View source for Htoo Ein Thin

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{family name hatnote|lang=Burmese|Htoo Eain Thin}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Htoo Eain Thin
| native_name = ထူးအိမ်သင်
| image = Htoo-Ein-Thin-Concert.jpg
| caption =
| image_size =
| background = solo_singer
| birth_name = Kyaw Myint Lwin <br/> ကျော်မြင့်လွင်
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1963|7|1|df=yes}}
|birth_place =[[Pathein]], [[Burma]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2004|8|14|1963|7|1|df=yes}}
|death_place =[[Yangon]], Myanmar
| instrument = Vocals, guitar, piano, harmonica, drums
| genre = Rock, [[pop rock]]
| occupation = Singer-songwriter
| years_active = 1986–2004
| label =
| associated_acts =
| website =
| music website =
}}
'''Htoo Eain Thin''' ({{langx|my|ထူးအိမ်သင်}}; {{IPA-my|tʰú ʔèiɰ̃ θɪ̀ɰ̃|pron}}; born '''Kyaw Myint Lwin''' ({{lang|my|ကျော်မြင့်လွင်}}, {{IPA-my|tɕɔ̀  mjɪ̰ɰ̃ lwɪ̀ɰ̃|}}); 1 July 1963 – 14 August 2004) was one of the most popular and respected Burmese singer-songwriters. He brought a new style of [[pop rock]] music to the Burmese music scene in mid-1980s,<ref name="irrawaddy">{{cite journal | url=http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=2710 | title=Burmese Pop Music: Identity in Transition | author=Min Zin | date=1 September 2002 | publisher=Irrawaddy News | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100803105658/http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=2710 | archivedate=3 August 2010 }}</ref> and was popular till his death in 2004. He released 14 solo albums in his 18-year career.<ref name="wl">{{cite news | title=With Love: a final farewell to the legendary Htoo Ein Thin | url=http://www.myanmar.gov.mm/myanmartimes/no280/MyanmarTimes14-280/t002.htm | author=Kyaw Kyaw Tun | newspaper=The Myanmar Times | date=2 August 2005| url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080226045049/http://www.myanmar.gov.mm/myanmartimes/no280/MyanmarTimes14-280/t002.htm | archivedate=26 February 2008 }}</ref> His songs remain Burmese standards and his premature death is still mourned by millions of fans.
== Background ==
Htoo Eain Thin was born on 1 July 1963 in [[Pathein]] in the [[Irrawaddy Division]] to a [[Bamar|Burman]] father (Tun Myint) and a [[Mon people|Mon]] mother (Mya Yin). He graduated from [[Basic Education High School No. 3 Pathein]] in 1979, and attended [[Pathein University|Pathein Regional College]] for two years. In 1981, his entire family moved to [[Mawlamyaing]], and he enrolled in a [[distant education|correspondence]] course at the [[Mawlamyaing University|University of Mawlamyine]], graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in [[physics]] in 1984. After graduation, he studied formal music education under a well known music instructor Aung Soe (KC Francis).<ref name="het">{{cite journal | url=http://www.people.com.mm/starbio_view.cfm?id=5310&parent=5310&sec=9 | title=Musical Bird That Has Flown Away | date=April 2006 | author=Moe Moe Aung | journal=People Magazine Myanmar | volume=3 | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429095418/http://www.people.com.mm/starbio_view.cfm?id=5310&parent=5310&sec=9 | archivedate=29 April 2011 }}</ref> Htoo Eain Thin was proficient in playing guitar, bass guitar, piano, harmonica, flute and drums.
== Musical career ==
Htoo Eain Thin is widely remembered for his heart-felt songs with his own original music and lyrics.<ref name="irrawaddy"/> Being an "original" songwriter means a lot in Myanmar. When he released his first album ''[[Naryi Baw Mha Myet-Yay Zet Mya]]'' (Tear Drops on the Clock) in 1986,<ref name=het/> the Burmese pop music scene was (and still to a lesser extent is) dominated by Burmese covers of Western pop and [[country music]]—known locally as "copies".
To be sure, Htoo Eain Thin's musical style was heavily influenced by Western [[jazz]], [[rock-and-roll]] and pop music. Some critics complained that his sound was still too "derivative" or "emulative", comparing his compositions and arrangements to those of the Bee Gees or the Beatles.<ref name="irrawaddy"/> But it was his ability to bring Burmese soulfulness (some would say wailing quality) to his lyrics and combine it with Western-fused arrangements that proved ever so popular with generations of Burmese—male and female alike. His style was unique, even compared to that of other contemporary singer-songwriters like [[Soe Lwin Lwin]] and [[Kaiser (Burmese singer)|Kaiser]].
Like most Burmese songs, many of his songs are about love and heart-ache, only areas that could safely pass through draconian Burmese media censors, which did not (and still don't) tolerate even a hint of social commentary.<ref name="irrawaddy2">{{cite magazine|title=And the Band Played On |url=http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=2707 |date=1 September 2002 |author=Aung Zaw |magazine=The Irrawaddy |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100803105654/http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=2707 |archivedate=3 August 2010 }}</ref> His 1991 ode ''[[Yazawin Mya Ye Thado-Thami]]'' (The Bride of History) raised a few eyebrows. Although the song ostensibly is about Myanmar's main artery [[Irrawaddy river]], many took it to be as an implicit reference to [[Aung San Suu Kyi]]. He was banned from performing the song in his concerts.<ref name="irrawaddy2"/>
Within the confines of Burmese censors, one topic he wrote extensively about was the mother's love, the relationship between the mother and the son, and a son's regrets. He devoted an entire album ''[[A-May (Tho) A-Kywin-Me Metta-Daw Thi-Chin|A-May]]'' (Mother) to this topic. The song ''[[A-May Ein]]'' (Mother's Home) continues to resonate deeply with many Burmese home and especially, abroad.
His success with ''Naryi'' was followed by a string of successful albums, culminating in ''[[Atta Bon Saung Khe Mya]]'', and ''[[Akyinna Einmet]]'', both released in 1991.<ref name="songs">{{cite web | url=http://www.htooeainthin.com/songs.php | title=Htoo Ein Thin's Songs | accessdate=3 August 2008}}</ref> His songs from this early era are still very popular today. In particular, ''[[Mei-Lai-Taw]]'' (Just Forget It), ''[[Min-Ma-Shi-De-Nauk]]'' (Since You've Been Gone) and ''[[Hsway-De]]'' (Longing) remain standards to this day. His success waned in later albums though he remained popular. He even resorted to covering a few Western songs—something that did not sit well with some of his purist fans. His last albums—in particular the posthumous ''[[Chit-Chin Ah-Phyint]]'' (With Love)--saw a return to his musical roots that captivated generations of Burmese.
Htoo Eain Thin also composed many commercially successful songs for other singers. A successful singer, [[Aung Yin (singer)|Aung Yin]] has publicly acknowledged that he owes his success to his ''saya'' (teacher) Htoo Eain Thin. [[Hayma Ne Win]], a popular female singer, has covered many of Htoo Eain Thin's popular songs.
== Premature death ==
Htoo Eain Thin died suddenly in 2004 of heart disease. He was survived by his wife, Thwè Thwè Htwe, and daughter, Mi Kun Htaw.<ref name="het"/>
== Album discography ==
Htoo Eain Thin released 14 solo albums. His last album remains unreleased.<ref name="songs"/>
* ''[[Naryi Baw Mha Myet Yay Set Myar]]  (နာရီပေါ်က မျက်ရည်စက်များ) –''  Tear Drops on the Clock(1986)
* ''[[Mhaw Sayar Eainmet]]''  (''မှော်ဆရာအိပ်မက်'') – Dream of a Wizard (1988)
* ''[[Thet Nyein]]'' ''(သက်ငြိမ်)'' – Tranquillity (1989)
* ''[[Atta Pon Saung Khae Myar]]'' ''(အတ္တပုံဆောင်ခဲများ)'' – Crystal Of Ego (1991)
* ''[[Akyinna Eainmet]]'' ''(အကြင်နာအိပ်မက်)'' – Dream of Affection(1991)
* ''[[A Yin A Taing]]'' ''(အရင်အတိုင်း)'' – Just Like Old Times (1991)
* ''[[Zaga Lon Ma Shi Tae Kaungkin]] (စကားလုံးမရှိတဲ့ကောင်းကင်)'' – Sky Without Words (1995)
* ''[[Htoo Eain Thin Unplugged Live]] – (ထူးအိမ်သင် (Unplugged Live))'' (1996)
* ''[[Myo Pya La Yaung Tan Chin]] – (မြို့ပြလရောင်တမ်းချင်း)'' (1996)
* ''[[Win Yoe Sune Mee]]'' ''(ဝင်ရိုးစွန်းမီး)'' – Polar Flame (1997)
* ''[[A May (Tho) A Kywin Mae Metta Taw Thi Chin]]'' – ''(အမေ (သို့) အကြွင်းမဲ့ မေတ္တာတော်သီချင်း)'' – Mother (or) Owner Of Endless Love (1997)
* ''[[A Mhat Ta Ya Dan Ya Thi Chin Mya]]'' – ''(အမှတ်တရ ဒဏ်ရာသီချင်းများ)''  Songs For Memorial Scars Of Life (1999)
* ''[[A Sein Yaung Yet Swe Myar]]'' – ''(အစိမ်းရောင် ရက်စွဲများ)'' Green Dates (2001)
* ''[[Ta Nae Sar A Lwe Myar]]'' – ''(တစ်နေ့စာအလွဲများ)'' Mistakes of the Day (2003)
* ''[[Chit Chin Ah Phyint]]'' – ''(ချစ်ခြင်းအားဖြင့်)'' With Love (2005)
* ''[[Nhit Cho' Waing]] – (နှစ်ချို့ဝိုင်)'' Aged Wine (unreleased)
==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:1963 births]]
[[Category:2004 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Burmese male singers]]
[[Category:21st-century Burmese male singers]]
[[Category:Burmese singer-songwriters]]
[[Category:Burmese pop singers]]
[[Category:Burmese Mon people]]
[[Category:People from Mawlamyine]]
[[Category:People from Ayeyarwady Region]]