Sort out the development of Hong Kong pop music, and analyze how TV, film, radio and other media promote the development of Hong Kong music
50 Years of Hong Kong Pop: From Rise to Blending
Hong Kong pop music (hereinafter referred to as “Hong Kong Philharmonic”) refers to musical works produced and composed by Hong Kong musicians to convey their voices and provide entertainment to the public. Huang Zhan said that every era has its own voice. From the 1970s to around the millennium, the HK Phil was undoubtedly a very representative voice in the Chinese world. Every Chinese who has grown up in this era has been influenced by the HK Phil to a greater or lesser extent, and they can sing their favorite HK Phil tunes casually.
Like the city of Hong Kong, the style of the HK Phil is diverse and varied, both traditional and modern, unique and inclusive. It records the passion of youth, the fearlessness of youth, and the perseverance in pursuit of the “ideal capital”. It also expresses the hesitation in life and the desire to return home, as well as the philosophical thinking about the world‘s chess-like chess; The optimism and accessibility of ordinary people in the market; it is soothing in love and kinship, causing ripples in people’s most secret hearts, and it will also be impassioned because of home and country feelings and national righteousness, triggering a wide range of resonances and echoes.
When a pop music culture has quietly participated in the daily life of generations of people, and has become the accompaniment and footnote of many ordinary individual life stories, it has also become an indelible piece of youth in an era, writing immortality in the depths of time. The famous Hong Kong sentence. What makes HK Phil unique? And why can it become the voice of an era and carry the youthful memories of generations of Chinese people? What will its future look like? In the summer of 2022, the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to the motherland, the Beijing News exclusively interviewed a number of Hong Kong pop music practitioners and observers to interpret the time code of “Hong Kong Philharmonic and Me”.
1970s
“It’s here and now”
——In the 1970s, the HK Phil found its voice
Most Hong Kong pop culture researchers agree that the 1970s was the age of enlightenment for the HK Phil, and it was also an important period when the HK Phil began to establish its style. Because before this, the Hong Kong society did not accept Cantonese pop songs very high, and there was even some prejudice and discrimination, thinking that it was difficult to be elegant. English songs were the protagonists of Hong Kong pop music at that time. Even Xu Guanjie, who was later recognized as the pioneer of Cantopop, focused on English songs before his “Ghost Horse Double Star” album was a great success in 1974, and published many English songs.
In April 1972, Xu Guanjie sang the Cantonese song “Just Like This” composed by himself and written by Xu Guanwen in the TVB (TVB) comedy sitcom “Announcement of Good News” hosted by his brother Xu Guanwen. The lyrics are adapted from an English poem written by Xu Guanwen after traveling around the world. The lyrics reflect the self-identity of Hong Kong people. After seeing the Eiffel Tower, Mount Fuji, the beaches of Honolulu, etc., I still miss Hong Kong very much. There is nothing like the “fishing lanterns in Bibang (Hong Kong)” that looks like this here and now. The song was later renamed “Iron Tower Lingyun” and included in the album “Ghost Horse Double Star”, which is considered to be the pioneering work of Cantonese pop songs.
In the 1970s, media such as television, movies, and radio stations played a pivotal role in the development of the HK Phil. “Ghost Horse Double Star” is the theme song of the comedy film of the same name jointly launched by Xu Guanwen, Xu Guanjie brothers and Jiahe Film Company. After the film was released in 1974, it topped the annual box office champion. This song is also sung in the streets. For another example, TVB’s TV series “Causes of Laughter and Laughter” launched in the same year (1974) recruited Gu Jiahui to compose the music, Ye Shaode wrote the lyrics, and Cinderella sang the Cantonese theme song of the same name, which was also very popular. In his doctoral dissertation “The Development and Rise and Fall of Cantonese Pop Music: A Study of Hong Kong Pop Music”, Huang Zhan called “Sorry and Laughter” a watershed in Hong Kong pop music. “After this scene, Hong Kong people no longer discriminate against Cantonese songs. Then, a series of works emerged, and Hong Kong music found its own unique voice.”
In the process of the HK Phil’s search for his own voice, Xu Guanjie played a major role. Huang Zhan sorted out the development of Hong Kong pop music from 1949 to 1997 in the paper, and dedicated a section to analyze Xu Guanjie, a musician 7 years younger than him. Huang Zhan called Xu Guanjie “a legend and myth, by no means deliberate, a hero in the music world, few people can match it”. In the 1970s and 1980s, Feng Tianzhi, who was the director of “Poly Gold”, allowed Guanjie to have a feeling of combining Chinese and Western styles. “He wrote many songs that are still very good, and also brought the craze of cantopop (Cantonese pop music). .” Teddy Robin said that Xu Guanjie is a singer with the most successful Cantonese pop songs, “this is undeniable.”
Many Hong Kong pop music practitioners interviewed by this newspaper, such as Coco Li, Lin Xiaofeng, Miriam Yeung, etc., all agree that Xu Guanjie has a unique position in the history of Hong Kong pop music. The songs written by Xu Guanjie have beautiful melody and complement the lyrics. Songs such as “The Prodigal Son’s Heart” and “The Dream of a Genius Idiot” have been sung for a long time, and they are still unfailing. His lyrics can not only explain the slightly esoteric philosophy of life in a simple and simple way, but also are good at observing all kinds of living beings. He uses lively and interesting slang to describe the mentality of the common people, which makes people feel cordial when they hear them, such as “Half a catty eight liang”, “Buddha Jumps over the Wall” and so on. To a certain extent, Xu Guanjie is more like a sociologist who observes and records the present with music.
1980s-90s
“Welcome to the Glorious Years”
——In the 1980s and 1990s, the Hong Kong Philharmonic became the voice of the times
In the 1980s and 1990s, Hong Kong’s economy took off, and it became the most developed international metropolis in Asia and one of the famous “Asian Four Little Dragons”. The HK Phil also ushered in the golden age of “fighting with gods”. The singers who rose in the 1970s, such as Xu Guanjie, Luo Wen, Guan Zhengjie, and Lin Zixiang, became more and more brave, and new music stars such as Anita Mui, Leslie Cheung, Lu Fang, and the “Four Kings” in the 1990s continued to emerge. For a time, thousands of stars were shining in Hong Kong, and the influence of the HK Phil reached its peak. Not only has it become the youth memory of generations in the mainland, but you can even hear the melody of the Hong Kong Philharmonic anywhere in the world where Chinese people live.
Looking back, the various singing competitions and lyric competitions held in Hong Kong since the late 1970s laid a solid foundation for the “glorious days” of the HK Phil. For example, Lin Xi and Xiaomei gradually developed their confidence by participating in the lyric competition, and later became important lyricists of the Hong Kong Philharmonic during this period. Singing competitions are an important channel to discover new singers. The “Rookie Singing Competition” held by TVB is one of the best, known as “the cradle of singers”. from this contest. Other singing competitions have also brought “new blood” to the HK Phil. For example, the first champion of the “Hong Kong 18 District Amateur Singing Competition” was Jacky Cheung.
Zhu Yaowei, a professor at the University of Hong Kong and a researcher on Hong Kong culture, wrote in the book “The (Post) Youth of Hong Kong Pop Culture”: “In the 1970s, Hong Kong’s singing competition contestants mainly sang English songs. In the 1980s, almost all of them were Cantonese songs have changed with time, and Cantonese songs are the best.” In the 1980s and 1990s, the Hong Kong Philharmonic adopted the popular music culture of different regions through adaptation. Many songs were adapted from Japanese, Korean and English pop songs. Become the only pop music in this family. He analyzed and pointed out that because the HK Phil was already the center of Chinese pop music at that time, the image of popular singers leading the trend could effectively adapt the foreign language songs for their own use, making the HK Phil’s style both diversified and self-contained.
On the other hand, thanks to the rapid development of the economy, after enjoying a more prosperous material life, Hong Kong citizens began to pursue personal style in the mid-1980s, trying to get rid of the relatively popular consumption form to show their personal taste (according to Wu Junxiong and Zhang Zhiwei). “Reading Hong Kong Popular Culture”). This consumption trend has spawned a wave of “band booms” in Hong Kong, including Beyond. Unlike the bands in the 1970s who sang European and American pop songs, these bands mainly composed Cantonese songs, with different themes and creative techniques from the mainstream songs at that time, but they were all good at expressing the confusion and loneliness of young people. Many of them later became a new force in the Hong Kong pop music scene, such as Liu Yida, Huang Jiaju, Huang Jiaqiang, Liu Zhuohui, etc.
In addition, with the official opening of the Hong Kong Coliseum (“Red Pavilion” for short) (on April 27, 1983), the concert culture that has been emerging since the 1970s has become more and more prosperous. Xu Guanjie was the first to hold a concert in the Red Pavilion, followed by Lin Zixiang and Chen Baiqiang. In the 1980s and 1990s, going to the Red Pavilion for concerts gradually became a cultural event in Hong Kong. Many fans fly to Hong Kong from the mainland or even abroad to listen to the concerts of their favorite singers. Until now, going to the Red Pavilion to hold a concert is still an important indicator to measure the success of a singer. Zhu Yaowei also pointed out that the Hong Kong pop music has developed from auditory to visual, and the Red Pavilion concert played a key role. “The Red Pavilion effectively promotes Hong Kong’s pop music industry, and more importantly provides a place for Hong Kong people to build collective memories.”
After 2000
“The surging tide has not subsided”
—— Around 2000, the Hong Kong Philharmonic and the mainland music scene blended together
Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau, Liming, and Aaron Kwok “Four Heavenly Kings” set off a round of Hong Kong music boom in the 1990s, which gradually receded with the arrival of the Asian Financial Crisis (1997). After 2000, although Eason Chan, Miriam Yeung, Joey Yung, TWINS and other new generation singers have also performed well, it has always been difficult to reproduce the glory of the golden age of the Hong Kong Philharmonic. With the introduction of the planning of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, many excellent music programs have emerged in the mainland under the Internet era. Many Hong Kong musicians choose to develop northward to open up a broader market for themselves, and also attract mainland audiences. Have a deeper understanding of the familiar HK Phil.
In fact, the exchanges between the mainland and Hong Kong pop music scene began in the 1980s, and they have never stopped and become more and more close. As early as 1985, the TV series “Shanghai Bund” starring Chow Yun-fat, Zhao Yazhi, and Lv Liangwei was broadcast in the mainland. The song “Shanghai Bund”, composed by Gu Jiahui, written by Huang Zhan and sung by Ye Liyi, is widely sung in the north and south of the country. Mainland singer Cui Jian’s “Nothing” and Wang Hong’s “Blood-stained Demeanor” were also introduced to Hong Kong at about the same time.
In 1994, the “Rock Chinese Music Force” concert was held at the Hong Kong Red Pavilion. The “Magic Rock Three Heroes” Zhang Chu, He Yong, Dou Wei, and Zhang Ju from the “Tang Dynasty Band” showed the Hong Kong audience the youthful appearance of the mainland music scene. . In 2001, Na Ying sang in the Red Pavilion and invited Andy Lau and Stefanie Sun as supporting guests. Later, mainland singers such as Daolang, Zhou Bichang and Li Ronghao also landed in the Red Pavilion to sing. At the same time, it has become very frequent for Hong Kong singers to hold concerts in the Mainland – Alan Tam, Leslie Cheung, Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau, Li Ming, Coco Lee, Beyond…
Nowadays, the literary and artistic creators in the mainland have grown up listening to the Hong Kong Philharmonic, so the influence of the Hong Kong Philharmonic can be seen everywhere in the popular culture of the mainland. In his youth, he played the role of a psychological counselor. “It can soothe your extra emotions and lead an ignorant teenager to the right path in life.” His works are organically combined to give a new vitality. For example, Jia Zhangke is a fan of Ye Kuiwen, and his films “Old Man in Mountains and Rivers” and “Daughter of Rivers and Lakes” all used Ye Kuiwen’s songs as interludes, creating an atmosphere that fits the plot and is moving.
The HK Phil contains traditional values cherished by the Chinese and a strong sense of family and country. For example, Zheng Guojiang’s “Walking the Road of Life”, Lu Guozhan’s “The Great Wall Never Falls”, Xu Guanjie’s “Parent’s Grace” and Chen Baiqiang’s “Reading the Parent’s Grace”. At this level, the HK Phil and Mainland culture have always been linked by blood. However, with the development of the times, the definition of Hong Kong Philharmonic is constantly being supplemented, enriched and expanded, and the future will definitely settle on the integration with mainland culture. Huang Zhan once wrote that singing in Cantonese gave the HK Phil its personality and characteristics, but it also severely restricted the development of the HK Phil. “All indications are that Hong Kong pop music can only pick up again if it can re-enter the Mandarin market in the mainland.”
References:
1. Huang Zhan, “The Development and Rise and Fall of Cantonese Pop: A Study of Hong Kong Pop”
2. “The (Post) Youth Years of Hong Kong Pop Culture” by Zhu Yaowei
3. Wu Junxiong and Zhang Zhiwei, “Reading the Popular Culture of Hong Kong”
Thematic planning Tian Yani
Written by/reporter Yang Lianjie, Zhou Huixiaowan, Zhang Kunyu