Karaoke Venues Sweep Taiwan
卡拉OK(空間)引進台灣
Source: Ma Shih-fang: Returning to the Era of 8½
From: Initium Media
Date: September 20, 2016. Author: Ma Shih-fang
1986 was the year following Taiwan’s lifting of martial law. The “tangwai” (outside the party) movement broke through the ban in September and formally established the Democratic Progressive Party. Karaoke swept through Taiwan at the same time; police reported that “the more booming the karaoke business, the more frequent the disputes and brawls triggered by fights over the microphone and booing.” McDonald’s had been in Taiwan for barely two years and was still a fresh, fashionable novelty. The future site of Da’an Forest Park was still a sprawl of illegal structures, and the Chung-hua Commercial Arcade on the western side of the city wouldn’t be demolished for another six years. Crossing the pedestrian overpass above the railway tracks, you’d reach Ximending — not yet upstaged by the Eastern District — still the epicentre of youth culture and trend-setting across the whole island.
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External Links
- 1986 (Taiwan Popular Music Museum)
- KTV and Youth Subculture Analysis: A Spatial Interpretation (Tseng Chih-yen)
- Karaoke (Wikipedia)
- Screaming Soundtracks (Era: 1981–1990) (Public Television Service, Listening to the Times)