remembering danny chan

if someone tells you that he/she likes danny chan (chan pak keung), chances are he/she must be well over 30s or even 40s. danny chan was famous for his goody-two-shoes image and motivational (albeit sentimental) ballads. many students who grew up in the 80s must have heard of at least one danny chan's hits.

danny chan was a permanent idol of mine in my secondary school days. ACS ipoh being an english-medium school, most of my classmates were true-blue "english-educated" ones and very few of them listened to cantonese songs. it took someone as courageous as me to influence my classmates into liking danny chan. very soon, most of my circle of classmates had already bought cassettes of danny chan's early albums. see, there were signs that i would be a good music reviewer even at that early age:-)

danny chan died of drug overdose in 1992. it has been 15 years, and i still occasionally dig out my danny chan collections, especially during late-night listening, and enjoy in reminiscing the good old times. but most of my memories were bittersweet ones rather really upbeat ones cos i refuse to believe how times flew, as his music reminds me of my 2nd girlfriend and my happiest days as a student.

somehow the new-generation singers in HK, without excess baggages like us mid-lifers, don't see the sentimentalism and nostalgia in danny chan's music. this music theatre tribute to danny chan is brimming with upbeat optimism and happy music, and i like it this way. chet lam yat fung (http://desirableaudio.blogspot.com/2006/07/folksy-gem.html) was last introduced in this blog as a popular folk-singer in HK. and his albums are generally good sounding, sonic wise. i like the way some of danny's ballads are turned into pop-rock tunes with classical baroque style prelude. perhaps, this should be the happy way to remember danny, instead of sulking that he had left us too early... danny would be happy that his later-year intepreters remember him that way.

let's not waste time further, this is a refreshing cd. if you are a danny chan fan, listen to how creative these cover versions are. if you are not, then discover why yesteryear's cantopop was much much better than today's. seriously, modern cantopop is pure crap...

the bummer is - it is selling at RM80 in rock corner (import cd price huh)! you can find it cheaper in yes! asia online site. i bought mine in HK for only RM40.