TV Theme Songs Collection (3CD)

The album features 50 TVB themes over three CDs from the likes of Alan Tam, Anita Mui, Leslie Cheung, Michael Kwan, Susanna Kwan, Lui Fong, Adam Cheng, Roman Tam, and other Canto-pop greats. Alan Tam, Anita Mui, and Leslie Cheung, the biggest pop idols of the 80s, show up the most in the compilation. Tam's golden hit "Who Can Change" from The Fearless Duo (1984) and "Need to Continue Tomorrow" from The Justice of Life (1989) are two of my long-standing favorites. For a smiling skip down memory lane, there's also Tam's very 80s disco-effect theme for Superpower (1983) and "Check and Capture Chariot", whose cheeky lyrics and boogie-woogie arrangement are more memorable than the series (1982) that inspired it.

Anita Mui's "Debts of Heart" from Soldier of Fortune (1982) is a timeless classic for both TVB and Canto-pop, but the holy grail here is the rare appearance of "Ignorance is a Rare Blessing" from the 1988 Roger Kwok costume drama The Saga of the Lost Kingdom. Anita Mui's one and only TVB drama Summer Kisses, Winter Tears (1983) is also represented by the late diva's theme song and the Agnes Cheung ending theme "Guided By Cupid", released on CD for the first time.

Other hard-to-find selections include Lui Fong and Sammi Cheng's duet theme "Treasure This Moment" from Deadly Secret (1989) - another Roger Kwok costume classic and TVB's last Jin Yong adaptation of the 80s - and Lui Fong and Tony Leung's duet theme "Dominate the World" from The Grand Canal (1987). Actually, this compilation rounds up most of the Tony Leung essentials, like his duet with Anita Mui for New Heaven Sword & Dragon Sabre (1986) and the themes for Police Cadet '85 and Police Cadet '88, plus Leslie Cheung's "Luck at Last" for The Duke of Mount Deer (1985), The Little Tigers' "Set Sail With Me" for Police Cadet '84, and Anita Mui's "Me and You, He and I" for The Rough Ride (1985). No luck on Hap Hak Hang and Two Most Honorable Knights though.

Though I've been making a point to single out some of the less common selections, TV Theme Songs Collection packs in plenty of familiar classics from Rowena Cortes's "Beansprout Dreams" (1981) and Paula Tsui's "Behind the Wedding Dress" (The Feud of Two Brothers, 1986) to Michael Kwan's fabulous The Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils (1982) themes. I'm still waiting for a compilation with the theme songs of The Young Wanderer (1984), The Legend of Master Chan (1989), and Yankee Boy (1989) but until then, this one strikes a few off my wish list of elusive TVB themes.