Awww yeah… Who knew that young Vietnamese immigrants who grew up in the ’80s were such New Wave fans? I saw this great post from my favorite blog of the moment, Bi-Coastal Bitchin, in the revival of New Wave parties in Little Saigon (check out my other Little Saigon OG stories here and here). In fact, there was a recent bash this past weekend in Garden Grove, CA. It was called Mission Control, in honor of an arcade of the same name where many young Vietnamese would hang out, ditch school, check out each other’s A Flock of Seagulls hairstyle and get the latest news on where the next sick house party will be.
New Wave, however, really struck a chord with young Vietnamese and many hail this era as Asian New Wave, since pockets of Chinese and Korean youth in SoCal also embraced this music and culture. But Vietnamese, especially, took it to a whole other level, mainly in part to the Vietnamese music industry. Paris By Night was a popular Vietnamese language variety show that was primary filmed entertainment of in-language music acts that everyone watched in the Vietnamese diaspora. I remember watching them religiously, as a kid, with my parents, aunts and uncles.
Anyway, as Vietnamese New Wave got popular, so did the Vietnamese cover artists like Trizzie, Phuong Trinh, Khanh Ha, and the Uptight. Many of them performed cover songs of Devo, the GoGos, Depeche Mode and the like, but also more obscure acts like Rational Youth, CC Catch and Joy, but also Vietnamese originals too, like this one: 
There were some differences with Vietnamese New Wave and mainstream New Wave. VNW also embraced a lot of Italo Disco, which is a broad term for European dance music from the 1980s (proto-trance). Many of the Vietnamese singers who would cover these songs would also incorporate Vietnamese language into the songs. Here is one example, a Vietnamese version of Kashmir’s “I Want To Be”, in glorious Vietlish (hey, these young kids were immigrants after all): 
Eric Brightwell from the Amoeba Music blog did an extensive interview with some of the VNW tastemakers back in the day and asked them why New Wave was so popular. Ian Nguyen, who is a founder of Keep On Music, an ’80s New Wave revival club promoter, answers:
“We were teenagers… New wave music was booming among the Asian youths; there were many college parties organized by Vietnamese Clubs from UCI, Cal State Fullerton, etc. But the most fun were the house parties… Sometimes we even drove to San Jose for a school party. New wave music was heard at every coffee shop and in every car in Orange County.”
A quarter century later, the revival is back. Many of these tastemakers are now responsible adults with families, mortgages and the white picket fence. But, the revival is back! Keep On Music is keeping the flame alive and many of the New Wavers are coming back in droves to these periodic’80s bashes at venerable Asian clubs like Sharks and CAN Night Club. Check out their recent promo for their recent dance and costume party hosted by Lucy Tran and Phuong Mercedes: 
What is hilarious is when Lucy in the video rattles off the sponsors for this event and I thought she said, “Get your t-shirts at Nguyen City!“, when in actuality, the place is just called “Wing City.” Ha!
I wonder if this arcade is still around?
this is sick man. i wish i was vietnamese.
now i gotta go search some trees to find a nice birdnest for my head
Anderson, where are the photos of you with your Flock of Seagulls haircut? Do I need to have Offender David create and post such a photo?
Love these images! I don’t know about the rest of the world in the 80s but in our neck of the Brooklyn woods, New Wavers were always Asian — the Italian kids had mullets.
This is awesome. Why ARE asians so drawn to new wave anyway? Or is it electronica in general? I had shit radio stations in my town and was force fed a steady diet of Def Leppard, Exposé and Huey Lewis, but the very moment I heard “Bizarre Love Triangle” and “Just Like Heaven” I knew I had stumbled onto something special.
I spent every waking hour trying to hear those glorious sounds again, even though I didn’t even know what the bands/songs are (thanks for not ever naming your songs after words found in their lyrics, New Order). What gives? I think it might be genetic.
@Zohra — That is awesome. And hey, some of them Italians are still rocking the mullets, I am sure.
@MacLu — I think it is genetic. I think it boils down to the synths.
[...] Little Saigon OG Style Part III: ’80s New Wave & the Viet Immigrant Experience | You Offen… [...]
[...] Anderson wrote the other day about the influence of ’80s New Wave music on young Vietnamese immigrants. He posted some cool pics of Vietnamese youth sporting the ’80s look but for some reason none [...]
[...] yet another sign that I am WAY too old, the blog You Offend Me You Offend My Family writes about the 80s New Wave scene and how the Vietnamese American immigrants embraced it as their [...]
That first vid is about as new wave as enka is rockabilly.
[...] Little Saigon OG Style Part III: ’80s New Wave & the Viet Immigrant Experience | You Offen… [...]
[...] Little Saigon OG Style Part III: ’80s New Wave & the Viet Immigrant Experience | You Offen… [...]
[...] Italo Disco was also compounded by VHS editions of Paris by Night, a popular Vietnamese music and variety show that was ubiquitous in Vietnamese households. The performers would play only two kinds of music genres: C?i l??ng (traditional folk music) or you guessed it, Italo Disco. As a Vietnamese kid in the ’80s, if you liked it or not, Italo Disco was a part of your very everyday life. I wrote about this very phenomenon and the ’80s New Wave, which can be read here. [...]
I missed those days! I’m not familiar with the Orange County scene (do met a few from there) but here in L.A., us New Wavers stretched from N, S , E, W, and from Sunset to the Melrose area, we were huge!!! If you’ve heard of DMC Records ala DJ Larry then you know what I man.
I missed those days! I’m not familiar with the Orange County scene (do met a few from there) but here in L.A., us New Wavers stretched from N, S, E, W, and from Sunset to the Melrose area, we were huge!!! If you’ve heard of DMC Records ala DJ Larry then you know what I mean.
I like the helpful info you supply on your articles. I will bookmark your blog and check again here frequently. I am relatively certain I will be informed a lot of new stuff proper right here! Good luck for the following!