SAKURA (櫻花) "提醒你 - LIKE I DO" (1966)

Ying Hua, best known by her stage name of Sakura Teng, was born in Muar, state of Johor, Malaysia, sometimes in the late '40s - probably in 1948. She has always been mistaken for a Singaporean as she had been living in the republic until the mid '80s.

Sakura's music career began when she was just 17 at the now defunct New World, an amusement park located in the central area of Singapore. In 1966 she was signed by Columbia / EMI and released a 7" EP - the subject of this post - which was an instant hit: it sold 25,000 copies and became the first in a very long series of successful releases which lasted until the early '80s.

Interestingly, her stage name is actually a literal translation of her Chinese name, which means "cherry blossom" in Mandarin. Apparently she was given the nickname when she started singing Japanese numbers in Chinese during her stage performances.

Sakura recorded many fabulous Mandarin covers of popular English songs and she was part of the pioneers who launched the Rock Movement in Singapore. Along with Rita Chao (with whom she joined forces on many recordings during the late '60s) they were both known as 'A Go-Go Queens of the Sixties".

During her heyday in the '60s and '70s, Sakura cut more than fifty records and she also came to be known as the 'Yodelling Singer' for her vocal 'trademark'. She still is one of the most popular female Mandarin singers, and during her career she also recorded songs in many other languages including English, Japanese, Cantonese and Malay.

In 1985 Sakura relocated to the U.S.; since then she has quit recording but she kept on performing live until 2013, when she definitively retired at the age of 65.




Here's the track list for this 7" single:

01. 提醒你 (Like I Do) (2:17)
02. 可愛的春天 (My Bonnie) (2:58)
03. 知心話 (Sad Movie) (3:26)
04. 心事無從說起 (Listen People) (2:32)

All tracks were remastered in September 2014 and are available in FLAC lossless format or high-quality 320 Kbps MP3 files; both formats include scans of the complete original artwork.

Please have a look at the comments for the download links.





Sakura's debut EP was originally released sometimes in late 1966 by Columbia / EMI in Singapore; catalogue number was ECHK 557 and the record was housed in a gatefold sleeve (pictures are available here).

The copy in my possession comes in a regular sleeve and was released by some other mysterious label (...anyone can help me deciphering the name written on the labels?); I don't know if it is a bootleg or a legit release.

The band credited on the original release as the Sounds Anonymous is no less than the mighty The Quests, a legendary Singaporean group which was very active during the mid-late '60s, both as a backing band - most notably for Sakura and Rita Chao - and as performers with their own hits and TV show.

Side A opens with "Like I Do", a song written by Richard Manning based on a segment from "La danza delle ore" by Amilcare Ponchielli. This tune was first released and brought to success by Nancy Sinatra in the U.S. during early 1962 (available here) and by Maureen Evans in the U.K. (here).

The song is followed by "My Bonnie", a traditional Scottish folk song which was also recorded by Tony Sheridan and The Beat Brothers - an alias for The Beatles! - in 1961 (...original version is available here).

On Side B we find "Sad Movie", a cover of "Sad Movies (Make Me Cry)" written by John D. Loudermilk and originally performerd by Sue Thompson (available here) in 1961.

The EP ends with an effective cover of "Listen People" by English Beat band Herman's Hermits which was a U.S. hit in April 1966 (available here).




The following clips offer a preview of the remastered EP, enjoy: "提醒你 (Like I Do)" and "知心話 (Sad Movie)"!






More information about Sakura is available here:

http://www.discogs.com/artist/385495-Sakura-2

http://rateyourmusic.com/artist/sakura

http://rateyourmusic.com/artist/rita_chao_and_sakura

http://questing.wordpress.com/2006/12/01/sakura-teng/

https://questing.wordpress.com/category/sakura-rita-duet-%E6%AB%BB%E8%8A%B1-%E6%B7%A9%E9%9B%B2/

http://singapore60smusic.blogspot.com/2009/01/sakura-teng-yodel-lady-who.html

http://mocamborainbow.blogspot.com/2008/07/sakura-teng.html

http://modcentric.blogspot.com/2007/06/sakura-pint-sized-livewire.html

http://modcentric.blogspot.com/2007/03/sakura-quests-go-boom.html

http://waxidermy.com/sakura-teng-st/

http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2007/10/365-days-295---.html

http://www.thestar.com.my/Story/?file=%2F2005%2F3%2F1%2Ffeatures%2F10258953&sec=features

http://stcommunities.straitstimes.com/music/2013/12/23/sakura-teng-says-goodbye

http://www.thesundaily.my/news/886328

https://www.flickr.com/photos/dk_gilbert/sets/72157625436183960/detail/

http://www.freewebs.com/ritachao/sakurateng.htm

http://marc-antoine-panda.over-blog.com/article-32061166.html

http://www.geocities.jp/a104gs/sakura.html

http://www.geocities.jp/a104gs/sakura.rita.chao.html

http://macaenese5354.mysinablog.com/index.php?op=ViewArticle&articleId=4406997

http://www.pbase.com/sid_presley/the_record_collection&page=all



In the next months I will post more Hong Kong/Taiwan/Singapore/etc. Pop/Instrumental records released in the late-60s / mid-70s. As usual, I would like to provide information about these releases and their authors.


It's been difficult to obtain these vinyls, some are not in the best conditions and I'm currently working hard to properly master them. It seems that these artists and their music are poorly known in the West, of course it's a real pity because they made stunning releases: I'd like to share them with you with a proper presentation, hope that someone will be able to help.