Prudence Liew (album)
Encyclopedia
- The article is about the eponymous album, Prudence Liew. For the actual person, see Prudence LiewPrudence LiewPrudence Liew Mei-Gwan is a multi-platinum selling Hong Kong pop singer and Golden Horse Award winning actress, having released 14 studio albums and appearing in numerous films.-Career start:...
.
劉美君 Prudence Liew is the self-titled debut album of cantopop
Cantopop
Cantopop is a colloquialism for "Cantonese popular music". It is sometimes referred to as HK-pop, short for "Hong Kong popular music". It is categorized as a subgenre of Chinese popular music within C-pop...
singer Prudence Liew
Prudence Liew
Prudence Liew Mei-Gwan is a multi-platinum selling Hong Kong pop singer and Golden Horse Award winning actress, having released 14 studio albums and appearing in numerous films.-Career start:...
, released on December 23, 1986.
Album information
While working as a film producerFilm producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
, Liew was faced with the task of coming up with a theme song to the movie Midnight Beauties (午夜麗人). The film company eventually decided to cover a Korean pop ballad called "Dear J" by Lee Sun Hee and have Liew write the Cantonese lyrics as well as perform the vocals on the track. The result was the lead single to the album, titled "Midnight Love 午夜情", about a forbidden love between a call girl
Call girl
A call girl or female escort is a sex worker who is not visible to the general public; nor does she usually work in an institution like a brothel, although she may be employed by an escort agency...
and her client. The song garnered heavy airplay from radio stations across Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, and Liew was signed as the flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
artist to Current Records to record this album.
The second single off the album, "最後一夜 The Last Night", is a cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of the song, "You're a Woman" by the German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
Europop
Europop
Europop refers to a style of pop music that first developed in today's form in Europe, throughout the late 1970s. Europop topped the charts throughout the 1980s and ’90s...
group Bad Boys Blue
Bad Boys Blue
Bad Boys Blue are a multinational pop group that was formed in Cologne, Germany. The group performed many international hits including You're a Woman, Pretty Young Girl, I Wanna Hear Your Heartbeat and Come Back and Stay.- History :...
. The track featured a heavy dance beat that proved to be very popular with the Hong Kong disco scene. The popularity of this song propelled Liew's status in the music scene and this song is still considered to be her signature song
Signature song
A signature song is the one song that a popular and well-established singer or band is most closely identified with or best known for, even if they have had success with a variety of songs...
.
Many well-known composers and lyricists from Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
and Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
contributed to this album, including Wong Jim
Wong Jim
James Wong Jim was a Cantopop lyricist and writer based primarily in Hong Kong. He was also a well known in Asia as a columnist, actor, film director, screenwriter and talk show hosts. He took part in creative directing positions within the entertainment industry in Hong Kong...
(黃霑), Waiorrend Lam (林敏怡), Andrew Lam
Andrew Lam
Andrew Lam is a Vietnamese American writer. He was born in South Vietnam, where he led a privileged life as the son of General Lâm Quang Thi of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. He attended Lycée Yersin in Dalat....
(林敏驄), and Richard Lam
Richard Lam
Richard Lam Chun-Keung was a Cantopop lyricist with several hundred Cantopop songs to his name, and a columnist for Apple Daily and Next Magazine in Hong Kong.- Career :...
(林振強). Liew herself composed and wrote the lyrics for the final track of the album, "Troubled Depressing Night 惆悵滄桑夜" as well as providing the lyrics to the aforementioned "Midnight Love 午夜情".
Reception
The album sold extremely well, having certified 10x platinumMusic recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
by the Hong Kong IFPI
IFPI
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a not-for-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland...
, selling over 500,000 copies, an impressive feat from a debut artist. The album was also very well-received by critics and won two music awards as Best Produced Album of the Year from RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards
1987 RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards
The 1987 RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards was held in 1987 for the 1986 music season.-Top 10 song awards:The top 10 songs of 1987 are as follows.-Other awards:-References:*...
and Jade Solid Gold Top 10 Awards
1987 Jade Solid Gold Top 10 Awards
The 1987 Jade Solid Gold Best Ten Music Awards Presentation was held on January 1988. It is part of the Jade Solid Gold Best Ten Music Awards Presentation series held in Hong Kong.-Top 10 song awards:...
in 1987.
Re-issues
Because of the quality of the album, it is still very popular among audiophileAudiophile
An audiophile is a person who enjoys listening to recorded music, usually in a home. Some audiophiles are more interested in collecting and listening to music, while others are more interested in collecting and listening to audio components, whose "sound quality" they consider as important as the...
s in Hong Kong today. Sony BMG (BMG Music which bought out Current Records in 1992), started re-issuing the album in several high end audio formats, including Super Audio CD
Super Audio CD
Super Audio CD is a high-resolution, read-only optical disc for audio storage. Sony and Philips Electronics jointly developed the technology, and publicized it in 1999. It is designated as the Scarlet Book standard. Sony and Philips previously collaborated to define the Compact Disc standard...
, Extended Resolution Compact Disc
Extended Resolution Compact Disc
eXtended Resolution Compact Disc is a mastering and manufacture process patented by JVC for producing redbook Compact Discs. It was first introduced in 1995....
and most recently, Blu-spec CD
Blu-spec CD
Blu-spec CD describes an Audio CD manufactured by a proprietary process introduced by Sony Music Entertainment Japan in late 2008. Its name derives from the similar manufacturing process to that used to create Blu-ray Discs. Instead of a traditional infra-red laser, a blue laser is used for...
.
Re-issue formats
- Prudence Liew (Sony BMG - The Legendary Collection), released July 12, 2005
- Prudence Liew (XRCD), release September 28, 2005
- Prudence Liew (LPCD 45 Version), released July 24, 2007
- Prudence Liew (Pure Gold Series), released April 9, 2009
- Prudence Liew (Blu-Spec CD), release March 19, 2010
Track list
- 最後一夜 (The Last Night)
- 清晨 (Early Morning)
- 亞熱帶少年 Subtropical Boy
- 忘情 (Forgotten Love)
- 午夜情 (Midnight Love)
- 假裝 (Pretending)
- Mind Made Up
- 霓虹鳥 (Neon Bird)
- 隔 (Separated)
- 惆悵滄桑夜 (Troubled Depressing Night)
- 亞熱帶少年 Subtropical Boy [ Subtropical Mix ] (CD version bonus track)
- Mind Made Up [ Extended Mix ] (CD version bonus track)