Alan Tam

Alan Tam 譚詠麟
Background information
Also known as	Lucky Lun Principal
Born	August 23 1950 (1950--) (age 57) Hong Kong
Origin	Hong Kong
Genre(s)	Cantopop
Occupation(s)	Singer, Actor
Years active	1979 - Present
Website	http://tamwinglun.com

Alan Tam Wing Lun (traditional Chinese: 譚詠麟; simplified Chinese: 谭咏麟; pinyin: Tán Yǒnglín; born 23 August, 1950) is a Hong Kong cantopop singer and a film actor. During the 1980s, he was well-known in Hong Kong for singing romantic ballads with modern arrangements. He was not renowned for singing fast songs like fellow cantopop star Leslie Cheung and Anita Mui, despite having a few tracks in fast tempo. He is also known as "Lucky Lun" (幸運麟 homonym word play on "Wheel of Fortune") as well as his affectionate title "Principal" (校長/譚校長) as if he were the principal of a Hong Kong school.

Career

Tam started his career with a well known band called the Wynners, which also have a well-known singer Kenny Bee among its members^[1]. His vocals stood out and was the lead singer in the band for many years. Dissatisfied with the progress of his career at such an important stage and especially that Kenny Bee had a more illustrious future, he took the brave step to break free from the Wynners' smothering influence and go solo. His first album as a solo artist is 'Naughty Boy' (反斗星) in 1979.^[1] An early success would be the song 'Love in Autumn' (愛在深秋) first performed in 1984.

Competition

For many years, he enjoyed gradual success and the Hong Kong press frequently reported of a fierce rivalry with the late Leslie Cheung who personified the 'bad boy' image and made it his own whereas Alan Tam was the proverbial 'goody two shoes'. It was in 1986 that his hit song 'Friends' (朋友) which upped the ante for an interesting 'duel' between the two hotly favored artists. Despite all these claims, the two artists never publicly demonstrated open conflict with each other and in 2000, both of them even collaborated to produce the single remix of Tam's popular song 'Illusion' (幻影). Although both artists are at peace with each other, it was the fans who created the unnecessary spectacle of a musical feud, which the Hong Kong press eagerly reported and added fuel to these rumors. Leslie Cheung himself admitted in person that his earlier decision to retire in 1989 was disturbingly caused by Alan Tam's fans placing joss sticks and other prayer items in front of Cheung's house which was a bad omen and a way to foretell death. Nonetheless, after Cheung's comeback, both of the singers have brushed aside the previous doubts about their friendship and even appeared in galas and other special programmes.

Legacy

Alan Tam himself established a foothold on the Cantopop scene with songs dating back to the late 1980s like 'Embrace' (擁抱), 'Flower in Water' (水中花), 'Half Dazed, Half Awoken' (半夢半醒) and the popular 'Love Trap' (愛情陷阱). The heyday of his singing career was over in the early 1990s, and while he continues to release albums from time to time, sales are no longer impressive and there is also a notable absence of hit numbers. He was also an actor in a number of entertaining films like Armour of God with Jackie Chan and the hilarious 'Master Wong v. Master Wong' which is a parody of legendary Canton kung fu exponent Wong Fei Hung. He also won the Best Leading Award in the Golden Horse Film Awards in 1981 with the film 'If I were for real'. In 2003, after the deaths of Leslie Cheung and Anita Mui, he teamed up with fellow artist Hacken Lee for a successful tour of Asia and both of them are known to collaborate on further concerts up to 2005.^[2] Since 2006, he has also been helping his godson Kelvin Kwan establish a career in the Hong Kong pop industry.^[3]

References

External links

• Alan Tam Dot Com
• TAMWINGLUN.Com (譚詠麟.COM)
• Profile at HKCuk.co.uk
• IMDb entry
• ATIS (Alan Tam Institute Singapore)

zh-yue:譚詠麟

Donate to Wikimedia