Saturday, May 14, 2011

Mr. Andrew Tuason aka 杜自持-- A Kababayan Encounter

When I was a kid, I used to listen to OPM. One bright November 1, circa 1990 I guess, my cousins gave me a mixed tape. If I remembered it correctly:
SIDE A:
1. 對你愛不完 (Can't Stop Loving you)- Aaron Kwok
2. Forgot the title - Alan Tam
3. 來生緣 (Fate after this life)- Andy Lau
4. 每天愛你多一些(Love you more everyday)- Jacky Cheung
5. 不需要愛情 (Don't need any love)- Andy Lau
6. I Love Your Smile - Sandy Lam *I think*
7. 今夜你會不會來 (Will you be around tonight?)- Leon Lai
8. Forgot the title- Alan Tam
9.愛不完 (Continuous Love)- Andy Lau
10. Forgot the title- Alan Tam

SIDE B:
1. 我來自北京(I was born in Beijing)- Leon Lai
2. 再吻我吧 (Kiss Me Again)- Andy Lau
3. So Sad - Grasshopper/Sandy Lam
4. forgot
5. forgot
6. forgot
7. 獻給你 (Especially For You)- Andy Lau
8. 特別的愛給特別的你 (A Special Love for a Special You)- Leon Lai (Cantonese)
9. Sayonara Oh- Leon Lai
10. 我是不是該安靜的走開 (Am I just going to silently leave)- Aaron Kwok

These songs did a major overhaul to my ears. I stopped listening to English pop music, and literally closed the doors to all radio stations in Manila. I was a fake G.I. back then. I fail my Chinese tests but I was good at memorizing songs... Not Mandarin but CANTONESE.

I was a major Andy Lau Fan. I have a room about 50sqm floor area which I share with my other 3 siblings. The walls are covered with practically Andy Lau's face. If the Voltron Venetian Blinds were capable of being changed, it would've been an Andy Lau face you'll see up there. XD

Through the years, I spent my free time making Scrapbooks, memorizing songs and trying to decipher the meanings of it. I can't read some of the words, and most pathetic of all, I can't read the name 杜自持. I don't know why this name always caught my attention. Aside from Alex Dela Cruz which sounds oh so PINOY, 杜自持 was another name I can only pronounce from the 'du and the zi'... I never researched if the last word was a "chi" or a "te". In my mind, it was a 'te'. Whenever I listen to the songs, I never took notice at the composers at first. But then, as years passed by, I started to criticize Andy Lau's songs thus, I started flipping for composers. I noticed I get more feel in songs which were arranged by the name 杜自持. The name I cannot pronounce. He was the only arranger I knew back then, aside from 周治平 who also ranked #2 in composing songs for Andy Lau.

I also searched for Andrew's compositions and arrangements and was surprised that he arranged most of the songs in Andy Lau's 愛的空間 (A room for Love) album! Surprisingly, I downloaded this album a few months ago and started listening to it again--I stopped some 15 years ago. What's more disturbing was that I put 4-5 songs on repeat and those 4-5 songs happen to be the songs 杜自持 composed!!! I was clueless that he was the one who composed it until I searched for his compositions today.

These are the songs from 愛的空間
劉德華﹕情是那麼笨 (How stupid is love)
劉德華﹕愛在同一天空下 (Love under the same Sky)
劉德華﹕忘我精神 (Forgot my mood)
劉德華﹕妳震撼我的心靈 (You've captured my Soul)

Years passed and I entered College almost leaving Cantopop behind as I opened myself to a brand new addiction-- Chinese Movies. After a short while, I grew tired of collecting them so I stopped entirely. I was really in a state of calmness and concentrated on work.

Came 2003 'til present, I was then shifted to another fandom. Yes. F4. Knew some friends and in 2005, I learned how to travel on my own. After not traveling for 15 years due to monetary reason, Our first travel experience came out quite fruitful. This was when "Snow Wolf Lake" did a remake in Mandarin and at the same time, Jay Chou was going to have a concert 2 days after "Snow Wolf Lake". It was hitting two birds in one stone and the rest was History.

After gaining too much experience in Fangirling, I learned how to appreciate the people behind a production. It's not only the artist we should appreciate but also the people around him. For if not for them, the artist wouldn't be able to perform at his/her best.

Years of listening and watching Chinese movies gave me the opportunity to find better job opportunities. I now know almost every single Chinese word... and the best part of it, I know now how 杜自持 is pronounced. ^^

While in weibo, I came across Andrew's weibo. He was reposting a pic of him playing the piano during Jacky Cheung's 1/2 Century World Tour's last night.

Here's our conversation:



I was happy, though maybe he was just kidding along with me, I appreciate his reply.

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