(Photo: CNA)
Chinese name: 羅大佑
Born: July 20, 1954
Birthplace: Taipei City (Northern Taiwan)
Lo Ta-you, a Hakka born in Taipei in 1954, is a famous Taiwanese singer-songwriter and musician, nicknamed the Godfather of Mandarin Popular Music. Continually innovating in the genres of pop, rock, and folk music, he has influenced the work of multiple generations of musicians in the Mandarin language region that includes Taiwan, China and Hong Kong. Lo’s musical styles are varied and broad in their vision, while his lyrics are highly literary and critical.
(Photo: CNA)
Lo Ta-you entered the music scene in 1976. In 1982, he released his first Mandarin-language album in Taiwan, “Pedantry (之乎者也)”, which sent shockwaves through the Chinese popular music world, especially with the album’s single “Lukang, the Little Town (鹿港小鎮)”, which gained much attention for its lyrics that explored problems arising from the dramatic social changes brought about by Taiwan’s rapid economic development.
In 1983, he released his second Mandarin record, “Master of the Future (未來的主人翁)”, which contained criticism and reflections on nationality, contemporary events and traditional society. The single from the album “The Orphan of Asia (亞細亞的孤兒)” was inspired by the Japanese colonial-era novel of the same name by the Taiwanese writer Wu Zhuo-liu (吳濁流). Lo said at one time that Wu was a good friend of his father. “The Orphan of Asia” refers to Taiwan, orphaned by the international community. Taiwan was still under martial law at this time and the government reviewed the song and almost decided to ban it before it came out.
In 1988, Lo released the Mandarin album “Comrade Lover (愛人同志)”. Compared with the songs “Lukang, the Small Town” and “The Orphan of Asia,” which expressed Lo’s compassion and attachment to his Taiwan hometown, “Comrade Lover” consists more of mockery and accusations related to China’s Cultural Revolution. “The Song of the Dwarf (侏儒之歌),” released on the album’s Hong Kong edition in 1989, satirized the then Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping and made allusions to the Tiananmen Square Massacre of June 4th that year. This led to an official ban on Lo Ta-you’s music in Mainland China.
In the 90s, after Lo left Taiwan to go and live in Hong Kong, he crafted the classic Cantonese-language songs “Queen’s Road East (皇后大道東)” and “Pearl of the Orient (東方之珠),” which conveyed the mindset in Hong Kong as it faced the handover of sovereignty in 1997.
In 2000, the PRC government ended restrictions on Lo’s performances in China and he set up his own music studio in Beijing. He went to every major city in China on a concert tour, causing a sensation for generations of Chinese fans.
In the summer of 2020, Lo Ta-you planned four outdoor concerts to be broadcast live to Taiwan, respectively in Lukang, Taitung, Hualien, and Yilan. At a time of great uncertainty in society due to the COVID-19 pandemic, his hope was to reignite personal connections through the power of music.
In 2021, Lo was given a Golden Melody Special Contribution Award to acknowledge the innovation and revolution he has repeatedly brought to Mandarin popular music for over 40 years.
(Photo: CNA)