BBC World Service

With two Vietnamese musicians recently jailed for their songwriting, it’s clear that music still plays a part in the politics of Vietnam. But what was the role of music in South Vietnam during the war years? Robin Denselow revisits Sixties Saigon to find out.

Saigon in the Sixties was a melting pot of musical styles. Traditional popular music was flourishing but so too was rock ‘n’ roll. Numerous Vietnamese young people started growing their hair and forming Western style bands. By 1970, Saigon even had its very own Woodstock where thousands of hippies gathered to revel in Vietnamese and American rock and escape the war.

Robin Denselow revisits Sixties Saigon through the memories of those who were there, travelling to California to find out what happened to those that fled in 1975 when the war ended. Many musicians who fled in 1975 have maintained their careers, but some are reluctant to go back and perform in Vietnam. Music and politics have always been closely entwined in Vietnam, but can music now help to overcome politics in uniting Vietnamese across the world?