Lo Ta-yu

Lo Ta-yu (; born 20 July 1954), also known as Luo Dayou and Law Tai-yau, is a Taiwanese singer and songwriter. During the 1980s, Lo became one of the most influential Mandopop singer-songwriters with his melodic lyrics and 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 Mainland China during the 1980s. He is recognized as a cultural icon in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Mainland China.

Stylistically, Lo defies classification, though his contribution to the Taiwan campus folk song 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 China 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.

Life and career Lo was born in Taipei 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 College in Taichung, but decided to abandon a career as a physician to pursue a singing and songwriting career. Lo debuted in the music industry in 1977, composing part of the soundtrack of the film Golden Days and writing songs for his partner Sylvia Chang's album Childhood .

In 1982, Lo released his debut album Pedantry , the title of which consists solely of grammatical particles from Classical Chinese. The album, focusing on satirizing and criticizing modern Taiwanese life with a mix of rock, folk and reggae, is considered one of the most influential Taiwanese albums. The title song, Lukang, the Little Town , the ironic Love Song 1980 , and Childhood all became hits. After a year in New York, he moved to Hong Kong in 1986. "hen US representatives introduced a resolution requesting that Taiwan send marines to Iraq, I realized that while the US often stresses peaceful negotiations across the Taiwan Strait, the US government is the third party that stands in the way of truly peaceful negotiation," Lo said.

On Sunday, 25 May 2008, at 7 pm PST, Lo held a live concert at San Jose State University Event Center. The concert, entitled "Join 'N Sing", was a celebration of the newly elected president of Taiwan, Ma Ying-jeou. There were three special guests at this show: Kao Ling Fung, Hsu Nai Ling, and Cindi Chaw Yong Hua. This show turned into a charity fundraiser for the earthquake victims of Sichuan, China.

Discography Zhi Hu Zhe Ye (1982) Master of the Future 未來的主人翁 (1983) Home 家 (1984) Pearl of the Orient 東方之珠 (1986/1991) Youth Movement (1986) Lover-Comrade 愛人同志 (1988) Brilliant Days (1989) The Year to Say Farewell (1989) Queen's Road East (1991) Hometown (1991) Capital (1992) Love Song 2000 (1994) (Zài huì ba! Sù lán) (1995) (Bǎodǎo xián suān tián) (1996) (Zuórì yì shū) (2002) Beautiful Island 美麗島 (2004) Home lll lll (2017) Encore (2022)