Shidaiqu

Shidaiqu is a type of /European jazz fusion music that originated in Shanghai, China, in the 1920s.

Terminology

The term literally means "songs of the era" in Mandarin. When sung in , it is referred to as , when sung in Amoy Hokkien, it is referred to as .

Mainstream

In Shanghai shidaiqu was regarded as Chinese popular music beginning in the 1920s. Its heyday was in the 1940s, then died out in 1952 when the Communist banned nightclubs and pop music production. The tradition moved to Hong Kong and reached its height from the 1950s to the late 1960s, when it was replaced by the Taiwanese pops and later cantopop. While it is considered a prototype, music enthusiasts may see it as early version of mandopop. Li Jinhui is the founder of shidaiqu along with chinese popular music. The western jazz influence were shaped by jazz musician Buck Clayton. Nowadays, shidaiqu inspired Gary Lucas for his album "the Edge of Heaven". On the other hand, if cinema was at the origin of many songs, Wong Kar Wai used them again for illustrating his movie "In_the_Mood_for_Love"; Rebecca Pan, one of the actresses in this film, was also one of theses famous shi dai qu singers. Last but not least, as Mainland and Hong Kong were original areas, Japan shouldn't be neglected in the story of shi dai qu, due to one of the famous singers, Yoshiko Yamagushi .

Some singers

* Bai Hong
* Chou Hsuan
* Chen Juan-juan
* Bai Guang
* Wang Zeh-mei
* Kung Chiu-hsia
* Tung Pei-pei
* Woo Ing-ing
* Chang Loo
* Hsia Tan
* Tsin Ting
* Yao Lee
*
* Li Li-hwa
* Lin Dai
* Yeh Meng
* Li Xianglan
* Poon Sow-keng
* Rebecca Pan
* Mona Fong
* Tsai Chin
* Tsui Ping
* Grace Chang
* Ling Po