Dave Wang


Dave Wang is a Hong Kong-Taiwanese singer, songwriter and actor.

Life and career

Wang was born in British Hong Kong, as the son of a former Shaw Brothers actor, Wang Hsieh. He moved to Taiwan when he was 17. Before landing his first record deal in 1988, Wang wrote songs for other singers under pen-names such as "Little Grass" and "Northern Wind". He worked as a Tae Kwon Do instructor, ice-skating coach, taxi-driver, delivery-man, waiter, bartender, and cook. He also spent three years in the Taiwanese military to obtain a Taiwan ID card, despite holding a Hong Kong British passport. His first marriage ended when his wife at the time left him while he was serving in the military.
Wang released his Chinese debut album "A Game A Dream", which sold over 500,000-copies in December 1987, which was used as the theme song in the 1988 telemovie The Game They Call Sex. Another of his hits, "Bits of Sadness, Bits of Craze", released in 1988, shares the same melody to "A Game A Dream" but sung in Cantonese with different lyrics. It was an insert song on Looking Back in Anger and the music video features Yin Szema.
He found success in Hong Kong during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Many of his songs were used as the theme songs of popular TVB series. He is one of the few artists from Taiwan to break into the Hong Kong market, with four years of chart-topping record sales. He is likewise successful in other markets such as Malaysia, Singapore and mainland China.
Wang migrated to Canada in 1994, after his second marriage on 1 April 1993. He carried on releasing 2-Chinese albums a year until 1998. On 1 June 1996, It was moved to officially released a new Chinese album under a different label names Pony Canyon Taiwan, which ceased operations in Taiwan in late 1997 due to the Asian financial crisis. Altogether, he had released a total of five Mandarin albums in just a period of two years at Pony Canyon with notable hits like "I Love You ".
On 20 December 1999, Wang made a comeback in the Hong Kong music industry and signed a recording contract with Emperor Entertainment Group. In January 2000, the album Giving was released with a few new songs as well as remixes of his older classics. Following the success of this album, Wang held a major charity concert in late February of the same year at Hong Kong Coliseum in Hong Kong.
Two years later, he released his latest Cantonese album. Around the same time, he participated in various movies including Jackie Chan's New Police Story.
He performed his first Beijing concert on 26 November 2004 and another in Xi'an on 16 September 2006. In January 2007, he released his latest Mandarin album Goodbye Madman ; like his previous Mandarin album Regaining Consciousness, it was not heavily promoted.
After his 10-year contract with EEG expired, Wang held his 'I am Back' Concert on 23 October 2009 at the Hong Kong Coliseum.
He held a series of world tour concerts from August to November 2010 in Beijing, Singapore and Tianjin. He stated during a television interview in July 2010 that he would retire from the music industry after the tour. He then clarified in September that it was only song-writing that he would be leaving, after the completion of the album he was working on, and that he will still continue to perform in concerts.
On June 10, 2017, he announced he will eventually retire, saying his voice is no longer as good as it should be, as it was damaged due to an unknown offender that drugged him, affecting his voice many years ago.
In 2018, Wang released a digital album, I know I'm no longer a popular singer, and retired in Canada.

Musical style and output

His music and lyrics can be described as being melancholy and haunting in a blend of rock, ballads and blues, which is attributed to his impoverished and tough upbringing. Wang is also an established songwriter, having written many of his most popular songs but also covers songs by other artists, both from Asia and other continents.
To date, he has recorded 26 studio albums in Mandarin and 11 in Cantonese. In addition, numerous compilations of his popular songs have been released.

Discography

Mandarin albums

;UFO Records
;Pony Canyon
  • Brotherly love
  • Forget All
  • I Love You
  • Starting Point
  • Substitute
;Emperor Entertainment Group
  • From Now On
  • 愛我的 我愛的王傑
  • Not Alone
  • Regaining Consciousness
  • Goodbye Madman
;Personal Development
  • ''I Know I'm a Legendary Singer''

    Cantonese albums

;Warner Music Hong Kong
  • The Role of the Story
  • Who Can Understand a Loner's Heart?
  • Man in the Storm
  • Stray Hearts
  • Heartbroken Forever
  • Blocked in my Life
  • She
  • Silent Masterpiece
;Emperor Entertainment Group
  • Giving
  • Hello!
  • L'Amour et le Rêve

    Compilation albums

  • Featured this life with no regrets
  • Golden Wang Television
  • Loner's Heart
  • Star Dream
  • Wang Jie Rumours – Western Masterpiece
  • Masterpiece – Classic BBC Month
  • Classic Wang
  • Best of Wang
  • Wang – Best of the 80s Collection
  • I Love Wang Classics
  • Tiehan Tenderness Wang Super Selection
  • Masterpiece
  • Outstanding Features – 16
  • 21st Century Best Selection
  • Our Wang
  • Wang & Yung Pure Music
  • Wang Long Live 2001
  • Extreme Classics
  • Featured Wang SACD Edition
  • Wang Jie 23 Anniversary Collection
  • Lone Star
  • The Most Beautiful... Wang
  • Outstanding Selection 2004
  • Wang Chieh XRCD Special
  • Wang Number 1s Double CD
  • Most Remarkable Wang
  • ''Wang Jie''

    Remastered albums

  • A Game, a Dream
  • The Role of the Story
  • The Role of the Story
  • The Role of the Story
  • The Role of the Story
  • Return of the Prodigal
  • Return of the Prodigal
  • Return of the Prodigal
  • Featured this life with no regrets
  • Featured this life with no regrets
  • Featured this life with no regrets
  • Featured this life with no regrets
  • Golden Wang Television
  • Giving
  • Giving
  • Our Wang
  • Love Me, I Love, Wang Jie
  • 5-CD box set ''I Love You''

    Concert albums

  • Wang's 2001
  • ''2014 Live In Beijing''

    Concerts

  • 1989 21–23 July Live in Singapore
  • 1990 22–27 February 'True Feelings' Hong Kong Concert
  • 1990 29 June 'I Want to Fly' Fans' Concert
  • 1990 20 July 'Care Candidates' Fans' Concert
  • 1991 August 'Forget Myself' Live Taiwan Tour
  • 1991 4 September 'CTS TV Live' Taiwan Concert
  • 1992 January 'You Love Wang Jie Loves You' Taiwan Concert
  • 2000 23 February 'Giving for the Children' Hong Kong Concert
  • 2000 8–9 December Live China Tour
  • 2000 28 December Live China Tour
  • 2000 30 December Live China Tour
  • 2001 4–6 April 'Wang's 2001' Hong Kong Concert
  • 2001 26 April – 1 May Live US Tour
  • 2002 27 April 'Live in Genting' Malaysia Concert
  • 2003 21 March 'Love Me & I Love Charity Concert'
  • 2003 12 & 14 September 'A Night of Love Songs' US Concert
  • 2003 5 October Live in US
  • 2004 24 October Live in US
  • 2004 24 November 'Purple Sky' Beijing Concert
  • 2006 16 September 'Going Home' Xi'an Concert
  • 2007 Dave Wang Live US Tour
  • 2009 20–21 September Live in US
  • 2009 23 October I Am Back！Dave Wang Concert 2009
  • 2010 20–21 February Lunar New Year Live in US
  • 2010 7 August Dave Wang World Tour - Beijing
  • 2010 23 October Dave Wang World Tour - Singapore
  • 2010 6 November Dave Wang World Tour - Tianjin
  • 2011 23 May Dave Wang World Tour - London
  • 2012 8 September Dave Wang World Tour - Guangzhou
  • 2012 22 September Dave Wang World Tour - Shenzhen
  • 2012 31 December Dave Wang World Tour - Shanghai
  • 2013 17 May Dave Wang World Tour - Hangzhou
  • 2013 28 September Dave Wang World Tour - Taiyuan
  • 2014 17 May Dave Wang World Tour - Beijing
  • 2014 26 July Dave Wang World Tour - Nanyang
  • 2014 30 August Dave Wang World Tour - Dongguan
  • 2015 24 January Dave Wang World Tour - Shenzhen
  • 2015 8 August Dave Wang World Tour - Beijing
  • 2015 26 September Dave Wang World Tour - Macau
  • 2015 17 October Dave Wang World Tour - Nanning

    Filmography

Film

  • 1977 Executioners from Shaolin
  • 1978 Soul of the Sword
  • 1989 Seven Wolves
  • 1989 Seven Wolves 2
  • 1991 Casino Raiders 2
  • 1992 Invincible
  • 2000 The Legend of the Flying Swordsman
  • 2000 A War Named Desire
  • 2000 Roaring Wheels
  • 2001 Esprit d'Amour
  • 2002 Return From The Other World
  • 2002 Love is a Butterfly
  • 2002 Summer Breeze of Love
  • 2004 Heat Team
  • 2004 ''New Police Story''

    Television series

  • 1989: Yang Zi Bu Jiao Shui Zhi Guo - Taiwan CTS series, aired in April
  • 1992: Once Upon a Time in Hong Kong - Hong Kong TVB series, aired from 5–30 October
  • 2005: Just Love - Hong Kong TVB series, aired from 9 May - June 3
  • 2011: Shanghai Legend - Hong Kong ATV series, aired in October