Universal Music streams Leslie Cheung singing a Four Seasons version, previously unreleased, to mark what would have been singer-actor’s 64th birthday
- The late Canto-pop superstar’s long-time producer Alvin Leong found Cheung’s never-before-heard version of his hit Four Seasons in his archives recently
- It is one of 12 arrangements of Cheung songs on upcoming album Revisit. ‘Listening to Gor-Gor, I feel a lifetime has passed,’ says arranger who worked on it
Universal Music on Saturday issued a never-before-released recording of the late Canto-pop singer and actor Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing singing his 1999 hit Four Seasons. The version was unearthed by Alvin Leong, a record producer who worked with Cheung.
Leong stumbled upon the unreleased version of the song recently when going through his archives of Cheung’s recordings. Four Seasons, about a man’s yearning for a faithful past partner, is a classic loved by his fans to this day, nearly two decades after Cheung committed suicide on April 1, 2003.
“Leslie was always well prepared for the recording sessions. Four to five takes [of a song] were all it took for him to attain perfection. Some vocals were not used in the [eventual recordings], but they were all well delivered,” says Leong.
The version of the song, released on music streaming platforms including QQ Music on what would have been the actor-singer’s 64th birthday and accompanied by a new music video, has been titled Four Seasons A Balloon’s Journey. The song is one of 12 arrangements of Cheung songs that feature on a new album, “Revisit”, which Universal Music will release on October 16.
Leong says one reason for revisiting Cheung’s classics this year is to mark the 50th anniversary of PolyGram Records, which Universal acquired in 1999.