formosa

when i was growing up in taipei, retail store operated by the u.s. military stationed there, or the px, had an aura of exclusivity similar to that of a present day upper madison ave boutique. instead of designer outfits and accessories, the px trafficked in goods made-in-america, everyday stuff like soap, perfume, sweets, which in a pre-industrialized taiwan, were every bit as coveted as prada bags or blahnik pumps are today.

one of my aunts worked as a clerk at the px and because of her access was a vip in the family. punk kids like my brother john and i didn’t really care for much of the stuff she brought over, except for the small cans of carnation condensed milk. we would gleefully drown some strawberries in the thick sweet cream, mash it up ‘til it’s beyond disgusting, slurp the mess down, and lick the bowl clean with a shit-eating grin.

the other major benefit that came with the u.s. occupation was the armed forces radio. i didn’t know a lick of english then but was captivated by the music. it was so different from the nasal-toned beijing opera favored by my grandpa or the insipid mandarin and taiwanese pop that permeated the airwaves. as the one with the more “progressive” music palette in the family, my mom listened to the station religiously every morning as she got my brother and me ready for school.

while my mom’s taste can run towards the lame and at times, the absurd, such as old-skool panty magnets tom jones or engelbert what’s-his-dink (watch it: don’t talk about my mama), she has always followed her musical predilection with a passion. i have seen her snapped up every harry belafonte record that she came across, for instance, even when they were repackaged marketing jobs, just to make sure she has all of his releases. i've lost track how many versions of “day-o” she has in her collection. indiscriminant? perhaps. a crate-digger’s obsessive-compulsive total immersion? definitely.

i know where i got those genes.

but like everything else in life, there’s nature and there’s nurture. from those cozy pre-school mornings i came to love nat king cole’s “cachito” and “quizas, quizas, quizas” off the “cole español” album (capitol, 1958). the album was produced by lee gillette, a capitol records country music a+r who also produced stan kenton’s overlooked “west side story” (blue note, 1961). he imbued the collection with an esquival-like playfulness and with judiciously placed horn stabs, pizzicatos, and cool percussions, helped transform songs like the cuban pop standard “quizas, quizas, quizas” into pure magic. “cachito” was a cha-cha dance hit written by consuelo velázquez, the mexican songwriter who passed away last week, best known for the 1941 latin classic "bésame mucho."

Posted by cellpharmer at February 5, 2005 01:18 AM