To those of the Internet generation, the name Dr Liang Wern Fook (Liang Wen Fu) may seem vaguely familiar and to name some of the songs he wrote or sang may also pose as a challenge.
But listening to his newly released album "Rao Liang Yi Shi" (A Lifetime with Liang), a sense of nostalgia overwhelmed me and some of the tunes are surprisingly familiar, having heard of during my childhood days.
For the uninitiated, Liang is a homegrown writer and singer-songwriter from the Xinyao era. Besides having over ten publications in various creative writing genres (essay, poetry and short story), Liang is also famous for his song writing.
In fact, he was voted "Most Popular Writer" by local students in a poll organized by Lianhe Zaobao in 1990, and in 2003, Liang was voted "The Person Who Best Represents the Xinyao Spirit".
Because of his literary talent, his songs are usually of simple tunes and catchy lyrics, which make them easy to sing and good to remember. Hence his compositions are widely received within and outside of the country.
Although in recent years, he kept a low profile on the frontstage, Liang has been consistently writing songs for many singers. One of his latest compositions is Joi Chua's "Watch the Sunrise with Me" (2004).
"Rao Liang Yi Shi" (A Lifetime with Liang) is a 6-CD collection of Liang's compositions dated from the early 1980s till today, with 74 songs altogether. It is as a form of commemoration to mark the different phases he've been through on his music journey.
The first 5 CDs, namely "Door", "Besides the Good and the Bad", "The Name of Love", "Singaporean" and "Go East", contain his popular hits from the Xinyao era, e.g. "One Step At a Time", "Door" and "Song of the Flowing Water", most of which were sang by him.
The 6th CD "If There're Seasons" is a tad different from the rest, as it contains compositions that meant a lot to Liang but were recorded in other singers' albums. It is also a collection of many Liang's first times, e.g. the first movie theme song he wrote (Are You Still There) and the first song which won a composition award (Kit Chan's "Worry"). Moreover, it includes the title song by Kit Chan and Joi Chua's "Watch the Sunrise with Me".
In a time when singers do hip-hop, R&B and fusion music, an occasional change to listening songs from the Xinyao era is not that bad either. hooked
hooked's rating: 3.5/5
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