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Titled "Talk to You, Listen to You," the new album is a concept that Sarah Chen has wanted to present for many years. She hopes to use songs to connect with her listeners. — News Report from Malaysia, 1989
About this Memoir 音乐回忆录简介
About this Memoir 音乐回忆录简介
This memoir documents Sarah Chen’s music using rare archival materials. The most important discovery is that Chen played a leading role in shaping her own work. From Black Hair Turns White to Forever, Sarah, she played a key role in determining the direction of her music. Without Sarah Chen, there would be no Dream to Awakening.
本文记录了陈淑桦的音乐史。最重要的发现，是证实了她在作品中起到的主导作用。从《黑发变白发》到《生生世世》，她一直是决定专辑与音乐走向的重要成员。没有陈淑桦，就没有〈梦醒时分〉。
Chapter 1 Early EMI 百代前期
Chapter 1 Early EMI 百代前期
When Sarah Chen joined EMI in 1983, her career made a qualitative leap as she started her rise to stardom. As an international label, EMI operated through Taiwan's Four-Oceans Records from 1983-1986 ("Early EMI"), with Tan Jian-Chang as the main producer. The Early EMI era saw Chen fulfilling her early-career dreams, one album at a time.
1983年，陈淑桦加入新加坡百代唱片公司后，事业发生了质的飞跃，这是她走向巨星的开端。作为国际唱片公司，1983至1986年，百代在台湾的运作由四海唱片代理，专辑主要由谭健常制作。百代前期，陈淑桦不仅成为金钟歌后，并在一张一张专辑里实现她的职业抱负和心愿。
Album #18. The Right to Sing (in English)
Album #18. The Right to Sing (in English)
Sarah Chen’s third EMI album, The Right to Sing, was released in December 1983. It was her first serious English-language album. Chen covered Western pop music with an array of bold, even outrageous, songs that challenged the societal norms of her culture and era.
陈淑桦在百代的第三张专辑《The Right To Sing》于1983年12月发行，是她第一张严肃的英文专辑。专辑选曲精妙，大胆而叛逆，是陈淑桦显现出独立、敢于突破的开端。
Sarah Chen performing the Joan Baez classic Diamonds & Rust.
Album #21. Black Hair Turns White 黑发变白发
Album #21. Black Hair Turns White 黑发变白发
Sarah Chen's most unique album was the 1985 Black Hair Turns White, a prelude to her farewell album recorded 10 years later. The album was produced under unusual circumstances, reflecting the challenges Chen faced at the time. It also marked the beginning of her leading the effort for her own work.
《黑发变白发》是陈淑桦在百代前期最具特色的专辑，为十年后她的告别作埋下伏笔。专辑制作背景特殊，反映了她当时的个人经历，也是她在自己的唱片中起到主导作用的开端。
Album #23. Sarah Chen'86 Concert 陈淑桦'86演唱会
Album #23. Sarah Chen'86 Concert 陈淑桦'86演唱会
With Tan’s departure and the change in EMI’s Taiwan partnership, suddenly Sarah Chen became “homeless” in1986. Her contract with EMI still had several years left, binding her to a dysfunctional label. The only album she released, with just four new songs, was the live recording of her 1986 Malaysia concert.
获得金钟奖后，1986年本应是最丰收的一年。但人算不如天算，谭健常离职，百代终止了四海唱片的代理，金钟天后突然无家可归，1986年反而成了她最萧条的一年。《陈淑桦'86演唱会》是她在1986年发行的唯一新歌专辑。
The 1986 Malaysia Concert was Sarah Chen's rare live recording, including the Taiwanese song 「Tossing Copper Coins」.
Sarah Chen performing the Rain Night Flower live in Japan，but she did not further develop in Japan.
Chapter 2 Late EMI 百代后期
Chapter 2 Late EMI 百代后期
In 1986, EMI shifted its Taiwan operations to Rock Records. Rock Records adopted the Artist & Repertoire (A&R) model, involving Chen in songwriting and production. While it complicated her work, the A&R model gave Chen new opportunities to shape her music. Over the next three years, she reached the peak of her career, becoming a driving force behind her own work.
1986年，百代在台湾的代理由四海唱片转为滚石。在音乐制作上，滚石采取欧美的A&R（艺人与作品）模式，歌曲创作通常需要歌手参与，以确保作品与歌手相契合。虽然职业关系因此变得更复杂，这种制作方式也为陈淑桦带来了全新的机会去主导自己的作品。在接下来的三年里，她的事业达到了高峰，并在专辑制作中打下深深的印迹。
Album #26. Woman's Heart 女人心
Album #26. Woman's Heart 女人心
Woman’s Heart is often seen as the start of Chen’s rise in Mandopop, an album showing the emerging independence and sensibility of women in Taiwan. In hindsight, it was the start of Chen's career slide, the moment she began losing control of her career narrative.
《女人心》常被视为陈淑桦在华语流行音乐界崛起的开端，专辑展现了都市女子的独立与知性。但回头看，这张专辑也许是她职业叙述滑坡的开始。在此之前，有关陈淑桦的叙述集中在她本人身上；在此之后，叙述的中心转向了制作人。“被捧红”“被转型”的说法从那时开始，对她的职业定位造成极大伤害。
YouTube视频探讨《女人心》专辑中歌手和制作人权力的失衡
《女人心》专辑的文案将歌手置于被动地位，以制作人为主。
Album #27. Tomorrow Will You Still Love Me 明天还爱我吗
Album #27. Tomorrow Will You Still Love Me 明天还爱我吗
Tomorrow Will You Still Love Me was Sarah Chen's most powerful and personal album. Hidden within it were her own love experiences. Perhaps because of its personal significance, several songs are emotionally devastating. Many Sarah Chen fans consider it her best album.
《明天还爱我吗》是陈淑桦最具杀伤力的专辑，也是一张隐藏着她爱情故事的唱片。也许是因为独特的个人意义，里面好几首歌具有摧毁性的威力。许多歌迷认为这是陈淑桦最佳的专辑。
「哗笑的街」是陈淑桦最有威力的一首歌之一。
Album #29. Talk to You, Listen to You 跟你说，听你说
Album #29. Talk to You, Listen to You 跟你说，听你说
Talk to You, Listen to You was Sarah Chen's most successful album. The concept of the album originated from Chen herself, but later promotions gradually weakened her credit; she was even said to have fulfilled the producer's dream. The now widely circulated male-centered narrative around this album contradicts news reports from the 1980s.
陈淑桦职业中最成功的专辑《跟你说 听你说》，制作概念来自她自己，但日后的宣传逐渐削弱了她的作用，甚至将她说成是实现了他人的梦想。这与当年的报道完全不同。回顾专辑制作的背景，对了解陈淑桦的音乐贡献有重要意义。
1989年的报道表明《跟你说 听你说》的构思来自陈淑桦。
Chapter 3 Rock Records 滚石时期
Chapter 3 Rock Records 滚石时期
Sarah Chen officially joined Rock Records in 1990. It was meant to be a fresh start, but music no longer fit her life. After a near-fatal weight-loss episode, she strategically wound down her work over several years. In her farewell album Forever Sarah, she sang her love for her mother, gratitude to her colleagues, and passion for music, leaving the stage in style. As her mother said, “Sarah has no regrets!”
1990年，陈淑桦正式加入滚石。这本是她的新起点，但娱乐界终究与她的生命不相融。大病康复后，她开始谋划离开乐坛的方式。她将对母亲的感恩、对同事的致谢、和对音乐的热爱留在了《生生世世》里，潇洒地挥别她的梦境王国。正如她母亲所说：“淑桦应该是无遗憾啦！”
Album #30. A Lifetime of Waiting 一生守候
Album #30. A Lifetime of Waiting 一生守候
A Lifetime of Waiting was one of Sarah Chen's most beautiful albums, meeting the unreasonably high expectations set by its predecessor. But the MV for the album, showing an increasingly gaunt figure, also captured the nightmare she was about to live through, as a major health crisis engulfed her.
《一生守候》是一张继《跟你说 听你说》后的精美专辑，不愧于前一张给听众带来的期望。但当年的录影也留下了陈淑桦灾难的起点。从此，她的歌唱生涯和人生轨迹发生巨变，改变了她的音乐旅程。
「情关」是陈淑桦被称为“半抒情，半武侠”歌手的开始。
Album #34. Forever 淑桦盛开
Album #34. Forever 淑桦盛开
One of Sarah Chen's most significant works was the 1995 Forever, widely considered Taiwan's first R&B album. This album was Chen's own creation. Before leaving the music industry, she had fulfilled many of her musical wishes, and Forever was one of the most important.
《淑桦盛开》是台湾首张节奏蓝调（R&B）专辑。专辑方向由陈淑桦决定。她认为节奏蓝调在欧美已风行多年，应该引入华语乐坛。在退出乐坛前，她已圆满完成了许多音乐心愿，而《淑桦盛开》便是其中极为重要的一项。
庆祝《淑桦盛开》发行30周年
Album #35. Forever, Sarah 生生世世
Album #35. Forever, Sarah 生生世世
Forever, Sarah, released in December 1995, earned Sarah Chen another Golden Melody Best Female Singer Award. Officially her penultimate album, it may in fact have been her final recording, her carefully planned farewell.
《生生世世》发行于1995年12月，是陈淑桦第二次赢得金曲奖的专辑。官方时间线上这是倒数第二张，但从诸多线索来看，它也许才是她真正的最后一张专辑，一张精心策划的告别作。
陈淑桦以「秋别」挥别了歌坛和自童年就心爱的音乐。
💖Sarah's Dreams 陈淑桦的梦想
💖Sarah's Dreams 陈淑桦的梦想
Sarah Chen blended traditional Chinese folk music with modern pop and integrated Eastern and Western influences. More than a first-rate singer, she ushered in an era of greater diversity for female singers in Mandopop, advanced women’s independence in Taiwan, and helped bridge cultural and national divides. What Chen realized was her own dream, shared by women both urban and rural, of being independent and in control of one’s own destiny.
陈淑桦的音乐融合了传统民歌与现代流行乐，并将西方音乐元素自然融入华语歌曲。但她的贡献远不止是一位一流的歌手, 她更是是一位有思想、有胆识的音乐家，是推动华语乐坛女艺人多元化的先行者，台湾女性独立意识的象征，也是跨越地域与文化隔阂的桥梁。她实现的，是都市女子和乡间女子共同的梦想：独立自主、掌控自己的命运。
Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements
This site was enriched by the generosity of a long-time Sarah Chen fan from Malaysia, C.Y., who shared her personal collection of clippings and magazine articles spanning much of Chen's career (1983-1996).
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