Lollipop F () was a Taiwanese boy band gaining popularity throughout Asia. The group started off with six members, all chosen from Channel [V] Taiwan's show Bang Bang Tang (), a show which sought to create new male artistes in the entertainment business of Taiwan.
Towards the end of 2009, it was announced that the group has split up, with members Liljay and Wang Zi leaving the group. In October 2010, the rest of the members, Owodog, A-Wei, Fabien and William, were regrouped to form Lollipop F, with 'F' representing "four", the number of members in their group, as well as their belief in continuing the Lollipop spirit "forever".
Lollipop signed with EMI Music Taiwan on December 2, 2006 and released their first EP in January 2007. With Gold Label Records' acquisition of EMI Music Taiwan, Lollipop was signed under the label Gold Typhoon鄭東漢砸上億港幣 買下EMI until 2013 when the group had a contractual dispute with the label. They then went on and signed with A Entertainment and Seed Music. But after a year, they disbanded in 2017.
History
2006 to 2009: Debut as Lollipop
Background & Formation (2006–2007) Before entering the show Bang Bang Tang, Owodog and A-Wei were previous members of ºmommy breakdance group Brick Angle Crew.
In 2006, Owodog and Fabien were among the first group of boys to be selected into BBT through recommendations and auditions held across Taiwan, the processes of which were broadcast in the show's first three episodes. They were among the first 20 members of the showed which officially debuted on August 17, 2006. William and A-Wei made their first appearances on BBT on the October 13, 2006 episode where their auditions during the new selection round were aired. They were then selected to become members of the show.
On November 27, 2006, the episode in which the six members of the group were selected and revealed was aired. Notably, William and A-Wei's inclusion in the group was determined only moments before the announcements were filmed. The members signed a contract to Channel V, and Dora Ao became their artiste manager. The group, named Lollipop, then officially signed a contract with EMI Music Taiwan) on December 2, 2006. Owodog, being the leader in BBT, was appointed as the group leader as well. On December 9, 2006, Lollipop made its first public performance as a group at the V-Power Music Storm Concert.
2007 to 2008: Colorful Lollipop, Acting debut
Lollipop debut EP Colorful Lollipop was released on January 26, 2007, with six different covers, each featuring a member of the group. Four months later, on May 25, a second EP titled Summer's First Experience was released along with a photobook with compilation of photos taken in Okinawa, as well as a DVD. Lyrics for the song Summer's First Experience was written by Liljay and Prince.
During the summer of 2007, members of Lollipop made their acting debut in Taiwanese idol drama Brown Sugar Macchiato, a collaboration with girl group Hey Girl. Because of the large number of fifteen main characters and the many commitments both groups had apart from the drama, the original director quit after directing five episodes.棒棒堂、黑澀會外務多 黑糖瑪奇朵導演氣跑了 Nevertheless, the first episode was aired in Taiwan on July 15, 2007. Later, Lollipop expressed on Taiwanese variety show Kangxi Lai Le that the drama had been more of an introduction of the two groups instead of a major acting challenge, as the members were told to act as their original selves, and that many subplots were explained only briefly due to the large number of main characters. After thirteen episodes, the drama ended on October 7, 2007. Additionally, an official soundtrack was released with songs by Lollipop and Hey Girl.
The same year, Lollipop began hosting their own show Lollipop Gyashan () on October 27 until April 19, 2008, when the show stopped airing.
Their debut album Gyashan () was released on December 28, 2007. Gyashan took down the first position in the Mandarin charts, outselling F4's album Waiting for You – Await Your Love () which was released on the same day.Album sales (week of December 28, 2007) Liljay contributed lyrics to three out of ten songs, co-writing one with Fabien. A solo by Fabien, who composed both the music and lyrics, was recorded as well.
On January 26, 2008, a year after the release of their first EP, the group held its debut concert at the Taipei Arena. The concert DVD was released on June 6, 2008, breaking chart records with sales rates of more than 35%.5 Music Taiwan Week 24 chart The DVD topped the charts for a period of one month after its release.G-Music Taiwan Week 27 chart5 Music Taiwan Week 25 chart
2008 to 2009: Beyond Bang Bang Tang and solo projects Lollipop had been appearing regularly on Bang Bang Tang since August 14, 2006. With Channel [V]'s decision to select a new batch of boys and create a second season, Lollipop and most of the other members "graduated" from Bang Bang Tang after their last performances as members of the show. Their last official episode aired on August 29, 2008, marking the end of the first season. In total, the members of Lollipop had participated in more than 500 episodes of the show. Since the start of Bang Bang Tang II, Lollipop had, on several occasions, returned to the show as guests or co-hosts.
Drama and hosting opportunities In May, earlier the same year, A-Wei, Prince, and Fabien, part of the main cast, began shooting Lollipop's the second drama with members of Hey Girl and Bang Bang Tang. The drama, titled The Legend of Brown Sugar Chivalries, is a wuxia action drama set in modern times, which required the actors and actresses to learn and perform kungfu, as well as the use of weapons. Additionally, wire fu and special effects were used upon the cast for qinggong and some fighting scenes.「黑糖群俠傳」功夫偶像劇吊鋼絲讓王子臉色發青 直言收視破十就裸吊 The first episode was released on July 26, 2008 on Star TV Chinese Channel and had continued to air after the end of the first season of Bang Bang Tang. Later, Owodog guest starred in the drama, while Liljay and William had minor roles. The thirteenth and the last episode was aired on October 18, 2008, while the behind-the-scene footage was aired on October 25, 2008.
On October 3, 2008, the original soundtrack for The Legend of Brown Sugar Chivalries was released by Gold Typhoon, the songs of which includes lyric compositions by Liljay and Prince. A song involving collaboration with three members of Hey Girl was recorded, while Prince and Fabien both had a solo each. Two editions were released for the soundtrack album, one being a 10,000 limited edition.
After leaving Bang Bang Tang, William hosted a variety show called Wu Di Qing Chun Ke () with Taiwanese singer Kenji Wu. The show finale was aired on November 5, 2008. On the other hand, Owodog, A-Wei, and Liljay began hosting Na Li Wu Da Kang () with Hey Girl's Apple and Channel V's VJ Rong Jia. The show has since ended.
Film and other performing opportunities One week after performing in Singapore, the group returned to Taiwan to participate in the 2008 V-Power Love Music Concert on November 29, 2008.2008 [V] POWER愛音樂演唱會 眾歌手不畏寒流熱力開唱獻愛心 The concert united Liljay, Owodog, and A-wei with other Black Angle Crew members for a dance performance, while Prince and Fabien performed their solos from the last soundtrack. Together, the six members performed five songs, including a remixed version of "You Make Me a Fool," Fabien's composition for the debut album. Lollipop's participation in the concert also marks, symbolically, the second anniversary of the group's formation.
A week later, on December 6, 2008, Lollipop performed four songs with themes of wushu at the 45th Golden Horse Awards ceremony.第四十五屆金馬獎頒獎典禮暨星光大道衛視電影台獨家直播
After talks with Paco Wong in 2008, the chairman of Gold Records, Owodog was confirmed to be starring in a kungfu film called Hot-blooded Union () with Theresa Fu and a member of The Flowers.敖犬秘密來港傾片約黃柏高：我最偏心吳京!傅穎與敖犬親熱恐遭暗殺 The film has started filming near the end of 2008 in Beijing.傅穎被賀軍翔電暈 Later, news also reveal that A-Wei, who impressed the director with his wushu skills, has been invited to guest star in the film.大張偉本色出演武術電影跟棒棒堂學港台腔 The name of the film has since been changed to Martial Spirit (), and a trailer was shown at Lollipop's I am Legend concert in Hong Kong.
Prince and members of Choc7 took part in the film L-O-V-E (), which consists of four short films directed by four different directors.眾星亮相慶祝派對國片愛到底 4才子合一 The film was released on March 6, 2009.
As one of Channel [V]'s Chinese New Year programs, a short film called 狼牙棒 aired on January 26, 2009. The short film was produced by Owodog, William, and A-Wei, who starred in the film themselves.
In February, 2009, Channel [V] began filming its revamped version and new season of Bang Bang Tang, which marked the return of several members from the first season, including Lollipop. For the new season, Owodog shot and directed a promotional advertisement of members dancing at several sites in Taipei with Aben of Choc7.CHANNEL[V]【模范棒棒堂】三代同堂全新開堂 Bang Bang Tang III began airing on March 2, 2009, with Show Lo being the first guest star. In 2009, Lollipop made its first lyric contributions to other artistes, which was included in the mini album of the group Choc7, composed of seven members selected from the same show.
2009: I am Legend: Second album and Asia tour Lollipop's second album I am Legend was released on June 19, 2009. Nine out of the ten songs in the album included lyric contributions by Liljay, Owodog, Prince, and William and music compositions by Fabien and Prince for two songs. Solo performances by Liljay, Fabien, and William were recorded as well. A concert tour in Asia with the same name as the album commenced in Hong Kong Coliseum on July 4 and 5, 2009.棒棒堂2009《我是傳奇》亞洲巡迴演唱會七月開唱
While promoting I am Legend on several Taiwanese variety shows, including Kangxi Lai Le, 100% Entertainment, Azio Superstar, etc., Lollipop created a series of dance performances specifically for the show hosts of each show, thus completing a mini TV performance tour.
With show host Christine Fan leaving the show to focus on her musical career, Bang Bang Tang'''s last episode was aired on July 30, 2009.范瑋琪不捨揮別棒棒堂 二度潰堤攝影棚 The original time slot on Channel [V] has since been filled with a new show called Welcome外星人 that premiered on July 20, 2009, which was hosted by A-wei and William, along with Kevin Tsai. Prince was then given the opportunity to be part of the cast in a film called 精舞門2.《精舞門2》青島開機 邀街舞高手欲超越前作 Another short film directed and shot by A-wei called The Great Escape (), starring Liljay, William, and members of Choc7 and Hey Girl, aired on Channel [V] on September 12, 2009.
2010 to 2011: Comeback as Lollipop F To start off with a new image, Owodog, Fabien, William, and A-wei underwent an extensive 200-day training under the company's arrangement to improve their performing abilities. On October 21, 2010, a news conference was held to announce the regrouping of the members to form "Lollipop F". Following the conference, Lollipop F's debut album Four Dimensions () was released on November 6, 2010, featuring several songs of their own compositions, including the title track composed by Owodog and Fabien. Lollipop F was also appointed as Jeju Island's Taiwan Tourist Ambassadors by the Jeju Island Tourism Bureau, South Korea. The MVs for two songs in Four Dimensions were filmed at Jeju Island.
On January 13, 2011, Lollipop F held a press conference for the release of their tourism photobook, LOLLIPOP F Xi You Ji (), announcing good results of the photobook sales exceeding 10,000 after 11 days of pre-ordering. The Four Dimensions () album also accumulated sales of 160,000 copies globally.
Awards received for Four Dimensions G-Music 2010 Mandarin Music Charts 14th and Combined Music Charts 15th 14th position on Mandarin Music Charts of Taiwan's five main album stores