Episode S3 · Ep 3 July 13, 2022 16 min 8s

S3E2: That Sweet Gangland Music

In 1930s Shanghai, the sweet sound of slot machines and swinging bands soundtracked the bars and nightclubs of the city’s seedy underworld. Guess where they all came from.

References:

French, Paul (2018). City of Devils: The Two Men Who Ruled the Underworld of Old Shanghai. Picador.

French, Paul (February 2018). “Gangs of Shanghai.” That’s Shanghai, 40-41.

Guingona, Phillip (2016). “The Sundry Acquaintances of Dr. Albino Z. Sycip: Exploring the Shanghai-Manila Connection, circa 1910-1940.” Journal of World History, 27(1), 27-52. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43901823

Yamomo, Mele (2015). “Brokering sonic modernities: Migrant Manila musicians in the Asia Pacific, 1881-1948.” Popular Entertainment Studies, 6(2), 22-37.

Crow, Carl and Kowalsky, V.V. (1935). “Illustrated Historical Map of Shanghai.” (Map) Norman B. Levinthal Map Center Collection at the Boston Public Library. https://collections.leventhalmap.org/search/commonwealth:x633f974z

Cover photo by Malcolm Rosholt, courtesy of Mei-Fei Elrick and Tess Johnston, University of Bristol - Historical Photographs of China