- Title: USA: THE LATEST GIRL BAND, JUNGK, SET TO STORM THE CHARTS
- Date: 17th February 1998
- Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FEBRUARY 17, 1998) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) ( * BEWARE FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY **) JUNGK WALKING IN, MANAGER MALCOLM MCLAREN WITH THEM JUNGK HAVING MAKEUP TOUCHED UP, GETTING READY FOR PHOTO SHOOT JUNGK, LEFT TO RIGHT, CELEST, LING, SAM, CELIA CLOSE UP OF TATTOO ON CELEST'S LEG (SOUNDBITE ENGLISH) MALCOM MCLAREN SAYING, "I WAS TRAVELLING THROUGH THE FAR EAST LECTURING AND WHEN I FINISHED LECTURES, I WENT OFF ON ALL THESE TOURS OF BACKSTREET KARAOKE BARS AND WHAT I SAW THERE WAS NOT LIKE KARAOKE, SOME OLD GUY SINGING "MY WAY". THERE WERE ALL THESE GIRLS KUNG-FUING TO "WEST END GIRLS" BY THE PET SHOP BOYS, TRYING TO RAP "GRANDMASTER FLASH IS THE MESSAGE" AND THROWING IN ALL THEIR MANDARIN MELODIES. IT WAS LIKE A MAD, POST-KARAOKE SCENE AND I THOUGHT THIS IS BLADERUNNER TERRITORY, THIS IS TOTALLY NEW. THIS IS LIKE AN ASIAN INVASION. BELLS RANG IN MY HEAD AND I THOUGHT "HALF THE POPULATION OF THE PLANET IS CHINESE. EVERYBODY KNOWS THE SOUND OF WASHINGTON, NOBODY KNOWS THE SOUND OF BEIJING".
- Embargoed: 4th March 1998 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Entertainment
- Reuters ID: LVA9IJB7C0PS8QSD3Y2FAR2S3Y0X
- Story Text: - Forget the Spice Girls - according to Malcolm McLaren, the latest girl band set to storm the charts is Jungk (pronounced Junk).
But the similarity between Jungk and the Spice Girls ends with their gender.The five-strong group are Asian models and kung-fu experts who are capable of physical 'girl power'.
McLaren, renowned for his alliance with designer Vivienne Westwood and his management of seventies punk rock band, the Sex Pistols has now taken Jungk under his wing.
The girls have a background in karaoke bars, an ability to sing in both Mandarin and English and say they're good enough to take on the Spice Girls.
There is one snag though, Jungk, who have only recorded 7 tracks to date, have yet to find a record company who'll sign them."Not a problem," insists McLaren, never one to shrink from a challenge.
McLaren first got his idea of forming a band made up of girls from the Far East whilst touring Asia a year ago.
He said initially he only wanted to return the hospitality the girls had shown him, as they were the ones who'd introduced him to their country's karaoke bars.It was there he first heard people mixing western pop with traditional Chinese music.
"I thought this is bladerunner territory, this is totally new.This is like an Asian invasion.Bells rang in my head, and I thought half the population of the planet is Chinese.Everybody knows the sound of Washington, nobody knows the sound of Beijing," McLaren said.
Having met five models, aged between 19 and 23 in cities like Singapore and Shanghai last summer, McLaren decided to invite them to London, together.
Although they originate from different parts of China and Australasia, Ling, Celest, Rosa, Ching and Sami already knew each other from modelling assignments in Hong Kong.
Several months later, having lived in the same house, writing music and hitting the London night scene, the girls confessed to seeing themselves as sisters now.
Though their beginning was manufactured, Jungk insist they are largely responsible for the band's sound.The girls have spent the last few months writing futuristic techno-pop with Mandarin melodies and developing their energetic Ninja-style live show.
Obviously pleased with their progress thus far, the group are keen to promote their new style of pop music.
"We're actually forming a marriage between western and Chinese music and it's something different," insisted Celest.
McLaren conceded it was thanks to the Spice Girls that Jungk are set for success though the girls themselves think differently.
"Asian Spice, hotter than Western Spice," Sam said. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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