Some of you might not realize it but It appears that lately I’ve been exploring a bit of musical nostalgia. For me, it’s that sweet spot in the mid ‘90s when the rise of a harder form of rap music sort of “disrupted” the whole music industry, causing it to further gentrify itself, compartmentalizing whole strains of musical styles (doing a disservice to all of them). And one of those siloed-off genres that I grew up with, contemporary R&B, has been on my mind lately. And it has to do because of music by musicians like Taiwan’s John “Johnny Bug” Chen and albums like 活在愛裡 (Because Of Love).
John Chen began his love affair with music as a youngster attending Catholic church around his birthplace in Kaohsiung City. Drawn to its hymns and liturgical music, John would one day muster enough courage to sneak into church to play on their piano, only to be found by its priest and rather than be scolded, be encouraged to practice on it.
Although John’s parents didn’t have enough money to encourage his curiosity, it lingered on. It would be while he was away serving in the military that someone caught wind of this young man with a guitar and his “golden” songs. A recording of it was made for a record producer and quickly, “When The Rain Comes”, went from quiet, underground hit to being interpreted by others who made it a hit.
When John was first signed onto a record label he’d take on the moniker of “Bug” as a means to draw attention to his familial name, Chen. At that moment in time, John felt little inkling that what he was singing or writing for others would become successful. For him, simply being around music drove him to create.
So, when it came to give it a go as a pop singer, his multi-hyphenated talent as a devourer of pop music jetted his debut, 1985’s 我不是個壞小孩, to the top of Taiwanese sales charts. It would be it’s titular song, “我不是個壞小孩”, that became a disco dance floor mainstay of clubs from Taipei all the way to Hong Kong. Yet for all his potential as a solo artist, John’s sophomore release a year later, 吸引力 had more trouble getting that kind of a cultural foothold. Rather than explore more contemporary music, it appeared his music was caught in the crossroads – one foot trying to go into more “alternative” grooves and another trying to placate the needs of his record label.
As one person can’t serve two masters, so too something had to break. For the time being, John would make his mark as a songwriter and producer. Functioning, as a kind of Taiwanese “Babyface” Edmonds, behind the scenes was developing into an absolutely prolific and talented soul-influenced collaborator who’d lace the work of Mando and Hokkien pop artists like Tracy Huang (whom he’d be most famous working with), Anita Mui, Sarah Chen, and Alex To (and countless others) with brilliant, sophisticated, adult-oriented songs more suited for the next era of music.
That necessary change of pace allowed John to come back reinvigorated and rekindle his solo career with an eye towards changing its direction. 1991’s 音樂小說集 – 私生活 (or “Music Fiction Collection – Private Life”) presented this personal collection of music influenced by jazz, new age, and house music, such an album presented a musician also ware of the music of the day and compelled to stake his own claim to modernity. For what amounted to a selection of film music, it felt like his first truest self-penned work.
It wouldn’t be until four years later when John’s tentative step back into a solo career would become this full-throated statement, 活在愛裡 (Because Of Love), one owning the giant steps in creativity New Asian Music had taken hold of. Much like Sandy Lam’s equally brilliant, Open Up, which I really should write about, released that same year, John Chen’s new album presented an advance in Mandopop by presenting a new openness to more complex, album-oriented music sprouting up, elsewhere.
This is where I go back to that era I didn’t quite understand as a young kid. It’s when I heard artists like D’angelo, Montell Jordan, Jon B. and Groove Theory, artists who were a jump away from predicting the “Urban Hang Suite”, neo-soul music Maxwell and Erykah Badu would popularize soon thereafter. In Taiwan, surprisingly, John “Johnny Bug Chen” had absorbed the music of Sade, the grooves of early deep house and Soul II Soul, the musicality of singers like Meshell Ndegeocello, and found a place for them in his new side of the world.
Hearing opening cut, “一往情深-” (or Deeply In Love), I’m transported back to a time when it was okay for music videos to be full of people wearing flowy robes cavorting, tastefully, around candlelight, singing beautifully, smartly, about adult love. It’s unsurprising for me to see that John had to travel to studios in L.A. and Hollywood, close to the base of where producers like Babyface and Teddy Riley were crafting pristine, workstation-driven, absolutely timeless R&B, to create and record his own take on it. It was a vibe that John knew well-enough to tap into.
So, hearing 活在愛裡 (Because Of Love) with virgin ears makes one easily fall in love with his awfully tasteful ideas. For once, we get to hear John simply unfurl his falsetto like satin across the whole record. For once, we can hear his multi-tracked vocals land just-so-perfect choruses that are incisive, heartfelt, and positively affecting. And all these mid-tempo tracks blur into transport whizzing you away to some never-lived-through memory: that of a decidedly reflective Taiwanese diaspora.
This kind of progressive soul music would yield tracks like “我渴望愛” (I Long For Love) and “Dance A Little Dance”, expressive urban R&B perfect for bumping with your significant other. In an era where a lot of Taiwanese music was, sadly, backsliding into conservatism, Johnny Bug was leading his quiet revolution for embracing love (in all its mercurial forms).
If you skip around the album you can hear John’s musical evolution take different forms. “I Just Wanna Be With You” goes for the better sides of adult contemporary. On the latter part of the release, absolutely gorgeous country western-lilting torch soul ballads like “想起那一年” and “不要連你也讓我心碎” find a way to update his original musical love. You also find tracks like “June” and “心焚如火” that project heavy-duty pop smarts put the through the ringer of street-learned knowledge.
As hinted at in my favorite track, “不合的顏色” (Two Different Colors), what makes 活在愛裡 (Because Of Love) such a standout album aren’t the differences it has with what was coming out of America…but how it absolutely places you at the crossover of two wavelengths. At John’s urban hang, vibin’ out, you best believe two different colors turn into one.