Hong Kong in the 1960's was a place far removed from today. British rule and a steady inflow of refugees from Mainland China in a growing nation, not yet considered wealthy but with growing industrialisation it was expanding rapidly.
Chinese language films and music were the norm at this time however as half of the population were under 25 years old, "Western" pop music was of great interest, what was locally referred to as English Pop.
In the mid 1960's saw the rise of Teddy Robin and his band, the members were:
Teddy Robin Kwan (泰迪罗宾) - vocals, guitar
Raymond Kwan - Rhythm guitar
Norman Cheng - Guitar
William Kwan - Bass
Frederick Chan - Drums
Their music was "fresh, new and Western" and they became very successful in their own market. Population of Hong Kong at this time was around 3 million, half of them being youngsters and the demand for their music was high, but the hip pockets empty. A perfect recipe for unofficial or bootleggers to thrive and this is one such release.
You wouldn't want this album because of innovation or a brand new genre but definitely it represents West meets East and the introduction of English Pop into Chinese culture.
This is a Taiwan produced copy of the album, as often is the case with bootlegs, the cover was quite different to the original release both in text and colouration. Compared with the original Hong Kong release on the Diamond label (Universal), this Taiwan cover print is very orange/red and of course with a majority of Chinese language text.
The rear of the cover promotes other bootleg releases from the company
Not just the cover is different, the vinyl is 150g red (translucent) not black. I strongly suspect this is "Evergreen" vinyl, a red vinyl formula that was proprietary to Toshiba, Japan. It is considered much "quieter" than the Western vinyl of the day and often sought out by collectors.
TEDDY ROBIN & THE PLAYBOYS - Breakthrough
Cat# CA-1060
Matrix codes (etched)
TRSLP-3-1 (2x Chinese picture graphics) CA-1060-A 3 (backwards)
(2x Chinese picture graphics) CA-1060-B TRSLP-4-1 3 (backwards)
Taiwan release
1968 (?) of the original 1967 release - I am not sure about the release date of this bootleg but 1968 sounds about right. It takes time to copy over the source audio, produce the stampers, press/print and get it down to the markets!
Cover is in extremely POOR condition, it is obviously falling apart! I have retained the cover only for nostalgic/authenticity reasons. The paper feels strange, quite brittle and you can see on the edges that it has "broken away" it feels a bit like "dried paint"!
To maintain the condition (as rough as it is) I have placed both sides of this cover onto a very stiff cardboard and then sealed in cello-wrap so that it cannot move and is protected from the environment.
Record label is black on metallic silver
The only English text (exactly as printed) I can read is:
BREAKTHROUGH
TEDDY ROBIN AND THE PLAYBOYS
STEREO CA-1060
LITTLE BIT ME ALITTLE BIT YOU
THERE'S A KIND OF HUSH
SUMMER SONG
IM NOT YOUR STEPPING STONE
GREEN GREEN GRASS OF HOME
I CAN'T GROW PEACHES ON A CHERRY
GOT TO GO BACK
POOR SIDE OF TOWN
TIME WON'T LET ME
ALL MY SORROWS
I'MA BELIEVER
ON A CAROUSEL
The rim of the label has this English text
LYOU FENG PUBLISHING CO. TAIPEI TAIWAN REPUBLIC OF CHINA
The vinyl is supplied in a new inner clear plastic sleeve along with a bright white, generic cardboard cover
The specially packed cover and the vinyl record within the white card cover are separate and then inserted together within the supplied outer plastic sleeve.
Vinyl is in good condition, visually inspected and I can see just NO obvious scratches or marks on either side although it is very hard to see these things on this red vinyl. The real test is to play the vinyl ... I then played both sides ENTIRELY, every single track, and there are no issues with surface noise or click/pops. A nice play of pretty ordinary pop music of the day, personally their version of I'm Not Your Stepping Stone isn't too bad, Teddy puts a bit of energy into this song.
I must say that the audio quality is fine but the source recording? It sounds at times almost like this was recorded in a room with a bit of reverberation! Quite a bit of echo was heard, although perhaps this is how they liked the sound (sort of like Karaoke)
New outer protective sleeve
Tracks: As above, typos and all
