''Toy'' and ''Help Yourself'' are two
1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...
Cantonese EPs recorded by Chinese
Cantopop
Cantopop (a contraction of "Cantonese pop music") or HK-pop (short for "Hong Kong pop music") is a genre of pop music written in standard Chinese and sung in Cantonese. Cantopop is also used to refer to the cultural context of its production ...
singer
Faye Wong
Faye Wong ( zh, 王菲; born Xia Lin on 8 August 1969) is a Hong Kong singer-songwriter. Early in her career she briefly used the stage name Shirley Wong. Born in Beijing, she moved to Hong Kong in 1987 and her debut album '' Shirley Wong'' ( ...
when she was based in
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
.
In 1996, the last year of her
recording contract
A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist (or group), where the artist makes a record (or series of records) for the label to sell and promote. Artists ...
with
Cinepoly Records
Cinepoly Records (新藝寶) is a Hong Kong-based record label founded in 1985. It was a subsidiary of PolyGram Records and the film company Cinema City. Ownership of Cinepoly Records switched to Universal Music Group after Universal acquired Pol ...
, Wong recorded ten original songs in
Cantonese
Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding are ...
, all with lyrics by
Lin Xi
Albert Leung (born 7 December 1961, ) is a lyricist and writer based in Hong Kong.
Education
Leung attended all-boy secondary schools at Chan Sui Ki (La Salle) College and La Salle College. He received a bachelor of arts in translation from th ...
but composed by others such as
Wong Ka Keung
Steve Wong Ka Keung (; born 13 November 1964) is a Hong Kong musician, singer, songwriter and the bassist for the rock band Beyond. He is also younger brother of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Wong Ka Kui, who died in 1993.
Life and care ...
, Adrian Chan, and Chan Xiao Xia. These songs were supposed to be released as an album in 1996/1997; however,
Cinepoly
Cinepoly Records (新藝寶) is a Hong Kong-based record label founded in 1985. It was a subsidiary of PolyGram Records and the film company Cinema City. Ownership of Cinepoly Records switched to Universal Music Group after Universal acquired Pol ...
decided to release the ten tracks separately on four occasions. Cinepoly later released eight of these songs in the two EPs entitled ''Toy'' and ''Help Yourself''. The other two songs were included in later compilations.
''Toy''
''Toy'' (
Yale romanization; ) was released in February 1997, during Faye Wong's
parental leave
Parental leave, or family leave, is an employee benefit available in almost all countries. The term "parental leave" may include maternity, Paternity (law), paternity, and adoption leave; or may be used distinctively from "maternity leave" an ...
where she gave birth to her first child. The EP's cover photo depicts Wong in her home in
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, having moved back there after several successful years based in
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
.
The five tracks on ''Toy'' would be Wong's most significant release of new Cantonese songs until her
self-titled album in 2001.
#"" () –
#: 'Undercurrent'
#"" () –
#: 'Date/Rendezvous'
#"" () –
#: 'Perfunctoriness/Negligence/Equivocation'
#"" () –
#: 'Toy/Plaything'
#"" () –
#: 'I Believe'
''Help Yourself''
''Help Yourself'' () followed in May 1997.
Although this EP (like ''Toy'') contained new songs, including the hit ballad "On Time" (), and was welcomed by fans, it received lukewarm critical responses, particularly for the three remixes of songs from earlier albums.
The album cover was a photograph of Faye Wong taken several years previously.
#"" () –
#: 'Punctuality/On Time'
#"" () –
#: 'Guardian Angel'
#"" () –
#: 'Help Yourself'
#"
Di-Dar
''Di-Dar'' is the ninth and last Cantonese album by Hong Kong singer Faye Wong, released in December 1995 through Cinepoly. The album marked a shift from Wong's earlier style as she incorporated British psychedelic rock and ragga into her work, s ...
" (Historical Remix) –
#"" () –
#: 'Pledge/Vow' (Discovery Remix)
#"" () –
#: 'Sleepwalk' (Universal Remix)
Other songs
Cinepoly's first releases of their remaining original recordings by Faye Wong were as follows:
*"" () -
:: 'Unbelievable', on the 1997 compilation ''Not for Sale'' (菲賣品)
*"" ()
:: 'Scary', on the 2002 compilation ''Faye Best''
''Be Perfunctory''
''Be Perfunctory''
Fan spends 1 mln yuan to release Faye Wong's album
China.org.cn, 29 October 2015 is the last Cantonese
Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding are ...
album by Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
singer Faye Wong
Faye Wong ( zh, 王菲; born Xia Lin on 8 August 1969) is a Hong Kong singer-songwriter. Early in her career she briefly used the stage name Shirley Wong. Born in Beijing, she moved to Hong Kong in 1987 and her debut album '' Shirley Wong'' ( ...
.
In 2015, a fan of Faye Wong purchased the Hong Kong publishing rights from Cinepoly (now under Universal Music Group) and started a company called Chaotic Silence in order to issue the ten tracks together in one album.
#"" () –
#: 'Be Perfunctory'
#"" () –
#: 'Undercurrent'
#"" () –
#: 'Scary'
#"" () –
#: 'Guardian Angel'
#"" () -
#: 'Punctuality/On Time'
#"" () -
#: 'Unbelievable'
#"" () –
#: 'Toy/Plaything'
#"" () –
#: 'I Believe'
#"" () –
#: 'Help Yourself'
#"" () –
#: 'Date/Rendezvous'
References
External links
Wun Geui
at douban
Douban.com (), launched on 6 March 2005, is a Chinese online database and social networking service that allows registered users to record information and create content related to film, books, music, recent events, and activities in Chinese c ...
.com
Wun Geui
at mojim.com
Ji Bin
at douban
Douban.com (), launched on 6 March 2005, is a Chinese online database and social networking service that allows registered users to record information and create content related to film, books, music, recent events, and activities in Chinese c ...
.com
Ji Bin
at mojim.com
{{Authority control
Faye Wong albums
1997 EPs
Cinepoly Records EPs
Cantopop EPs