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.
AWESOME!
ReplyDeleteHello Shere, since I've been receiving your emails. I've been looking forward to all your new blogs. You always seem to surprise me, especially with this blog about booking yourself in the nightclubs in Los Angeles. I didn't realize that the Vietnamese nightclubs only accepted cover song performers. And you are right about the rock clubs in Hollywood. As I recall the majority of them were all formatted to entertain their audience with new bands with only originals. My brother's band played at some of the clubs you've mentioned. He mentioned seeing you perform at Madam Wongs in China Town in Los Angeles CA. He said you were playing original punk songs. WOW! I would have loved to have seen that performance. So Cool!
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