This is one of Alan Tam (譚詠麟)'s classics from the 90's, also one of my favourite Alan songs. It has such a powerful melody and meaningful lyrics! The song was first recorded in his 1994 album "Smile of Fantasy" (夢幻的笑容), music+arrangement done by famous HK musician Mahmood Rumjahn (林慕德) who is a half Chinese/half Pakistani, lyrics by the evergreen writer Albert Leung (林夕). Here's the original recorded version:
For my first real post, I'm going to start off with something about a super-talented musician from the 80's, also one of my favourite composers of Cantopop. Ever since listening to HK pop, I always like to browse through the lyrics to find out who wrote the songs. Because to me, having a good melody and touching lyrics contribute up to 90% of a song's success.
This ultra-genius woman composer is called Violet Lam (林敏怡, pronounced Lam Man Yee), her name is often linked to many great hits that are all so well written that you don't mind listening over & over again. Her brother Andrew Manchung Lam (林敏驄) is a great lyricist and songwriter also. Here's her profile and a picture taken recently.
Name: Violet Manyee Lam (林敏怡) Current changed name: Lam Seen Yee (林倩而) Born: 10th September 1950 Education: B Psychology and Sociology (HKU); Santa Cecilia Conservatory (majoring in piano performance); Musikhochshule Freiburg (majoring in composition)
Manyee collaborated with almost every HK singer from the 80's to early 90's, totalling to nearly 150 songs and film scores. With the decline of Cantopop nowadays, she's switched to making "serious music", claiming that HK pop music is "beyond her reach". Here's what compositions from her I like most!
"幻影" ("Illusion"), Music/Arrangement by: Manyee Lam, Lyrics by: Andrew Lam, Year: 1984 Theme Song from "陰陽錯", Artist: Alan Tam
"海誓山盟" ("Everlasting Passion"), Music/Arrangement by: Manyee Lam, Lyrics by: Calvin Poon, Year: 1986 Theme Song from Japanese series "海誓山盟", Artist: George Lam
"誠懇" ("Sincerity"), Music by: Manyee Lam, Lyrics by: Andrew Lam, Arrangement by: Fujita Daito, Year: 1987 Artist: Kenny Bee (This MV also features Manyee Lam and brother Andrew Lam).
There are of course many many other songs that I love, eg. "相愛" by Jacky Cheung, "迷惑" by Sally Yeh, "藍調怨曲" by Vivian Chow, "信" by Judy Ong, "你的夢我的夢" and "親吻" by Priscilla Chan, "天涯小子" by Hacken Lee, "迷惘的愛" by Cally Kwong, "誰可相依" by Julie Su, "當世界無玫瑰" by Shirley Kwan, "城市足印" by Paula Tsui, "空凳" and "啤酒罐" by Danny Summer, "情是永願著迷" and "吻別" by Alan Tam...the list goes on and on.
I create this blog with the purpose of a) exposing more members of the public (whether Chinese or non-Chinese, Cantonese or non-Cantonese) to Hong Kong Cantonese Pop music from the 1980's to the early 1990's; and b) having something for me to do whilst I get bored.
I grew up listening to Hong Kong Cantonese Pop (hereafter abbreviated as "Cantopop"), although quite young, those unforgettable melodies from the "Golden Era of Cantopop" remain my favourite musical genre. I know, not many people of my age listen to or even know about these music, but I think that does not matter, soon many shall begin to realize their value.
Hence, this blog is dedicated to all those talented and passionate artists/musicians who made it all possible. From now on, blog entries will contain album information; artist/musician profiles, my favourite songs etc. On this blog you will come to see names such as:
Artists: Alan Tam (譚詠麟); Leslie Cheung (張國榮); Priscilla Chan (陳慧嫻); Jacky Cheung (張學友); Anita Mui (梅艷芳); George Lam (林子祥); Sally Yeh (葉蒨文); Roman Tam (羅文); Hacken Lee (李克勤); Sandy Lam (林憶蓮); Andy Lau (劉德華); Danny Chan (陳百強); Kenny Bee (鍾鎮濤); Leon Lai (黎明); Prudence Liew (劉美君); Shirley Kwan (關淑怡).....so on.
Bands/Groups: BEYOND; Taichi Band (太極樂隊); Tat Ming Pair (達明一派); Blue Jeans; Raidas; FUNDAMENTAL; Citybeat; Life Exhibition (浮世繪); Paradox (夢劇院); Face to Face; ECHO.....
Composers/Musicians: Joseph Koo (顧嘉煇); James Wong (黃霑); Michael Lai (黎小田); Antonio Arevalo Jnr (盧東尼); Lowell Lo (盧冠廷); Alan Tsui (徐日勤); Dominic Chow (周啟生); Anthony Lun (倫永亮); Violet Manyee Lam (林敏怡); Tats Lau (劉以達); Joe Chan (陳永良); Peter Wong (黃良昇); Terence Choi (蔡國權); Andrew Tuason (杜自持); Hiroaki Serizawa (芹澤廣明); Irie Jun (入江純); Mahmood Rumjahn (林慕德); Gary Tong (唐奕聰)....
Lyricists: Richard Lam (林振強); Andrew Lam (林敏驄); Cheng Kwok Kong (鄭國江); Calvin Poon (潘源良); Keith Chan (陳少琪); Albert Leung (林夕); Poon Wai Yuen (潘偉源); Christopher Loak (因葵); Thomas Chow (周禮茂); Jolland Chan (向雪懷); Siu May (小美); Lo Kwok Jim (盧國沾); Kan Ning (簡寧).....
