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About
Mandarin Radio
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Who Runs Mandarin Radio?
Mandarin Radio is run by me, Rhys Ludlow. I am non-Asian and at one time could nearly communicate in a combination of Japanese and pointing. My Chinese is weaker still, (but getting better every month).
Why?
The original reason (and still the primary reason) for creating Mandarin Radio is to give English speaking people a chance to hear some great Chinese music. Unless someone is very motivated, it is difficult to find modern Chinese music when you don't read Chinese. Mandarin Radio was intended as an entry point into the world of Chinese pop.
Along the way, I have found that we have a large following among people who speak (but do not read) Chinese.
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Yes, but Why?
- When I was 13 years old I spent a year lining on the Southern coast of Spain, The Costa del Sol. At night, my radio could pick up Spanish, French, Italian, & Arabic stations. My only English station was from Gibraltar where they played a wide variety of music ranging from British Oldies to the UK Top-40. I was amazed at the similarities and differences in the UK vs. US charts. At #1 for weeks was a pub tune , a parody of "I've Got a Brand-New Pair of Rollerskates" called "I've Got a Brand-New Combine-Harvester".
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- I also listened to popular music in all the other languages, including the Arabic "Call to Prayer" which I found so exotic.
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- So years later (1995), I got my first internet connection and I'd heard that there were radio stations around the world streaming music on the internet. I couldn't wait to hear. I was studying Japanese at the time so I figured it would help to listen to Japanese songs. The only station I could find in Japan was playing Jazz. I was sorely disappointed . Then I tried a station in Africa -- they were playing Madonna. Germany -- AC/DC. The Middle East was still running the same "Call to Prayer" they were running in the 70's. I decided that internet radio was not so interesting after all.
About five years later, I give it a try again. Al Gore by that time had perfected the internet he invented so it was a whole new world. I was toying with the idea of picking up the Japanese language lessons again so off I went to Japanese Cyberspace and came into full contact with the world of Jpop. I was amazed and fascinated with the quality and stature of some of the stars and I began to get pissed off. How could there be so much talent over there yet the only thing in the "Japanese" section of the biggest record store in San Francisco is bamboo flute music? I was conviced it was a conspiracy.
One fateful day, painstakingly searching the internet for anything by the Japanese band, "Dreams Come True", I stumbled upon a song called "Dreams Come True" by the Korean band "S.E.S.". That led me to search for more Korean music and pretty soon I was feeling very angry with our American music industry for hiding all this great modern Asian music from us. As I explored the variety of Kpop & Jpop music, I began to wonder if there weren't other Asian countries that also had a modern music scene going on. I found Thai first and finally Chinese. I found it really difficult to find English information about Chinese music but I persevered and in about six months I had amassed several hunderd CDs (and various MP3s we won't discuss in detail).
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- By now I had collected thousands of songs in Japanese, Thai, Korean, Mandarin, Cantonese, and to a lesser extent several other languages. I had to share my "discoveries". I gave CDs to all my friends. Volume I, Volume II, Volume III, etc. Pretty soon my conservation-minded crowd was telling me to save the discs (they had all the coasters they needed). I tried driving around town with my windows rolled down and the stereo blaring but I still felt that the message was not getting out. So I started Pop Goes Asia as a way to keep my friends and avoid being cited for disturbing the peace in my hometown of San Rafael.
Then, for reasons I still don't understand, I found myself graviating to Mandarin songs. As the world was listening to the cultural melange that is Pop Goes Asia, I was making Mandarin-only CDs for myself to listen to. I decided to try Mandarin Radio to see if anyone was interested. It was an instant runaway hit and continues steady growth despite my inexuseable lack of promotion.
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