October 30, 2023

20,000 vinyl LPs 338: Anita Mui ~ 淑女 (Lady)

 ~  
vinyl LP front cover 
cover photo by 毛澤西 (Lü Houmin)
photo of cover by Styrous®


This month is the birthday of Hong Kong singer and actress Anita Mui. She made major contributions to the Cantopop music scene and received numerous awards and honours. She remained an idol throughout her career, and is regarded as a Cantopop diva. She was dubbed as the "daughter of Hong Kong" and is considered an iconic Cantopop singer. She once held a sold-out concert in Hammersmith, London, England, where she was dubbed the "Madonna of the East" (東方麥當娜), which brought her to further international fame. That title stayed with her throughout her career, in both Eastern and Western media.           
 
vinyl LP back cover 
photo by 毛澤西 (Lü Houmin)
photo of back cover by Styrous®
 
 
Anita Mui was born on the 10th of October in 1963 in Hong Kong; her brothers and sister were born in China. At the age of 15, due to the frequency of performances at different venues (up to six venues per day) her voice was affected due to the development of nodules on her vocal cords.She took a year off and when she started performing again discovered her voice  was lowered by an octave.           
 
Mui released 50 albums in total. Her best-selling album was the 1985 Bad Girl (壞女孩), which sold over 400,000 copies (platinum 8x by Hong Kong's standards). In 1994, she sold over 10 million albums. She was invited to sing at the 1988 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in Seoul together with Janet Jackson.         
 
Mui performed the song Bad Girl (a Cantonese cover of Strut by Sheena Easton) in Guangzhou, China, where it was banned, as it was considered pornographic in nature. The government authorities in Guangzhou were infuriated when she chose to sing the song on the last day of her concert.       
 
The album cover is has a gatefold format . . .      

vinyl LP gatefold cover 
cover & back photo by 毛澤西 (Lü Houmin)
photo of cover by Styrous®


vinyl LP gatefold interior
photo by 毛澤西 (Lü Houmin)
photos of cover interior by Styrous®




淑女 (Lady) opens the album and it, with 莫問一生 (Don't ask for a lifetime), are two of my favorite cuts; Lifetime is a rollicking gallop that rushes on at a furious pace brimming with cultural influences from the Middle Easter, South America, Indian, etc., from time to time. I've added YouTube links to them as well as other songs I've liked.           

Mui did a cover of a 1940 Mandarin popular song composed by Chen Gexin and first recorded by Yao Lee. An English-language version whose lyrics have little in common with the original Mandarin was later recorded by Frankie Laine in 1951 (links to both below). Her 淑女 (Lady) album is one of my "Desert Island" choices (link below).             
 
. . . and there is a magazine included with the album with images.      
 
 





Anita Mui never married and On 5 September 2003, Mui publicly announced that she had cervical cancer, from which her sister had also died. She held a series of eight shows at the Hong Kong Coliseum from 6–11 November and 14–15 November 2003, which were to be her last concerts before her death. She never married and her symbolic act was to "marry the stage", which was accompanied by her hit song Sunset Melody (夕陽之歌) as she exited the stage. The last song she performed on stage was Cherish When We Meet Again (珍惜再會時), a rendition of The Manhattans song, Kiss And Say Goodbye on November 15, 2003. She died on December 30, 2003 at 2:50 am Hong Kong Time.        
 




vinyl LP labels, side 1 & 2
photos by Styrous®


   
Tracklist:
       
Side 1:
        
A1 - 淑女, Lyrics By – 潘偉源, Producer, Music By, Arranged By – 鮑比達* - 3:35

A2 - 傲慢,Lyrics By – 林夕*, Producer, Music By, Arranged By – 徐日勤 - 4:56

A3 - 幾多個幾多, Lyrics By – 潘源良, Producer, Music By, Arranged By – 郭小霖* - 3:44

A4 - 轉走舊時夢, Lyrics By – 黎彼得, Producer, Music By, Arranged By – 黎小田* - 4:05

A5 - 朝朝暮暮, Lyrics By – 林夕*, Producer, Music By, Arranged By – 徐日勤 - 4:03
       
Side 2:
       
B1 - 黑夜的豹, Lyrics By – 林振強*, Producer, Music By, Arranged By – 倫永亮* - 4:45

B2 - 曾被我擁有, Lyrics By – 鄭國江, Producer, Music By, Arranged By – 郭小霖* - 4:30

B3 - 戀愛 Part-Time, Lyrics By – 陳少琪, Producer, Music By, Arranged By – 黎小田* - 3:06

B4 -  - cs By – 周禮茂, Producer, Music By, Arranged By – 倫永亮*, 3:41

B5 - 今夜只因你, Lyrics By – 潘偉源, Producer, Music By, Arranged By – 鮑比達* - 4:13
       
Companies, etc.
       
    Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Capital Artists Ltd.
    Copyright © – Capital Artists Ltd.
       
Credits:
       
    Art Direction – Kinson Chan
    Bass – Rudy*, 林志宏, 梅啟新
    Drums – 張健波, 陳偉強
    Guitar – Danny Leung, Dong Dong*, Joey*, 蘇德華
    Hair – Ben Lee (15)
    Keyboards – Alexander Dela Cruz*, 倫永亮*, 鮑比達*, 黎小田*, Siu Lam Kwok, 郭小霖*
    Mixed By – 倫永亮*, 鮑比達*, David Ling Jr., 黎小田*, 郭小霖*, Tom Brown (27), 徐日勤
    Percussion – 甘仕樑*
    Photography By – 毛澤西
    Programmed By – Martin*, 梁偉基
    Recorded By – David Ling Jr., Martin*, Philip Kwok, Tom Brown (27), Sum*, 黃紀華*
    Saxophone – Ding Basbas*
    Stylist – 劉培基
       
Notes:
       
Gatefold sleeve.        

梅艷芳* = Anita* – 淑女
Label:    華星唱片 – CAL-04-1079
Format:    Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: Hong Kong
Released: Feb 4, 1989
Genre: Rock, Pop
Style:Ballad, Cantopop, Pop Rock
       

         
Viewfinder links:        
          
Hue Lee ~ Rose, Rose, I Love You         
Frankie Laine        
Anita Mui       
        
YouTube links:        
        
Sheena Easton - Strut         
Frankie Laine ~ Rose, Rose, I Love You     
The Manhattans ~ Kiss and Say Goodbye       
Anita Mui ~             
     Bad Girl 壞女孩         
     淑女 (Lady)    
     傲慢 (Arrogant)      
         
        
        
        
Styrous® ~ Monday, October 30, 2023       
       
 
 






















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