Great Music, Songwriters And Singers

[jw5]

Great song. The second best from George Michael (after Careless Whisper). Careless Whisper was popularly taken to be a nice and great song in lamentation of romance broken up. But One More Try was already blatantly and unreservedly homosexual in theme. A great song nonetheless. It came from George Michael's greatest album artistically and commercially, Faith. That's one of the greatest albums in the 80s rivaling Michael Jackson etc.

Not a big fan of George Michael, not even Careless Whispers.
The song I particularly dislike is from their Wham days - "Wake Me Up Before you Go Go".

 

[krafty]

"Last Christmas" is worth bringing up...

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[zeebjii]

i used to quite like jj lin's songwriting skills until he came up wth the horrible YOG song.

 

[KKC007]

Not a big fan of George Michael, not even Careless Whispers.
The song I particularly dislike is from their Wham days - "Wake Me Up Before you Go Go".

But when you mention singer/songwriter, George Michael and Freddie Mercury have to be up there with the best.

Forget about George Michael's Wham! days. Listen to his Faith album.

Freddie is Freddie. Singer, songwriter, performer. As a total package, no one else even comes close.

 

[elephanto]

What is a good melody ?

It's like pornography - hard to define, easy to recognise.

One of my favourites is the little known Cascades.

Besides their 'Rhythm of the Falling Rain', very few know about their other great hits.

In the early 80s, there was this 'Stars on 45' Medley Craze. One of the pirated cassettes I bought had this Cascades Medley - and I absolutely fell in love with it ! From there, I search out the original less known Cascades songs like: The Last Leaf, There's a Reason, Punch & Judy, You don't know the way I feel etc.

Fantastic melodies & simple likeable lyrics, same signature style as the famous Rhythm of the Rain ...... the Cascades !

 

[elephanto]

Another of my all time favourites is the Band Electric Light Orchestra, ELO for short.

I first heard their 'Last Train to London' from those compilation pirated tapes in the 70s. Then because of this song, went to seek out other ELO albums.

My favourites: Confusion, Shine a Little Love, Telephone Line, Evil Woman, Midnight Blue, Xanadu, I am Alive, Don't Walk Away, The Fall, All over the World, Hold On Tight, Ticket to the Moon, Rain is Falling, The Lights go down, 21st Century Man....

Fantastic compositions, music arrangements & lyrics.... Jeff Lynne was tops for me....

 

[Ramseth]

If I'm to rank tunesmiths, i.e. melodymakers, then:

1. Paul McCartney
2. Barry Gibb
3. John Lennon
4. 顾家辉
5. 刘家昌

 

[scroobal]

Loved ELO, a new genre at that time. The video was a shocker and nothing to do with their lyrics. I believe they went downhill after that. Midnight Blue and Last Train to London are superb. Very cladestine music.

Another of my all time favourites is the Band Electric Light Orchestra, ELO for short.

I first heard their 'Last Train to London' from those compilation pirated tapes in the 70s. Then because of this song, went to seek out other ELO albums.

My favourites: Confusion, Shine a Little Love, Telephone Line, Evil Woman, Midnight Blue, Xanadu, I am Alive, Don't Walk Away, The Fall, All over the World, Hold On Tight, Ticket to the Moon, Rain is Falling, The Lights go down, 21st Century Man....

Fantastic compositions, music arrangements & lyrics.... Jeff Lynne was tops for me....

 

[elephanto]

I lost touch with ELO after 1984 ...i guess the usual coming & going of band members....

How to describe : an eerie spatial sound, putting together contrasting scores & musical styles yet blended into an out-of-this-world experience .... not psychedelic or exactly new age ..... 'midnight blue' among my favourite ELO hits .... the part when the words came on: did you feel the love that I'm offering to you, can't you see that it is meant to be ..... can you believe like i believe .... you see their youtube clips, they use cellos, some classicial instruments etc.

Similar effects in Confusion, Shine a Little Love, Telephone Line .....

Nowadays, where to find such bands & music any more ....sigh

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[jw5]

But when you mention singer/songwriter, George Michael and Freddie Mercury have to be up there with the best.

Forget about George Michael's Wham! days. Listen to his Faith album.

Freddie is Freddie. Singer, songwriter, performer. As a total package, no one else even comes close.

Freddie Mercury is one of the greatest songwriters and singers ever.
But let's not forget the other members of Queen as well. Brian May, John Deacon and Roger Taylor all wrote good songs for the band as well.
Bohemian Rhapsody was of course one of their most famous and best songs, but what about "Save Me", "Don't Stop Me Now", "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", "We Are The Champions", "We Will Rock You", "Bicycle Race", some of which became anthems at sporting events and other festivals.
Freddie Mercury will be remembered as one of the strangest dressers around, but feel can deny that he was one of the greatest showmen.

 

[jw5]

Another of my all time favourites is the Band Electric Light Orchestra, ELO for short.

I first heard their 'Last Train to London' from those compilation pirated tapes in the 70s. Then because of this song, went to seek out other ELO albums.

My favourites: Confusion, Shine a Little Love, Telephone Line, Evil Woman, Midnight Blue, Xanadu, I am Alive, Don't Walk Away, The Fall, All over the World, Hold On Tight, Ticket to the Moon, Rain is Falling, The Lights go down, 21st Century Man....

Fantastic compositions, music arrangements & lyrics.... Jeff Lynne was tops for me....

"Last Train To London" is one of my favourite songs.
I'm not familiar with their other songs.
But a trivia aside is that ELO is Trevor Francis' favourite band.
I'm sure you know who he is.
Btw, in my opinion, he's one of the worst co commentators on the BPL. He describes everything exactly as we saw it.

 

[jw5]

If I'm to rank tunesmiths, i.e. melodymakers, then:

1. Paul McCartney
2. Barry Gibb
3. John Lennon
4. 顾家辉
5. 刘家昌

Hmmm, interesting ranking, but I would have to put Lennon above McCartney.
Sure, Paul had nice tunes like Hey Jude and Let It Be (I believe?) and Pipes Of Peace and all that, but his tunes are all rather bubblegum, if you know what I mean?
I think Lennon had more depth.
Can you elaborate on who your number 4 is? English name or some of the songs he wrote?
Liu Jiachang is of course one of the greatest songwriters. But I couldn't stand watching his recent interviews on Taiwan television.

 

[scroobal]

Freddie is reputed to have the widest tonal range of any singer dead or alive. That's why they could do Rhapsody.It was a dream of Paul MaCartney and he wrote a similar score after retirement for an opera.

Queen is the all time great. American Pie must be up there as well and its mystic continues.

Freddie Mercury is one of the greatest songwriters and singers ever.
.

 

[Ramseth]

Hmmm, interesting ranking, but I would have to put Lennon above McCartney.
Sure, Paul had nice tunes like Hey Jude and Let It Be (I believe?) and Pipes Of Peace and all that, but his tunes are all rather bubblegum, if you know what I mean?
I think Lennon had more depth.

Of course, but note that I'm ranking tunesmith, not overall composer.

Can you elaborate on who your number 4 is? English name or some of the songs he wrote?

He wrote Cantonese songs. 书剑恩仇录，陆小凤，楚留香，小李飞刀，etc.

 

[jw5]

Of course, but note that I'm ranking tunesmith, not overall composer.



He wrote Cantonese songs. 书剑恩仇录，陆小凤，楚留香，小李飞刀，etc.

Thanks, I'm listening to Roman Tam singing "Xiao Li Fei Dao" on youtube now.
Brings back lovely memories.

 

[Ramseth]

Thanks, I'm listening to Roman Tam singing "Xiao Li Fei Dao" on youtube now.
Brings back lovely memories.

Joseph Koo songs sungs by Roman Tam or Adam Cheng, no horse run. I think he's the only HK songwriter to be awarded MBE by the Queen. After these three retired, HK Canto songs (particularly TV themes) never sound the same again. Nobody could write it that way or sing it it that way.

 

[jw5]

Joseph Koo songs sungs by Roman Tam or Adam Cheng, no horse run. I think he's the only HK songwriter to be awarded MBE by the Queen. After these three retired, HK Canto songs (particularly TV themes) never sound the same again. Nobody could write it that way or sing it it that way.

I'm listening to "Ai Shang Zhang Wuji" from the Heaven Sword & Dragon Sabre series starring Little Tiger Su Yongpeng, and SG's own Phyliss Quek.
It's a pretty nice song.
But I agree that those tv series theme songs sung by Adam Cheng and Roman Tam really bo beh zao.

 

[Ramseth]

The song that broke all records for Joseph Koo as songwriter and Roman Tam as singer was Xiao Li Fei Dao. First ever Asian record to be awarded Platinum. Cassette and album sales no count, just the old single 45rpm vinyl record. The song that probably earned Joseph Koo the MBE was The Bund (上海滩), sung by Frances Yip.

 

[Queen Seok Duk]

But I agree that those tv series theme songs sung by Adam Cheng and Roman Tam really bo beh zao.

Actually Joseph Koo's compositions provide good case study.

Joseph Koo didn't go through proper music training. Most of the popular TVB songs were composed before he left for further studies in US. When he came back, his music became very different. Leslie Cheong's 當年情 was one of the first few he composed after returning from US. His music became more difficult with more dissonance.

 

[jw5]

Actually Joseph Koo's compositions provide good case study.

Joseph Koo didn't go through proper music training. Most of the popular TVB songs were composed before he left for further studies in US. When he came back, his music became very different. Leslie Cheong's 當年情 was one of the first few he composed after returning from US. His music became more difficult with more dissonance.

Is that the theme song from "A Better Tomorrow"?
It's a great song!
By the way, I think Leslie was a great singer, probably one of my favourite HK singers.