The Reymont Vocal Group Founded

Source: The “Hot Music” of Taiwan’s Pop Music Scene
From: Gushi (excerpted from Zao Yin Fan Tu: Explorations of Postwar Taiwan’s Sound Culture)
Date: June 26, 2015Author: Wang Chun-mei, Ho Tung-hung, Chung Jen-hsien

With the tide of pop music brought by the US military, Western restaurants and military clubs hired resident bands to perform Western music in order to serve American soldiers on R&R in Taiwan. Taiwanese pop music groups emerged during this period, and among them, bands such as “Sunshine” and “Raymond” were rare in that their musicianship matched international acts — they were invited to perform at military clubs and even toured Southeast Asia, Okinawa, and the United States.

“Raymond” was formed in 1962 and performed mainly Western music. The group’s membership changed frequently, but aside from the central figure Kim Tsu-ling (who passed away in 2014), the well-known entertainer Tao Ta-wei also briefly joined in 1965 (after leaving, he formed his own group “The Four Golden Men”). Raymond’s performances were so appreciated by Soong Mei-ling that the group was recommended to perform at military clubs.

Raymond Choir (reproduced from Today pictorial, 1968, photo by Lin Chun-hsiung)

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External Links

• Rock Godfather Kim Tsu-ling Passes Away (China Daily)
• Kim Tsu-ling: Taiwan’s First-Generation Rock King (James’s Blog)