Taiwan Today

Her fans in mainland China pay up to a month's rent pirated cassettes of her songs. Vendors there do a brisk business selling her pictures.

It has even become a joke that "Little Teng," as some people call her, is almost as well known in (Communist) China as "Big Teng" -the country's "leader," Teng Hsiao-ping. Shanghai's party newspaper, “Wen Hui Pao”, fears that her songs may erode the "revolutionary spirit" of the (Communist) Chinese.

Amazingly enough, the object of this furor is a lithesome 28-year-old singer who has never set foot on the mainland, let alone been broadcast over the state radio. She is Taiwan's Teresa Teng, whose crystalline voice and sweet personality have established her as one of the most adored and sought-after recording stars in Southeast Asia and Japan. In Hong Kong, nearly a million of her records and tapes have been sold, and her annual sales in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia total about 2.2 million. In 1980, Teresa received Taiwan's Golden Bell "Best Female Singer on TV" award. The Golden Bell awards are the highest entertainment awards given to outstanding TV and broadcasting personalities.

Teresa's popularity in mainland China is thought to be part of a romantic reaction linked to the aftermath of the Cultural Revolution, when all music was weighted down with political overtones. The vast new music market of which Teresa's songs are typical is so difficult for the state to control that it worries Communist authorities. Shanghai's Wen Hui Bao condemns :"When Will You Return"-one of Teresa's most popular songs in mainland China-as a sign of decadence. The paper warns. "Beware, it'll stick in your head (if) you keep on humming it."

Teresa herself isn't sure why her songs are so popular. "But when I record songs," she says, "I pour all my feelings into them. Audiences can sense this, and I think this is what touches them."

Teresa was born on January 29, 1953, in west Taiwan. Her father, Teng Hsu, had been an officer in the Nationalist Army before he brought his family to Taiwan in 1949. The only daughter in a family of five children, Teresa was taken by her music-loving mother to Chinese movies and operas. Mrs. Teng was behind her daughter's early start in a singing career, taking her to auditions, entering her in contest and later serving as her agent and promoter.

As a child, Teresa found memorizing movie scores easier than learning math. When she was 11, her mother entered her in a singing contest sponsored by a broadcasting corporation. When they arrived at the crowded studio, people thought that Mrs. Teng was the contestant-little Teresa appeared much too young to be taken seriously. But to everyone's surprise, Teresa scored the most points. When she was about 13, she performed in six radio programs at the Broadcasting Corporation of China.

By the time she was 17, she had recorded several top hits, including "Remembering Mama" and "The Moment I See You, I Smile." Her constant appearances on television during the late 1960s and early 1970s made her a well-known figure.

"At first, my father opposed my singing career," Teresa says. "Like most Chinese fathers, he is conservative and felt it improper for a young girl-especially his daughter-to sing in public. Later, after he saw that it did not corrupt my values, he came to accept my career. His approval means more to me than all my other successes."

When Teresa was 18, her concerts were drawing big crowds in Southeast Asia. Over the next ten years, she per formed for philanthropic causes in Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong. (As early as 1969, she appeared in a charity show in Singapore, the patron of which was none other than the wife of the then President Yusof bin Ishak.) In 1980, she raised over US$1 million for Yan Chai Hospital in Hong Kong and donated the proceeds of her show in Taiwan to that country's national trust fund.

It was while doing a benefit that Teresa experienced one of the most poignant moments in her career. She was the guest of a Singapore orphanage where a program had been arranged to entertain the entertainers as a way of saying thanks. "Suddenly a little girl in a big wheelchair came on stage," Teresa recalls. "She sang such a happy song, and sang so beautifully that I cried. That little girl gave me more than I could have ever given her."

At age 20, Teresa was offered a contract by Japan's Polydor K.K. Although going to Japan would be a gamble- requiring her to start her career all over-she took the chance. In Tokyo, Teresa put in ten-hour days on a tight schedule, not only recording but learning a new language. Almost after overnight Teresa's record sales soared and she was launched into the limelight.

"Five years passed quickly in Japan," she sighs. "I loved singing, but I had been doing little else in my life for as long as I could remember. I had gone to Japan to see if I could make it-and I did. But then I tired of preparing for TV shows, recording sessions and concerts year after year. I needed to get away for a while."

In 1979, Teresa left for the United States to live with her younger brother in Los Angeles. In California, she enrolled in a college preparatory program. It was then that her old hits suddenly became popular in China. Not surprisingly, she returned to Southeast Asia to sing.

Many of Teresa's songs are her Mandarin renditions of her Japanese hits. The orchestration of these ballads has the characteristics of popular Japanese music. Her other hits are favorites from Chinese movies-soothing country melodies with simple lyrics speaking of courtship, love and the Joy of leading a quiet life. These include such numbers as "Longing for My Hometown" and "A Tale of a Small Town."

Teresa is most fond of singing Chinese ballads to the accompaniment of Western instruments blended with Chinese traditional instruments such as the guitar-like pipa and huchin. This type of music sounds, elegant and mellow. Today, Western and Chinese traditional music mix so well in her songs that they sell by the tens of thousands throughout Southeast Asia.

The love affair Teresa's fans have with her is best seen at her concerts. On her spring 1981 tour of Southeast Asia, about 35,000 Malaysians were drawn to her shows, some paying up to US$17 for a ticket - the highest ever charged to hear a Chinese singer there. Her fans in Taipei, Singapore and Bangkok paid even more. In Hong Kong, her nine shows at the 1280-seat Lee Theater were all sellouts.

What people get for their money is pure Teresa-with a minimum of gimmicky stage effects. Her naturalness highlights her mystique. On stage, as well as off, she uses little makeup and her costumes have a modest look.

Wild applause begins the moment she walks on stage, followed by hushed rapture as she starts to sing. Once behind the mike, her round child-like face shows that she's happy to be there; she's at ease with herself and with the crowd. Her songs seem to flow naturally without effort. "When Teresa sings," says one fan, "her voice is like a clear stream which has everybody looking for its source."

The ambience at her concerts is more that of familial intimacy than entertainment-of adoring relatives who have come to share in the stardom of their favorite cousin. Teresa plays this up with intimate rap sessions between her num bers when fans are allowed to ask her questions, such as what does she do to relax? "I go fishing," she replies.

During one of her Fukienese songs, "Selling Dumplings," Teresa throws small dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves out to the audience. In return, they shower her with flowers throughout the performance. Some times, while singing sentimental ballads, Teresa is moved to tears. This always triggers fans to walk anxiously up to the stage offering tissues.

During her recent concert tour in Thailand, Teresa recalls with a laugh, she was eating a mango by a roadside stall when a Thai policeman came dashing toward her from the other side of the road. "Is this police action connected with the recent coup?" she wondered. Great was her relief when the officer took one of her cassettes from his pocket, and asked for an autograph.

Would Teresa sing in mainland China if she were invited? "I would love to sing for my people there," she answered. "Many millions of them are said to identify with and enjoy my songs. But the problem is a political one, not a musical one. All I care about is people and music. I wish the politicians could under stand that."

Maybe someday they will.

Modern folk songs' sweep awards

Since the term was first introduced in a concert in Taipei seven years ago, "modern Chinese folk song" has helped establish a national movement-setting widely read modern poetry to music and even matching old style poetry to modern instruments.

The "modern Chinese folk song" emerged in 1975 as a result of a view, held especially by students on college campuses, that Chinese listening to and singing only Western folk songs were losing their own heritage. That view raised renewed elements of national consciousness in modern Chinese music.

Today, the trend still dominates the youth market, as demonstrated by the five recordings that won this year's Golden Tripod awards: "Follow Me While I Sing," "Songs by Shi Shiao-rong," "Songs by Tang Hsiao-shih," "Murmuring" and "Songs by Tsai-ching. "

The 12 renditions in the album "Follow Me While I Sing" are the nation's most popular modern folk songs by its most popular singers. The Singko Record Co., which produced the album, revised the arrangements; the result is loved by the public. Songs included are "If," "Please Tell Me, Wind," "Farewell Again, Cambridge," "Memories In The Rain," "Mother, I Love You," "Today's Mountains and Ancient Paths," "Let's Go And See The Clouds" and "Everything's Changed.", "Songs By Shi Shiao-rong" is also a production of the Singko Record Co. Singer Shi's voice is strong, expressive and unrestrained. His songs differ in mood from those of other folk singers. Shi also shows his soft side, in "Coming Back With Pride." His song, "Love For My Country," won four Golden Tripod awards: for record production, lyrics, melody and singing performance.

In "Songs by Tang Hsiao-shih," produced by the Golden Voice Record Co., all the melodies are by famous composer Li Tai-hsiang. Lyrics are writ ten by Tang herself, with Tu Min-heng. "Premonition of Spring" is slow, touching and charming, whereas "Dancing," by lyricist Lin Lu, provides rhythm, fast and appealing. Tang won herself a singing award for "Please Send My Message to ... " The abbreviated lines of this very short song depict the mood of lovers. Composer Li Tai-hsiang added the romance of European music to "Fascination of Love." The piece describes a young girl's romantic imagination and her mental hesitation toward love. Repetition by the cello underlies the theme of the song. "Singing Our Song for You" won Li the award for best composition.

All ten songs in the album "Murmuring," are sung by Huang Ying-ying, a popular stylist of both Western and Chinese songs. The Four Seas Record Co. intends to present it on the international market. "Murmuring" is one of ten songs in the album, which de scribes the recollections of childhood. "Calling Me" is a sentimental and moody song. "Stars To Remember" tells the story of a little girl, in Broadway stage fashion. Although she has decided to show her love, the young man refuses her by singing, "Please do not cry on my shoulder; one drop of your tears will overflow the pond at the bottom of my heart. String the parting sorrows and the good memories into stars to remember; I'll wait for you to grow up. String the parting sorrows and the good memories into stars to remember..."

In "Songs by Tsai-ching," by the Haishan Record Co., Hsi Mu-rong easily won the lyrics award with the song, " Chusai chui,." Hsi, who has written many poems for modern folk songs, is also a famous Taiwan painter. Another song, "Time Forgotten," is fascinating. The rains falling on the windows recall childhood lost. At the Golden Tripod Awards Ceremony, singer Tsai-ching sang "Morning," - "Tell him of the fish and shrimp at Tamsui Harbor .. .Tell him of the Sorghum of Kinmen Island ... Tell him of the oolong tea at the Tungting Tea Garden ... And of the story of the growth of plantain trees ... "

Despite being considered "immature" by local singers of popular Western songs, the young Chinese "modern folk song singers" are now on their way to becoming national personalities and financial successes.