Randy

Among Vietnamese male vocalists who sing traditional Vietnamese pop music, there are Tuan Vu, Manh Quynh, Che Linh, Truong Vu, Nhat Truong, Duy Khanh, etc.  The list just goes on and on.  My favorite out of all these male vocalists has always been Randy.  Yes, Randy.  He's the only one that can put me to tears with his heartfelt, soulful voice when listening to this type of music.  Amazing doesn't even begin to describe his talent.

I remember the first time I heard about him was when he first appeared on Vietnam Performing Arts Television in 1992 with the song, No.  His interpretation of that song was so moving that I had to record it on my VCR and play it over and over again the next few weeks.  And then he appeared again on Vietnam Performing Arts Television with another song, Loi Dang Cho Mot Cuoc Tinh.  At that point, I was sold.  He definitely had me with his unique voice.

It's rather hard to believe when I think about it.  How is it that I can turn into a fan of a singer such as Randy?  After all, the type of music that I sing is not even close to what Randy sings.  I had to go out and buy a few CDs Randy had recorded for Hai Au Productions.  On one particular CD, Randy sang along with two other artists, also Amerasian, half Black and half Vietnamese, Jenny Trang and Quoc Viet, who would later become known as Luu Quoc Viet.  I immensely enjoyed that one.  I had become friends with both Jenny Trang and Quoc Viet by that time.  But I had yet to meet Randy.

Sometime in 1994, I had been invited to perform in Australia.  The show promoter that had invited me kept raving about Randy on a previous show he had put together with Randy, Thai Chau, Thanh Tuyen, Nhu Mai, Lynda Trang Dai and Don Ho.  Basically what he was saying was the audience just adored Randy and that the response Randy had received, Thai Chau couldn't even hold a candle to.  I thought to myself, I've got to meet this Randy.

Two years after that, I was in Oakland to do a 2-night booking at a club named Phuong Hoang.  Right before I was supposed to go up on stage, someone had informed me Randy was in the audience.  I was so excited.  Here was my chance to finally meet him.  When the emcee announced my name, I went up and did my first set of songs.  I looked all over the audience and Randy was nowhere to be found.  Since I was headlining that night, it would have been odd if I just started to walk all around the club just to look for someone.  So I just went backstage, asked that same person who had told me about seeing Randy a few minutes prior.  That was when I found out Randy had left right before I went on stage.  What is up with this guy?  I guess it wasn't in the cards for us to ever meet.

Finally, it happened. A few weeks after that engagement in Oakland, I was at the Majestic Club one night with Jenny Trang.  During the middle of our conversation, Jenny turned to me and said, "My husband's here."  I thought she was referring to Thanh Le, who in fact was Jenny's ex-husband.  And then I turned around and saw this good-looking tall Black guy with a great, big smile on his face.  He looked at Jenny and said, "Chao ba xa!"  (Hello, wife!)  They both started giggling.  Jenny introduced me to him and he slapped me on the shoulders and said, "I know who he is."  From that moment on, we became the best of friends.

Through the years, I've always referred to Randy as "anh" in Vietnamese, mainly because he started singing long before I did.  In reality, Randy is only a year older than I am.  It was through our mutual friendship with Quoc Viet, later known as Luu Quoc Viet, that would bring us even closer.  I ran into Randy at Luu Quoc Viet's funeral in 2008.  By then, I had left the singing business for about 7 years. Randy invited me to tour with him on a series of shows for Gia Dinh My Viet.  When I think about it, Randy is the one responsible for my return to the stage.  On one particular booking, Randy and I traveled together to Houston to do a show for Gia Dinh My Viet.  On that show, I was reminded of his incredible talent when he got up on stage and sang a song he had written himself, Sau Cuoc Chien.  There wasn't a dry eye in the audience that night.  He put me in tears with his heartfelt performance.  I needed a few minutes to dry my tears before it was my turn to get up on stage and sing.  He is truly an amazing artist.

It's been a while since I've seen Randy.  I've heard he got married and is quite happy.  I only wish the best for Randy.  He'll always be like the brother I have never had.