Winston Tong
Encyclopedia
Winston Tong is an actor/playwright, visual artist, puppeteer
, and singer/songwriter. He is best-known for his vocal work in Tuxedomoon
, and for winning an Obie award
in puppetry for "Bound Feet" in 1978.
. In 1969, Tong was commissioned to illustrate "The Dinosaur Coloring Book" by Malcolm Whyte which was then published by Price Stern Sloan
.
, who shot the film at the "Theaters of the World" Festival in June 1981 in Cologne
.
which featured guests such as Stephen Morris
of New Order
, Dave Formula
and Jah Wobble
as well as many other familiar musicians from Tong's past. The album and its subsequent singles, "Theoretical China" and "Reports From The Heart", were released via Les Disques du Crepuscule
.
His composition "In a Manner of Speaking" from 1985's Holy Wars, was later covered by Martin Gore
, Nouvelle Vague
, and Amanda Palmer
, and remains his best known song. Tong left Tuxedomoon in 1985.
In March 2005, Tong was reunited with Tuxedomoon for two performances in San Francisco, which is the first time they had performed together in over twenty years.
Tong's career, including solo activity, was examined in detail in Isabelle Corbisier's Tuxedomoon biography ("Music for Vagabonds - the Tuxedomoon Chronicles"), published in 2008.
Puppeteer
A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object, such as a puppet, in real time to create the illusion of life. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from the audience. A puppeteer can operate a puppet indirectly by the use of strings, rods, wires, electronics or directly by his or...
, and singer/songwriter. He is best-known for his vocal work in Tuxedomoon
Tuxedomoon
Tuxedomoon is an experimental post-punk/New Wave group formed in San Francisco, California, consisting of core members Blaine L. Reininger, Steven Brown and Peter Principle....
, and for winning an Obie award
Obie Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given by The Village Voice newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City...
in puppetry for "Bound Feet" in 1978.
Early years
Tong, the son of Chinese parents exiled by the Communist revolution, graduated with a degree in Theatre from the California Institute of Arts in 1973. While at Cal Arts, he had studied classical vocals with Marni NixonMarni Nixon
Marni Nixon is an American soprano and playback singer for featured actresses in movie musicals. She has also spent much of her career performing in concerts with major symphony orchestras around the world and in operas and musicals throughout the United States.-Biography:Born Margaret Nixon...
. In 1969, Tong was commissioned to illustrate "The Dinosaur Coloring Book" by Malcolm Whyte which was then published by Price Stern Sloan
Price Stern Sloan
Price Stern Sloan or PSS! is a publisher that was founded in Los Angeles in the early 1960s to publish the Mad Libs that Roger Price and Leonard Stern had concocted during their stint as writers for Steve Allen's Tonight Show and also the Droodles...
.
Performance art
After graduation, Tong then established a reputation in the Bay Area with a string of charismatic, left-field performance pieces such as "Wild Boys," "Eliminations," "Frankie and Johnnie" and the award-winning "Bound Feet," which was loosely based on traditional oriental puppet theatre "Frankie and Johnnie" appeared in the 1981 documentary Theater In Trance by Rainer Werner FassbinderRainer Werner Fassbinder
Rainer Werner Maria Fassbinder was a German movie director, screenwriter and actor. He is considered one of the most important representatives of the New German Cinema.He maintained a frenetic pace in film-making...
, who shot the film at the "Theaters of the World" Festival in June 1981 in Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
.
Musical career
Tong joined Tuxedomoon in 1977. He sporadically recorded and performed live with the group, as well as recording solo material including the electro-pop dance album "Theoretically Chinese" in 1985, a 9-song set produced by Alan RankineAlan Rankine
Alan Rankine played keyboards, and guitars, for the rock band, Associates, which he co-founded with Billy Mackenzie in the late 1970s....
which featured guests such as Stephen Morris
Stephen Morris
Stephen Paul David Morris is a musician best known for his work in the Salford-based rock band New Order and, previously, Joy Division. He also drummed in The Other Two, a band made up of Morris and his wife, Gillian Gilbert. Currently, Morris performs live with the post-New Order band, Bad...
of New Order
New Order
New Order are an English rock band formed in 1980 by Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris...
, Dave Formula
Dave Formula
Dave Formula, , is an English keyboardist and film-soundtrack composer from Manchester, who played with the post-punk band Magazine, and New Romantic ensemble Visage during the end of the 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s and in the "world music" band The Angel Brothers.-Early Years and St...
and Jah Wobble
Jah Wobble
Jah Wobble is an English bass guitarist, singer, poet and composer. He became known to a wider audience as the original bass player in Public Image Ltd in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but left the band after two albums...
as well as many other familiar musicians from Tong's past. The album and its subsequent singles, "Theoretical China" and "Reports From The Heart", were released via Les Disques du Crepuscule
Les Disques du Crepuscule
Les Disques Du Crépuscule was a Belgian independent record label.The label was started in 1980 by Michel Duval and Annik Honoré, residents of Brussels who had previously organised and promoted concerts in the city. Initial releases were by Factory Records artists, and were labelled as being...
.
His composition "In a Manner of Speaking" from 1985's Holy Wars, was later covered by Martin Gore
Martin Gore
Martin Lee Gore is an English songwriter, lyricist, singer, guitarist, keyboardist, remixer and DJ. He is a founding member of Depeche Mode and has written the vast majority of their songs...
, Nouvelle Vague
Nouvelle Vague (band)
Nouvelle Vague is a French musical collective led by musicians Marc Collin and Olivier Libaux. Their name is a play on words, meaning "new wave" in French, and "bossa nova" in Portuguese...
, and Amanda Palmer
Amanda Palmer
Amanda MacKinnon Gaiman Palmer , sometimes known as Amanda Fucking Palmer, is an American performer who first rose to prominence as the lead singer, pianist, and lyricist/composer of the duo The Dresden Dolls...
, and remains his best known song. Tong left Tuxedomoon in 1985.
In March 2005, Tong was reunited with Tuxedomoon for two performances in San Francisco, which is the first time they had performed together in over twenty years.
Tong's career, including solo activity, was examined in detail in Isabelle Corbisier's Tuxedomoon biography ("Music for Vagabonds - the Tuxedomoon Chronicles"), published in 2008.
w/Tuxedomoon
- No Tears (12"), 1978
- Joe Boy... The Electric Ghost / Pinheads "O. T. M." (7"), 1979
- DesireDesire (Tuxedomoon album)Desire is the second album by the Californian Avant-garde Post-Punk band Tuxedomoon. It was originally released in 1981 by Ralph Records and rereleased in 1997 by CramBoy, bundled together with No Tears EP.-Track listing:...
, 1981 - Divine, 1982
- A Thousand Lives By Picture, 1983
- Holy Wars, 1985
Solo
- Stranger (7"), 1979
- Like The Others (7"), 1983 - Les Disques Du CrepusculeLes Disques du CrepusculeLes Disques Du Crépuscule was a Belgian independent record label.The label was started in 1980 by Michel Duval and Annik Honoré, residents of Brussels who had previously organised and promoted concerts in the city. Initial releases were by Factory Records artists, and were labelled as being...
- Theoretical China (12", w/Niki Mono), 1984 - Les Disques Du CrepusculeLes Disques du CrepusculeLes Disques Du Crépuscule was a Belgian independent record label.The label was started in 1980 by Michel Duval and Annik Honoré, residents of Brussels who had previously organised and promoted concerts in the city. Initial releases were by Factory Records artists, and were labelled as being...
- Reports From The Heart, 1985 - Les Disques Du CrepusculeLes Disques du CrepusculeLes Disques Du Crépuscule was a Belgian independent record label.The label was started in 1980 by Michel Duval and Annik Honoré, residents of Brussels who had previously organised and promoted concerts in the city. Initial releases were by Factory Records artists, and were labelled as being...
- Theoretically Chinese, 1985 - Les Disques Du CrepusculeLes Disques du CrepusculeLes Disques Du Crépuscule was a Belgian independent record label.The label was started in 1980 by Michel Duval and Annik Honoré, residents of Brussels who had previously organised and promoted concerts in the city. Initial releases were by Factory Records artists, and were labelled as being...
- Broken English (Remix) (12"), 1986 - released in Italy
- Like The Others, 1990
- Miserere, 2003 LTM
- The Unperceived Image (Ltd 7", w/David JDavid JDavid John Haskins , better known as David J, is a British alternative rock musician. He was the bassist for the gothic rock band Bauhaus and Love and Rockets....
), 2007 - Theoretically Chinese, 2005 - CD reissue via LTM