For a long time after the millennium, there was an unprecedented "blowout" in the music scenes in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Hong Kong has Eason Chan and Li Keqin, and Taiwan has Tao Zhe and Jay Chou.
Countless post-80s and post-90s generations thought of the "heavenly king" and "queen of heaven" were born here.
The stars shine and shine.
In 1999, dick cowboy released the album "Forget Me or Forget Him", in which "Thirty Thousand Feet" was popular across the Taiwan Straits and three places, and was sought after by countless fans.
Then, in 2007, he sang the theme song of the TV series "Landing, Please Open the Mobile Phone", "Let Go and Love", which once again heated up to become a benchmark figure in the entire Chinese music scene.
At that time, everyone in the streets and alleys, every household, everyone knew the name of "Dick Cowboy".
Evenings, concerts, and commercial performances overwhelmed him.
All in all, it's the fire.
But the good times are not long, with the rapid development of the Internet era, the heat comes quickly and dissipates quickly.
Although Dick Cowboy has been releasing new works non-stop since 2010, it is difficult to surpass the previous classics and gradually fade out of the public eye.
Not long ago, when I was brushing Weibo, some fans began to remember the grand occasion of that year, and directly auted him:
"Why is he gone?"
Unexpectedly, he has always been known for his low profile and even replied to this fan:
"I don't like to be on the singing competition, I am me, than what is red, understand?"
In this regard, in fact, it is quite regrettable, even painful.
Coupled with the fact that in recent years, he has appeared many times at the opening ceremony of the real estate and the ribbon-cutting performance scene of the Furniture City, you can't help but sigh:
Taiwanese ballet rock stars, who were once extremely popular, are now vicissitudes and things are not human.
Previously, a video of Dick Cowboy performing at the opening ceremony of a property was circulating on Weibo.
Among them, we can see that he wears long hair and walks with the wind, but his voice is not as powerful as it used to be, and it is obvious that he has lowered his tone.
For a moment, I had the illusion of being in a concert in the stadium, but when I looked back, I found that it was like this.
I really felt sour for him.
The simple stage equipment, the developer's advertisement is also printed on the back, and the sound equipment also screams when it first starts singing...
This scene, like that of him who was touring Asia that year, was completely one heaven and one underground.
The contrast is too great.
On the way, he stepped off the stage to sing with the audience.
Most of the people present can hum two sentences, but they can sing from beginning to end, and it is estimated that the age is not small.
The one who really likes him is still the same gang as 20 years ago.
This classic cover of the year, "How Much Love Can Be Repeated", seems to have been given a new meaning.
The original version was to remember the love that has passed away, and now the role of "lover" has been replaced by "old days".
How much love can be repeated
How many people are worth the wait
When love has gone to the sea
Do you still have the courage to love?
He loves music and has spent most of his life on it.
Even if the outside world is no longer chaotic, he will still resolutely devote himself to what he loves.
It is nothing more than what others say, what matters is how to insist on it.
In recent years, a number of veteran singers from Hong Kong and Taiwan have collectively come to the mainland to participate in various variety shows and reality shows, and various popular and hot searches have continued.
Dick Cowboy, on the other hand, does not even have 20W Weibo fans, let alone retweets, comments, and likes.
In fact, he is not rejected on TELEVISION, but extremely disgusted with the current music circle has gradually become an entertainment to death entertainment circle, people do not focus on the work itself, but have a special love for some external things.
"Isn't being a singer just singing?" But in fact, this is an entertainment circle, and everyone is more concerned about some things that are actually not related to work. ”
Natural selection, survival of the fittest.
Today's environment is like this, you can only wait to be eliminated without compromise.
This is our sad status quo.
Times have changed, and many young people's value systems are different from those of that year.
In order to burst into flames, traffic stars can be described as racking their brains and doing whatever it takes.
Rubbing heat, crazy participation in variety shows, and even hype with their own private lives.
Does this have anything to do with music?
The plate is full of, and you have to eat it if you don't eat it.
The most frightening thing is that many people who are young and have not bathed in the golden age that once shone brightly, do not know that some of the music and culture now are stinky.
As Dick Cowboy said on Weibo before:
"The whole society is mercenary, laughing at the poor and not laughing at prostitutes, this kind of atmosphere, life is very boring."
"Today's entertainment industry is really not suitable for people like me, annoying."
Even so, looking at more than a decade or even twenty years ago, those young people who entertained to death could not imagine how awesome Dick Cowboy really was.
Dick Cowboy was born in 1959 into a very poor family, but he grew up dreaming of music.
At that time, ordinary families could not afford to study music professionally, not to mention that his situation was worse than that of ordinary families, and it was good to have enough to eat.
No conditions...
When he grew up, he began to work outside the home.
From the beginning, cement workers, ticket inspectors, record company delivery workers, and bar resident singers saved money with their meager wages to buy a guitar.
Since then, I have been out of control, practicing day and night.
At the age of 30, he formed his own resident band.
Because the members at that time were all young people who were much younger than him, facing such a long-haired uncle, over time, everyone called him "Daddy", and this title also accompanied Dick Cowboy's entire career.
In 1998, at the age of nearly 40, he was discovered by the record company and made a name for himself in the Taiwanese music scene with a cover album " Roar" .
What shocked insiders was that the cover song that passed him was even hotter than the original song.
The hoarse voice and the arrangement of Bon Jovi-style lyrical rock make people feel endlessly lingering in the aftersound.
Among them, my favorite is this song "When I Wake Up from a Dream".
The original version of Chen Shuhua seems to be more like to soothe every person whose feelings are frustrated and are hovering on the verge of collapse.
And Dick Cowboy is the simplest and crudest way to use rock 'n' roll to slap you and wake you up.
Since then, his development has become uncontrollable, thriving, and his status in the music world has gradually improved.
The cover song "How Much Love Can Be Returned" became a classic that exploded again that year.
Of course, what brought Dick's cowboy career to the peak was the theme song of the 2007 TV series "Landing, Please Open the Phone", "Let Go and Love".
This was followed by variety show invitations, Asian tours, and reports from major media outlets.
And all these dividends did not make him lose himself, but more collapsed to make music.
Unfortunately, since then, the trend of "small fresh meat" has struck, the threshold for making music has become lower and lower, and Dick Cowboy has also been silent for a while.
When he participated in a reality show in 2017, he was also recognized as the power train that debuted at the same time.
It seems to be quite funny, but in fact, it can prove that his set of music systems and ideas has been put into the present, and few people care about it.
If I don't like it, then don't participate.
You take your Yangguan Road, I walk my canoe bridge, do not interfere with each other, and there is no dispute with the world from now on.
In my opinion, sometimes Dick Cowboy is like a paranoid, participating in a few more variety shows to mix faces and sing some old songs, which can make everyone remember and earn money while standing, isn't it good?
But in fact, this is not his problem alone, a large number of veteran singers are facing the same situation.
Compromise or get out.
The power train just mentioned above, although it has been constantly releasing new songs in recent years, but the response has been flat.
Forced to make a living, he could only appear frequently on TELEVISION programs.
Power Train in "The Voice of Heaven"
Unfortunately, even so, there are still very few people who pay attention to them, and there are only 160,000 Weibo fans.
Sometimes I wonder myself, is their music really obsolete now?
In the era of lyrical rock and roll in Taiwanese ballet, will no one really mention it again?
The presence of old cannons such as Dick Cowboys and Power Trains is like a jukebox, and as soon as it is turned on, it can immediately pull you back to 20 years ago.
No matter what the outside world is, they are always there and will never change.
At this point, some people may feel that their music is too earthy and not into the flow.
But I would say that the rise of classic rock 'n' roll in the '80s and '90s was itself very folk.
In terms of elegance, nature is better than a symphony.
Whether it is criticizing or singing love, its greatest charm is to sing to your heart in the most direct way.
Gun flowers, poor streets, AC/DC are not fragrant?
When it comes to Taiwanese rock music, it is essentially influenced by the European and American music scenes and the folk song movement of the 60s.
Wu Bai has been called the "King of Earthy Love Songs" for decades, do you think it is really earth?
If you think it is not in the flow, you can listen to more and feel the humanistic feelings contained therein.
Everyone has their own bottom line, and for Dick Cowboy, their bottom line is to stick to themselves.
Rather than go around running business performances, rather than following the traffic and many people to join the flow, this is the last pure land in the heart of a musician.
A thousand words can only be combined into two words:
Awesome.
He also seems to be a wake-up call to many young people now:
I would rather die poorly than become a fool to be fooled in an era of entertainment to death.