• Music Home
• What's On
• Features
• 
• 
• Bookmark this site

Yao Lee is a Hong Kong music treasure. Arguably China’s first jazz diva, her 1940 hit Rose, Rose I Love You was later covered by America’s number one song stylist, Frankie Laine. Yao was known as the ‘Silver Voice’, an allusion to fellow Shanghai singer Zhou Xuan, who was known as the ‘Golden Voice’. Now at the age of 86, Yao spends her Sunday mornings going to church, and on Sunday afternoons meets with fans. The Fidelity Sound label is releasing a re-mastered Yao Lee CD that covers all her hits from the 1940s to ‘60s.

What was the music atmosphere like in 1930s Shanghai?
The music was quite unpolished. When I first started recording, the studio only had a piano, a violin, and some microphones. Everything was medieval. I was lucky as I recorded my first song (Selling Longing) in 1936; it became quite a hit and sold many copies. EMI immediately signed me as an artist. I was only 16 years old.

Was the nightclub scene in Shanghai the making of you?
Absolutely. My career began from performing at a nightclub called Senus in 1936. I made a lot of money at the time. I was proud to be the first Chinese woman ever to front a big band in Shanghai. Before me, the singers were all Filipinos.

But the band members were Russians?
Yes, this is a fact that few people know. Most people thought the band were all Filipinos, but they were actually refugees from Russia. When they landed in Shanghai, they formed a symphony orchestra. EMI knew they were good so it hired them to play sessions. Because they had good music training and read charts very well, we were able to play a few jazz tunes together, like Rose, Rose I Love You and The Love You Can’t Possess. I remember the first time I recorded with them. I was so nervous because I had never been with so many professional musicians in the studio before. But I got used to it and I depended on them from then on.

When did you come to Hong Kong?
I came to Hong Kong in the 1950s after World War II. My brother Yao Min, the composer, came in 1948. When I first arrived there were no nightclubs, so I didn’t have any shows. No one knew me. I loved singing so much, but I didn’t know when I’d sing again. And then the EMI Manager came from Shanghai to find me. At that time, EMI in Shanghai had been taken over by the China Records Company, which produced mainly patriotic revolutionary songs. They banned all our old songs because they were considered sinful as they were all about love.

Starting in the mid 1950s, you were influenced by western singers such as Patti Page, Dinah Shore, and Doris Day. How did you discover that sound?
It was 1954 when I discovered records by these western divas through EMI, as they imported a lot of records from overseas. I heard Patti Page’s Changing Partners and I was immediately attracted by it. I thought to myself, “I have found my new voice.” From then on, I emulated Page’s style by lowering my voice and incorporating some vocal mannerisms. In fact I was sometimes called ‘Hong Kong’s Patti Page’. I started covering songs by Nat King Cole, Andy Williams, and Bing Crosby.

When did you leave the music industry as a recording artist?
I officially left in 1964. At the time, the music technology started to improve, and the electronic and synthesiser sounds began to replace the big band sound. I loved recording live in the studio and I loved having a big band playing behind me. I was really ‘in sync’ with the music. When the technology took over, I was basically singing on top of pre-recorded music. So I lost interest and decided to leave the music industry. But the real reason was when my brother Yao Min passed away in 1967; I couldn’t get myself together to sing again.

So Yao Min’s death had a tremendous impact on your career?
In the two years following my brother’s death, I was in pain. I stayed in all the time and cried at home. I didn’t want to see anyone. In 1969, the President of EMI flew from the US to see me. He said, “You can’t be like that. You have to get yourself together. You have a family. And you don’t want your brother in heaven to see you sob like that. You have unfinished responsibilities in the music industry.” I will never forget those encouraging words. He made me a music producer that same year. At that time, I thought, “What do I know about producing?” So I tried. For the next seven years, I worked hard to discover major talents in the recording world. But at the end of the 1970s, Mandarin songs came to an end and were taken over by Cantopop. Then I decided to quit the music industry altogether.

How many songs have you recorded?
I recorded over 400 songs but I only wrote three myself. They were I Need to Seek You, Father, I Think of You, and You Give Me Feedback. You need to experience life’s ups and downs and sufferings in order to sing a song in its purest and most original form.

Do you have any advice for the new generation of singers?
Honestly, I don’t like a lot of the new artists these days. I liked Jacky Cheung when he first came out. I also liked Michael Kwan. Eason Chan and Hacken Lee are pretty good. In Taiwan, there’s Jonathan Lee who can sing. Regarding how to sing a song properly, well, the melody has to be good. Many songs these days have bad melodies to begin with, so the songs fail to impress at the first instance.

Yao Lee’s re-mastered CD is out in July. See www.fidelitysoundarchives.com for details.

Henry Chung is one of Hong Kong’s leading bluesmen and harmonica players.