Cluvmusique

Saturday January 15, 2005 The Star Online

A chance to get up-close with David Tao


FANS of Taiwanese singer-songwriter David Tao rejoice? Your idol is coming to town.  

With the support of Hotlink, Tao will be in Malaysia March 16-20 for a nationwide tour of Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Kuching to promote his latest album The Great Leap, which will be available Jan 21.  

Before the tour, there will be lots of activities and prizes to be won, starting with a special launch of the album this Sunday at Tower Records Mid Valley Megamall, Kuala Lumpur.   

From 1pm to 9pm on Sunday, fans who order the album at Tower Records Mid Valley Megamall will stand a chance to win a limited edition David Tao T-shirt and a three-song demo CD in a lucky draw, simply by filling out a form and sending it to EMI Music.  

Fans who are also Hotlink members can look forward to more goodies, as they are not only entitled to a 20% discount when they purchase the new album they also get two tickets for the promo tour with every purchase of a Hotlink RM30 top-up ticket.  

There will also be an SMS contest where eight lucky Hotlink customers and two 988 radio listeners will be treated to a four-day/three-night, all-expense-paid trip to Hong Kong from Jan 20 to 23 to attend the exclusive global launch of The Great Leap. For more details on the contest, visit www.hotlink.com.my.

Cluvmusique

Sunday January 23, 2005 The Star Online

Tao wants to make the world a better place

BY NG CHENG YEE


HONG KONG: Being an Asian R & B king is not just about looking good and making lots of money.  

For acclaimed singer-songwriter David Tao, it is also important to be concerned about problems in society.   

“I hope to change my living environment through my music, if I can’t change the world,” he said after launching his album The Great Leap 2005 at Times Square here yesterday.   

For example, Tao said the song Ghost was to remind people that human beings could be scarier than ghosts because of the damage they inflicted on society through wars and terrorist activities.  

“It is a song that uses a negative symbol to send out a positive message in that human beings might be able to destroy society like ghosts but their love and care could also make the world a better place,” he said, adding that he was upset the song was banned in China.   

Tao also received the platinum award for the sale of his four previous albums.  

Three million copies of his albums were sold in Asia alone.   

Although the music was not completely different from his previous albums, he said the new album was more mature and simpler.  

“When you reach 35, you will have different views about your life, love, career and parents and these will be reflected in your music as you tend to keep things simple by using fewer musical instruments,” he said.  

On whether he was “playing safe by including commercial love songs” such as Who do you love? in the album, he said being commercial was not necessarily a bad thing.  

On his future plans, Tao said he would visit tsunami-affected areas in Indonesia and Thailand with other artistes, apart from promoting his new album.  

“I’m also planning to organise concerts in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia this year,” he said.   

Tao will be in Malaysia from March 15 to 20 to promote his latest album. The event will be organised by Galaxy Production and presented by Hotlink.


[img] [/img]
David Tao performing in Shanghai druing the New Year's Eve countdown party.

Cluvmusique

2005-01-25  Electric New Paper, Singapore

David takes a great leap

His music style is changing, and so is the American-born Taiwanese singer's world view

Wendy Teo
teowyw@sph.com.sg


DAVID Tao (right) doesn't mince words.

Just minutes into our interview, the R&B singer launches into a tirade against corrupt politicians.

'Why do you think people get into politics? It's for the money, that's why. It's a business with more money than you can imagine.'

We had been talking about the single Ghost from his latest album The Great Leap, which is David's angry outpouring directed at those 'with power and money, but give absolutely nothing to the world'.

The American-born Chinese was in Hong Kong last Friday for the launch of his album.

Like his previous album Black Tangerine, which was inspired by the Sep 11 tragedy, The Great Leap is also teeming with the socially-conscious 36-year-old's views of the world.

This time, bad politicians bear the brunt of his diatribe. He had refused to vote during last year's hotly-contested US elections.
'Our political system is a joke! Who can I vote for then? I prefer to exercise my rights through my music.'

David certainly wasn't beating around the bush with his comments, but could it be a particular Bush that he was bashing?
David claims that he was not.

'I'm not entirely pointing the finger at just one in particular, it's anyone who has the power, money and control but doesn't use it appropriately.

MUSIC WITH A MESSAGE

'Probably, some people might think I'm a troublemaker for my incendiary thoughts, but I truly believe that with more love around, we can have more hope for our current situation.'

And with The Great Leap, David is also making a great leap of his own to his 'mid-life stage' of music-making.

'At this point, my views of the world and society are now different from before, and my songs will be different too.'

He is no longer content with music just for entertainment, but music with a message.

'In the West, we have people like Sting, Bob Dylan and Bono who are not afraid to voice their views on politics, but we don't have an Asian singer who does that.'

But what if his fans are not ready to accept this wise and serious David Tao?

'I'm not worried. I don't think my attitude is self-righteous.

'I'm just expressing my opinion. We are all guilty of a lot of things. But to criticise doesn't mean you are self-righteous as long as it's constructive.

'If people get sick of hearing what I want to say, they can stop buying my albums.'

Clearly, David has no plans to keep his opinions to himself and doesn't have plans to buckle under external pressure.

At his press conference earlier, David had thanked his fans for their support with a bow, and then promised that he would never 'sell out' in terms of music.

ARTISTIC FREEDOM

When asked what that out-of-the-blue promise was all about, David replied: 'It means caving in to the market, to the record companies.

'It's about artistic freedom, about doing what you want to do.'

He added: 'This has always been a struggle with the artistes and there's been changes in quality of the music that some of the singers are putting out now. I don't need to name names.

'I guess it's not entirely their fault, it's because the market keeps changing. But I still prefer to stay true to my music.'

Could he be talking about arch rival Jay Chou? After all, when a reporter had compared him to Jay earlier, David's comments were politically correct but hinted at a deeper meaning nevertheless.

'Jay comes up with more albums and more frequently than me.

'His performance is very good. But different musicians have different ways of doing things.

'I'm older than Jay by quite a bit and my thinking is different.

'Sometimes, music is not about the number of albums you come out with or the sales figures. What's important is whether your music influences society or not.'

David Tao's latest album, The Great Leap, is out in stores now.


[img] [/img]

Cluvmusique

2005-01-25  Electric New Paper, Singapore

Melodies for the women in his life


KATRINA, Catherine, Melody, Susan and Angeline.

They have all had the honour of having a song written for them by David Tao.

We do know that Melody was written for his ex-girlfriend Melody (left). But how are all the other ladies related to him?
Is he some Lothario who likes to pen songs as a nod to all his exes?

David, amused by the question, was quick to defend himself: 'Angeline is a fictitious character I wrote the song for, it's about a mermaid. Melody, well, you all know already. Katrina is not my ex-girlfriend, but someone I briefly knew.

'Catherine, was written for my mum, while Susan is actually a song about Chinese opera, and is a play on the title of a famous opera, not a person.'

And while David was more than happy to talk about his work and views of the world, he was tight-lipped about his love life.
He refused to comment on recent rumours that he was dating a woman named Joanna.

He claims he hasn't 'found my rose yet' and doesn't have plans to settle down for the next two years as he wants to concentrate on his career.

'I always treat my personal life as very private... I always find that the paparazzi is a double-edged sword. Sometimes the publicity helps, but there are times when you can do without it.'

Cluvmusique

2005-01-25  Electric New Paper, Singapore

Fans thrilled to be part of new CD, music video launch


THE press conference for the launch of David Tao's new CD was not held at the usual hotel function room but at the open plaza of the bustling Times Square shopping mall in Causeway Bay.

An unusual decision no doubt, but one that left many of David's fans delighted.

VANTAGE POINT

Administrative officer Agnes Fung was at the shopping mall three hours before the press conference to reserve a vantage point to see her idol.

She couldn't believe her luck when she heard that the press conference was going to be held in an open area that she could have access to.

'I have been waiting for two years for David to come to Hong Kong,' she said.

There was no mistaking who were the curious shoppers and who were the fans.

The fans - besides bearing the usual placards - also had a bright orange 'tattoo' of the Chinese character Tao on their cheeks.

One of them, undergraduate Echo Cheung, 21, told The New Paper: 'We got the idea from football matches. We saw how some people paint the name of their country or their favourite teams on their cheeks and decided to do the same.'

Though there were less than a hundred fans present, they were enthusiastic and cheered loudly to set the mood for the press conference whenever one of the TV crew members requested them to do so.

The fans also got very excited over the unveiling of David's much-talked-about music video for his song Who Do You Love.

SIZZLING KISSING SCENE

The nine-minute music video, which features a sizzling kissing scene between David and Chinese actress Qu Ying, was shown for the first time.

It elicited a lot of screams and catcalls from his female fans, who were obviously not used to seeing their idol in such a 'compromising' position.

David was both amused by his fans' reaction, as well as the fuss over the kissing scene.

He said that the scene was done in four takes and had taken not more than 10 minutes to complete.

He had not met Qu Ying before the filming of the video but said that it wasn't awkward to film the scene at all.

'If she is my friend, then it would have been awkward, but it's precisely because we don't know each other, that's why we treat it as only a job.'



[ Last edited by Cluvmusique on 2005-1-25 at 20:32 ]

Cluvmusique

Friday January 28, 2005

Taiwan's music scene outshines Hong Kong's

By MICHAEL CHEANG
2005-01-28 The Star Online


WHILE researching for this article, I posed to some Chinese entertainment reporters this question, "How many prominent new artistes have emerged from Taiwan in the past five years?"

The answers came promptly Jay Chou, Jolin Tsai, Penny Tai, S.H.E, F.I.R. and Energy. Wang Leehom and David Tao were also mentioned even though they made their debut in 1996 and 1997, respectively.

What about those from Hong Kong?  

Girl group Twins was almost always the first to be mentioned, followed by a long pause, before a few other names were highlighted, albeit with uncertainty.

The most prominent act to emerge from Hong Kong in the past two years has been Twins, and even then, the duo's music is not very inspiring, to say the least.  

Go back a little further and names like Joey Yung, Miriam Yeung, Nicholas Tse and Eason Chen would pop up, but that's about all.

The music scene in Taiwan and Hong Kong has always enjoyed a kind of symbiotic relationship. Taiwanese singers who have made it big would release Cantonese albums to break into the Hong Kong market, while Hong Kong singers would brush up on their guo yu (Mandarin) and release Mandarin albums in Taiwan.

However, in recent years, there have been fewer Taiwanese artistes releasing Cantonese albums in Hong Kong. Even if they tried to break into the Hong Kong market, they would have done better with their Mandarin songs than their oft-mispronounced Cantonese ones.  

In contrast, there seems to be an increasing number of Hong Kong singers who are breaking into the Taiwanese Mando-pop market.

Is this a coincidence or is it a case of the Taiwanese music market being better than the Hong Kong one?

Stagnant music scene

With all due respect to Hong Kong artistes, it probably isn't a matter of the Hong Kong music scene declining, but more due to the rapid rise of Taiwanese music which is eclipsing the stagnant Hong Kong scene.

During a recent interview in Malaysia, members of Hong Kong's 21-year-old rock band Beyond mentioned that they were disappointed with the state of music back home.

Bassist Wong Ka Keung said: After all that we have done, we are disappointed that no one has tried to follow in our footsteps and emulate our success.

There was a time when the Hong Kong music scene was really bad. Even though things have since improved, our music scene is at a standstill.

Many of the popular acts in Hong Kong have already been around for at least a decade. The charts are dominated by the same artistes whom we have been seeing for the past 10 years ?Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau, Sammi Cheng and Faye Wong.  

The Golden era of which the late Leslie Cheung, Anita Mui, Roman Tam and Danny Chan Pak Keung were a part has passed. Of the original Four Heavenly Kings--Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau, Aaron Kwok and Leon Lai--only Cheung is primarily a singer. The other three have been focusing most of their attention on acting.

For that matter, the lustre of the Heavenly King tag has diminished so much that Alan Tam recently suggested a new set of "kings". However, his choices were pretty questionable as well, because the new "kings" he named--Andy Hui, Leo Ku, Hacken Lee and Edmond Leung Hon Man--are artistes who have been around for as long as the original set.  

The girls seem to be faring better than the guys right now. Faye Wong, Candy Lo, Sammi Cheng and Kelly Chen are still in their element, while Joey Yung and Miriam Yeung have proved themselves worthy of taking over their seniors' places at the top.

Nevertheless, the quality of Hong Kong music is still uninspiring, with manufactured pop, formulaic ballads and lacklustre covers ruling the roost.

As a colleague of mine who reviews Chinese music albums noted: Hong Kong music is becoming formulaic, bland, unoriginal, over-produced, infantile and altogether uninspiring.

Creativity rules

Now, compare that to Taiwan�r sudden explosion of creativity among its artistes. Singers/ songwriters such as Jay Chou, Wang Leehom and David Tao, bands like F.I.R. and J.S., pop groups like Mayday, Energy, Tension and S.H.E, have all taken the Chinese music scene by storm.

Even though Taiwan has its fair share of old hands, like A-Mei, Harlem Yu, Emil Chau and Sky Wu, there has also been a constant flow of new talent, not only from within Taiwan, but also from other countries.

Today, Taiwan is considered the place to go to further one's music career. Malaysia's very own Fish Leong, Penny Tai and Zchen have established themselves as top acts in Taiwan over the past few years. Perhaps this is because Mandarin is spoken more widely in Taiwan than in Hong Kong, where Cantonese is the dialect of choice.  

China's rapidly growing market is an added incentive for singers to sing in Mandarin.

In terms of originality, creativity and overall quality of songs, Taiwan is way ahead of Hong Kong.

In the past, singers-songwriters like the enigmatic Huang Shu Jun and the late Zhang Yu Sheng led the way with their original compositions. Today, David Tao, Leehom and Jay Chou write their own music. Bands and groups like F.I.R., J.S. and Shin constantly break into the charts with their original compositions.

Even if the singers don't write their own songs, they still have a good pool of original songs from which they can pick, instead of relying on covers and remakes. Creativity and originality have put Taiwan's music scene ahead.  

Awarding mediocrity

A quick look at the list of winners for recent music awards in both countries may be able to give a better picture of the issue.

In Hong Kong, the winner of the best male performer at the recent Jade Solid Gold music awards was Andy Lau, who has been around for more than 20 years now.

Lau dominated the awards, bagging five trophies, beating previous best male performer winner Hacken Lee.  

At the same awards, Joey Yung was voted best female singer.  

At the Hong Kong Top 10 Chinese Gold Songs Awards on Jan 19, Lau again won an award for having one of the top 10 songs while Joey Yung and Hacken Lee won in the best female singer and best male singer at the Songs Awards presentation, respectively.

Every year, the awards are won by the same people. Predicting award winners has become an exercise in futility.

In Taiwan, things tend to be a lot more unpredictable. At the annual 15th Golden Melody awards last May, no single singer dominated the awards.

Crowd favourites such as S.H.E, A-Mei, David Tao and Leehom lost out in their various categories last year, with S.H.E losing to then newcomers Ah-Bao and Brandy, and David Tao losing out to veteran Sky Wu in the best male singer (Mandarin) category.  

Leehom, however, managed to grab the best producer award, which is another indication of the versatility and dynamism of the Taiwanese talents.  

Ironically Beijing-born Faye Wong now based in Hong Kong, won the best Mandarin singer award, winning a category dominated by non-Taiwanese singers such as Singapore's Tanya Chua, Malaysia's Fish Leong and Penny Tai, and the only Taiwanese singer, Jolin Tsai). How's that for diversity?


＊Hong Kong singers and Taiwan artistes, whom do you prefer and why? Write to us at startwo@thestar.com.my. Also, see our online poll and, to cast your vote, go to thestar.com.my/hkortaiwan.


這一篇是講華人樂壇發展的趨勢,不是針對陶陶這張專輯的報導,但是大家可以多看看!

Cluvmusique

By Ricky Yap
Jan 30: Malay Mail Online

IT was Taiwanese rhythm and blues king David Tao’s fourth Mandarin album, but it was launched in Hong Kong amidst much fanfare and hoopla. Peaceful World is Tao’s first release with EMI Music. His first three Mandarin albums were released with Music Street.

In keeping with the imparting-of-positive-messages tradition of its predecessors, Tao's latest release – as its title suggests – is a rallying call for a violence-free Earth.

More than 800,000 copies of the album have been released worldwide, with media representatives from countries such as China, Singapore and Malaysia, invited for the launch. In addition, the event was simultaneously broadcast to other countries, with Tao showing off his multi-lingual skills, speaking in Cantonese, Mandarin, English and even Spanish.

While waiting for Tao to turn up, guests were treated to a loop screening of the nine-minute-long MTV film, Love Me Or Him (the first single from his album), which also featured him in his first kiss.

Tao said he was a red-blooded professional during the MTV shoot: "I didn't stop kissing until the director yelled ‘Cut!'," he quipped.

Tao added that EMI also wanted to pick a second single, but its title, Qui (Devil in Mandarin), was deemed too sensitive.

But, as Tao explained, it was a perfect example of a storm in a teacup: "The lyrics have nothing to do with apparitions or the supernatural. The song is about bad people, commonly referred to as ‘devils' in conversations among Chinese. So, there is nothing controversial about it." Picking the songs for the album and the actual recording took eight to nine months, although the planning process started about two-and-a-half years ago. Unlike his previous efforts, Tao has included several mainstream and commercial songs in Peaceful World.

"These tracks acted as ‘insurance', just in case music lovers do not like the rhythm and blues songs on the album," said Tao, who turns 35 this year and is worried he might not get married by the time he reaches 40.

Tao was born in Hong Kong but moved to Los Angeles, California, in his early years. At the age of 11, he followed his family to Taipeh, Taiwan, and returned to the US a few years later to complete his high school education. He earned a degree in psychology from the University of California in 1991. A chance meeting with a Taiwanese album producer in Los Angeles led to his recording debut, Taoism, in 1997.

Come March, Tao is scheduled for a promotional visit here. For details, call the organiser Galaxy Production at (03) 2282-2020.

Source: http://www.mmail.com.my/Current_ ... /Article/index_html