All Things Canto

so during our most recent "christmas" vacation, i went with the rents to my first home and
rediscovered a wonderful thing: 80's canto pop.

for those of you who've never heard it, there's nothing like it. admittedly, it's nothing like country, but without a doubt, it surpasses my love of alan. although, arguably, it is 100X more hokey, i still can't help myself from wanting to fill my life with the sound of electronic keyboard sound effects, saxaphone backgrounds and cheesy electric guitar solos.

if i could go back in time, i would seriously consider going back to 80's era HK. that's when andy lau, lau me guan and mui yeen fong were at their peak! man, what a great time to be alive. not only could u look ugly and get away with it (fashion being your excuse), but you could rock out all day to these HK megastars. oh, to bask in the light of their overly-orchestrated glory!!

to the left is lau mei guan. i'm listening to her even as we speak! ok, so the cover is a little risque (woah, easy on the shoulder showage! pull that shirt up!!) but really ... haha! you can't get much more 80's HK than this.

discovering a real copy of her "greatest hits" cd was one of the best purchases i've ever made in my entire cd-shopping history. i fully remember her songs from when i lived in HK. ok people, be honest: "how could you not want thiiiiiiisssssssss" (hah, MiLK).



and who could forget mr. andy-the-legend-lau? he's one cool cat. look at him raise that fist. you go andy. power to the people.

but really, when one contributes so significantly to the quality of life for so many millions of people around the world, you deserve to be considered a legend. i dunno what it is about this guy. he's not a particularly good musician, or a good actor, but you just know you should like him.

he hawks a clothing brand over here. i don't particularly like the clothes, but everytime i pass by, i walk in to take a look around. i suspect it's the power of the lauzer himself, drawing me in. it's awful. i know.

reflecting on this post and my recent 'country music' post, maybe i'm having some sort of subconcious identity wrestling match. white vs. yellow, west vs. east, country vs. 80's canto pop. maybe this is what "third culture" really means. although, really, does it have to be one or the other? there's enough room for the shanias and the andys of this world to get along, isn't there?