Tracy Huang: A Bygone Era in her English Recordings Never to be Repeated?
By Poh Lee
Fans may not be aware of this but Tracy Huang marked many firsts for Singapore and the region's music industry in the 1970s. Up to today, no other artiste has had the widespread appeal that Tracy has enjoyed and still enjoys.
Tracy was one of the first to really bring English pop music to people from all walks of life and all ages in Singapore. In the 1970s, Tracy appealed to both English and Mandarin speaking Singaporeans; today, local artistes tend to be segmented and generally only appeal to either the English or Mandarin speaking market exclusively. There are exceptions here and there (Tanya Chua), but segmentation seems to be the norm.
Tracy is also the first Mandarin artiste to have successfully broken into the English market in Singapore. Her domination of the music scene continued from the 1970s to the early 1980s. No other Mandarin artiste has since enjoyed the cross over success that Tracy has had.
Tracy is also the first artiste to pave the way for many other Mandarin wannabes attempting to sing in English. Her success in the English market uncovered a huge gold mine of potential listeners (customers) who were ripe and ready for a credible Asian artiste who could deliver English numbers in an appealing and convincing manner. Tracy Huang's example very much encouraged and influenced the music culture in Singapore then, at a time when other local artistes were struggling to survive. She was like the ray of hope, who cleared the paths for many newer artistes of today.
The issue of cross-sectional appeal is a daunting matter. One has to ask the question: why has there not been another artiste as vibrant and widespread in his or her appeal? Perhaps, the Singapore today is different from the Singapore in the 1970s. Tastes have changed, and Mandarin artistes today find it very difficult to make successful inroads into the English market. I would also dare suggest that no other artiste has Tracy Huang's calibre in terms of delivery and diction in English; this aided to a very large extent by the very capable background support she received from her producer and musicians at EMI Singapore during that period.
Some may be surprised to know that Tracy didn't speak much English when she first started singing under EMI Singapore in the 1970s. Yet, the quality of her EMI Singapore recordings have stood the test of time. Today, Tracy's delivery in the 1970s can still hold its forte against many other current and budding English recordings by local and regional artistes. It can safely be said that the magical qualities of Tracy's music still has its shine and luster, sadly lacking in the newer supposedly more cosmopolitan artistes of today.
This boils down to the question of the people who worked behind the scenes in EMI Singapore. Tracy venerable producer, Reggie Verghese, arranger, Martin Pereira, and recording engineer, Vincent Lim, helped pave the continued success of Tracy English recordings year after year in the 1970s.
After Tracy's shift to Polygram, the magic seems to have disappeared, and never to be regained in its entirety. True, Tracy has delivered excellent English numbers in her other recording labels (Polygram, UFO, ROCK, and EMI Taiwan), but the quality has been inconsistent at best. It is sad because even Tracy cannot seem to recapture the magic of her English recordings in the 70s and to adapt that style for the 90s.
But there is hope. Tracy still has that capability I believe. A review of some of her English numbers in WEA, ROCK and EMI Taiwan reveal that the magic is still there, just that it is marred by inconsistenty. Tracy just needs to be very discerning in her choice of songs, music, and producers.
Here's hoping that Tracy's magic will be revealed again in its entirety in her next English recording.
Bravo to Tracy for blazing the path that few others have dared to tread ...
source: www.inner.com.tw
