George Lam

George Lam Tsz Cheung (born 12 October 1947), also known professionally by his surname Lam, is a Hong Kong-based veteran Cantopop singer, singer-songwriter, music producer and actor, with a career spanning more than four decades. Self-producing, Lam creates most of his own albums and songs, as well as being especially involved with creative direction of his work outside its musical aspects. Lam has a wide vocal range and has interpreted and performed in many different genres of music.

His works are best known for pioneering a variety of genres in the Hong Kong music scene, such as creating the known first Cantorap, "Ah Lam's Diary", and the medley "10 Minutes 12 Inches" from multiple Cantopop hits, with the latter composition's interwoven intricacies creating a derivative for Lam's eponymous concert Lamusical with his own hits.

In addition to his singing career, Lam has also acted in various TV dramas and films, making his film debut in Luckies Trio in 1978. Possibly his most memorable role was as Shiomi Akutagawa, a Japanese journalist in Boat People (1982), directed by Ann Hui, in which he was nominated for Best Actor in the Hong Kong Film Awards.

Early life

Lam was born in British Hong Kong to a family of physicians, with both his father, a Yuen Long obstetrician, and paternal grandfather (the former hospital chief executive of Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital) being doctors.^[1] He attended Tak Sun Primary School, then Diocesan Boys' School, a predominantly English-language boys school, where he was a boarder.^[2] At the latter school, he chose to study French.

Lam started to pick up music at a young age, when his grandfather often took him to watch Chinese and Western movies, which exposed him to film music. His parents often played music around the house, and a sparked interest with listening to music on the radio led to him teaching himself to play the guitar. In 1965, Lam moved abroad to further his studies in the United Kingdom, attending Dover College and transferring to the Barcote School of Coaching, and United States.^[3] During this time at the latter school, he formed a folk song group, the Midnighters, with two friends of his. During his subsequent stay in the U.S., he began to experience a more diverse range of musical genres, which would greatly influence his work.

Career

After his studies in the United Kingdom, Lam remained for a few years for work before moving to California, where he coached tennis and worked in a stock brokerage firm. It was during this time that Lam started writing his own songs. Not long thereafter, he returned to Hong Kong to launch his music career.

Lam started as one of the lead singers in the band "Jade".^[4] In 1976, he went solo with the release of his first eponymous English album, "Lam". His first Cantonese album came out in 1978. In 1980, two of his compositions ("In The Middle of The Water"《在水中央》and "Need You Every Minute"《分分鐘需要你》) won Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Awards. Throughout the 1980s, 23 of Lam's songs topped the RTHK Chinese Pop Chart, making him second only to Alan Tam, who had 28.^[5][6]

Personal life

Lam married Ng Ching Yuen in 1980. Together, they have a son, Alex Lam Tak Shun, who is also a singer and actor,^[7] and a daughter April. Lam and Ng divorced in 1994. On 17 July 1996, he married singer and actress Sally Yeh.

Aside from his musical activities, Lam is a lover of sports and visual arts. Some of his particular ventures in sports is tennis and golf. In terms of visual arts, he has a special fondness for drawing mazes; one of his artworks was engraved onto a Lalique-produced crystal Buddha, with his collaboration lending itself as the French company's first collaboration with a Chinese artist. Lam also likes tailoring, often modifying clothes to his own taste.^[8]

During a May 2003 guest performance for Liza Wang at the Hong Kong Coliseum, Lam accidentally fell 2.5 metres through a stage floor opening. The accident injured his right ear, resulting in partial hearing loss, particularly in high frequencies, and tinnitus, leaving him hearing sounds in mono.^[9][10] A few months after his injury, he gave a series of concerts across southern China for the purpose of acclimating himself to performing with his altered hearing.^{[citation needed]}

Artistry

Musical style

Lam's experiences abroad is the strongest influence within his work, where he has introduced a wide variety of song styles to the Hong Kong pop music scene, with many originals and covers becoming Cantopop classics. His work encompasses a wide stylistic range, from country rock, rhythm and blues, rock and roll, funk, jazz, rap, traditional Chinese songs, to tango and bossa nova.

When producing covers, he taps into a wide variety of countries and regions, spanning from western Europe to particular Asian countries like Japan and South Korea. The pieces he selects to cover range in genres from folk songs, classical music, and jazz musicals, to funk and rock and roll.^[11]

Voice and timbre

Lam has been regarded to have a very wide tenor range, with his highest notes reaching F5, D#6 in full voice and volume, and his lowest notes is the G2.^{[citation needed]}

Awards and achievements

Lam's four decade-long career has shaped a significant part of the Hong Kong music scene. Many of today's top Cantopop singers such as Eason Chan, Hacken Lee, and Andy Lau have been influenced by his music. In an interview, George Lam confirmed he encouraged Andy Lau to be a singer when the two of them met during a movie filming.^[12]

In recognition of his contribution to music, Lam has received numerous accolades, including the Golden Needle Award in 1994, the CASH Hall of Fame Award in 2003, the J.S.G. Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015, and the RTHK Hall of Fame Award in 2016.

Discography

Filmography

Adapted from his IMDB profile.^[30][31]

Concerts

References

1. ^ 東方日報 (2016-10-11), "東方日報: 生於杏林世家 林子祥呻冇人教急救）", archived 4 September 2020 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 31 March 2019
2. ^ 星島日報 (2019-02-26), "星島日報: 林子祥重返母校 父子檔演唱會葉蒨文唔做嘉賓）", archived 3 July 2019 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 7 April 2019
3. ^ 明周 [Ming Zhou] (2019-02-16), "林子祥專訪】林子祥重遊英國母校）" [[Interview with Lin Zixiang] Lin Zixiang revisits his alma mater in the UK]
4. ^ 香港音樂人協會 (2019-01-01), "香港音樂人協會: Introducing The Band 本地樂隊歷史簡介）", archived from the original on 1 April 2019, retrieved 31 March 2019
5. ^ "各大流行榜歷年走勢重溫 - 檸音樂歌詞網 (LEMON MUSIC)". 檸音樂歌詞網. Archived 2012-11-24 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2021-11-07.
6. ^ "香港電台網站 : 第二台｜中文歌曲龍虎榜". 香港電台. Archived 2019-11-23 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2021-11-07.
7. ^ 東周 (2012-12-26), "東周: Lam仔拉心肝 林子祥）", archived 12 October 2020 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 31 March 2019
8. ^ 搜狐 (2021-10-18), "林子祥西装穿了几十年，其实他穿的是情怀，昨晚包括主持人都哭了" (in Chinese)
9. ^ Fairchild Radio (2016-12-17), "Fairchild Radio: Lam 林子祥的前世今生）"
10. ^ 蘋果新聞 (2019-02-25), "蘋果新聞: 蘋人誌：人的左耳 神的右耳 林子祥）", archived 31 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 31 March 2019
11. ^ "How Cantopop's George Lam has stayed popular since the 70s by being genuine". South China Morning Post. 2024-07-19. Retrieved 2024-11-08.
12. ^ "刘德华、林子祥"师徒"首次正式合作！". Sohu News. Retrieved 2024-11-08.
13. ^ TVB (2015-12-20), "TVB: 2015勁歌金曲頒獎典禮得獎名單）"
14. ^ 明報 (2015-11-24), "明報: 【十大中文金曲】林子祥奪「名人堂」 鍾鎮濤獲頒金針獎）"
15. ^ "Teresa Carpio & Lam". Spotify
16. ^ "摩登土佬". Spotify
17. ^ "一個人". Spotify
18. ^ "海市蜃樓". Spotify
19. ^ "千億個夜晚". Spotify
20. ^ "十三子祥". Spotify
21. ^ "日落日出". Spotify
22. ^ "'93創作歌集". Spotify
23. ^ "When a Man Loves a Woman". Spotify
24. ^ "決定". Spotify
25. ^ "單手拍掌". Spotify
26. ^ "只有林子祥". Spotify
27. ^ "佐治地球轉". Spotify
28. ^ "Lamusique". Spotify
29. ^ "Lamusique Vintage". Spotify
30. ^ "George Lam". imdb.com. Archived 20 April 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 6 March 2010.
31. ^ "George Lam". chinesemov.com. Archived 7 October 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 6 March 2010.

External links

• George Lam at IMDb