But long-term popularity has proved elusive. The foreign community in Taiwan is highly transitory, and the turnover of band members is equally high. Many groups survive in name only, long after all the original musicians and singers have moved on.
Only a few bands over the years have managed to win the critical acclaim of the foreign community, and on occasion they have cut records locally. But none has ever gathered more than a minor popular following among local Chinese audiences. None, save Made in Taiwan—the seven-member, mixed-nationality band commonly called MIT.
Band leader David Maurice, 31 years old, describes MIT's music as too varied to categorize. "We do everything from rap and pop to jazz fusion and late night sexy saxophone songs!" he says. But the combination works. The group recently completed a highly successful concert tour of 28 college campuses around the island, attracting large audiences with their unique blend of music. Their sounds are reaching an even broader range of listeners through local radio stations, including the English-language ICRT (International Community Radio, Taipei), which frequently play cuts from their newly released album "We Can Be One."
The roots of the band extend back to 1980, when Maurice first came to Taiwan on a teaching contract. In his spare time he played acoustic guitar at various Taipei piano bars. He eventually expanded on his musical hobby by putting together several acts, including Sideshow, Spectrum, and an early band featuring local singer and radio personality Kay Wong. In 1984, he decided to return to Ohio, where he taught high school social studies.
After two years in the U.S., Maurice was ready for another shot at the music scene in Taipei. "I felt an attachment to Taiwan," he says. "And I felt I hadn't done as much with music here as I could have." His first aim was to do commercial work in films or TV, but soon he began to toy with the idea of assembling the best foreign musicians in Taipei for a commercial pop band. Based on earlier experience, he realized the band would be successful only if it could appeal to the broader Chinese audience as well as resident foreigners.
Maurice spent months head-hunting on the local live-music scene by combing the expat pubs. His first recruits to the proposed band were Sam Pleitgen, a Japanese-American bass player, and Singapore-born veteran drummer Alan Wong. Maurice then invited his old college friend, black vocalist Mandy Gaines, to come to Taiwan from the U.S. to work as lead singer. With Gaines' arrival, the basic parts of MIT were in place. The last addition to the group was a local three-man band known as The Shades, which completed the current line-up of performers.
Gaines says the members chose the name MIT because they "had either been living here [in Taiwan] or had come over specifically to work on the project." With name and musicians in place, Maurice set his artists to rehearsing cover versions of songs by Aretha Franklin and Lionel Richie. At the same time, they began developing a sound of their own.
Not long after MIT appeared in 1987, the group auditioned for the sponsorship of Coca-Cola Taiwan—and won. Maurice describes that event as the crucial initial boost for MIT. "By receiving corporate funding, our band had the chance to work on creating a really tight professional sound," he says. The financing gave them time to practice, as well as the opportunity to work on their own original material.
MIT was soon performing in local pubs and at outdoor concerts, and the group rapidly gained a reputation as the most dedicated and professional band on the Taipei music scene. A laid-back, easy listening jazz style, enlivened by Gaines' strong vocals and the band's on-stage chemistry, made MIT the most refreshing group to hit Taipei in years. By the time the Coca-Cola sponsorship expired at the end of 1988, MIT had already emerged as an expatriate, feel-good, pop phenomenon with a mass appeal that reached out to all age groups.
Having won over the foreign community with relative ease, MIT next set its sights on the more difficult task of capturing the hearts, minds, and record-buying dollars of Taiwan's 20 million Chinese. But even in this age of the island's internationalization, a question remains as to whether the public is ready for a multiracial amalgamation of foreign musicians whose repertoire includes a Chinese language "rap" number.
Maurice hopes his emphasis on the band's show qualities will help MIT take off. "Besides being a very good singer, Mandy is also a very lively entertainer," he says. "Hopefully, that will carryover to Chinese audiences." Maurice adds that local audiences already seem to appreciate the band's effort to sing in Chinese. "When Andy [Mollard] sings a song in Chinese, the audience response is incredible."
MIT was at first limited to single-track local recordings on promotional, variety-type albums. Then the band scored a double success with its island-wide tour and the "We Can Be One" album—a 100 percent "Made in Taiwan" product. The album features I a tracks, all written and produced by the band. Although most are jazz-inspired and sung in English, they also include two half-English and half-Chinese numbers incorporating traditional Chinese instruments such as the stringed ku cheng. The notes on the album's slip cover, and the lyric sheet are also bilingual.
While MIT has gained recognition in the short run from its unique intercultural image, the band is anxious that it be accepted as a local "Chinese" product. "We're a local band, not an import," Maurice says. "And we want people to know that." The band is now working on a follow-up album with more Chinese songs, which should further establish their reputation. Their strategic plans for penetrating the market also call for expanding cooperation with local talent and artists, which was key to the success of "We Can Be One" and helped give the album its local color.
MIT is not the first foreign band to sing original songs in Chinese or record an album in Taiwan, and it remains to be seen if the group will actually make it in the Chinese market. Taiwan's young fans have a tendency to embrace the newest fashions, leaving yesterdays' successes in the dust. Before MIT can succeed, it will have to overcome this and other cultural barriers peculiar to the island.
Although Taiwan has produced and exported a long line of international singing stars, from Teresa Deng to Tracy Hwang, no band has ever achieved commercial recognition locally. The public thus far has concentrated on individual "stars" rather than on musical groups. "Every band that becomes popular in Taiwan loses its lead singer," Maurice says. "We're trying to be the first successful group in the country, and to get Taiwan to accept the idea of a band instead of just the image of a lead singer and back-up." Since MIT is very much a "concept" band with a pool of solid talent, the members think they can win over wide public support.
While the obstacles may be intimidating, MIT does not have much time to waste worrying about whether or not it can crack the local market. A new album is on the way, and the group is contemplating a tour of Southeast Asia to promote "We Can Be One." There is even a chance that the band will tour mainland China in a promotional campaign sponsored by Coca-Cola. The contract is still under negotiation (and has been delayed by the Tienanmen tragedy). If the tour eventually materializes, it would be one of the first local acts to cross the Taiwan Straits to perform before mainland audiences. Ironically, the first "Made in Taiwan" band to tour mainland China might in fact turn out to be a colorful collection of lao wai (foreigners) singing in Mandarin with Taiwanese accents.