Okay, I discovered Agnes Chan two days ago in the Shaw Bros. films, YOUNG PEOPLE (1972) and GENERATION GAP (1973), both covered in the Shaw Bros. thread. I've found a bunch of YouTube clips and figured she deserved her own thread.

Here's her Wikipedia page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnes_Chan

Here's one pertinent line from it:
"Her new English-language album Forget Yourself, including a duet with the legendary Chinese performer, Jackie Chan, was released in the United States in February 2006."


Here's the scene in YOUNG PEOPLE that offered my first glimpse of her, the one where she sings Joni Mitchell's "Circle Game":

http://youtube.com/watch?v=0PXtEaU2WCg&feature=related


Here's her rendition of Carole King's "You've Got a Friend" from the same film, complete with full-fledged jaw-dropping choreography:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=6-SnFHM0fps

(Well, would you rather watch this or the 30-minute basketball game?)


Here's a scene from GENERATION GAP, where she sings "Never Ending Song of Love" (originally performed by the New Seekers) at the club:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=DYvA4gJIqro

David Chiang is seen hanging around. Plus, more "choreography"



Finally, here's a 2006 clip of Agnes (50-years-young and quite a beauty) as UNICEF Goodwill ambassador:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Oe9wjRYA0J8

What a woman.

There's tons of other great clips of her on YouTube, including a performance of "Circle Game" done some years later.


Also, here's the bio of her in the Celestial DVD's biographical section:

"Agnes Chen, actress and famous singer, was born on August 20, 1955 in Hong Kong. She graduated from Maryknoll Convent School and first appeared as a singer in 1969. She was invited by Japan’s Watanabe Entertainment to develop her career in Japan. She won many awards and participated in the nation’s most distinguished annual music pageant, the Kohaku Utagassen. She continued her career while she furthered her studies in Japan. Apart from singing, Agnes appeared in movies. Her first two movies were YOUNG PEOPLE and THE GENERATION GAP, both directed by Chang Cheh. They were followed by TWO FACES OF LOVE and THE RETURN OF THE CRAZY BUMPKINS.
In 1975, she and her two sisters appeared in WHERE’S THE SWALLOW KEY? and other movies such as I AM IN LOVE and GREEN GARDEN, celebrating youth and love as key themes. In 1982 she appeared in the Japanese TV drama, “Marco Polo,” and sang the theme song.
Between 1982 and 1984 Agnes starred in three Hong Kong movies, ONCE UPON A MIRAGE, THE SENSATIONAL PAIR, and MIXED UP. Singing formed a key part of Agnes’ career as she recorded over 100 albums in Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese and English. She is also an outstanding writer having written over 40 books in Japanese."

I've never heard of the other HK movies listed here:
TWO FACES OF LOVE,
THE RETURN OF THE CRAZY BUMPKINS,
WHERE'S THE SWALLOW KEY?,
I AM IN LOVE,
GREEN GARDEN,
ONCE UPON A MIRAGE,
THE SENSATIONAL PAIR,
MIXED UP.

Anyone seen them?

Funny coincidence, I was trolling for Joy Sales titles for a buyoyo order and ONCE UPON A MIRAGE is one of the titles that I saw, but didn't pick up because it's vcd.

Doesn't look like she's got a big role in it.

I think IVL released a bunch of the Crazy Bumpkins movies. Unfortunately.

Oooooooo, Agnes Chan. *Sigh* She was the first Asian singer I became a fan of. (It helped that she sang in English! And to this day, I associate songs like "You've Got A Friend" and "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" with her rather than anyone else.)

*Edit post reading Brian's YOUNG PEOPLE and GENERATION GAP reviews on another thread: Is "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" actually known as "The Circle Game"? And to answer Brian's query: Chen is the Mandarin version of the Cantonese Chan -- hence, I guess, Agnes Chan also being known as Agnes Chen, and Kelly Chen can be known as Kelly Chan.*

Shortly after I 'discovered' Agnes Chan, I 'discovered' another Chan -- Chelsia. A singer-actress (who now lives in Malaysia), she won a Golden Horse Best Actress award for CHELSIA, MY LOVE (1976) which co-starred Kenny Bee and had them belting out songs like the English language "One Summer Night" together. Have distinct memories of having wept a lot as a result of that movie -- in fact, ironic as it may seem, have much stronger memories of that particular weepie than any of those I saw in that period starring the likes of Lin Ching-Hsia... :ph43r:

No, "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" is a completely different song from "The Circle Game."

And thanks for responding. I was going to e-mail you and ask if you'd ever heard of Ms. Chan.

I need to get some CDs of her's.

But if you're a fan of her's, you've gotta see YOUNG PEOPLE and GENERATION GAP.

Agnes Chan was plastered all over the Japanese magazines I saw in my youth... Ah, Memories. :)