The Wynners are a Hong Kong pop band formed in the 1970s. The group consists of

Alan Tam Alan Tam Wing-lun (; born 23 August 1950) is a Hong Kong singer and actor. He played a major role in developing the Cantopop scene in the 1980s as he was known for singing romantic ballads with modern arrangements. From 1983 to 1987, Alan Tam re ...

(lead vocals),

Kenny Bee Chung Chun-to (born 23 February 1953), also known by his stage name Kenny Bee, is a Hong Kong singer, musician and actor. He is best known as the singer of the group the Wynners, and as a solo artist who has been active in the Hong Kong ent ...

(lead vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards), Bennett Pang (lead guitar), Danny Yip (bass), and Anthony Chan (drums).

History

Beginning as a

Hong Kong English pop Hong Kong English pop () is a genre of music consisting of English-language songs that are made, performed and popularised in Hong Kong. It is known as simply English pop by Hong Kongers. The height of the English pop era in Hong Kong was from ...

band, The Wynners were assembled by manager Pato Leung in 1973 out of an earlier incarnation of the group, ''the Loosers''. Bee, who was with ''the Sergeant Majors'' before joining the Wynners, was the only one not part of the original lineup. The group soon became one of the most popular teen idol groups in Hong Kong at the time. The group's first studio album, ''Listen to the Wynners'', released in 1974, was a commercial success. It included the Walkers' hit '' Sha-La-La-La-La''. The next albums were equally successful, such as the 1976 release ''Some Kind of Magic'', which included hits such as ''

Save Your Kisses For Me "Save Your Kisses for Me" is a song recorded by British group Brotherhood of Man, written by Tony Hiller with band members Lee Sheriden and Martin Lee. It in the Eurovision Song Contest 1976 held in The Hague, winning the contest. The song be ...

'', a cover of the 1976 Eurovision winner by British pop band

Brotherhood of Man Brotherhood of Man were a British pop group who achieved success in the 1970s with three number one hits in the UK. They won the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest with " Save Your Kisses for Me". Created in 1969 by songwriter and record producer ...

. Their success in music was mirrored other forms of the popular media, including a television show on

TVB Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB; zh, t=電視廣播有限公司) is a television broadcasting company based in Hong Kong. The company operates five free-to-air terrestrial television channels in Hong Kong, with TVB Jade as its main Canton ...

, ''the Wynners Specials'' (1975), and three feature films, ''Let's Rock'' (1975), ''Gonna Get You'' (1976) and ''Making It'' (1978). In 1978, members of the group went their separate ways to develop their solo careers. Alan Tam and Kenny Bee went on to become two of the most popular stars in Hong Kong in the 1980s. Never formally disbanded, the Wynners have since reunited on stage every five years to sold-out crowds. On 1 April 2011, they reunited at the

Artistes 311 Love Beyond Borders Artistes 311 Love Beyond Borders () was a major fund raising campaign held in Hong Kong for the victims of the Japan 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. The event was organized by the Hong Kong Performing Artistes Guild and began at 7pm on 1 Ap ...

fundraising event set up by

Jackie Chan Fang Shilong (born Chan Kong-sang; 7 April 1954), known professionally as Jackie Chan,; is a Hong Kong actor and filmmaker, known for his slapstick, acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, and innovative stunts, which he typically perf ...

in Hong Kong to help tsunami victims in Japan. Most recently, they held a benefit concert for Family Bridges at the

Oracle Arena An oracle is a person or thing considered to provide insight, wise counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. If done through occultic means, it is a form of divination. Descript ...

on 8 November 2014. In 2023, the Wynners announced their final concert in Hong Kong commemorating their 50th anniversary, and formally disbanded shortly after.

Music

The group sang exclusively in English in their early days, mainly covers of popular songs from other parts of the world, most notably "

Hey Jude "Hey Jude" is a song by the English rock music, rock band the Beatles that was released as a non-album single in August 1968. It was written by Paul McCartney and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. The single was the Beatles' fir ...

" by

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

. In 1975, the group collaborated with songwriter/lyricist James Wong and released a number of original Cantonese songs for the soundtrack of the film ''Let's Rock'', which Wong also directed. With lyrics in a light-hearted, colloquial style along the lines of those from

Sam Hui Samuel Hui Koon-kit (born 6 September 1948), is a Hong Kong musician, singer, songwriter and actor. He is credited with popularising Cantopop both via the infusion of Western-style music and his usage of vernacular Cantonese rather than written ver ...

, these songs defined the signature style of early

Cantopop Cantopop (a contraction of "Cantonese pop music") is a genre of pop music sung in Cantonese. Cantopop is also used to refer to the cultural context of its production and consumption. The genre began in the 1970s and became associated with Hon ...

Awards and honours

RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Awards () is one of the main C-pop music award in Hong Kong. The award is sponsored by RTHK. Beginning in 1978, it is the oldest major award in Hong Kong, even earlier than the Jade Solid Gold Awards. The ceremony is ...

* 1988 RTHK Golden Needle Award

References

External links

The Wynners music database

Rewind album: 'Listen to The Wynners', by The Wynners
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wynners, The English-language singers from Hong Kong Cantopop musical groups Musical groups established in 1973 Musical groups disestablished in 2023