TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Japanese media reported that a previously unreleased song by the legendary Taiwanese singer Teresa Teng (鄧麗君) has been discovered in Japan.
The song was on a cassette tape among studio recordings from the mid-1980s, but the exact date of the recording has not been determined. It was produced while Teng was making music for the Japanese market with the Polydor record label, reported Kyodo News.
The previously unknown Japanese song has been given a name that translates to “Love Songs Like Fog at Night.” It was composed by Miki Takashi (三木剛) with lyrics by Toyohisa Araki (荒木豊久), who were responsible for many of her hits in Japan.
The song has not yet been released, but it will be included in a retrospective album covering the career of Miki Takashi, who passed away in 2009. The album will be released in Japan on June 25.
The song is described as a “light pop song” in contrast to Teng’s more sentimental ballads, which gained immense popularity in Japan. Teng, who passed away in 1995, was an iconic Taiwanese musician, loved and celebrated throughout East Asia.
In her lifetime, Teng recorded over 1,700 songs in eight languages. During the Cold War, the popularity of Teng’s records in China undermined the censorship of music by the Chinese Communist Party, and effectively introduced modern pop music to Chinese listeners.
