Wei Hua

From Rock in China Wiki

Wei Hua (蔚华, real Name Wang Weihua, also known as Wayhwa), the First Lady of chinese rock, former vocalist of Overload (Beijing, melodic pop rock)

Lineup

Vocals: Wei Hua

History

Wayhwa Takes the Acid Test

by Steven Schwankert taken from [1]

Wayhwa first appeared on Western radar screens in spring 1989, during an appearance on the U.S. television news show Nightline. The articulate CCTV news broadcaster expressed certain controversial political opinions. She was summarily fired the next day.

Wayhwa, ne Wang Weihua, moved immediately from her day job to a night gig as lead singer of The Breathing (Hu Xi), which lasted until she and lead guitarist/songwriter/boyfriend Gao Qi (now the soul of heavy metal act Overload) split up. Five years later, she released her experimental first album, Modernization.

She's back with a second release on Jingwen Records, Acid Rain. The new record is a vast improvement over her first effort, although that wouldn't be too hard. Backed up by another Jingwen act, the Rhythm Dogs (which includes Eddie Luc Lalasoa and Zhang Ling from Cui Jian's band), the songwriting shows greater maturity and skill than her first album. Thanks to the backing band, many of the tracks on Acid Rain are eminently listenable, including the opening tune "Stubborn" and the catchy "Ocean Drought." Wayhwa also better utilizes her fluent American English on Acid Rain, with lyrics both written and delivered with greater fluency and fluidity.

Ultimately though, the album's greatest weakness is Wayhwa's vocals. Hoarse and gravelly but without the emotiveness of a Dylan or Springsteen, her vocal performance fails to uplift what would otherwise be a competent album. It's a shame: China's rock scene could use a greater number of solid female singer/songwriters.

Discography

Albums

Modernized

1995 September Jing Wen Records

Tracklist: 1. 鲜, 2. 星期天, 3. 哈尼, 4. 女人, 5. 同志们, 6. 签证, 7. 老故宫, 8. 闲话, 9. 现代化

Wayhwa: Acid Rain

(China Record Company) Available from Beijing record stores, cassette rmb10, CD rmb80

Further informations

References

Qian Wang (2007). The Crisis of Chinese Rock in the mid-1990s: Weakness in Form or Weakness in Content?. University of Liverpool. Page 267.