preface
Hong Kong pop music has influenced the growth of generations, and "listening to pop songs" was also the biggest entertainment for young people at that time. Because Hong Kong music is delicate and direct in expression, some songs are very suitable for the life of listeners in private contexts, so many Hong Kong music fans also bury memories related to songs when they listen to songs. The relationship between stars and Hong Kong music is also the same, in the Beijing News interview with Li Wei, Yang Qianwei, Leung HanWen, Lin Xiaofeng, Yan Mingxi, Zeng Bit, Chen Shaoqi, Chen Guangrong, several creators, they said that at least one Hong Kong pop song in their lives has a profound impact on themselves. Some of these songs have witnessed the lives of themselves and their loved ones, and some have influenced their subsequent creations... In their memories with Hong Kong Le, we can also feel the unique vitality of Hong Kong Le again.
"Buddha Jumping the Wall" was included in Xu Guanjie's 1978 album "God of Wealth".
Selected Song: Buddha Jumps the Wall (1978)
Original singer: Xu Guanjie
Lyricist: Xu Guanjie
Composer: Elvis Presley
"Mr. Hui Guanjie is a senior singer who leads the trend of Hong Kong pop music."
Lin Xiaofeng. The picture is from the artist's Weibo
[Memories] That Hong Kong music
——Xu Guanjie introduced our generation to music
Born in Hong Kong in 1970, Lin Xiaofeng has had a dream of being a singer since he was a child. But at that time, coinciding with the golden age of the Hong Kong pop music scene, Tam Wing Lin, Cheung Kwok Wing, Chen Baiqiang, Lin Zixiang, Hui Guanjie, Kwan Cheng Kit and other famous singers were both talented and good-looking, in contrast, he felt that it was difficult for him to be a singer to have a chance to stand out, and heeded Rowan's advice - "When you feel that you are not good enough, go and learn more things" - first do some other work, and then find an opportunity to sing. So Lin Xiaofeng made movies and TV series, hosted various programs, including singing programs, and thus was able to cooperate with many singers and songwriters and become a close observer of Hong Kong pop music.
Lin Xiaofeng's favorite music is very mixed, and there are many singers he likes, including predecessors such as Luo Wen and Xu Xiaofeng, Zheng Yijian and other peers, as well as some younger singers. "I can schedule different songs for each time of the day, so it's hard to pick one of my favorite Hong Kong songs and the singers who influence me the most. Putting together all the music I love is representative of my life. ”
Although I have heard and learned so much About Hong Kong music and Hong Kong singers, in Lin Xiaofeng's eyes, Xu Guanjie is still a very special existence. "If you know Mr. Hui Guanjie, you know that he is a predecessor who led the trend of Hong Kong pop music and is a very important figure in Hong Kong pop music. He paired some foreign songs with colloquial Cantonese lyrics, and our generation learned a lot about foreign music. He gave an example of "Buddha Jumping the Wall", adapted from Elvis Presley's "Don't be cruel", included in the album "God of Wealth" (1978), and the lyrics are quite grounded: "The tea house is together, the good friends talk about the movements, the flower carving "Dep" is a few pairs, idle to find fun, call the pot Buddha jumping the wall ..."
Xu Guanjie himself is a fan of "Elvis Presley", and many songs on the album "Fortune God" are adapted from "Elvis Presley", such as "Tender Tears", which is adapted from "Summer Kisses Winter Tears". Adapting foreign songs is only a small part of Xu Guanjie's music creation, and he also creates or collaborates with others to tell the lives of small people in the city with colloquial lyrics. For example, Huang Xia composed, Xu Guanjie, Li Peter filled in the "Biography of the Hero of the Bird": "Six aunts, three taigong, the public opened the stage like Lotus Rong..."
"The Legend of the Hero who Fights the Birds" was included in Xu Guanjie's "Half a Pound, Eight Two" album in 1976.
[In the local] music scene at that time
- Diverse styles, "fairy fight"
Lin Xiaofeng described the time period of his birth and growth as the golden age of "fairy fighting" in the Hong Kong pop music scene, with many singers with distinctive personal characteristics and many popular songs with diverse styles. He remembers that the soundtrack of early Hong Kong pop songs is mainly string music, and most of the fillers are more written expressions, and the typical representatives are the works of Gu Jiahui, Huang Xia, Lu Guozhan and other predecessors. Many of these songs are the soundtrack of film and television dramas, the lyrics need to match the story and style of film and television dramas, and written expression is obviously more appropriate, such as "a laugh in the sea, a tide on both sides of the strait" ("A laugh in the sea") is the theme song of the costumed martial arts movie "Laughing Proud of the River".
At that time, the Hong Kong pop music scene included musicians who were good at composing strings and written lyrics, as well as outstanding singer-songwriters like Hui Guanjie who pioneered the trend. He can not only match Western pop music with popular Cantonese lyrics, sing it in a way similar to ordinary talk and chat, which makes fans feel more cordial and vivid, but also compose his own lyrics and compositions, make use of the common language slang of the city, and use white painting techniques to portray the voice of the grassroots class in Hong Kong at that time, singing with laughter and tears.
In addition, many popular singers at that time not only sang well, but also had their own characteristics, and were the leaders of fashion trends, such as Zhen Ni, Ye Liyi, Xu Xiaofeng and so on. Xu Xiaofeng, who is well known to fans for "Season of the Wind", is one of the best. She often likes to wear black and white polka dot skirts in concerts, which has become a classic stage image of that era and has left Lin Xiaofeng with unforgettable memories.
From the perspective of time, the golden age of Hong Kong pop music that shone with stars is far away. But Lin Xiaofeng believes that the most wonderful thing about music is that it will always stay in people's minds and fans' own life stories. "When you suddenly remember a song that represents the mood of the moment, and it happens to be a classic old song of Hong Kong pop music, that era is back." The Golden Age' is in our hearts. ”
Xu Xiaofeng's 1981 Cantonese album "New Songs and Selections" included the song "Season of the Wind".
[Symbiosis] and now Hong Kong music
- More in tune with the world, but also more emphasis on skills
Technological progress will always bring about changes in the times, and the same is true of the Hong Kong pop music scene. In the new millennium, the Internet has made the distance between the world smaller, and the horizons of musicians and fans have broadened. Lin Xiaofeng still remembers that when he wanted to hear the songs of his favorite singers, he needed to go to a special store to find a tape or record to buy, and now what songs he wanted to listen to could be found on the Internet. In such an environment, young singers can better integrate with the modern world, "for them, the sea of music is very wide." The works of the new generation of Hong Kong singers will tell the stories that are happening in the current environment, as well as some of the moods of young people. "I probably don't know much about the younger generation, but often I learn about their world by listening to their songs: 'Oh, that's what young people think now.'" ”
Connecting with the world can also be very grounded. Lin Xiaofeng introduced that many young rappers in Hong Kong now have very colloquial and grounded lyrics, but this type of singer has not received much attention. "I want all people who listen to songs to be like me, not just listen to one or a few types of songs, but also listen to more different types of songs and enjoy the different pleasures that music brings."
He also noticed that the younger generation of singers sang differently from their predecessors. "Previous singers would have made this a personal feature if his midrange was excellent. Then most of his songs will fall on the midrange, and there will be less soaring high notes or falsetto variations. But now it seems that a popular pattern, singers will challenge different singing skills in a song, such as whether they can sing high and low. It is common to hear a song that starts with a very low pitch, suddenly has a high pitch in the middle, then a midrange, a falsetone, and a lot of variations. In the past, singing emotions were more important, but now it seems that skills are also important. ”
Beijing News reporter Yang Lianjie
Edited by Tian Kaini
Proofreading By Chen Diyan