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March 22 Chinese Music Part 5: The Early 1990sIt's only fair to profile four female Chinese pop stars after introducing the Four Kings of Cantopop. These aren't necessarily the four biggest-selling female artists of the early 90s as it would be futile to attempt to hunt down statistics, and everyone has their own opinions about who is the most famous from that time. But these four are all well-known among Hong Kongers, Mainland Chinese, and Taiwanese.
Faye Wang
Chinese Name: 王菲
Mandarin Name: Wang Fei
(b. 1969 in Beijing)
Faye Wang is easily the biggest pop star ever to emerge from Mainland China. Born in Beijing, she moved to Hong Kong when she was a teenager and started singing lessons, learning and mastering the Cantonese dialect. Early-on she went by the English name of Shirley and released three albums under this name. Frustrated with her lack of commercial success, she took a trip to New York. When she returned she became a superstar overnight when she did a cover of Japanese singer Miyuki Nakajima's "Fragile Woman" in 1992. Her career snowballed from there. Faye Wang has been called the Bjork of Asia, but this probably has more to do with her look than her music, which is arguably more in the style of Tori Amos. Faye has covered songs from the latter artist (her "Cold War"-冷戰 was a cover of Amos' "Silent All These Years") as well as The Cranberries ("Dreams"). Additionally, she collaborated with The Cocteau Twins. In 1996, she switched from performing Cantonese songs to releasing albums almost exclusively in Mandarin. Her multitude of hits include "No Regrets", "I'm Willing", "Snow Lotus", "On the Brink of Love and Pain", and "Ingratiate Oneself". Faye was the first Chinese singer to be featured on the cover of Time Magazine. She's earned a spot in the Guiness Book of World Records as the best-selling Cantopop female. By the year 2000, she had sold a staggering 9.7 million copies of her 20 albums. She starred in the movie Chungking Express.
Listen to the song that made her an overnight success: "Fragile Woman" (容易受伤的女人)
Sammi Cheng
Chinese Name: 郑秀文
Mandarin Name: Zheng Xiu Wen
Cantonese Name: Cheng Sau Man
(b. 1972 in Hong Kong)
With 15 years of music under her belt, this holder of British nationality is hugely popular in Hong Kong and less so in Mainland China probably because her Mandarin songs haven't been as abundant and as well-received as her Cantonese hits. Still, I have met many people in Shanghai who hold Sammi as their favourite singer. She is one artist highly respected as both an actress and a singer. She is one of the most highly paid actresses in Hong Kong and is known as the big sister of the city's recording industry. She has performed a duet with the U.S. R&B band All 4 One. Some of her most popular songs include: "Enraptured", "Crying Game", "Eternal Beauty", and "Can't Endure the Sensation".
Listen to "Eternal Beauty" (终身美丽)
Vivian Lai
Chinese Name: 黎瑞恩
Cantonese Name: Lai Sui Yan
Mandarin Name: Li Rui En
(b. 1973 in Hong Kong)
Though her career was short-lived, Ms. Lai had some of the biggest hits in China in the early 90s. Her extremely catchy song "Everyone Has a Dream", released in 1993, was arguably the first mega-hit in karaoke bars. Coincidentally, it was her singing karaoke that got her noticed before being asked to sign a record deal. She was one of the few beauties who was also a good singer. Then she announced her engagement and, to the dismay of fans, dropped out of the music business. In more recent years she has starred in some Singaporean TV series.
Listen to "Everyone Has a Dream" (一人有一个梦想)
"Rainy Season Is Over" (雨季不再来)
Karen Mok
Chinese Name: 莫文蔚
Cantonese Name: Mok Man Wei
Mandarin Name: Mo Wen Wei
(b. 1970 in Hong Kong)
The exotic Karen Mok has Chinese, Welsh, Persian, and German ancestries. Having a fondness for Italian culture, she studied Italian literature in Europe before returning to Hong Kong to launch her singing career in 1993 with the songs "I Say" and "Love Yourself". She has starred in a number of films. Karen Mok's most famous song is a duet she sings with Zhang Hong Liang called "Hiroshima, My Love". Solo hits include "He Doesn't Love Me", "Radio Ballad", and "Midsummer Fruitage".
Listen to "Midsummer Fruitage" (盛夏的果实)
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