Greg Poppleton

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28 December 2021

(Until 28 December)

Yao Lee and 1940s-60s New Years Eve! – 28 December 2021

Greg Poppleton's Phantom Dancer swing jazz radio show

Yao Lee, Hong Kong’s Patti Page is this week’s Phantom Dancer feature artist. Her most famous song opens this week’s Phantom Dancer. The first hour for the national show then continues with a mix of swing by Harry James, vocals by Giselle McKenzie, Rhythm and Blues from a 1951 radio aircheck, and live radio hard bop by Miles Davis and John Coltrane aired in 1958.

For the last hour broadcast, live to 2SER Sydney listeners, then available online, you’ll hear New Years Eve radio from the 1940s and 1960s.

(The short weather report that opens this week’s Phantom Dancer comes from a shortwave English language broadcast by Reichrundfunk Berlin in 1938).

LISTEN to this Phantom Dancer mix (online after 2pm AEST, Tuesday 28 December) and two years of Phantom Dancer mixes online at, at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/

I’m Greg Poppleton, The Phantom Dancer producer and presenter every week on 107.3 2SER radio Sydney since 1985.

News Years Eve 1930s-40s Cinema ads…

ROSE, ROSE I LOVE YOU

is the most famous song by singer Yao Lee. A 1940 Mandarin popular song composed by Chen Gexin and first recorded by Yao Lee. It became something of a Lili Marlene equivalent for Allied soldiers in the Asia-Pacific during World War 2.

The song was brought back to England by broadcaster Wilfrid Thomas in 1951 after doing commentary on the war in Malaya. When he played it on his BBC program he received a barrage of requests for a repeat and he played it again in several more programs.

An English-language version whose lyrics by Wilfred Thomas that have little in common with the original Mandarin was first recorded by Frankie Laine in 1951. David Bowie used the song in a film about him in Hong Kong.

1930 New Years Eve record, KHJ Los Angeles…

YAO LEE

Also known as Yao LiYiu Lei and Hue Lee, was one of the Seven Great Singing Stars of Shanghai in the 1940s.

She married Wong Po Lo (黃保羅) in 1947 and stopped performing to devote time to her family. Following the Communist seizure of power in China in 1949, popular music was considered ideologically suspect and Yao fled to Hong Kong in 1950 but continued her singing career with Pathé Records (EMI).

In addition to releasing hit records, beginning in 1955 with the film 桃花江 (Peach Blossom River), she was also a playback singer for movie actresses. Many of her featured songs became popular hits. She stepped down from her singing career in 1967 after the death of her brother, Yao Min. In 1969, she accepted the invitation to become the General Manager and Producer at EMI Music Hong Kong. Yao produced records for many artists during her time as a producer and retired from this position in 1977.

During the 1930s and 1940s, Yao Lee’s high, soft singing style was typical of Chinese popular music of the time (influenced by her superstar idol, Zhou Xuan). She performed numerous popular standards, such as Wishing You Happiness and Prosperity (恭喜恭喜), “I Can’t Have Your Love” (得不到你的愛情), and “By the Suzhou River” (蘇州河邊) with her brother Yao Min, arguably the best-known Chinese pop songwriter of the shidaiqu era.[3] She is famous for her 1940 version of Rose, Rose, I Love You (玫瑰玫瑰我愛你), later recorded by Frankie Laine in the United States with English lyrics. Her version was also released in the U.S. and the United Kingdom credited to “Miss Hue Lee.” Yao was known as “the Silver Voice” (銀嗓子), alluding to fellow Shanghai singer Zhou Xuan, who was known as “the Golden Voice” (金嗓子).

With increasing Western influence in the region after World War II and her move to Hong Kong, Yao Lee’s singing style changed. She was introduced to more Western popular music and became an admirer of American singer Patti Page, whom she emulated by lowering her voice and incorporating some similar vocal mannerisms. As a result, Yao is sometimes called “Hong Kong’s Patti Page.” One of her biggest ’50s records was “The Spring Breeze Kisses My Face” (春風吻上我的臉).

Yao was extremely prolific with over 400 records attributed to her. Her 1959 song, “Rén Shēng Jìu Shì Xì”/”Life Is a Performance” (人生就是戲), is featured in the 2018 film, Crazy Rich Asians, in the scene when the matriarch grandmother, played by veteran Chinese American actor Lisa Lu, first appears.

Welcome in the New Year with this mix of 1920s-30s songs from six albums I’ve released …

28 DECEMBER PLAY LIST

Play List – The Phantom Dancer
107.3 2SER-FM Sydney
LISTEN ONLINE

Community Radio Network Show CRN #524

107.3 2SER Tuesday 28 DECEMBER 2021
12:04 – 2:00pm (+11 hours GMT) and Saturdays 5 – 5:55pm
National Program
5GTR Mt Gambier Monday 2:30 – 3:30am
3MBR Murrayville Monday 3 – 4am
4NAG Keppel FM Monday 3 – 4am
2SEA Eden Monday 3 – 4am
2MIA Griffith Monday 3 – 4am
2BAR Edge FM Bega Monday 3 – 4am
2BRW Braidwood Monday 3 – 4am
3VKV Alpine Radio Monday 6 – 7pm
7MID Oatlands Monday 6 -7pm
6GME Radio Goolarri Broome Tuesday 12am – 1am
2MCE Bathurst Wednesday 9 – 10am
1ART ArtsoundFM Canberra Friday 10 – 11am
2ARM Armidale Friday 12 – 1pm
5LCM Lofty FM Adelaide Friday 1 – 2pm
Denmark FM (West Australia) Saturdays 10 – 11am
Repeat: Wednesdays 10 – 11pm
7LTN Launceston Sunday 5 – 6am
3MGB Mallacoota Sunday 5 – 6am
3BBR West Gippsland Sunday 5 – 6pm

Set 1
Rose, Rose, I Love You
Yao Lee
From the film
‘Singing Girl’
1940
Blue Skies
Harry James Orchestra
‘Spotlight Bands’
Mutual Network
1946
Zanzibar
Harry James Orchestra
‘Spotlight Bands’
Mutual Network
1946
All The Things You Are + Opus #1
Harry James Orchestra
‘Spotlight Bands’
Mutual Network
1946
Set 2
Theme + The Poor People of Paris (La goualante du pauvre Jean)
Giselle McKenzie (voc) Skitch Henderson Orchestra
‘Airtime’
NBC Radio Transcription
New York City
1955
Dancing with the Deb
Skitch Henderson Orchestra
‘Airtime’
NBC Radio Transcription
New York City
1955
S’Wonderful
Skitch Henderson Orchestra
‘Airtime’
NBC Radio Transcription
New York City
1955
Juke Box Baby + Too Close For Comfort + Close
Skitch Henderson Orchestra (voc) The Honey Dreamers and Giselle McKenzie (ts) Herbie Fields
‘Airtime’
NBC Radio Transcription
New York City
1955
Set 3
Theme + Shake It All Around
King Jughead
‘Sepia Swing Club’
WDAI Memphis
14 Dec 1951
Shine On
Ruth Brown
‘Sepia Swing Club’
WDAI Memphis
14 Dec 1951
Baby, Please Don’t Go
Billy Wright
‘Sepia Swing Club’
WDAI Memphis
14 Dec 1951
Let Your Tears Fall, Baby
Big Mama Thornton
‘Sepia Swing Club’
WDAI Memphis
14 Dec 1951
Set 4
Open + Four
Miles Davis Quintet
‘Bandstand USA’
Cafe Bohemia
WOR Mutual NYC
17 May 1958
Bye, Bye, Blackbird
Miles Davis Quintet
‘Bandstand USA’
Cafe Bohemia
WOR Mutual NYC
17 May 1958
Walkin’ + Two Bass Hit
Miles Davis Quintet
‘Bandstand USA’
Cafe Bohemia
WOR Mutual NYC
17 May 1958
Set 5
Deep Forest (theme) + Dippermouth Blues
Earl ‘Fatha’ Hines
‘New Year Dancing Party’
KCBS CBS San Francisco
1 Jan 1957
When The Saints Go Marchin’ In
Earl ‘Fatha’ Hines
‘New Year Dancing Party’
KCBS CBS San Francisco
1 Jan 1957
Tiger Rag + Close
Earl ‘Fatha’ Hines
‘New Year Dancing Party’
KCBS CBS San Francisco
1 Jan 1957
Set 6
Open + Bebop
Charlie Parker, Kenny Dorham, Al Haig, Tommy Potter, Joe Harris
‘Symphony Sid Show’
Royal Roost
WMCA NYC
1 Jan 1949
Flying Home
Gene Krupa Quartet
Metropole Cafe
WRC NBC Washington DC
31 Dec 1965
Dark Eyes
Gene Krupa Quartet
Metropole Cafe
WRC NBC Washington DC
31 Dec 1965
Set 7
Slow Boat to China
Charlie Parker, Kenny Dorham, Al Haig, Tommy Potter, Joe Harris
‘Symphony Sid Show’
Royal Roost
WMCA NYC
1 Jan 1949
Ornithology
Charlie Parker, Kenny Dorham, Al Haig, Tommy Potter, Joe Harris
‘Symphony Sid Show’
Royal Roost
WMCA NYC
1 Jan 1949
Set 8
Robin Hood
Louis Prima Orchestra
‘New Year’s Dancing Party’
Salt Lake City
AFRS Hollywood
31 Dec 1945
Gotta Be This or That
Benny Goodman Orchestra
‘New Year’s Dancing Party’
Boston
AFRS Hollywood
31 Dec 1945
Let The Zoomers Drool
Duke Ellington Orchestra
‘New Year’s Dancing Party’
Evansville IN
AFRS Hollywood
31 Dec 1945
Auld Lang Syne
Guy Lombardo Orchestra
‘New Year’s Dancing Party’
New York City
AFRS Hollywood
31 Dec 1945
All Gigs
12:04 pm - 2:00 pm
2SER 107.3 Sydney
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