New Wave - The Vietnam war is over

Merry Christmas Greetings

From Shere Thu Thuy

The Vietnam war is over. A Christmas song by John Lennon

Hello everyone! It's me, Shere Thu Thuy. So, it's that time of the Year and Christmas is around the corner. This year I decided to do a Christmas cover song by John Lennon from The Beatles called, "Happy Christmas (War is over)". But in Vietnamese. When I was a teenager growing up during the war of Vietnam. I never thought it would ever end or how it was going to end. And everyone I knew was worried about their future. And during this time, many people were protesting against the war calling for peace. And when the fall of Vietnam finally ended.

    The most indelible memory for me was on the first Christmas after that sad announcement. I remember turning on my little red transistor Sony radio and hearing John Lennon from The Beatles singing, "Happy Christmas, the war is over". And since then I promised one day I would like to sing that in my native language. So, today is that day. However, it took a lot of effort to translate English to Vietnamese. I say this, because of the many different expressions in the English grammar doesn't always match with the Vietnamese dialog.

BTW! Do you remember the Napalm girl on the front cover of the Los Angeles Times magazine? The depiction was of a little naked girl screaming and running out of a bomb exploration of her family's home. I have always wondered if she survived. Yes! She did survive and I included a snapshot of her and the photographer who took that famous photo. They say she was a huge influence to help end the war. The video interview with that girl today

   BTW! When I finished singing this song, I thought to myself. I am a Vietnamese and lived during the Vietnam war. And I wondered what John Lennon would say today to hear his song, sung by a Vietnamese native and in the Vietnamese language.  Special thanks to Eric Teggers for producing the recording and all my videos. Merry Christmas to all! ;-) Love ya! Oh! When you open this video in youtube, don't forget to subscribe and hit that like button. ;-)

New Wave

Booking a Vietnamese new wave 80's

performer in Hollywood

Good Morning! Today I would like to share another question from a fan on my Q&A section inside my website pages.

Question from Jackie Lee. Firstly, I love all your original songs both old and new. I have a lot of friends who remember you back in the '80s who have seen you perform live. And that is why I am writing you. So, when I heard that you had performed in little Saigon in Westminster Ca., at the local venues didn't surprise me that much. However, when I heard that in the '80s the majority of your performances were at all the local American Clubs in Hollywood Los Angeles CA. Now, that woke me up! I say this because in the 80s, Vietnamese did not perform to the Americans, especially in their local or popular nightclubs back then. Q: How did you get into the American nightclubs in Los Angeles? Q: And why did you perform to the Americans and didn't continue to perform in Little Saigon/Orange County?

Answer: Hello Jackie Lee. Yes! In the early 80s, most of my performances were in Los Angeles. So, to your first question, " How did I get to perform in these nightclubs?". This would have never been possible if I was a Karaoke singer like my Vietnamese colleagues who were all doing the popular cover songs back then in the late 70s and 80s. I had to learn the hard way. When I approached these nightclubs in Los Angeles I had learned that all the clubs in Hollywood would ask me the same question, " What kind of music are you doing?". And I was blown away to their reaction when I gave them my list of covers songs. They all laughed at me. There was even one booker who said, "Honey, if you want to play at my club, or at any club in Hollywood, you need originals and not a list of bull shit cover songs". Needless to say, I walked out disappointed, mad and confused because the Vietnamese nightclubs would gladly accept performers who did only covers. In fact, the Vietnamese nightclubs would reject you if you would say, 'I only do original music. Up until then, as a Vietnamese performing covers was the only way I knew how to make a living. And at the time I did have a few originals, although I didn't realize how important this was to get into the Los Angeles nightclubs. Here is a list of a few places I would frequently perform, Madam Wongs East in China Town, and Madam Wongs West in West Los Angeles, The Star wood, Gazzaris, The Roxy in Hollywood, Tonys on the Pier in Redondo Beach, and The Troubadour on Santa Monica Boulevard, in Hollywood Ca. ETC.

Answer: To your second question: Why did I stop performing to the Vietnamese Communities?. As I had mentioned several times throughout my music career particularly when I needed help. The Vietnamese music industry back in the early 80s all rejected me because I was not your typical music or Vietnamese performer. That is to say, my music was more Americanized and not customized to the Vietnamese standards of what they were listening to, or what they would accept at the time. They were looking for a Madonna Type singer and I definitely was the rebel to that fashion. And after the fact, I would come to realize at the time in the early 80s The Vietnamese Music industry was extremely limited in comparison to the American music industry. Therefore, when the Americans opened their doors to help my music career I had became more established beyond what the Vietnamese music industry could ever do for my career. And that's how it all happened. Check out my new video called,"I've got a crush on you" on youtube. Yo! Don't forget to subscribe or smash that like button.

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