Rare Songs – A Small Wish

While browsing recent YouTube uploads of Faye Wong (王菲) songs, I found this interesting karaoke video. The song is “A Small Wish” (一個小心願), first released in the album Where Comes the Wind (風從哪裡來) when Faye was 15. The album was released as a cassette by Yunan Audio and Video on 15 June 1985. (Click here for an earlier article about this album.) In 2003, Focus Music Ltd., China, released a CD version.

What’s interesting is that the video is badly out of sync with the audio. (See the video below.) Obviously, she was singing a different song in the original MV. The producers simply dubbed the audio over the video and added the subtitle lyrics. The result is a mature Faye singing in a 15-year-old’s voice. But what’s even more interesting is that the combination actually works, telling us that, at 15, Faye’s voice was already surprisingly mature and beautiful.

When I compared the video audio to the version on the 2003 CD, I realized that they were different, either remixed or completely different recordings. I then searched online for other versions and came across a recording in Imeem similar to the video audio but of better quality. The 2003 recording has been re-engineered to HDCD specs, highlighting the innocent child-like quality of Faye’s 15-year-old voice. The other version seems more natural, a bit more mature. (See comment by Anonymous below.) Here are the two versions:

The version from Irene’s Imeem site, uploaded 8 months ago. It’s similar to the Karaoke video.

The 2003 CD version.

Cover of the 2003 CD release of Where Comes the Wind.

(Added to YouTube by Linjw on 19 Aug 2008)

Comment from Anonymous 9.1.08: The You tube and Imeem versions are taken from her album covering teresa teng’s songs “fei mi mi zhi yin” [track 11 in The Decadent Sound of Faye, July 1995] which is why it sounds more updated than the 2003 version, which is very 80s.

Faye’s 1985-86 Albums – (3) Miss Charm

Faye Wong Collector’s Album (王菲珍藏集) was originally released as a cassette in April 1986. The CD was released on 19 Oct 2004. A variant of the title is Charming Miss Faye Wong Collector’s Album (迷人小姐 王菲珍藏集) or just Miss Charm (迷人小姐). Wei-yuan (卫元) produced this album, which is purported to be the last Faye released on the mainland. Again, the CD and the cassette don’t match up track by track. Three songs on the cassette aren’t on the CD, but the CD has 15 tracks versus 14 on the cassette. For the introduction to this series, click here.

01. 心墙 Core
02. 潇洒的走 – 潇洒 The Walk
03. 月光下的恋情 Affair Under the Moonlight
04. 十三妹 Shisan Mei (13 Younger Sisters)
05. 最后的表白 Final Statement
06. 除了你 In Addition to You
07. 下次相逢 Reunions Next [aka Will Meet by Chance Next Time]
08. 请你别说 Please Let Alone
09. 多梦的童年 Childhood Dream of Many
10. 你在我身旁 You Next to Me
11. 请你猜一猜 You Guess
12. 我们俩 The Two of Us
13. 想让你知道 Want You to Know
14. 女孩 Girls

My favorite tracks in this album are “Affair Under the Moonlight” and “In Addition to You.” In these two, you can hear a Faye that’s really beginning to mature and grow in confidence. “You Guess” is a fun song that captures Faye’s youthfulness. The engineering in this CD is better, resulting in a much improved sound quality throughout.

“Affair Under the Moonlight”

“In Addition to You”

“You Guess”

Faye’s 1985-86 Albums – (2) Where Comes the Wind

Faye Wong’s (王菲) Where Comes the Wind (風從哪裡來) was released as a cassette by Yunan Audio and Video on 15 June 1985 when Faye was 15. In 2003, Focus Music Ltd., China, released a CD version. There were at least two different cassettes with slightly different track lists. The list below is from one of them, and it has 15 songs. However, the one in the photo lists only 14. The selections in each vary as well, with tracks from one missing from the other. The tracks on the cassettes and the CD also don’t match up. However, songs missing from the Where Comes CD can be found on the earlier CD, Enchanting Kaler, which was released on 1 March 2003. The CD also contains a couple of tracks that aren’t on the cassettes.

SIDE A
01. 風從哪裡來 Where Comes the Wind
02. 四個心願 Four Desires
03. 甜蜜蜜 Sweet Is Dense (aka Sweet Honey)
04. 小小的秘密 Small Small Privacy (aka Little Secret)
05. 年紀輕輕 A Young Age
06. 唱歌的人 Sings Person (aka Singer)
07. 最高峰 High Point (aka Peak)
08. 望著天空的女孩 The Girl Is Looking the Sky

SIDE B
01. 你怎麼說 How Did You Say (aka How Do You Say)
02. 說說笑笑 Has a Friendly Chat
03. 月光小夜曲 Moonlight Serenade
04. 你照亮我的心 You Illuminate My Heart (aka (You Light Up My Heart)
05. 漫步人生路 Roams the Person Way Out
06. 故鄉從不拒絕我 The Hometown Has Never Refused Me
07. 又見炊煙 Sees the Smoke from Kitchen Chimneys Again (aka See Also Smoke)

My favorite songs in this album are “Where Comes the Wind” and “Sees the Smoke from Kitchen Chimneys Again.” The first was covered in an earlier post on Faye and Teresa Teng, and the second will be the subject of a coming post so I won’t comment on them. Click on the audio icons below to listen to them. (Note: For the introduction to this series on Faye’s 1985-86 albums, click here.)

“Where Comes the Wind”

“Sees the Smoke from Kitchen Chimneys Again”

Faye’s 1985-86 Albums – (1) Enchanting Kaler

Introduction. Most discographies and discussions of Faye Wong’s (王菲) albums begin with Shirley Wong, released in Nov 1989. It’s as though Faye came out of nowhere, with little or no previous recording history. But every fayenatic knows that she had established a career in mainland China before she moved to Hong Kong with her family in 1987. For many of us English-speaking fans, these pre-HK albums are vague and mysterious because they’re seldom discussed and almost never heard. I don’t think there’s a single YouTube video of Faye performing in this early period, 1985-86, when she was 15-17 years old. In an attempt to fill this gap, in the next few days, I’ll be doing a four-part series on Faye’s mainland albums. This is the first installment.

Even before moving to HK in 1987, Faye had already made quite an impression on record producers in China, who saw her as a youthful phenom. In 1985, she released two albums (on cassettes — CDs hadn’t been invented back then), Enchanting Kaler (迷人的卡勒,1 March 1985) and Where Comes the Wind (风从那里来, 15 June 1985). She was only 15 years old. Less than a year later, when she was 16, she was so highly regarded that producers decided to release an album titled Faye Wong Collector’s Album (王菲珍藏集, April 1986). It’s better known as Miss Charm (迷人小姐). The producer of the third album, Wei-yuan Production (卫元强制作), released a CD version on 19 Oct 2004, retaining the original title, Faye Wong Collector’s Album (王菲珍藏集).

Before getting into the very first album, though, I think it’s worth noting that Faye was not only a strikingly beautiful and talented adolescent. She was also an extremely bright student. While still in high school, she took and passed the examination to enter Xiamen University (厦门大学), which is one of the most prestigious and selective universities in China. Faye could very well have gone on to a brilliant academic career if chance hadn’t stepped in and sent her to HK and the now well-known path to recording history.

Faye’s very first album. Enchanting Kaler (迷人的卡勒), was released on 1 March 1985, when she was 15. It was a cassette with 14 tracks. In 2003, Focus Music Ltd., China, released a CD version with 13 of the 14 tracks:

01 Moonlight Serenade 月光小夜曲
02 You Illuminate My Heart 你照亮我心
03 Harmonica Story 口琴的故事
04 Postman (English, The Carpenters’ “Please Mr. Postman”) 邮递员
05 Top of the World (English, The Carpenters) 世界之顶
06 The Hometown Has Never Refused Me 故乡从不拒绝我
07 Young Age 年纪轻轻
08 Destiny (Japanese) 命运
09 Forget Him (Guangdong) 忘记他(粤)
10 Often Worry About Past Events 往事常牵挂
11 Rose Garden 玫瑰花园
12 Enchanting Kaler (English) 迷人的卡勒
13 Today’s Happiness, Tomorrow’s Dream 今天的欢乐明天的梦

The engineering and production aren’t great by today’s standards or, perhaps, by standards in HK, Tokyo, Taiwan, and other Asian metropolises of the day, but what it lacks in technical sophistication is made up in talent, energy, and pure spirit. You can’t help but feel the electricity that 15-year-old Faye Wong was creating in China’s emerging pop world. In this album, she does the Carpenters in English as well as a Japanese song. Click on the audio icon below for a listen to Faye’s Carpenters’ cover, “Top of the World.” Her voice is still that of an adolescent, but it holds all the beauty and promise of the diva that she’ll be in a few short years.

“Top of the World”

“Please Mr. Postman”

“Destiny” (Japanese)

“Moonlight Serenade”

“Enchanting Kaler” (English)

Parts 2 and 3 in the series:

Faye’s 1985-86 Albums – (2) Where Comes the Wind

Faye’s 1985-86 Albums – (3) Miss Charm