Musicians - Wakin Chau

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	Musicians - Wakin Chau

Wakin Chau (TC: 周華健, SC: 周华健, PY: Zhoū Huájiàn, Cantonese: Chau1 Wa4 gin6) was born in Hong Kong on 22nd December, 1960. Known as Emil Chau through the 1980s and 1990s, Chau has been one of the best-loved entertainers in Asia and internationally, reaching the twentieth year of his career in 2006.

Biography

Growing up as the fourth son in a family of seven, Wakin Chau picked up a guitar and learned to play when he was about 13 years old. In 1979, he set off to major in mathematics at National Taiwan University in Taipei, where he became enthusiastically involved in the popular campus tradition among students, singing and playing original folk songs in local coffeeshops. During this period Wakin learned to sing in Mandarin, and this would be key to his future as a music-maker in Taiwan.

With his hopes high for a successful career as a recording artist, Wakin sought out contacts in the music industry, but he met discouragement at every turn. That finally led him to set his sights on a seemingly more practical alternative: becoming a record producer. So he gave up his dream of being a performer and joined Rock Records as an assistant producer, writing wonderful songs for other artists.

But finally, opportunity knocked at Rock. Wakin was encouraged by Chyi Yu to sing some jingles for commercial advertising spots. One of these tunes was for a car commercial, and it happened to catch the attention of Wakin's boss. Almost as an afterthought he remarked, "Is that your voice? Why don't you release an album?"

So Wakin recorded and released his first Mandarin album under the Rock Records label in 1987. In an interesting twist of fate, Wakin had struggled to become a singer, had settled on being a record producer, and while working as a producer he became a singer! A dream come true by detour.

And it was a detour of particular good fortune. While working diligently at Rock as a producer, Wakin met an American girl named Constance Woods, whose father was in Taiwan as a Fulbright scholar. Having plenty in common — including birthdays only one day apart — Wakin and Constance began to date, got engaged and then on 16th November, 1986, they were married in Taipei. (Four months later there was another ceremony with family and friends in the United States of America on 14th March, 1987). They now have a son and a daughter.

Emil Chau Wakin's career in music has soared ever since. From 1985, he has released more than 40 records in Mandarin, Cantonese and English, becoming an important name in the music of Taiwan and appealing to music lovers around the globe. His platinum albums such as You Make Me Happy and Sad, The Flowery Heart, Music Brings Us Together, and Emil & Friends have brought him numerous awards from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. And with his burgeoning international popularity, Wakin packs concert halls wherever he goes. His concert productions have remained relatively simple by Asian standards: usually no mirrors, no smoke or explosions, no colored lights — just Wakin, his guitar, and his backup musicians.

Alongside his singing career, Wakin has appeared in a number of films and has hosted TV and radio shows in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore. Besides being a successful restaurant owner, he is also very active in international charitable causes, such as kidney disease charities in Singapore, the December 2000 all-star concert in Las Vegas, the January 2002 "Take a Deep Breath" concert in Taipei to raise money for local health-care organizations, and Beijing's 4th Grand Charity Drive for Children in 2005.

Discography

Mandarin albums

最後圓舞曲 (Feb 1985)
心的方向 (Jul 1987)
我是真的付出我的愛 (Aug 1988)
期待更多，付出更多 (Jan 1989)
最真的夢 (Nov 1989)
不願一個人 (Nov 1990)
讓我歡喜讓我憂 (Nov 1991)
花.心 (Apr 1993)
今夜陽光燦爛 (Jan 1994)
風雨無阻 (Jun 1994)
我願意去等 (Jan 1995)
愛相隨 (Jul 1995)
愛的光 (Feb 1996)
小天堂 (Sep 1996)
朋友 (Apr 1997)
有故事的人 (Aug 1998)
現在 (Nov 1999)
忘憂草 (Oct 2001)
329最完整周華健 (Mar 2003)
一起吃苦的幸福 (Jul 2003)
雨人 (Mar 2006)

Cantonese albums

有弦相聚 (Oct 1994)
弦途有你 (Apr 1995)
弦弦全全 (Dec 1995)
生.生活 (Dec 1996)
世界由你我開始 (Oct 1997)

English albums

Sad Without You (Sep 1988)
Blue Bird (Feb 1991)
I Remember (May 1992)
Songs of birds (Aug 1993)
Forever Young (1996)
My Oh My (Feb 1992)
My Favorite Songs (May 2002)

Filmography

1987 - Osmanthus Alley (桂花巷)
1987 - The Game They Called Sex (黃色故事)
1993 - Project S (超級計劃)
1994 - Right Here Waiting (等愛的女人)
1995 - Just Married (橫紋刀劈扭紋柴)
1995 - I Want To Go On Living (我要活下去)
1995 - Faithfully Yours (叛逆情緣)
1995 - Rumble in the Bronx (紅番區)
1996 - Who's the Woman Who's the Man (金枝玉葉2)
1997 - All's Well End's Well 97 (97家有喜事)
1997 - Walk In (奪舍)
1997 - Mr Nice Guy (一個好人)
1997 - 知解時空
1998 - Spicy Love Soup (愛情麻辣燙)
1999 - Gorgeous (玻璃樽)
1999 - Purple Storm (紫雨風暴)
2001 - Headlines (頭號人物)
2003 - Homerun (跑吧孩子)

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