Tribute to Danny Chan (1958-1993) Part 1

This is Part One of a series I'm planning to dedicate to the late HK singer/songwriter Danny Pak Keung Chan (陳百強). Danny was one of HK's most talented composers and artists during the 1980's who sadly passed away on the 25th October, 1993. Although 16 years have elapsed, HK people are nonetheless very proud of him, and his music continues to live with us til eternity.

16 years after his death, RTHK has awarded him with the "Golden Needle Award" (金針獎) at the 32rd RTHK Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Awards ceremony (30th January, 2010).

(Image from Annie Jin's Blog, Special Thanks to Annie)

He is a symbol of HK popular music in the 80's, but his life was a tragedy. During his early years, Danny showed an intense passion for music, he was very good at playing the keyboard. He was high school classmates with the famous HK lyricist/songwriter Andrew Manchung Lam (林敏驄). After returning to HK from study in the US, he immediately showed his talent by writing and performing his song "The Rocky Road". In 1978 he composed another song - "The Sunrise", which won him First Prize at the Yamaha Keyboard Competition.

In 1979, Danny began his music career at EMI Records. In this early period, he worked close by with musicians like Eddie Man-Hoi Chiu (趙文海), Kenneth Chan (陳德堅), Cheng Kwok Kong (鄭國江) while writing most songs by himself.

His earlier songs combine youthful energy with tinges of melancholy, it can be seen that he intended to express his inner emotions through his compositions.



("First Love", Music & Lyrics by Danny Chan, Year: 1979, EMI Music)



("Tears Flowing Just For You" 眼淚為妳流, Music by Danny Chan, Arrangement by Chung Siu Fung (鍾肇峰), Lyrics by Cheng Kwok Kong, Year: 1980, EMI Music)



("Applaud For You" 喝采, Music by Danny Chan, Arrangement by Eddie Chiu, Lyrics by Cheng Kwok Kong, Year: 1981, Warner Music)



("Footprints On The Beach" 沙灘中的腳印, Music by Danny Chan, Arrangement by Eddie Chiu, Lyrics by Cheng Kwok Kong, Year: 1981, Warner Music)



("Mind Goes Blank" 思想走了光, Music & Arrangement by Eddie Chiu, Lyrics by Cheng Kwok Kong, Year: 1981, Warner Music)


RTHK "不死傳奇" (Immortal Legends) TV documentary series on Danny Chan, Part One:

杜自持先生 (Andrew Tuason) 作曲作品年表

Andrew Tuason's compositions for various artists since 1986
Count as of: 29th January, 2010


1986 (1首)

開心少女組﹕天靈靈地靈靈

1987 (3首)

張德蘭﹕惡霸
陳松伶﹕午睡中的父親
陳松伶﹕易變的他

1988 (5首)

陳百強﹕超越分界線
甄楚倩﹕不想說多句
李麗蕊﹕終於想到我
李明珠﹕突然
葉麗儀﹕我要繼續唱

1989 (9首)

甄妮﹕怨偶故事
蔡楓華﹕新世界
ECHO ﹕戰場
ECHO ﹕繼續期待
陳百強﹕Hot Night
王傑﹕深深的創傷
甄楚倩﹕一生留給你
黃凱芹﹕世紀終曲
鄺美雲﹕心傷

1990 (18首)

陳百強﹕當晚夢見是妳
陳百強﹕三個自己
鄺美雲﹕無法傷多半次
劉美君﹕午夜傳真
劉美君﹕破例
劉美君﹕事後
劉美君﹕夜已變得騷了
周美茵﹕熱情人
林憶蓮﹕夜生活
林憶蓮﹕都市心
劉德華﹕城市獵人
劉德華﹕短篇小說
劉德華﹕天從人願
劉德華/吳婉芳﹕秋意中等我
溫兆倫﹕別太認真
吳婉芳﹕醉生如夢
吳婉芳﹕摘星的電梯
吳婉芳﹕情難自控

1991 (12首)

劉德華﹕愛不完
劉德華﹕全人類注視
劉德華﹕怒劍嘯狂沙
甄楚倩﹕情難偷
ECHO ﹕誰是真正寂寞人﹖
草蜢﹕偷偷看
關淑怡﹕夢情人
林憶蓮﹕一輩子心情
陳百強﹕醉翁之意
倫永亮﹕需要和不需要的
李克勤﹕雨中街頭劇
李國祥﹕夕陽路上

1992 (12首)

王菲﹕Kisses In The Wind
林憶蓮﹕愛的世界
李國祥﹕將往事忘了
劉美君﹕思潮
倫永亮﹕再見愛人
蔡立兒﹕六月的愛人
劉德華﹕情是那麼笨
劉德華﹕愛在同一天空下
劉德華﹕忘我精神
劉德華﹕妳震撼我的心靈
劉德華﹕媽媽的臉
陸家俊﹕迷信情人

1993 (2首)

劉德華﹕答案就是妳
劉德華﹕妳是我的夢

1994 (2首)

劉德華﹕花花世界
馬浚偉/黎姿﹕求婚勿語

1995 (5首)

蘇永康﹕一個人精彩
彭羚﹕窗外
彭羚﹕出色女子
彭羚﹕愛多年
劉雅麗﹕你給我的喜怒哀樂

1996 (3首)

彭羚﹕春風 + 春風Accapella
巫啟賢﹕風中有妳
張信哲﹕他有甚麼好﹖

1997 (3首)

群星﹕最美麗傳奇
林子祥﹕蓋世男兒
楊采妮﹕奇遇

1998 (1首)

舒淇﹕心領

2001 (6首)

劉德華﹕夏日Fiesta
劉德華﹕偷聽女孩心
劉德華﹕其中一位
甄妮﹕有你有我
關心妍﹕浮生花園
羅嘉良﹕天地有情

2004 (1首)

周傑倫/陳冠希/蔡依林/郭富城/F4/鄭秀文﹕藍色飛揚

2005 (3首)

李克勤﹕醫道
李克勤﹕心計
快活美少女﹕ Radio Day

2006 (1首)

王麗達﹕風雲

2009 (1首)

張敬軒﹕無名指的光環

Total: 88 Songs

Song: 夜已深

Can't really describe how much I love this song, especially when I listen to it at night, so much feelings... The song is sung by Cally Kwong (鄺美雲) who was second runner-up for Miss HK in 1982, she was a quite popular singer in the 80's to early 90's before becoming a successful businesswoman. Her voice is smooth and feminine, often emanating a unique sense of beauty, hence her songs are mostly emotional ballads. Here's what she looked like at the peak of her career, quite pretty la!



This song "夜已深" ("Deep Into The Night") appeared in her 1991 album "親近我" ("Come Close To Me", DMI Records) which was produced by Alvin Kwok (郭小霖), a famously talented artist-composer-producer in HK. The song was co-written by Alvin Kwok and Dean Richie, lyrics written by Poon Wai Yuen (潘偉源) and arrangement by Joey Villanueva. Great musicians + great lyricist = masterpiece, enough said.

Apart from this song, my other favourites from this album include: "親近我", "當你抱著我想哭", "思想撲火Ampin Mix", "I Don't Wanna Wait For Love", "愛吧!".


Lyrics/Music/Arrangement:

Lyrics: 9.5/10
Music: 10/10
Arrangement: 10/10

夜已深﹐墮向無聲的熱吻﹐
忘懷心間那淚痕﹐仍是相愛深。
夜更深沉﹐情懷被熱燙的眼光繼續牽引﹐
暖起一生...

夜已深﹐願你從此牽著我﹐
纏綿一生抱著行﹐情像海更深﹗
夜更深沉﹐從來未像今宵愛火不再自禁。

熊熊內愛火中知道我今宵依戀的你﹐
是最愛的人...
熊熊內愛火中燒暖我一生不捨不棄﹐
情懷未禁﹗

讓兩心﹐在這熊火中熱透﹐
就算痴心終得灰塵﹐
仍然剩下了情永久心裡烙印。

情懷被熱燙的眼光繼續牽引﹐
情懷被熱燙的眼光繼續牽引...

Profile: Tony (Antonio) Arevalo Jr.

Imeem's been so slack about the copyright shit that I almost gave up this blog, but in the end thanks to a HK website Xuite which still provides full-length songs, I think I should continue writing. Xuite doesn't have as many songs as Imeem does, but still, it'll grow as Chinese song lovers gradually switch from Imeem.

For today I'll talk a bit about one of my favourite HK musicians, Mr. Tony (Antonio) Arevalo Jr (Chinese name 盧東尼, or otherwise known as Tony A). Tony is an outstanding Filipino musician who worked for HK pop music for over 20 or so years. He is a brilliant composer, arranger, and keyboard performer who was responsible for tonnes of the most classic hit songs in HK music history.

Tony came from a musical family, and from his 20's began working for artists like Sam Hui and Teresa Teng. Into the 80's, Tony worked mainly for Polygram Records, and during that time almost every pop star performed his musical compositions. If you are familiar with these names: Alan Tam, Priscilla Chan, Michael Kwan, Kenny Bee, the Wynners, Leslie Cheung, Jacky Cheung, Shirley Kwan, Terence Choi, Vivian Chow, Vivian Lai, Winnie Lau etc, yes, many of their hit songs came from Tony!!

Tony migrated to Canada during mid-1990, continuing his musical life there as an elite keyboard performer. Tony's name shall never be forgotten in HK music history. I sincerely wish Tony and his family well and happy, you are always one of my favourite musicians.

Some very famous songs by Tony A I love very much!

"Happy Are Those In Love" ("難得有情人") Performed by Shirley Kwan (關淑怡), Music & Arrangement by Tony A, Lyrics by Jolland Chan (向雪懷)..........OMG Shirley was so SEXY and pretty back then.......LOL



"Sorry, But I Love You" ("對不起我愛妳") Performed by Leon Lai (黎明), Music & Arrangement by Tony A, Lyrics by Jolland Chan (向雪懷)



"Continue Again Tomorrow" ("明天仍要繼續") Performed by Alan Tam (譚詠麟), Music & Arrangement by Tony A, Lyrics by Jolland Chan (向雪懷)



"How Deep Is Your Love" Performed by Vivian Lai (黎瑞恩), Music & Arrangement by Tony A, Lyrics by Thomas Chow (周禮茂)



"Wall" ("牆") Performed by Priscilla Chan (陳慧嫻), Music & Arrangement by Tony A, Lyrics by Wong Oi Kwan (黃靄君)



"Keep Close" ("貼身") Performed by Leslie Cheung (張國榮), Music & Arrangement by Tony A, Lyrics by Keith Chan (陳少琪)



"Enough!" ("夠了!") Performed by Leslie Cheung (張國榮), Music by Tony A, Lyrics by Richard Lam (林振強), Arrangement by Ken Takada



"Obscure Path of Love" ("情路茫茫") Performed by Shadow Chow (周影), Music & Arrangement by Tony A, Lyrics by Jolland Chan (向雪懷)



"I Have a Date With Autumn" ("我和秋天有個約會") Performed by Karen Tong (湯寶如), Music & Arrangement by Tony A, Lyrics by Jolland Chan (向雪懷)



"Turn Off the Lights Before You Go" ("離開請關燈") Performed by Shirley Kwan (關淑怡), Music by Nigel Stock, Lyrics by Thomas Chow (周禮茂), Arrangement by Tony A



"World of Flowers" ("花仔世界") Performed by Alan Tam (譚詠麟), Music & Arrangement by Tony A, Lyrics by Calvin Poon (潘源良)



There are many many more, like 霧之戀﹐愛在深秋﹐真面目假面具﹐痴戀﹐遙遠的她﹐太陽星辰﹐從不喜歡孤單一個﹐Hot Summer﹐愛上了你﹐不知不覺想起你﹐一人有一個夢想﹐憂鬱你好﹐無聲的信箋﹐愛的替身 etc etc.

Comeback!

Haven't been here for centuries, this blog almost rotted..lol =) but excuse me, this is suppose to be a HK music blog, but stupid imeem only lets music play for 30 secs when embeded in external blog sites, which sux like shit I should say! What the hell is the point of me wasting all that time writing stuff when people merely can hear a 30 sec snippet of each song?! bloody ridiculous..

Anyway, back to the point. During my stay in HK early July I again visited HK Records, HMV and MongKok's 信和中心 for CDs. Fortunately for me, Universal Records made a further 40 "Back to Black" (環球復黑王) albums this year, enabling me to collect some more of my fav albums. Here's what I've bought from this CD hunt!

Shirley Kwan: 關淑怡 “難得有情人” ﹔ “金色夏季” ﹔ “製造迷夢” ﹔ “真情”
BEYOND: “亞拉伯跳舞女郎” ﹔ “BEYOND IV”
Jacky Cheung: 張學友 “SMILE”
Sandy Lam: 林憶蓮 “City Rhythm” ﹔ “Faces & Places” ﹔ “Sandy'94”
Leon Lai: 黎明 “傾城之最”
Kenny Bee: 鍾鎮濤 “聽濤”
Priscilla Chan: 陳慧嫻 “嫻情”
Sarah Wong: 黃寶欣 “有緣有愛”
Yolinda Yan: 甄楚倩 “無伴的舞”
Alvin Kwok: 郭小霖 “從不知”
Taichi Band: 太極樂隊 “迷”
Fundamental: “Fundamental” ﹔ “第二章”
Citybeat: “逃”
Terence Choi: 蔡國權 “懷念妳一世紀”
Alan Tam: 譚詠麟 “迷惑”
Deanie Ip: 葉德嫻 “我要” ﹔ “千個太陽” ﹔ “邊緣回望”
Prudence Liew: 劉美君 “赤裸感覺” ﹔ “點解” ﹔ “被你縱壞” ﹔ “不再娃娃”
Dave Wang Chieh: 王傑 “故事的角色”
Anita Mui: 梅艷芳 “飛躍舞台”
William So: 蘇永康 “失眠”
Andy Lau: 劉德華 “只知道此刻愛妳” ﹔ “愛不完”
Face to Face: “Face to Face”
ECHO: “准許我愛你”
Sally Yeh: 葉蒨文 “祝福” ﹔ “秋去秋來” ﹔ “葉蒨文影視金曲“
Danny Chan: 陳百強 “深愛著妳”
George Lam: 林子祥 “林子祥影視金曲16首”
Anthony Lun: 倫永亮 “One Voice Ten Fingers”
Assorted: “組Band歲月 - Vol. 2”
Vivian Chow: 周慧敏 “Vivian”

我走我路 My Way - 葉倩文 Sally Yeh

Song: 黃昏都市人

Now I've come to bearing the brunt of Sydney's shortened daylight hours as winter arrives. During summer, the sun doesn't set until half past 8, but now after 5 the sky's pitch black. On the way back from uni or work, I feel more tired when the sun sets so early, exacerbated by quite cool evening winds and the hustle of commuters. How I wish I could live in a tropical place where it's summer all year around, as I dread cold weather more than anyone else on Earth!

The song "黃昏都市人" ("Evening City-Siders") sung by the pop trio Grasshoppers (草蜢) is the perfect song for this time of year. The trio is comprised of Edmond So (蘇志威), Calvin Choi (蔡一智), Remus Choi (蔡一傑) and was founded in 1985. They won the appreciation of Anita Mui (梅艷芳), whereupon they appeared as dancers and background chorus for several of Anita's songs. They released their first album under Polygram Records in 1988 and have enjoyed wide popularity in HK and SE Asia ever since. Grasshoppers is one of HK's most long-lasting pop music groups, and more importantly, the members can all compose music as well as writing lyrics.

"黃昏都市人" was composed by Calvin Choi (蔡一智), lyrics by famous HK lyricist Jolland Chan (向雪懷), music arranged by Andrew Tuason (杜自持). The song is light jazz, mellow and romantic like a city at night. Melody is very well written, arrangement by Mr. Tuason is simply divine....especially the sax solo, jazzy keyboards and drums! It's a song which you will love after listening once.

黃昏都市人Citizen of the Evening - Grasshopper


Lyrics/Music/Arrangement:

Lyrics: 9/10
Music: 9.5/10
Arrangement: 10/10

鬧市中 如同森林
街頭人潮如湧去來
總欠些開心 寫照一日人生

像吊燈 無言一個人
依然獨個地去等愛人
他會無聲走近 跟我歡渡黃昏

慢慢地妳漸行近 讓熱力暖在我心
撥弄亂髮極迷人 令視線拉近
落日像一顆愛心 讓魅力散落我身
恨路上寸步難行 望著如木偶

形麻木都市人
熱情熱誠未許過份
戀愛都要造作 熱愛急降低溫
冷淡冷落過份冷感

無情是都市人
未明白傳話的眼神
只要朝晚共處消耗光陰
卻未發現美麗黃昏

一些關心增添生活美感
一點真愛終於都有回音
情人陪同無論以後挽著兩手
這是最美麗時候

Profile: Alan Yat Kan Tsui

Uni's been so extremely busy that I haven't updated here for AGES....well, some of the work's out of the way now, thank goodness!! First topic for May, I've decided to talk about one of Cantopop's most important musicians, one of my favourites. His name is Alan Tsui (徐日勤), and this was what he looked like in the 80's (when producing the song "未唱的歌" which was mentioned earlier).

(Special Thanks to Annie Jin for providing this photo)

Alan, along with Dominic Chow (introduced earlier) and Andrew Tuason (杜自持), were three most outstanding students of Cantopop godfather Joseph Koo. He was an excellent composer, arranger, conductor, and producer who played a very significant role in the 80-90's HK music scene. While Dominic specialised in techno-music, and Andrew in R&B and jazz, Alan focused himself more on general pop, mainly heart-warming (at times heart-breaking) ballads.

Alan was best known for his perfect collaboration with Danny Chan (陳百強), but with other artists he produced many many great songs too. His father was also a renowned jazz pianist who was friends with Joseph Koo. Personal life wise, like most musicians he likes to keep a very low profile, but it is known that he had been involved in relationships with: Dorothy Yu (余綺霞) and Fennie Yuen (袁潔瑩).... thanks again to Annie for providing this information =)

Back to music-related stuff, here are some great songs Alan wrote (apart from "未唱的歌"). There are heaps more, but we do have limited space here.....

"Break-dancer" ("電光霹靂舞士"), Music/Arrangement by Alan Tsui, Lyrics by Richard Lam, Sung by Kitman Mak (麥潔文)




"From Now On" ("從今以後"), Music/Arrangement by Alan Tsui, Lyrics by Albert Leung, Sung by Danny Chan (陳百強)

從今以後- 陳百強 From Now On - Danny Chan


"Cuddle With Tears" ("與淚抱擁"), Music/Arrangement by Alan Tsui, Lyrics by Calvin Poon, Sung by Priscilla Chan (陳慧嫻)

與淚抱擁Cuddle with Tears - priscilla Chan


"Only You Understand How To Love Me" ("還是妳懂得愛我"), Music/Arrangement by Alan Tsui, Lyrics by Gene Lau (劉卓輝), Sung by Alan Tam (譚詠麟)





"Idol" ("偶像"), Music/Arrangement by Alan Tsui, Lyrics by Calvin Poon, Sung by Danny Chan (陳百強)




"Mornings And Evenings" ("朝朝暮暮"), Music/Arrangement by Alan Tsui, Lyrics by Albert Leung, Sung by Anita Mui (梅艷芳)

Mornings Opaque - Anita Mui


"Love Amidst Wind And Rain" ("相思風雨中"), Music/Arrangement by Alan Tsui, Lyrics by Kan Ning (簡寧), Sung by Jacky Cheung (張學友) and Karen Tong (湯寶如)





"Behind the Bridal Veil" ("婚紗背後"), Music/Arrangement by Alan Tsui, Lyrics by Calvin Poon, Sung by Paula Tsui (徐小鳳)

婚紗背後 (Backside Of The Bridal Veil) - 徐小鳳 Paula Tsui


"The Express of Forgotten Love" ("忘情號"), Music/Arrangement by Alan Tsui, Lyrics by Albert Leung, Sung by Alex To (杜德偉)

忘情號 The Express of Forgotten Love - 杜德偉 Alex To


"Because of Loving You" ("只因愛妳"), Music/Arrangement by Alan Tsui, Lyrics by Albert Leung, Sung by Danny Chan (陳百強)

只因愛你 - 陳百強 Because Of Loving You - Danny Chan


"The Wind Still Blows" ("風繼續吹"), Music by Ryudo Uzaki, Lyrics by Cheng Kwok Kong, Arrangement by Alan Tsui, Sung by Leslie Cheung (張國榮)