Lau Tung (Hong Kong)
Lau Tung was a Hong Kong record sound engineer, musician, band leader, and music producer active from the 1940s to the 1990s. He was the founder of Entertainment Records in Hong Kong. In 1985, he was awarded the "Golden Needle Award," the highest honor in the Hong Kong music industry, at the 7th RTHK Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Awards Presentation.
Biography
Lau Tung entered the music industry in the 1940s, initially working as a record sound engineer and musician. He recorded Cantonese opera and songs for famous opera artists such as Yam Kim-fai, Pak Suet-sin, Fong Yim-fun, and Leung Sing-por, establishing close ties with the Cantonese opera community.[1] He later also served as a band leader, performing live at entertainment venues like Shing Ping Ballroom. His wife, under the stage name "Mui Ping," also recorded records. According to Hong Kong composer Joseph Koo, Lau Tung was once in charge of the American Chinese-funded Nam Sing Records in the 1950s, which mainly released Cantonese opera and adapted Cantonese pop songs. Some records were exported to the U.S., and Koo and Lau collaborated.[2] After releasing Tang Kee-chen's "Silly Man Celebrates Birthday" in 1958, Lau and his wife decided to establish their own company to produce Cantonese opera records.
In 1958, Lau Tung and his wife founded Entertainment Records. In 1960, they built the Entertainment Recording Studio using top-of-the-line equipment airfreighted from the United States, costing over a million dollars. The studio was located in their 2,000-square-foot luxury residence on Kennedy Road, two-thirds of which was converted into the studio.
Entertainment Records focused on releasing Cantonese opera, songs, and Cantonese pop records, including many TV drama theme songs.[1][3][4] In the 1960s, Lau helped establish the Hong Kong branch of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.[4] In the 1970s, he and his wife signed artists such as Roman Tam, Liza Wang, Adam Cheng, and Cheung Tak-lan to their label, making Entertainment Records the largest local Chinese-owned record company at the time.[5][6][1][3][7]
Lau Tung and his wife loved Cantonese opera and were close to opera playwright Tong Tik-sang and his wife Cheng Mang-ha. Before Tong's death in 1959, he authorized Entertainment Records to distribute his works. Lau later invited Yam Kim-fai, Pak Suet-sin, and others to record Tong’s operas *Princess Changping*, *The Purple Hairpin*, and *The Reincarnation of the Red Plum*, which became bestsellers.[1] In 1989, Cheng sold all of Tong’s copyrights to Entertainment Records.[1][3]
On 22 March 1985, Lau Tung received the Golden Needle Award from RTHK at the 7th Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Awards Presentation, recognizing his contribution to Hong Kong's music industry.[8][4]
Starting in the 1990s, Lau Tung gradually retired from the music scene. He suffered two severe strokes in July 1991 and April 1994, which left him paralyzed.[9] He passed away in 2001. In 2009, his daughter Lau Fung-yi and son Lau Ka-fu were involved in a legal dispute over his estate and shares in Entertainment Records.[5][6][1] Lau and his wife valued music copyrights, and until the company was ordered into liquidation in 2011, Entertainment Records rarely licensed its music externally.[5][6][1][3]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8A%89%E6%9D%B1_(%E9%A6%99%E6%B8%AF)#cite_ref-WK19570917_1-0
- ↑ https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8A%89%E6%9D%B1_(%E9%A6%99%E6%B8%AF)#cite_ref-SN20170226_3-0
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8A%89%E6%9D%B1_(%E9%A6%99%E6%B8%AF)#cite_ref-oncc20110820_4-0
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8A%89%E6%9D%B1_(%E9%A6%99%E6%B8%AF)#cite_ref-rthk2017_5-0
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8A%89%E6%9D%B1_(%E9%A6%99%E6%B8%AF)#cite_ref-oncc20090426_6-0
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8A%89%E6%9D%B1_(%E9%A6%99%E6%B8%AF)#cite_ref-WWP20090426_7-0
- ↑ https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8A%89%E6%9D%B1_(%E9%A6%99%E6%B8%AF)#cite_ref-8
- ↑ https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8A%89%E6%9D%B1_(%E9%A6%99%E6%B8%AF)#cite_ref-9
- ↑ https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8A%89%E6%9D%B1_(%E9%A6%99%E6%B8%AF)#cite_ref-oncc20110208_10-0