Photos by Morgan Cady-Lee

Billy Asai - bass guitar/vocals
Alvin Eng - vocals/rhythm guitar
Geoff Lee - lead guitar/vocals
Lorin Roser - lead guitar/vocals
Chion Soohoo - drums
Niambi Steele - vocals

In my first piece, The 20th Anniversary Reunion Concert of Big Character Poster, which The Village Voice dubbed a “Chinese Spinal Tap,” I joked that during the punk rock years, only us Asians did not have to dye our hair black. Now some 20 years after the fictitious BCP, I find myself playing in a primarily Asian American rock band. (My first involvement in a rock band since high school!) At our age, even us Asian rockers will soon have to start dying our hair black. In fact, one early joke was to call the band, Asian American Rock Party (AARP), but that was jettisoned in favor of The Emperor’s Club. Formed in the Summer of 2008, we figured if it was good enough to be the name of the prostitution ring that ultimately brought down the former New York Governor, then it was certainly a good enough moniker for us.

To date, we play on a semi-regular basis at the Silk Road Café in Chinatown, and have even played once at the Asian American Writers Workshop during Henry Chang Month (aka November 20008 when the acclaimed crime novelist’s second book, Year of the Dog, was released).

In fact without Henry there would be no Emperor’s Club. The band arose out of his informal salons at the Silk Road Café when he arranged a musical marriage between guitarists Geoff Lee and Lorin Roser.

Back in 1988, I met briefly with Geoff about writing songs for BCP. That project never evolved into a musical, so we did not work together. Lorin is a longtime friend and collaborator who was in the pit band for my “punk-rap musical, The Goong Hay Kid atThe Nuyorican Poets Café. (You can see and hear Lorin in the two GHK-related video links. He plays lead guitar on “First Chinese Hero on TV,” and in “Rock Me Goong Hay” he is holding a blow-up guitar—giving new meaning to the term, “Air Guitar.”)

In the summer of 2008, I received a call from Lorin. He told me that Geoff was thinking of reforming his “Year of the Dragon” band but was missing a few parts that maybe we could fill.

Apparently, Geoff, bass guitarist Billy Asai and drummer Chion Soohoo were in the mid-80s film, The Year of the Dragon and also played on its soundtrack. I have never seen this movie, but was very aware of the protests in the Asian American community against it. Those protests aroused my first awareness of, and ultimately led to a lifelong involvement with NYC’s Asian American media/arts community.

In the spring of 2008, just prior to getting the phone call from Lorin, my wife Wendy and I took our first trip to Memphis and the Mississippi Delta—the respective birthplaces of rock & roll and the blues. (It was our second overall trip as newlyweds.) Following that trip I got my guitar out of storage in Flushing––determined to do something musical again. I didn’t know what or with whom. I only knew that it had been too long. It is pretty fateful that we are playing together.

On this page, you'll find the lyrics to two new songs I wrote for the band, along with links to hear one of them as well as The Emperor’s Club performing an updated and upgraded version of “Rock Me Goong Hay.” Turn it up and enjoy. Hope you can come see us some time.

Alvin Eng
New York City
January 2009

The Emperor’s Club performing “Rock Me Goong Hay”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvbXsZWY0pQ

“What The . . . “
Music & Lyrics by Alvin Eng

They told me, “everything’s gonna be fine
Just sign right here on the dotted line
We’ll give you all the money you need
Here’s the keys and the property deed.”

What the? What the? What the . . . huh?

Now they’re taking my home away
My mortgage rate was yesterday
“Please don’t take this personally
I’m only doing my job, you see.”

What the? What the? What the . . . huh?
What the? What the? What The Who?

How much more can we take?
Till it all goes up in flames?
When it all goes down the drain
Who will take the blame?

Now I live with nine roommates
Eight of them worked in real estate
One of them was a Senator
Now he’s a part-time janitor

What the? What the? What the . . . huh?

They tell me, “Everything’s gonna be fine
This time we’ll watch the bottom line
When you bail out banks from bankruptcy
You’re helping to spread Democracy.”

What the? What the? What the . . . huh?
What the? What the? What The Who?

How much more can we take?
Till it all goes up in flames?
When it all goes down the drain
Who will take the blame?

What the? What the? What the . . . Ffffuuuhhhh . . . ?

© Copyright 2008 Alvin Eng