

    http://download.cnet.com/Free-RAR-Extract-Frog/3001-2250_4-10804840.html?spi=9b5699de1899a89981203577dda86414&dlm=0

    Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  8. AnonymousNovember 17, 2013 at 11:48 PM

    Hey Gary,
    I've yet to listen to this, but am excited to hear it. Thanks for posting. Do you have any idea what the name of the singer or the song is in the following clip from a Vietnam War doc?
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=AIdYdbpR8kA&list=PLL1pIdhTxk_7FKIjmv5NaktbYmp5xTDoi#t=319
    ...starting at 5:19.

    ReplyDelete
  9. GaryNovember 18, 2013 at 12:16 PM

    Gosh, no idea who that is, the bit with her is so short and my grasp on the singers of the time not anywhere close to expert.

    ReplyDelete
  10. UnknownJanuary 27, 2014 at 5:02 AM

    Came across this hunting for music ahead of a visit to my vietnamese in-laws - sadly the ADrive is in 'maintenance mode', so all I have is Groovy Song - but what a tune to whet the appetite!

    Great blog - can't wait to delve further

    ReplyDelete
  11. UnknownApril 14, 2014 at 9:43 PM

    Thank you for very much for these songs. My mother who is dying of cancer is bed-ridden at home and sleeps most of the day but when I played these songs, she opened her eyes and listened intently. Bless you for putting these songs together and giving my mom some serenity at this time. It meant a lot to my family.

    ReplyDelete
  12. mermaid and manateeApril 22, 2015 at 7:36 AM

    'Groovy Song' is actually called 'Gặp Nhau Mà Chi'. I'm still hunting the proper title of 'Funky Song'.

    This blog post led me to many great musical discoveries, and also allowed me to make some compilations for my vietnamese mother-in-law that were very appreciated. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Dì 12September 19, 2015 at 12:20 PM

    The 9th track Funky Song is called Yêu Đời, music & lyrics by Hoài Nam.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Will HenleyNovember 10, 2015 at 9:10 PM

    Hi Gary, great find! I'm having trouble downloading it though, is there a current link to the download?

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  15. GaryNovember 10, 2015 at 9:45 PM

    ADrive, which is where I've been hosting things, has deleted all of my files for the second time since I started using them a couple of years ago.

    Before that, Divshare deleted everything.

    Blog's been wiped out completely three times, and I don't really have the time or energy to reupload anything at this time.

    Listen to the show, if you can. Meanwhile, I'll think about it.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Will HenleyNovember 10, 2015 at 10:01 PM

    Thanks for the reply :) I can't seem to access the show but not to worry. Let me know if you figure it out.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Marko-VMarch 8, 2016 at 4:57 AM

    Thankx for sharing.
    Here is my experience about vinyl hunting in Saigon:
    http://ikuinen-kaamos.blogspot.com/2016/03/back-home-from-vietnam-with-some-vinyls.html

    ReplyDelete
  18. MatthewApril 15, 2016 at 10:40 PM

    Gary,

    I know you've uploaded this on adrive and the files have been removed but would you please upload one more time? I'd like to suggest perhaps wetransfer or hightail or dropbox? I've always appreciated discovering new things about the culture and would like to keep this part of history alive.

    Thanks so much!

    Matthew

    ReplyDelete
  19. oznguyenJanuary 5, 2018 at 2:22 AM

    Dear Gary ... I could be wrong but the I am fairly sure the that female singer is Mai Lệ Huyền (a modern singer - quite a head of her time being a rock n roll singer) and the male singer is Hùng Cường (a well known singer and movie star) ... Both are well known to do a duet ... Again, the link is dead .. if you find time to upload it, I would be very much appreciate it ... I grew up with these songs.

    ReplyDelete