Unknown Chinese Tape #1 - (Catalog # SK-1012) (1979)
This is the first of many cassettes that fall in my " I need to OCR this non-Western script" category. I can tell this is in Chinese, but no idea on whether it's Mandarin or Cantonese. Likewise, I'd assume it's from either Hong Kong or Taiwan, but that's mostly stemming from the fact that it dates from 1979. There are Roman characters indicating it is in stereo and item "SK-1012" of this particular music label. On the outside it has great j-card design and on the inside is a no-frills cassette shell that's held up nicely.
Really dig this tape overall, the music is lounge-y, instrumental goodness. An electric organ leads the way, sounding very akin to the wonderfully colorful and cheesey home organs companies like Hammond and Kimball made in the 1960s and 1970s. The built-in drum machine percussion forms the backing for most of the tracks, and the melodies sound like renditions of traditional Chinese music, or at least closely emulating that style. Because of this it has a remarkably similar vibe to classic 1950s and 1960s exotica. If there's ever been a tape that demands a Mai Tai in your hand as you give it a listen, it's surely this one.
Technical info
Label: Unknown (will update upon further research/translation)
Case: Norelco
J-card: Cardstock, one-sided
C-45 Type I
Actual run-time: 22 minutes per side, Side B had only 19 minutes of audio content.
