Radiodiffusion Internasionaal Annexe

♬ Dân Ta Vẫn Sống

Nguyễn Thị Lệ Mai – better known by her stage name Khánh Ly – was born in Hanoi, Vietnam – then known as French Indochina – on March 6th, 1945.

At the age of 12, she moved to Saigon with her mother. That year, she competed in a children’s singer selection contest organized by Radio France Asia. For the next seven years, she sang in tea rooms. Beginning in 1967, she recorded numerous songs for Song Nhac and Continental as well as other record labels. In 1970 , receiving an invitation from NHK television station, Khánh Ly went to perform in Japan where she also recorded songs in Japanese.

In 1975, Khánh Ly left Vietnam and settled in Cerritos, California. As of this posting, she is still active. Her most recent release was 2020 on her own label Khánh Ly Productions.

No catalog number or release date listed. Released on Songnhạc of Lawndale, California. This cassette was originally issued in Vietnam on the Băng Nhạc Trịnh Công Sơn label in 1972.

Stylistically, especially in the instrumentation, this reminds me of some tunes from Cambodia from about the same time, e.g. from Ros Sereysotheya, although both singers had totally different voices.

Comment by nannus October 11, 2022 @ 1:54 pm

… should have been “Sereysothea” of course…

Comment by nannus October 11, 2022 @ 1:56 pm