July 3, 2025

Taiwan’s 1930s Pop Boom, and Its First Pop Queen – S5-E18

Taiwan’s 1930s Pop Boom, and Its First Pop Queen – S5-E18
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Taiwan’s 1930s Pop Boom, and Its First Pop Queen – S5-E18

Han Cheung, the man behind Taiwan in Time, the long-running history column in the Taipei Times, returns to tell the story of Taiwan’s first pop star. Liu Ching-hsiang 劉清香  was singing Taiwanese opera in the late 1920s. A few years later, under the stage name Chun-Chun 純純, she became Japanese Formosa’s first recording star — the voice behind dozens of hits and the breakout anthem “Longing for the Spring Breeze.” Hear how Columbia Records and a savvy movie tie-in made her a household name, and learn more about the 1930s, which, when it comes to music, was perhaps the most “progressive” decade of the 50 years of colonial rule.


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