Wang, Oliver. “Gerald Wilson – ‘Viva Tirado’ (1962).” In One Track Mind: Capitalism, Technology, and the Art of the Pop Song, pp. 26-42. Routledge, 2022.
This is an updated and expanded deep discographic dive into Gerald Wilson/El Chicano’s “Viva Tirado.” The original version was written back in 2010 but this new iteration includes substantially more about a new example of “Viva Tirado” weaving its way into contemporary pop music.
]]>Wang, Oliver. “Live at the China Royal: A Funky Ode to Fall River’s Chow Mein Sandwich.” In American Chinese Restaurants, pp. 105-120. Routledge, 2019.
Anthology chapter (solicited, refereed)
Discusses the dual histories behind the chow mein sandwich as a uniquely, regional Chinese American dish and the Pacific Islander band that recorded a tribute song to the sandwich in the mid-1970s.
Background: The chow mein sandwich is a hyper-regional dish, popularized during the 1920s in/around southeastern Massachusetts cities, especially Fall River. In the 1970s, a popular Fall River restaurant, China Royal, hired a house band — Alika and the Happy Samoans — who were part of what I describe as the “Polynesian pop circuit” of Pacific Islander performers catering to the decades-old fascination of the “South Pacific” within American popular culture. The essay traces the histories of both the sandwich and the group and how the two intersect through Alika and the Happy Samoans’ song, “Chow Mein Sandwich.”
]]>Wang, Oliver. “Microwave DJs: A Revisit of Farrugia and Swiss’s “Tracking the DJs” (JPMS, 17.1)” Journal of Popular Music Studies, Vol. 31 No. 1, March 2019; (pp. 53-60).
Journal response essay.
Background: Farrugia and Swiss’s original 2005 article examined how emerging digital DJing technologies were changing the concept of “work” within DJ communities. My essay partly drew upon my own unpublished research on digital DJing practices to discuss how concepts of DJing changed in the intervening 15 years between our respective essays to redefine what constituted legitimate forms of DJ “work.”
]]>Sakakeeny, Matt, and Oliver Wang. “The ‘Tuba Fats’ Riff.” 64 Parishes, Fall 2018, 30-31.
Magazine article.
Background: Myself and Tulane University ethnomusicologist Matt Sakakeeny collaborated to write this article that traces the history behind the “Tuba Fats riff,” a well-known melody amongst New Orleans’ second line brass bands.
Books reviewed:
Reviewed in: The Los Angeles Review of Books, March 20, 2017.
Background: This dual review looks at both the history of Chinese restaurants in the United States and how they play into a larger perception around so-called “ethnic food” in the U.S. I also discuss the personal history behind my uncle’s 25 year old Chinese restaurant in Hallowell, ME.
]]>Book reviewed:
Reviewed in: The Los Angeles Review of Books, May 12, 2016
]]>Wang, Oliver. “Everyone Loves an Underdog: Learning From Linsanity.” In Asian American Sporting Cultures. Edited by S. Thangaraj, C. Armaldo Jr., and C. Chin. NYU Press. 2016: 75-101.
Anthology chapter (invited, refereed).
Background: This essay revisits the heady weeks in/around the “Linsanity” phenomenon when NBA player Jeremy Lin captured the attention of both sports and mainstream media for a month or so during the late winter of 2012. The essay tries to unpack media narratives around race and success, especially in how Lin was portrayed as a kind of model minority underdog.
]]>Book reviewed:
Reviewed in: The Los Angeles Times, March 24, 2016
]]>Book reviewed:
Reviewed in: The Los Angeles Review of Books, February 6, 2016.
]]>Book reviewed:
Reviewed in: New York Times Sunday Book Review. September 4, 2015
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