40th Anniversary Collection
Dick Lee
This year marks the 40th anniversary of all-round entertainer Dick Lee’s first album, Life Story (1974). Since then, he has put out more albums, penned musicals, broken into the Japanese market and written hit songs for top pop stars such as Sandy Lam, Jacky Cheung and the late Leslie Cheung.
There is plenty of ground to cover for an anniversary collection and two discs are just not enough to do his body of work justice.
The focus here is on his own albums, so there is material from The Mad Chinaman (1989), Asia Major (1990), The Year Of The Monkey (1993), Transit Lounge (1999) and the title track from Life Story.
Broadly, the songs fall into two categories: Singaporean pop and ear- worm balladry. Lee was wrestling with the question of what is Singaporean pop early on. He incorporated familiar imagery from fried rice to Tamil movies, built upon traditional folk songs and old favourites, mixed in ethnic instruments and added smatterings of Mandarin, Malay and Tamil into the melting pot.
He also created one of the most beloved National Day songs, Home, included here as a gently heart-tugging number from Life Deluxe (2010).
In the process, he helped to define the sound of Singapore pop.
Lee also had an unerring ear for melody. Paradise In My Heart, collected on Everything (2000), was a hit in English for Tracy Huang in 1986 as well as a Cantonese hit for Lam in 1990.
At his 40th anniversary concert at the Drama Centre Theatre on Aug 31, he also crooned Canto hits, Chase, sung by Leslie Cheung, and Love Is Eternal, written for the Jacky Cheung musical Snow.Wolf.Lake (1997). He also sang a duet with his former wife Jacintha Abisheganaden on songs from her first album Silence (1983), which was composed and produced by him.
It would have been perfect if there was an extra disc to fit in all this material as well as the Japanese children’s show theme song he referred to during the concert, and perhaps a choice selection of his work in musicals such as Beauty World (1988), Hotpants (1997) and Forbidden City: Portrait Of An Empress (2002).
Okay, maybe two more discs.

Until We Meet
Claire Kuo
Taiwanese cutie pie Claire Kuo (below) has a sweet persona and a pleasant voice, but the combination has not made for very exciting albums. The choice of material here is at least stronger than usual, thanks to songwriters such as William Wei and Lala Hsu.
On the opening ballad penned by Wei, Not Over You, she croons with a hint of regret and bravery: “Learn to be my own companion, learn not to cling/Not hard, eventually get used to some things, vanishing into thin air/But can I hold on to some memories.”
On the gently lilting My Little Safe Place, a search for a little forest leads unexpectedly to a joyous chorus of la-la-las.
Kuo may not be lucky in love on this record but at least she puts a brave front on it. On the upbeat Shine Your Way, she asks defiantly: “Who says singlehood equals to loneliness plus sighs?”
It is a welcome show of spunk from a singer who plays the little woman yearning for love too often.
(ST)