Radiodiffusion Internasionaal Annexe

♬ Give Me a Kiss of Love / 給我愛的吻

My first introduction to Yao Su Yong / 姚蘇蓉 (also seen Yao Su Rong, Yao Surong, Thu Su Yung, Yao Soa Yong and Yiu So Yung) was the Q.D.K. Media compilation entitled Asian Takeaways.

Yao Su Yong was born in Taiwan on December 5th, 1945. Her first recording was a cover of Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood’s “Summer Wine” in 1966. Her first major hit was a Mandarin-language rewrite of a Japanese popular song, “負心的人” / “Cruel-Hearted Lover” the following year.

At the height of her popularity many of her songs were banned by the Taiwanese government – which was under martial law that was imposed by Chiang Kai-Shek – for stirring up “unhealthy morals” amongst the youth because many of her songs were about love and romance.

On August 18th, 1969, at a performance in Kaohsiung, the audience begged Yao Su Yong to sing some of her banned songs. Initially she declined, saying that she was not permitted to perform those songs, and that she hoped the audience would forgive her. However, the requests wouldn’t stop and eventually she sang “負心的人” hoping the popular appeal of her song would override any official censorship. Unfortunately, the police guards stationed at the theater didn’t agree. They called her offstage and questioned her and asked her to make an official confession. Failing to do so, her singer’s license was revoked. Since she was no longer allowed to perform in Taiwan, she turned to Hong Kong and Southeast Asia to continue her career.

Her backing band on the album above was The Telstar Combo – or as they are credited on the cover as The Telstars Combo – which have been covered here previously. When I posted their debut album on the first iteration of this blog back in ’06, it was picked up by a number of other sites. The increased traffic caused that site to crash. So, I ended up buying a domain and creating a website. But coding is not my idea of a good time. That now defunct website eventually (d)evolved into this WordPress monstrosity.

Catalog number SL-2048 on Haishan Records of Taiwan, released 1968.