Di Da Di VS Li Da Di - Coco Lee, Amber, and Maria Montell

 In 1999, I was attending The Art Institute of Philadelphia in Center City, when I was liberally exposed to people of all walks of life. I had an interest in ALL kinds of cultures, music, arts, and movies from EVERYWHERE outside of the USA. In 1 of my Life Drawing classes, I met a guy from Taiwan, and he needed help with his Art Homework, so I went to visit him at his swank JFK apartment which he shared with other rich kids from Taiwan attending the other local Universities & colleges in the area, usually it was Drexel U, or U Penn. 

While I was hanging out with him, he played a lot of Dance & House Music. I had only a limited amount of knowledge of Chinese Pop Music back then, which was mostly from Hong Kong which was USUALLY in Cantonese (the Southern dialect) however it wasn't uncommon to have Hong Kong Music in Mandarin (The Standard National Dialect in the Peoples Republic of China). My friend, Allen Yang, was from Taiwan, so he spoke Taiwanese Mandarin Chinese (which sounds funny, since to me Taiwan people sound like foreigners...ironic, right?). [I lived in Mainland PR China, so it makes sense if u understand that part, but I'm not even Chinese, I'm American.]

Whilest I was hanging out with Allen, and we're listening to music, I asked him if he had any Chinese Pop Music, since I didn't know what was the newest ANYTHING from way over there, and was curious to know ANYTHING about it. [1999] and I only had music by Kelly Chen, or "various artists" CDs I'd gotten in Chinatown (Philly). So, he put on some music video samplers, and then he put on Coco Lee. 

At the time I'd never heard of her.... 

BUT OH BOY! WAS I ABOUT TO!

I liked her voice, and he was apparently a fan of Coco Lee, when this song came on "Di Da Di", and he remembered I loved Techno, Dance, and House Music A LOT. "Club Music". So, he said: Oh, there's an ENGLISH VERSION!

Then, he grabbed a tape, and played it! He'd recorded it from the radio somewhere.

It did sound ACTUALLY very similar!

Well, not long after THAT, I'd actually gotten the Coco Lee album "Di Da Di" at Tower Records, as well as Amber's Single CD "Sexual Li Da Di".

Also, not long after that, I used to hang around South Street, and visited many Comic Book shops, and other places that sold magazines, and unique Anime related stuff all over the city, not just South Street & Chinatown. I had some magazines that talked about all the usually art stuff I liked, such as cartoons, animation, Sci-Fi, comics, anime, Kung Fu movies, etc. Back THEN that stuff was considered "guy stuff" but I AM FEMALE. But, go to a Comic Con TODAY n LOTS OF GIRLS THERE! 

IN 1 of the magazines were several pages of interviews with Coco Lee, and she not just fluent in English, she's American, altho she was born in Hong Kong. There was this whole long story of how she became a Pop Singer. 

Anyways, I didn't understand why Coco Lee never had her own English version... I also have her English Albums. Apparently, also Coco Lee is rather popular! 

Since Allen, introduced me to Coco Lee, it was like within 2 months many of my classmates knew of her, then it was like a thing. And many people knew of here, not Just Chinese. 

Here's Coco Lee's Version (1998):

 

 

Here's Amber's House Music Version (1999):

 

Well, I didn't know this until JUST RECENTLY! The Coco Lee SONG "Di Da Di' was actually a remake of Maria Montell's Song "Di Da Di - And So The Story Goes"

And HERE"S The Maria Montell Versions (1997):

 

What's interesting to note is that on Coco Lee's Single, it credits Maria Montell as the Song writer.

 

 

Is it me, or were BOTH Coco ^ Maria wearing GOLDEN LIPSTICK???

Some Old Classic 80s MTV Music Videos with Animation

I managed to dig up a few old music videos from the 1980s with Animated parts. Some you may know, but other you might not know as well.

Most people are probably very familiar with A-Ha's video:

And, in case you missed it, "Weezer" had a new rendition of the song, and art/animation style with the actor from "Stranger Things':

Here's a rare one by "Heart" which seems to have paint on glass, stop motion, and even 3D extruded character bits:

Cyndi Lauper had a very vibrant personality and artistic/creative side. This one has cell animation with herself inside the cartoon:

Classic Experimental animation and film art video by "New Order":

Pop singer/dancer, Paula Abdul, has a childhood dream of tap dancing with a cartoon like her idol Gene Kelly whom danced with Jerry the mouse, and then her dream came true: 

Well, I often come across these things, over the years, so I figured I'd make a list and blog them. 

If you have any others from the 1980s, leave a link in the comments. 

Video Art n Psychedic Experimental Music Videos

If you haven;t seen The Glitch Mob's new film, it's free on YouTube. But, if you like that style, I've found a number of other very nice works.

****************************

Recent Animated Cartoon Music Videos

Some new videos that had recently come out:

The Gorillaz new video has a bit of a creepy vibe when it first starts playing, but it becomes more palatable as it goes along. I think it was intentional. It kind of looks like Venice Beach. *shrugs* I haven;t been there in over a decade, so I might be wrong.

 Studio Killers has been teasing out the release of this new track and video all year. It's actually kind of simple, and flat, and even tho' it emulates social media it kind of reminds me of old E-Greeting cards back in the 90s, like BlueMountain.com stuff but more stylized. The music style is Electro EDM style. -which is kind of generic, but does fit with their previous works.

I'm not particularly a fan of Teen Titans GO, I liked the original one a lot, but if there's something good, then I will like it. Ergo, these are good, and I like it.

I know these were form 2015-ish but I'd only JUST found out about them recently:

Despite how lovely these Teen Tintans GO music videos are, the actual show is NOTHING like this. I watched the episode the videos were from and as you watch it the vibe changes drastically from these parts, which are lovely, and the actual gags and bad abrasive comedy in the show.

Honestly, I WISH WISH WISH Teen Titans GO had a comedy style more like Tex Avery, like Droopy shorts which have better gags, takes, delivery, pacing, and punchlines.

Anyways, since we're on an 80s kick (and those were 2015-ish) here another one:

Examples of Video Portraits

"Video Portraits" can vary in styles and can include talking, or no talking.

Video Portraiture or Video Portraits tend to have a visual documentary style, but they are heavily more subjective and not objective. There's generally no action to action scene cutting, unless the premise is action or stunts (like Parkour, skateboard stunts, dare devils, cliff diving, acrobatics, race cars, etc.).  It tends to be more about mood, or themes, and can often be biographical, autobiographical, or expressing a theme of message. However, they are also often vague, ambiguous, or enigmatic, or even cryptic.

Examples of Video Portraits/Video Portraiture:


My Daughter (Humor):

Monologue:

Trendy:

Video Music Arts Notes Post

This post is JUST some notes about some video that are inspiring some of my current ideas for producing TV content this year.

A lot of these videos, and also some photography is styles of things I'd love to expand into doing. Everything from costumes & makeup, but also shooting on location, shooting in studio, various lenses & frame-rates.  HEAVY on the artistic VIDEO end/spectrum.

Fantasy Glam:

Experimental/Glam:

Tribal Fusion/Gothic

Old School Video Art Effects:

Old School Eurodance Techno & Rave


















Dark Earthy/Neo Shaman/Neo Pagan/ Neo Tribal Glam

Tribal Fusion/ New Agey

Dreamy/Surreal

Witchy Tribal Dark earthy Glam

Boho Ravers

Glam/Emotive Video Portraiture Video Art

Integrated Effects with old media

Old School Urban Glam Ravers

Cinematic Wanderlust Glam

Regal Matriarch Crone Glam

I'm so glad I can tell you that my first art book 'Dear Mother' is available now. If you want to order one, signed and numbered, contact me by e-mail: marcin0411@onet.pl or DM. I would be happy to answer your questions about pricing and other specifications. Thank you for your support ❤ my dream came true! #artbook #art #artist #dearmotherbook #marcinnagraba

A post shared by Marcin Nagraba (@marcin_nagraba) on Sep 15, 2017 at 11:13am PDT

Moths on my Mother 💥AVAILABLE AS A PRINT IN A4 AND A3 SIZE, For more info DM me💥 costume @agnieszkaosipa #photo #art #mother #mom #moth #moths #headpiece #slavic ##costume #dark #darkfashion #portrait #print #russia #russiantales #poland #woman #lady #marcinnagraba #agnieszkaosipa #artist #model #older #beauty #jewellery #pearls

A post shared by Marcin Nagraba (@marcin_nagraba) on Apr 25, 2017 at 11:02am PDT

🌙new one from my series with my dear Mother. Costume by @agnieszkaosipa 🌙 AVAILABLE AS A PRINT #photo #photography #art #artist #costume #headpiece #crown #gold #golden #tears #weird #flowers #roses #fashion #darkfashion #darkness #russia #russiantales #poland #queen #woman #lady #houtecouture #armor #mother #marcinnagraba #agnieszkaosipa #dark

A post shared by Marcin Nagraba (@marcin_nagraba) on Mar 5, 2017 at 11:04am PST

Subjective Art; Chinese Cha Dao/Gungfu Cha
Ceremonial Tea Culture

My Chinese Tea Table

#chadao #gungfucha #cha #tea #teaculture

A post shared by Kandice Kathleen Zimbleman 任思麒 (@blackunigryphon) on Sep 27, 2017 at 6:28pm PDT

#TieGuanyin #IronGuanyinTea #TieGuanyinCha My brother in law performing #gungfucha My brother in law fancies #teaculture #chawenhua #chadao #Chinese #teamaster #chinesetea #teaceremony

A post shared by Kandice Kathleen Zimbleman 任思麒 (@blackunigryphon) on Jun 1, 2016 at 2:48pm PDT

This shot was taken by my brother in law, gufu, Mr. Zhang. #teaceremony #chinesetea #teamaster #Chinese #chadao #gungfucha #chawenhua

A post shared by Kandice Kathleen Zimbleman 任思麒 (@blackunigryphon) on Jun 1, 2016 at 2:30pm PDT

Demonstrating the authenticity of the #tealeaves #quality My brother in law fancies #teaculture #chawenhua #gungfucha #chadao #Chinese #teamaster #chinesetea #teaceremony #TieGuanyinCha #TieGuanyin

A post shared by Kandice Kathleen Zimbleman 任思麒 (@blackunigryphon) on Jun 1, 2016 at 2:50pm PDT

***********************

**********************

Recent Music Video Art June 2018

Well, I'd previously been very busy with going to UMASS Boston, but NOW I am doing a variety of film-making, animation, and photography, among other arts. My daughter is about to wrap up her Freshman year in high school.

I have a mix here of music but also video art heavy on the audio design. 

But, here's some interesting video art since last I'd posted:







Jail Blimp:

Jail Blimp is ONLY 1 min long, but its SO AWESOME! I've watched this so many times! It's surreal, whimsical, weird, and won a number of awards. I often ask people if they've seen it, and when they haven;t I always show it.

All India Radio:

Let's talk "All India Radio"!

It was my little brother that showed me their work. very creative video art in a variety of styles. I've often referenced their work for some of my own at UMASS:

Here's a new one:

Other older ones:

My PERSONAL FAVORITE:

"All India Radio" has actually SO MUCH content. Most of their work is ambient or chill-out music. But, they're highly experimental, and very artistic.

The Glitch Mob's NEW album as an entire video art FILM
"Seeing Without Eyes":

The Glitch Mob has been a favorite of mine since the GW Bush Era. They've always been pretty artists, including their live shows and their music videos. But this was incredible. They did the ENTIRE album as a music video film. It's full or psychedelic visuals and video art.


GRIMES & Janelle Monáe:


I'd posted about Canadian "GRIMES" before but she did a video art film with Janelle Monáe with a Canadian grant that was FANTASTIC!

I've also watched this video more times than I can count. Ultra experimental. They shot so much stuff that they have a remix at the end to showcase some of their B-Roll experimental footage.

Grimes had also done some work with HANA and I gotta say I LOVE HANA's work. I love her look on camera, her spirit, and her energy!

Here's the entire film:

 Björk

I'd been a fan of Kerli for a while now, and she;s a fan of  Björk, so often her work can kind of hint at some  Björk influence, but NEVER had I seen  Björk's work start looking like Kerli's until she did THIS. Not only that but her new album is ALSO named after Kerli's album Utopia from 2013:

Incidentally, Björk likes to work with video artist Andrew Thomas Huang who's work is Incredible!  

Another thing I was quite enamored with this year was some Shamanistic Fusion, including Russian & Mongolian, or even Turkick, and Neo Pagan stuff:

Heilung:

I also happened to come accross a Tribal Fusion/Gothic bellydancer who freqently puts out videos and even dances to some older tracks from the GW Bush era by "Shiva In Exile":