Lo Ta-yu
| Lo Ta-yu | |||||||||
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| Background information | |||||||||
| Chinese name | 羅大佑 (traditional) | ||||||||
| Chinese name | 罗大佑 (simplified) | ||||||||
| Pinyin | Luó Dàyòu (Mandarin) | ||||||||
| Jyutping | Lo4 Daai6-jau6 (Cantonese) | ||||||||
| Born |
20 July 1954 Taipei, Taiwan |
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| Other name(s) | Luo Dayou, Law Tai-yau | ||||||||
| Occupation | Singer, songwriter | ||||||||
| Genre(s) | Rock, Mandopop | ||||||||
| Instrument(s) | Guitar, piano | ||||||||
| Label(s) | Rock Records | ||||||||
| Years active | 1974 - present | ||||||||
| Associated acts | Superband | ||||||||
| Ancestry | Meixian, Guangdong, China | ||||||||
| Website | www.luodayou.net | ||||||||
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Lo Ta-yu (simplified Chinese: 罗大佑; traditional Chinese: 羅大佑; pinyin: Luó Dàyòu; born July 20, 1954), also known as Luo Dayou and Law Tai-yau, is a Taiwanese singer and songwriter who, during the 1980s, affected Chinese pop and rock music with his melodic lyrics, his love songs, and his witty social and political commentary that he infused in his more political songs, often to the point that some of his songs were suppressed in Taiwan and China during the 1980s. He is recognized as a major cultural icon in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China.
Stylistically, Lo defies classification, though his contribution to Taiwanese campus folk song (校園民歌) genre was most significant. His early music in particular shows strong folk roots, and many of his songs tap into native Taiwanese cultural influences. Some songs are reminiscent of 1950s American diner and soda shop rock, and others exhibit a 1970s lounge lizard growl. What captured the hearts of a generation, however, were his lyrics, touching on issues of life, attitudes, social responsibility, and the political problems of both Chinese Mainland and Taiwan with an underhandedly critical strain of dark humor. The lyrical style is not particularly artsy or complex, but rather conversational; the cleverness comes in the meaning, not how the words are put together.
Lo was born in Taiwan on 20 July 1954 to an upper-class family. He complied with his family's wishes to finish medical school by graduating from the China Medical University in Taichung, but he showed his independent spirit by deciding to abandon a career as a physician to pursue a singing and songwriting career.
In 1982, Lo released his debut album Zhī hū zhě yě (之乎者也), the title of which consists solely of grammatical particles from Classical Chinese. A ground breaking album that broadened the horizons of Chinese music and set a new model for Chinese songwriting, it spun off hits including not only the title song, but also "Lukang, the Little Town" (鹿港小鎮), "Love Song 1980" (戀曲1980), and "Childhood" (童年). Singing songs infused with brazen commentary on the social scene of Taiwan at that time and sporting sunglasses, his debut sparked buzz and heated discussion about the issues that his songs raised in Taiwan, such as Confucian pedantry and urban emptiness.
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