Radiodiffusion Internasionaal Annexe

♬ Độc Tấu Lục Huyền Cầm

Đinh Văn Dậm was born in 1929 in Bình Đăng – now known as Binh Hưng – Vietnam. At the age of 3, he became blind due to smallpox. His parents changed his name to Văn Vĩ after the Chinese herbalist that was treating him for smallpox gave him the nickname.

As early as seven years old, he was playing the đàn nhị but soon after switched to guitar. By the time he was sixteen, he was performing regularly in opera troupes – as well as Saigon’s nightclubs.

During an opening performance of Bên Cầu Vọng Thê by his opera troupe, lead actor Hùng Cường failed to sing a verse. He accused Văn Vĩ of deliberately disrupting him and used a sword to puncture the speaker of his amplifier and kicked it to pieces, loudly insulting and threatening to hit Văn Vĩ. As a result, Văn Vĩ hired a bodyguard named Nguyễn Mỹ – who Hùng Cường physically kicked off the stage at another performance. Eventually Hùng Cường was forced to apologize to Văn Vĩ he and bought him a new amplifier.

167.466 on Continental of South Vietnam. No release date listed

♬ Nỗi Buồn Gác Trọ

Born in Gò Công Province (now Tiền Giang Province), Phương Dung moved to Saigon where she began her singing career in 1960. Her first big hit was “Nỗi Buồn Gác Trọ” in 1962, which was written by Hoài Linh and Mạnh Phát. She was awarded the “Gold Award for Female Artists” in 1965. In 1968, she married and gave up her music career for motherhood, having eight children: six boys and two girls.

In 1977 the family moved to Australia and her daughters followed in her footsteps into show business. Phương Vy had worked with the Thuy Nga Center and has done some acting – including a small role in the film Romper Stomper. Hoàng Ly worked with Trung Tâm Asia before becoming a model.

Catalog number M 3375-76 on Việt Nam. No release date listed.

♬ Thương Về Xứ Thương

♬ Quȇ Hương Ngày Em Lớn

Băng Châu was born Nguyễn Thị Xuân Mai on August 1st, 1950 in Bà Rịa which at the time was in the Indochinese Federation – now Vietnam.

In 1969, Bang Chau dropped out of school and went to Saigon. She got her break into show business working with Duy Khánh – who she was rumored to have had an affair with. Her biggest hit was “Qua Cơn Mê” / “Through the Coma” which was written by Trịnh Lâm Ngân. In 1971, Băng Châu starred in the movie Trần Thị Diễm Châu directed by Lê Dân making a big debut in Saigon cinema.

If you have any further information about this artist or anything else about this recording, please leave it in the comment section below.

No catalog number or release date listed. Released on Bón Phương of Glendale, California.

♬ 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.

♬ Thiên Duyên Tièn Định

One of the more frustrating things about the internet, is that sometimes there is too much information. But you can’t find the answer to your question, being led in about a billion directions at once. What you were looking for could right under you nose… But you would have no idea. Even if you are able to find a fragment of some kind of information, you may not be able to decipher it.

Researching the music of Vietnam on the web is a good example of this. There is almost no information in the way of biographies or articles from that time period (1963 – 1975). But then you can find literally hundreds of videos on YouTube and DailyMotion. And it doesn’t help that you almost have to already know Vietnamese to be able to use the online translation program.

But since the last posting on Hūng Cuōng, some information has turned up. Apparently, he is alive and well living in “Little Saigon” (not sure if that is the Orange County “Little Saigon” or the San Jose “Little Saigon”), California in the United States. His granddaughter and grandson have also started a MySpace page for him. He still performs live, occasionally with Mai Lệ Huyȇn̅ . They even have re-recorded this song, and made a video for it.

Other than that, all I have be able to find are some great songs by both Hūng Cuōng and Mai Lệ Huyȇn̅, played over footage of the South Vietnamese Military here and here.

Thanks to Greg McWhorter for the information.

Catalog number M.3671.72 on Viet Nam Records. No release date listed.

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♬ 60 Năm

Phương Tām was from Vietnam.

Records from Vietnam are rare, at best. I have been unable to find hardly any information about music (outside of tradtional folk music) in that country before the Eighties. Here is what little information I have been able to find about records such as this one: “Records of this nature were outlawed within days of the fall of Saigon, and most were either destroyed by the Communists or, interestingly, destroyed by their owners who did not want the communists to have them.”

When I first started tracking down records for what eventually became this site, I was under the impression that Vietnamese vinyl from the 60s and 70s would be the hardest to find. But, I have since been proven wrong. That’s not to say that they are easy to find… But considering the number of compilations of amazing of Thai and Cambodian rock and roll that are readily available… Why not Vietnam?

Catalog number M.3431 on Việt Nam Records. No other information available.

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UPDATE: 11/07/21 Sublime Frequencies has released a compilation of Phương Tām’s recordings entitled “Magical Nights – Saigon Surf Twist & Soul (1964​-​1966)“. While listening to this release, I realised that the song that I have posted here had been mislabeled “Đêm Huyēn Diệ”. 

♬ Van Em (thất tình 2)

Elvis Phương was from Vietnam.

Records from Vietnam are rare, at best. And usually, I am unable to find hardly any information about music (outside of tradtional folk music) in that country before the Eighties. But, I was surprised to find a biography on Elvis Phương:

Elvis learned to sing by listening to the records or tapes of foreign singers. When he was 17 or 18 years old, against his father wishes, Elvis Phương chose to stay in Vietnam to pursue a career in singing instead of going to France for an education. Elvis Phương, whose real name is Pham Ngoc Phương selected his stage name after his idol, Elvis Presley.

His first appearance in front of an audience was in 1962 at Regina Pacis high school’s open house where he sang Nua Dem Ngoai Pho and O’ Cangaceiro. The first band that he worked with was the Rockin’ Stars, a popular band during the early 60s. In subsequent years, he also collaborated with other famous bands such as Les Vampires and Phương Hoàng. In 1968, Mr. Ngoc Chanh of Shotguns Productions produced Elvis Phương’s first album titled Shotguns 26: Tieng Hat Elvis Phương. In 1977, Elvis Phương’s musical journey took him by storm with the first album produced overseas titled Hat Cho Nguoi Vuot Bien. Since then, Elvis Phương has recorded many tapes and / or CDs and appeared in many videos.

He currently lives in Cerritos, California, where he runs EP Productions. He also has a website (that is under construction). And, apparently he is an Aquarius (his birthday on February 1st), his favorite color is black & white and his lucky number is thirteen.

There is a separate catalog number for each song on this record… The catalog number for this song is GP • 1287 31 3 7 on Dưâm Records of Vietnam. No release date given.

♬ Hăńg Nga Ľây Chôńg

Hūng Cuōng was from Vietnam.

Records from Vietnam are rare, at best. I have been unable to find hardly any information about music (outside of traditional folk music) in that country before the Eighties. Here is what little information I have been able to find about records such as this one: “Records of this nature were outlawed within days of the fall of Saigon, and most were either destroyed by the Communists or, interestingly, destroyed by their owners who did not want the communists to have them.”

Unfortunately, this record has seen better days. The cover needed a bit of Photoshop work, but the vinyl… Sound Soap can only do so much.

If you have any information, please contact me.

Catalog number M.3611.12 on Việt Nam Records. No other information is available.

♬ Đức Minh • Saigon Thứ Bẩy

♬ Thanh Vū, Hôʼng Phủc & Phượg Bắʼng • Tīnh Yêu Trên Đại Dượng

Records from Vietnam are rare, at best. I have been unable to find hardly any information about music (outside of traditional folk music) in that country before the Eighties. Here is what little information I have been able to find about records such as this one: “Records of this nature were outlawed within days of the fall of Saigon, and most were either destroyed by the Communists or, interestingly, destroyed by their owners who did not want the communists to have them.”

These songs fall a bit more into the Easy Listening or Lounge category, but the use of reverb on both tracks is quite interesting. Also this record came out in 1966, which was one year after the U.S. troops arrived in Vietnam.

If you have any information, please contact me.

Catalog number S.N.1009 / 2177 on Sōng Hnac of Vietnam.