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Total entries in this category: 51
Published On: Mar 07, 2006 03:02 PM
Total entries in this category: 51
Published On: Mar 07, 2006 03:02 PM
Caveat Emptor
China is famous for bootleg CDs. Today we bought
some.
We were shopping at one of the local chain stores
and we saw a big pile of CDs. Most of them had Chinese titles, but what caught
our eye was one that announced "The Beatles". On the front was a picture of the
Fab Four, circa 1965, and a rendering of the band's name that looked like it was
lifted straight off of the bass drum Ringo played on the Ed Sullivan show. This
was pure baby-boomer bait, and if we didn't bite, who
would?
There are couple of details that make it unmistakably a Chinese product. First, the package is plastered with lots of hologram stickers, which are meant to signify authenticity. Also, there is at least as much Chinese writing on the cover as English. And the English is less than perfect. So the song list includes such misses as "Lang and Winding Road", "No Peply", and "Luck In The Sky With Diamond" (which would make a great name for a dish at a Chinese restaurant.)
But for less than a dollar, I was willing to put up with bad typing. We got so excited by our find, that we dug through the rest of the discs and came up with one from the Rolling Stones. This one oddly includes a song entitled "Like A Polling Stone", which I don't think is about election forecasting. Even allowing for typos, that's a Bob Dylan song in my mind. But the disc also includes "Hondy Tonk Woman", so this one went into the shopping basket too.
When I got home and popped the discs into the CD player, I realized my fatal mistake. Remember those old K-Tel records with all the great song titles, but where all the songs are performed by unknowns and hack session musicians? Well, the concept is alive and well in China. Technically, it doesn't say that these are "all original songs by the original artists", but Paul's soulful gaze and Mick's defiant stare sure had me fooled.
I hope someone in the RIAA is happy.
There are couple of details that make it unmistakably a Chinese product. First, the package is plastered with lots of hologram stickers, which are meant to signify authenticity. Also, there is at least as much Chinese writing on the cover as English. And the English is less than perfect. So the song list includes such misses as "Lang and Winding Road", "No Peply", and "Luck In The Sky With Diamond" (which would make a great name for a dish at a Chinese restaurant.)
But for less than a dollar, I was willing to put up with bad typing. We got so excited by our find, that we dug through the rest of the discs and came up with one from the Rolling Stones. This one oddly includes a song entitled "Like A Polling Stone", which I don't think is about election forecasting. Even allowing for typos, that's a Bob Dylan song in my mind. But the disc also includes "Hondy Tonk Woman", so this one went into the shopping basket too.
When I got home and popped the discs into the CD player, I realized my fatal mistake. Remember those old K-Tel records with all the great song titles, but where all the songs are performed by unknowns and hack session musicians? Well, the concept is alive and well in China. Technically, it doesn't say that these are "all original songs by the original artists", but Paul's soulful gaze and Mick's defiant stare sure had me fooled.
I hope someone in the RIAA is happy.
Posted: Fri - November 14, 2003 at 08:37 AM