Partners

The picture above is the cover of a CD containing tracks which Jay and Vincent wrote for other artistes from the beginning of their collaboration. I've tried very hard to get hold of it to no avail...so if anyone reading this blog has any leads, please drop me a comment!

[Update on 6 August 2012:

I managed to get the CD!!
Spotted it on another Jay fan's Facebook post and finally got it last week.
Love the songs!!]

The track list is here:

Partners (拍檔) (pai dang)

Release date: 25th April 2002

Partners is a compilation album of many songs written by the golden partnership of Jay Chou and Vincent Fang. The album features many songs by a variety of different artists from Coco Lee to Leo Ku.

1.Actress Specialised In Military Roles (刀馬旦) (dao ma dan) / Coco Lee (李玟)
2.Shanghai 1943 (上海一九四三) (shang hai yi jiu si san) / Jay Chou (周杰倫)
3.Prohibit Sorrow (禁止悲傷) (jin zhi bei shang) / Valen Hsu (許茹芸)
4.Love In BC (愛在西元前) (ai zai xi yuan qian) / Jay Chou (周杰倫)
5.Tears Know (眼淚知道) (yan lei zhi dao) / Landy Win (溫嵐)
6.Genie Of The Night Sky (夜空的精靈) (ye kong de jing ling) / Leo Ku (古巨基)
7.The Sound Of Raining (落雨聲) (luo yu sheng) / Judy Chiang (江蕙)
8.Show Interest (動心) (dong xin) / Landy Win (溫嵐)
9.Wife (娘子) (niang zi) / Jay Chou (周杰倫)
10.Light Bulb (電燈泡) (dian deng pao) / Kan Kan (康晉榮(康康))
11.Light Bulb II (電燈泡II) (dian deng pao II) / Kan Kan (康晉榮(康康))
12.You Are Happier Than In The Past (你比從前快樂) (ni bi cong qian kuai le) / Jacky Wu (吳宗憲)
13.There Is A Cat In The Alley (胡同裡有隻貓) (hu tong li you zhi mao) / Landy Win (溫嵐)
14.Clock That Goes Backwards (反方向的鐘) (fan fang xiang de zhong) / Jay Chou (周杰倫)

Jay's first impression of Vincent was that he was the deliveryman but he soon realised how wrong he was when he took a look at his lyrics and found them very unique and interesting.
Haha...there was also an incident early on where Jay overheard Vincent comparing two pieces of music, one of which was his...and Vincent actually said (without realising that Jay was at the door and could hear him) that the *other* composition was better...!
As Jay recounts: "I thought to myself...you're dead meat!" :)

There was definitely no 'instant' understanding between them from the start. It was more a gradual  getting-to-know-you process as they began working together, to be open to each other's creative instincts and combine the music and words in a way which both were happy with. They tried out various styles, went out on their motorbikes to send demos to many artistes and producers....and got rejected!

However, Jay and Vincent did not let such setbacks stop them from working on their creations. After all, they would only earn any money if the songs were actually used, so this was a strong motivating factor to listen to feedback and make modifications so that the songs were more easily accepted.
Throughout this period, Jay did not feel dejected as he felt that, amongst a hundred songs, there was bound to be a few which would be accepted and used. This gives us an idea of what an arsenal of songs he (and Vincent) must have amassed over that period.
It also shows how strong Jay's sense of self-confidence in his music was (and still is!).
He also recognised, in hindsight in a recent magazine interview, that facing and dealing with rejections and setbacks were part of life and if all had been smooth sailing from the start, he would not be the person he is now.

Over time, their mutual respect for each other grew and it became easier to put melody and words together, resulting in a long list of compositions which would contribute to in no small way to the Mandopop industry. 

Here is a link to a good article about how Jay and Vincent collaborated and some of their impressions of each other:

http://english.cri.cn/4406/2009/05/08/2241s482989.htm

One question which has always intrigued many fans:

Which comes first....the melody or the lyrics?
According to Vincent, it's the melody which Jay comes up with and explaining to Vincent what the song is about and after which, Vincent will then put words to the music, based on what Jay has in mind. There were a few exceptions, one of which will be mentioned in a separate post.

Here are some links about their songwriting process:

Circa 2006:
http://www.jaychoustudio.com/archives/from-unknowns-to-getting-hired-individually-the-steps-of-jay-chou-and-vincent-fang-writing-music/620

Circa 2006:
http://www.jaychoustudio.com/archives/each-have-their-ways-of-writing-jay-chou-uses-inspiration-to-write-songs-vincent-fang-goes-on-missions-to-write-lyrics/621

Circa 2012:
http://www.jaychoustudio.com/archives/vincent-fang-reveals-when-working-with-jay-chou-its-always-melody-first-then-lyrics/1468


Jay Chou and Vincent Fang....a golden partnership where:
a) Vincent has provided the lyrics for more than half of Jay's songs
b) they moved on to set up JVR Music (with Yang Junrong)
c) Vincent would get to act in some of Jay's numerous MVs (haha...all of Jay's friends get to be in his MVs!)
d) they produced a book, Iron Box Of An Island, containing creative photos of Jay and featuring poems, lyrics and articles by Vincent.

Happily, it's a collaboration which is still going strong and looks good for the near future. :)

Here are a few songs from those early years, which feature this golden partnership, for your listening pleasure:

The Sound of Rainfall: Jody Chiang

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYdsz8nLsyQ

Genie of the Night Sky: Leo Ku (this is one of my absolute favourites...it is SO AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL!!!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmE4iJCbhfY



You Are Happier Than In The Past: Originally sung by Jacky Wu but performed by Jay here. I'm admittedly biased and much prefer Jay's rendition of this song. ;)