The legendary Frances Yip looks back on her 55-year career as well as the experience of recording the iconic 'Shanghai Beach'.
When one mentions Frances Yip, the first thing you think of is her iconic Shanghai Beach song.
You know, the one with the opening line that goes “Long pan! Long lau!”.
Well, did you know that when the 76-year-old Hong Kong singer first recorded the song in 1980, she actually took two hours to get that opening line right?
“When I first heard the song, I thought, ‘this should be easy, the melody is easy’,” Yip recalled in a phone interview.
“Shanghai Beach was tailor- made for my voice. When (the late songwriter and producer) Joseph Koo wrote it, he knew that I was the one who was going to sing it, so he could use quite a wide vocal range for the song that would be easy for me to sing, but difficult for others,” she added.
What she didn’t realise at the time was that it is actually not an easy song to sing if you’re not a Cantonese singer.
“Cantonese is a tonal language so you need the right tones for it, and I didn’t know how to do it because I was a Western singer.
“The first two lines alone took me two hours, because you can’t play with the melody – it has to be powerful enough and have enough emotion, but it can’t be too big.
“So for those first two hours, I was nearly in tears!” she said with a laugh, adding that Shanghai Beach was the song where she really learnt how to sing in Cantonese.
Yip remembers taking almost two hours to sing the opening lines of 'Shanghai Beach'.
Little did she know it would also be the song that made her a household name in the Cantopop scene, and would be a major highlight in a long-lasting career that has reached 55 years.
Yip will celebrate that 55-year milestone this year with a solo concert in Kuala Lumpur on May 12 at the Mega Star Arena, Sungei Wang Plaza.
The concert, which is also held in conjunction with Mother’s Day, will mark the first time in 14 years that Yip will be performing solo in KL city.
While she has been performing in Malaysia in between, these shows have usually been in Genting Highlands, alongside her friends Maria Cordero and Elisa Chan.
“This is my first solo concert here in a while, and it is also for me to reflect upon the last 55 years,” Yip said.
“For the audience, it will be a trip down memory lane. I will be bringing out all my early songs, as well as the popular ones that fans know and supported for so long.
“I also dug out some really old records with songs I plan to sing, including some classics that go back to the 1950s.”
The KL concert, which is also held in conjunction with Mother’s Day, will mark the first time in 14 years that Yip will be performing solo in KL city.
Pleasure of singing for a live audience
Yip was first discovered in 1969, when she won a talent contest in Hong Kong called Sharp’s Night Four Lights Competition.
It was there that she met Koo, who roped her in to sing commercial jingles, which later led to her first ever record, Bu Liao Qing (Love Without End).
While most of her early career was spent performing and recording covers of English and Chinese classics, she eventually made her biggest breakthrough with Shanghai Beach in 1980.
After that, she made her name singing more iconic theme songs for TVB dramas, and was even selected to be the co-host of the British Farewell Ceremony in 1997, which marked the hand-over of sovereignty in Hong Kong from Britain to China.
Throughout her career, she has also released over 80 albums.
Yip, who has been coming to KL since 1972, said that the biggest factor that kept her going throughout these 55 years was her love for music, and the “lovely people I work with”.
“I’ve been very, very fortunate that in 55 years I’ve had many people who guided me, worked with me, and who cared for me, including (producer) Anthony Lun, (singer) Elisa Chan, and many more,” she said.
She also still enjoys the pleasure of singing for a live audience.
“The joy of performing is still there. The pleasure, the spontaneity and the response of the audience is something you cannot describe. You have to experience it yourself,” she said.
Looking back at her career, she reckons there are very few things she has not done.
These days, however, she is happy just to enjoy life and take each opportunity to perform as they come.
“I’ve been very fortunate in a way that I don’t physically go out to look for work; people come to me!” she said, adding that retirement is not on the cards just yet, mainly because she still enjoys singing so much.
Yip wants to send out positive peopel to the youth with her new music.
New EP or album
She is also working on some new music with famed Hong Kong producer Michael Au, and hopes to release a new record this year.
“I’m fortunate that at this age, I am still signed to a Hong Kong record label called Wow music,” she said.
“I’ve been with them for seven years, and we’ve managed to record one new song each year.
“Now, to celebrate my 55th year, they are looking for new songs for me to record. I’m hopeful that within this year I can release an EP, if not an album, of new songs.”
It won’t be just another pop album, though, as Yip aims to send a positive message with her new music.
“I want to encourage younger people to have a more positive attitude. I feel quite sad that in Hong Kong there are suicides every day, and some of them were quite young,” she said.
“My last song was called Love In The Memory, and it was meant to encourage young people that, if you look back at your life, there is love, and love is in the memory, and so you should treasure your life.
“So that’s what I hope to do, to bring more positive messages and energy to younger people.”
The Mother’s Day Special 2024 – Frances Yip 55th Anniversary Concert will be held on May 12 at Mega Star Arena, Kuala Lumpur. Tickets are priced at RM588, RM488, RM388, RM288 and RM188 and available from my.bookmyshow.com. For more information, visit fb.com/StarFortressSB
