Yao Su Rong

Yao Su Rong (姚蘇蓉), also known as Yao Su Yong, Yiu So Yung and Yao Soa Yong (born 5th December 1945 in Taiwan) is a Taiwanese singer/actress who rose to fame in the late 60's with the title track to the movie "今天不回家" (Today I Won't Come Home). That one song swept her into fame, the song being sung by young and old alike, securing her a much-coveted Hong Kong record deal with 海山 (Haishan Records), selling 600,000 copies.

Before that, she'd been singing songs for a while, a minor hit being a Mandarin-language rewrite of a Japanese popular song, "負心的人" (Cruel-Hearted Lover). Instantly, she was selling out shows and getting invited to concerts all across the Mandarin-speaking world.

At the height of her popularity in the late 60's/early 70's, many of her songs were banned by the Taiwanese government supposedly for stirring up unhealthy morals amongst the youth (i.e. many of her songs were about love and romance). Today, Yao Su Rong lives in Singapore and avoids the limelight, even including politely declining an invitation to the 1998 Golden Horse Film Festival (the biggest movie event of the island, government sanctioned).

Links To Peel
Andy Kershaw visited Amsterdam, Netherlands in 1987 and bought a Mandarin language album as a gift for Peel, which Peel then played a track on his 29 July 1987 show. Peel didn't know the name of the artist or track, as it was written in the Chinese script, however the track turned out to be Yao Su Rong's Return Your Love Back To Me (你把爱情还给我) track.

In 2002, Peel played another track from Yao Su Rong, this time under the name of Yao Su Yong from an East Asian compilation album called Asian Takeaways on his shows.

Shows Played
1987 2002
 * 29 July 1987: 你把爱情还给我 (Return Your Love Back To Me)
 * 04 April 2002 (BBC World Service): Love Is Blooming (v/a LP - Asian Takeaways) Q.D.K. Media