Singer Zhao Chuan examines a guitar he hasn’t smashed yet.

It’s hard to spot Zhao Chuan on the street. For a man who draws thousands of screaming fans, the veteran Taiwanese rock star keeps a low profile. 

But since the 1980s, Zhao has been able to drive audiences wild on stage. At his solo concert in Taiwan last year, Zhao smashed three guitars onstage.

“I don’t know why I behave like that. It happens naturally. I can’t help being a little crazy when so many people are getting together to rock. At that time, I can forget everything but sharing my happiness and instincts as a singer with the audience,” he said. 

Tomorrow, Zhao will hold the first Shanghai concert of his two-decade career. In 1991, the 30-year old Zhao held his first mainland concert after selling over 300,000 discs through the Taipei-based Rock Records label. Over 2,000 policemen were needed to keep order.  

Being ugly still smarts

The 1991 concert climaxed with the audience chorusing Zhao’s signature song, the 1988 hit “I am Ugly But Tender.” But the song annoys Zhao, although it was tailor-made for him.

 “Why does it have to use the word, ‘ugly’? Why does it have to be sung by me, a man who is not handsome? They told me it was just an artistic creation, a kind of self-mockery but there was always a knot in my heart when I sang it,” Zhao said.

Yet the song was a smash hit. Zhao followed up with 12 albums but found himself increasingly at odds with his label. “Some of my songs became very popular... like ‘I’m a Little Bird,’ ‘The Profession of Love,’ and ‘I Have Lost You at Last,’ and I did lead a richer life than before, but I was being pressured to produce songs faster and faster. 

“They became impatient, increasingly ignored my personal feelings and ideas as a singer and seldom gave me the time and space I needed to think about the music. I was just like a robot, a machine for making music,”  Zhao told the Global Times. “I often felt unhappy and confused, and I wanted to escape that environment quickly.”

After taking three years off from 1997-2000, Zhao finished his 13th and last album for Rock Records in 2001.

“I started a family, and I realized I’m more comfortable making music by myself, not being limited by any system or model,” Zhao said.

Back to the music

Zhao has been out of the public eye since then, save for concerts and the release of an three-song EP last year, including the self-penned “At First.” Despite costing several million yuan to produce, it received a flat reaction, but Zhao claims not to care.  “At least, now, I never feel confused any more about my music and I know what I want.”

At tomorrow’s concert at Shanghai Grand Stage, Zhao’s a set will feature many of the hits. But Chen Xiaojing, a staffer from 228.com, a major ticketing website, said that sales were sluggish. 

“The reason might be today’s main demographic for concert are mainly young people who were born during the 1980s to 1990s and they prefer the young stars,” Chen said.

However, Wu Wei, a 34-year-old Shanghainese, said that he would definitely go to the concert. “I have heard almost all his songs since I was in junior high school,” Wu said. “It will be my first time to see the real rock star personally.”

Zhao still misses his pre-label days in the 1980s,  touring Taipei bars, playing gigs and getting into trouble. 

“I remember once we were arrested for a bar brawl. We were in such high spirits that we just sat in the jail and made up card games, using the name cards in our wallets, and went to work the next morning at usual... we were poor but we were happy and we loved the music,” Zhao reminisced. 

“I want to remind myself every moment why I became a singer.”