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鑽石唱片除了 Fabulous Echoes 外﹐筆者最喜歡的便是 Kong Ling 江玲了。

筆者自少對她產生了一種解不開的情意結﹐記得童年時某一天﹐先父回家時帶來一堆唱片測試他的新音響 Hi-Fi﹐其中一張便是江玲的 Off-Beat Cha Cha。印象中他最喜歡專輯中的 Let’s Go Off-Beat 及 China Night。其實Let’s Go Off-Beat 這首歌也是筆者的至愛﹐另一張聽了多年的10吋翻版唱片﹐早已收錄此曲﹐而且陪伴了自己渡過了不少童年歲月﹔至於另一首歌曲就比較敏感了﹐因為原曲名為支那之夜﹐由李香蘭主唱﹐是抗戰時日本一套辱華電影的主題曲﹐後來改編成了姚莉的“春的夢” ﹐但是此曲的編曲在Intro 時用上了鈸﹐每次敲響的時候﹐就如恐佈電影﹐鬼怪現身那一剎的配樂﹐所以年幼的筆者每次聽的時候都會有心驚膽顫的感覺。

另一方面﹐封套中那女子﹐以S形坐姿輕倚鐵枝﹐在一個小孩的眼裡﹐就像一個壞女人犯事坐牢﹐卻不知羞耻﹐還故作媚態的樣子﹐加上整張唱片都是用英文介紹﹐筆者不能明白它的意思﹐一切認識單憑想像﹐所以這些謎團倒是要待筆者年紀稍長才得以解開。現在回想起來﹐當然有趣﹐那些鐵枝在那年代是家裡很流行的裝飾﹐而女子輕倚鐵枝拍照﹐也是那個年頭很流行的造型哩。近年聽到一個江玲的電台訪問﹐才知道原來那張照片是在樓梯間拍的。

種種的印象非常深刻﹐雖然長大了﹐但每次聽著這張唱片﹐不免懷念先父﹐不禁想起童年的單純。而這種情意結﹐更牽引著筆者一直搜尋她的其他唱片。直到90年代﹐筆者偶然間買了一張二手的 Kong Ling唱片﹐才曉得她的中文名字叫“江玲”。

筆者對專輯內的12首歌曲可說是耳熟能詳﹐加上那 Off-Beat Cha Cha 拍子﹐確實比一般Cha Cha更有節奏感。一直以來筆者奇怪70/80年代一些模仿老歌的Cha Cha﹐為何總欠缺50/60年代的編曲特色﹐後來發現原來華人的編曲技巧﹐根本比不上那時候的老外。12首由 Celso Carrillo編曲﹑指揮樂團的伴奏﹐絕對出色﹐此張專輯更是鑽石唱片公司首張出品。

江玲的演唱主要是英語﹐不過每首歌曲中段總愛夾雜著一小段國語﹐原來這是江玲演唱的一大特色﹐而且鑽石唱片早期的出品﹐還有一個特別之處﹐就是唱片分單聲道及立體聲兩個版本。家中聽了多年的是Mono 版 (左圖)﹐年前卻被筆者發現了 Stereo版 (右圖)。


Hong Kong Presents Off-Beat Cha Cha featuring Kong Ling (1960/Diamond) Track List:
01 China Night
02 One Way Ticket
03 C’est Magnifique
04 Ciao Ciao Bambina
05 My Heart Is An Open Book
06 I Love You Baby
07 The Voice Of Love
08 Seven Lonely Days
09 Tenderly
10 Let’s Go Off Beat
11 Mona Lisa
12 Sayonara


以下轉載自唱片封套的介紹﹕
Hong Kong. . . . . .The Pearl Of The Orient. . .presents the Off-Beat Cha Cha.

The Off-Beat was first popularised in Manila and in no time at all it swept the Orient like the Asian Flu, but without its ill-effects. The demand for Off-Beat discs was so great that the Diamond Music Company decided to record and release the first long play exclusively devoted to this exciting tempo. The automatic choice of a vocalist was the charming and talented Kong Ling with Celso Carrillo as arranger and conductor.

Celso's arrangements are not only refreshingly new but real swingers. Celso, himself, can be heard playing the piano, cow-bell, timbales and conga drum on various tracks. This L.P. fulfills his ambition to score Latin American arrangements for four trumpets, baritone sax and percussion instruments.

Twenty-five year-old Kong Ling, who's real name is Kong Yan Lai, is a modern day Cinderella. Ever since she was a little girl Kong Ling loved singing but never thought of it as a career until she won an inter-school competition in 1951 with the song "Congratulations" Since that wonderful day this talented Oriental thrush has continuously been showered with compliments.

Kong Ling made her professional debut in 1954 and after a series of local engagements toured Singapore for nine months. She was so successful that when she returned to Hong Kong she became the most sought after singer. This charmer was in such great demand that she became the first artist in the Colony to be featured in three separate night-clubs every evening. She is known as the "Sweetheart of Hong Kong" and this tribute is understandable as a few tracks of this record will clearly indicate her versatility.

Kong Ling's popularity is not restricted to night-spots. She also appears in various radio and television shows and is always ready to make personal appearances at charity performances. This is her first attempt at recording in English and the result is something she can be proud of. Arthur Godfrey heard her perform and was so fascinated that he invited her to appear on his Television show (by the time you read this Kong Ling has probably appeared in Godrey' s show).

Besides being a very successful singer Kong Ling enjoys listening to records, dancing, movies and sports cars. When asked what her ambition was, she shyly replied: "I' would like to become a very good singer and a very good wife".

Whether she's going "Off-Beat", searching for "The Voice Of Love", buying "A One Way Ticket To The Blues", declaring her "Heart Is An Open Book", reminiscing "Tenderly" or simply saying "Sayonara" she combines her charm, warmth, sincerity and talent to delight you with some really wonderful Off-Beat versions of twelve popular songs.

This album is unreservedly recommended to you for here you have a new sound, something unusual" something exciting but most important of all . . . . . . . this is Kong Ling . . . . . . . . The Voice of Hong Kong.

China Night (Edited Short Version)﹕原曲為渡辺はま子的“支那の夜”(1938/Nippon Columbia)﹐之後成為了1940年李香蘭主演同名電影的插曲﹐之後姚莉又唱了國語版“春的夢”(1953/百代)﹐也就是江玲這個版本。
曲﹕竹岡信幸
詞﹕金成 (陳歌辛)



Ciao Ciao Bambina (Edited Short Version)﹕原唱為 Domenico Modugno (1959/Decca)﹐是該年Eurovision Song Contest 入選歌曲。
(Domenico Modugno / Dino Verde)



My Heart Is An Open Book (Edited Short Version)﹕原唱為Carl Dobkins, Jr. (1959/Decca)﹐是Billboard 流行榜季軍歌曲。
(Hal David / Lee Pockriss)



I Love You Baby (Edited Short Version)﹕原唱為Paul Anka (1957/ABC Paramount)。
(Paul Anka)



The Voice Of Love﹕原唱為Johnny Nash (1959/ABC Paramount)。
(N. Woody / J.Cale / T. Matthews)



Let’s Go Off Beat﹕原唱為Rusty Draper (1957/Mercury)﹐之後有姚莉的國語版“卡力潑蘇”(1956/百代)﹐不過江玲早在灌錄英語版之前﹐已灌錄過國語版“齊力向前航”(約1957/Philips)。
(Diane Lampert / John Gluck, Jr.)




筆者相關文章介紹﹕
Johnny Nash - The Voice Of Love
Paul Anka - Diana / Put Your Head On My Shoulder
江玲 - 夢裡喜相逢
鑽石名曲選 - The History Of Diamond Records
筆者兒時聽的幾張翻版唱片 (二)



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