The superstar has fallen
June 24, 1993, 1:00 a.m.
In the studio hall of Fuji Television in Japan, the lights are bright.
People are busy recording the variety show "Do Whatever You Want.".
This show, which airs every Saturday in prime time, has extremely high ratings.
To the game session. The 12 guests stood on stage in two groups.
The stage is 3 meters high and 1.8 meters wide, with a rotating pontoon bridge in the middle, "treasures" hanging above, and a large pool below.
Two groups of guests will compete for the "treasure" on the pontoon bridge, and whoever grabs it first wins.
After a few minutes, the guests stood on the stage, and after the game began, people kept slipping and falling into the water, and the stage became wet and slippery.
Suddenly, the host Mitsuyoshi Uchimura slipped at the same time as a young man, and then fell off the 3-meter-high stage.
At that time, there were no protective measures on the ground. Mitsuyoshi Uchimura wore a helmet and landed on his hips, which was no big deal. The young man, who did not wear a helmet, landed his head on the ground and fell seriously.
This young man is the lead singer of beyond, Huang Jiaju.
Beyond was the most prestigious rock band in Hong Kong at the time, with members including Wong Ka-kwan, Wong Kwan Chung, Wong Ka-keung and Ip Sai Wing.
They participated in the show to promote the new record.
Seeing Huang Jiaju fall, everyone rushed over.
At this time, Huang Jiaju's head was bleeding profusely, and Huang Jiaqiang held his brother's head and cried silently.
Huang Jiaju said to his brother: "Pain, take care..." Then he fainted.
At 1:25, an ambulance arrived and took Huang Jiaju to a nearby hospital. He remained in a coma for the next few days.
Hearing of Huang Jiaju's accident, Japanese fans folded many thousand paper cranes and prayed for him. Some Hong Kong fans also bought plane tickets and prepared to visit him.
Just when the fans were in a hurry, there was suddenly bad news - at 4:15 p.m. on June 30, Huang Jiaju died at the age of 31.
Two days later, his body was returned to Hong Kong on a Cathay Pacific flight, and on July 5, it was buried.
After the Accident of Wong Ka Koo, the Hong Kong News reported on the incident for 10 consecutive days, and the atmosphere of sadness permeated the whole of Hong Kong.
On the day of the funeral, a large number of fans lost control of their emotions, and even intercepted the funeral convoy, saying that they wanted to send Huang Jiaju for a ride, and the police had to pull up the cordon.
After Wong Ka-koo's death, Lo said: "There are no real musicians in Hong Kong except Wong Ka-koo. ”
Well-known lyricist Liu Zhuohui also retired from the singing world. He said: "The family colt is gone, and Hong Kong will no longer find a good original composer. ”
Fledgling
Wong was born in Hong Kong in 1962 to an ordinary working-class family.
In the family, he is the fourth oldest, with one brother and two sisters above and a younger brother below. The younger brother is Wong Ka-keung, who later joined Beyond.
In the 1960s, Hong Kong's economy had not yet taken off. At that time, the wooden huts where the poor lived could be seen all over the mountains, and it was a common phenomenon for families to sleep in one bed.
At that time, the Wong family lived in a 30-square-meter cottage in Sue Estate, Sham Shui Po, Kowloon.
Wong Ka Koo's eldest sister loves music, especially rock and roll. Influenced by it, Huang Jiaju fell in love with rock and roll since childhood.
One year, a neighbor moved and dropped a broken guitar. Huang Jiaju picked it up and returned home as a treasure.
This was his first instrument.
At the age of 17, Huang Jiaju graduated from high school. To make a living, he sold insurance, worked as an assistant, and did a lot of chores.
No matter what he did, he never gave up his musical dreams.
In the early 1980s, cafes became a gathering place for Hong Kong's literary and artistic youth.
At that time, Huang Jiaju was a regular customer of the café. As soon as he sat, it was most of the day.
His friend Liu Zhuohui recalled that at that time, Huang Jiaju loved to chat, love to debate, and was as stubborn as the elderly, so everyone called him "Huang Bo".
In 1983, Huang Jiaju met Ye Shirong, who was a year younger than himself. The two were highly consistent in their pursuit of music, so the idea of forming a band came up.
Soon, they met Deng Weiqian and Li Rongchao. Four people hit it off, and an underground band was quietly born.
The four have a clear division of labor: Huang Jiaju is the lead singer and rhythm guitarist, Ye Shirong is the drummer, Deng Weiqian is the lead guitarist, and Li Rongchao is the bass player.
Soon, Guitar Magazine held a Yamaba guitar competition. Huang Jiaju wanted to bring the band to the competition, but until this time, the band did not have a name.
Mr. Deng said he hopes that one day, this band will surpass other bands. So he named the band Beyond.
At that time, they did not expect that the name "Beyond" would deeply affect the Chinese music scene for twenty years.
In that competition, Huang Jiaju won the championship and beyond made its official debut.
For a band, it's the norm.
A year later, due to various reasons, Deng Weiqian and Li Rongchao quit the band. Later, Wang Owen and Chen Shi'an joined and left.
After Chen Shi'an left, the band desperately needed a new guitarist. Ye Shirong thought of his friend Huang Guanzhong. Huang Guan's background in fine arts in middle school can also play a good guitar. Soon after, he joined the band. Subsequently, Huang Jiaju's younger brother Huang Jiaqiang also came.
At this point, the foursome of Beyond familiar to fans have all taken their place.
Coincidence with Bó Lè
During this period, Huang Jiaju's composition was mainly based on English songs.
At that time, Beyond often went to the campus bar to sing. Some of the students listened to their songs while recording them with a tape recorder, and by the time they sang them again, the students would be able to sing along with them.
Huang Jiaqiang said that this time was the happiest time for the four of them.
In 1985, when Beyond was practicing songs, he was complained about by neighbors because of his loud voice.
In order to concentrate on practicing, they borrowed money from the bank and rented a practice room at caritas.
A year later, Beyond funded the release of his debut album Goodbye Ideal.
From cover design, to recording the soundtrack, to distribution and sale, every link is handled by Beyond.
To promote the record, Beyond held a concert. Although they sang very hard, there were very few audiences in the audience. At that concert, they lost 6,000 yuan.
However, their performance attracted the attention of an audience member on the stage.
That person's name was Chen Jiantian.
Chen Jiantian has a triple identity: a super fan of the Beatles, a torch-eyed scout, and the owner of a music company. Musicians such as Faye Wong and Black Panther were discovered by him.
After the concert, Chen Jiantian quickly signed Beyond and became his agent. The appearance of Chen Jiantian slowly brought the underground band to the ground.
Soon, with the support of Chen Jiantian, Beyond released two albums: "Forever Waiting" and "Arab Dancing Girls".
In 1988, Beyond released its new album Secret Police.
Among them, the title song "The Earth" won the annual Top Ten Golden Melody Awards. In just one month, the album sold more than 25,000 copies, becoming Beyond's first gold record.
At that time, Chinese mainland entered the golden age of rock and roll, and bands such as tang dynasty, black panther, and compass emerged. Listening to rock 'n' roll has gradually become a fashion for young people.
Taking advantage of this shareholder wind, in October 1988, Beyond came to Beijing Capital Gymnasium to hold two concerts.
Since their songs are mainly in Cantonese, mainland fans cannot fully accept them. By the time the finale, the audience was halfway there.
However, the experience did not discourage Beyond.
As sung in "No More Hesitation", "Ask how high the sky is, the heart is higher than the sky, and the mentality of self-confidence that it will not die will live to old age." ”
A year later, Beyond finally had a real highlight moment.
Blockbuster
In the 1980s and 1990s, the Hong Kong music scene blossomed.
First there are "three kings and one queen" (Tan Yonglin, Zhang Guorong, Chen Baiqiang, Mui Yanfang), followed by "four heavenly kings" (Andy Lau, Jacky Cheung, Aaron Kwok, Li Ming).
Everyone feels that the Hong Kong pop music scene has entered its heyday.
However, one person publicly said, "Hong Kong only has entertainment circles, no music." ”
The person who said this was None other than Huang Jiaju.
At that time, without the Internet, a lot of truth was buried behind the glitz. Years later, we learned that many of the Cantonese songs that we regard as classics are actually cover songs from Japanese songs.
For example, "The Woman Who Is Easy to Hurt", "Red Sun", "Drifting Snow", "Flower Heart", etc., are all cover songs.
In Hong Kong, Beyond is the only band that sticks to the original route. Therefore, Wong Ka-ju has the courage to publicly criticize the Hong Kong music scene.
In 1989, Beyond released its new album Beyond IV. Among them, "Really Love You" won the Golden Melody Award of the Top Ten Chinese and the Golden Melody Award of the Top Ten Songs. This song became one of Beyond's most highly sung works.
Since then, Beyond has spread throughout the three sides of the taiwan strait. This year, Huang Jiaju was 27 years old.
Beyond's rapid rise has made two major contributions to the Chinese music scene:
First, the band adheres to the original route, changing the style of cover Japanese songs in the Hong Kong music scene; second, the band's works are mainly realistic, and their songs have the persistence of ideals, the desire for peace, and the love for society, which can make the listener feel hope and strength.
After "Really Love You", Beyond has launched a series of classic songs: "Glorious Years", "Sea and Sky", "Face Party"...
In September 1991, Beyond held the "Beyond Live Contact For Life Concert", which caused a sensation in Hong Kong.
To this day, the number of clicks on this concert on the B station is still as high as 369,000 times.
As the lead singer of the band, Huang Jiaju's voice is highly recognizable. His tone can be described as "a groan, a pocket, a trembling, a roar".
A groan, referring to the bass tone; a pocket, referring to the rotation of the timbre; a trembling, referring to a unique vibrato; a roar, referring to the high pitch.
Beyond's success, however, is not in the voice, but in the spirit.
Their musical works cover humanities, history, society and other aspects. Each piece has a profound ideological connotation, which is extremely rare in the Hong Kong music scene.
Like what:
"Really Love You", singing the praises of deep maternal love, full of gratitude to mothers;
"The Sea and the Sky", expressing the determination to pursue freedom, writes the voice of young people;
"The Land", focusing on cross-strait relations, expresses the Chinese brotherhood that blood is thicker than water;
Glory Days, dedicated to South African human rights fighter Mandela, calling for the elimination of racial barriers;
AMANI, against war, longing for peace, calls for care for poor children in Africa.
Years later, when Huang Jiaqiang talked about his brother Huang Jiaju, he said: "He has been a strong person since he was a child. Other people make music for fun. He makes music and is 'serving the people'. ”
Seek a breakthrough
In the 1990s, Beyond gained a firm foothold in the Hong Kong music scene and achieved great success.
Although it was red, the band members were not happy.
In order to increase their exposure, they had to give interviews, participate in entertainment programs, and make music, and the time they spent was compressed to less and less.
And all this makes them deeply bored.
Once, Huang Jiaju picked up a baseball bat and smashed a trophy to vent his anger.
At this time, a sentence once again appeared in his mind: Hong Kong only has the entertainment industry, not the music scene.
Japan has long been the center of Asian pop music. In Japan, there are many excellent original musicians. Hong Kong, by contrast, is like a musical desert.
Soon, Huang Jiaju had the idea of going to Japan to develop.
In 1992, Beyond ended its long-standing relationship with a Hong Kong brokerage firm and shifted its focus to Japan.
Soon, Beyond signed a contract with a Japanese agency and officially entered the Japanese music scene.
When he first arrived in Japan, With no resources, no source of income, and a language barrier, Beyond was depressed for a while.
At that time, the four of them often drank, smoked, played games, and waited for the opportunity day after day.
Later, Beyond gradually got on track and released the album Continue the Revolution. In the album, they changed their former affinity image to a high-cold style.
The album's title song "The Great Wall", as soon as it was released, it was well received and won a number of chart titles, including the Dragon and Tiger Chart of radio Chinese songs in Hong Kong.
A year later, Beyond released a new album, Music and Fury. This is Wong Ka-ju's last album before his death.
Among them, the title song "Sea and Sky" wrote the loneliness of the dream seeker's heart and won the 16th Top Ten Chinese Golden Melody Award.
After the development of Japan, Huang Jiaju gradually realized that there is no pure land in the music world, even if you want to make good music in Japan, you still have to have capital support and integrate commercial elements.
In 1993, at the invitation of Fuji Television, Beyond participated in the recording of a variety show. Thus, there is the terrifying scene at the beginning of this article.
Huang Jiaju's life, in this way, was forever fixed at the age of 31.
The afterglow is lingering
Beyond's musical compositions, 70% composed by Wong Ka-ju. His unexpected death dealt a heavy blow to Beyond.
For a time, all kinds of doubts continued. "Beyond is finished" "Beyond is going to be dissolved"...
In the face of various voices, the third son of Beyond swore an oath in public: "As long as Huang Guanzhong, Ye Shirong and Huang Jiaqiang are there, the family colt is there, and Beyond is there!" ”
At the end of November, Beyond's three sons held a big concert.
They proved to the world with a wonderful performance that Beyond is coming out of the pain little by little.
From 1993 to 1999, Beyond worked hard to create songs, concert after concert, and the fan team continued to grow.
However, I have to admit that after losing the soul figure Huang Jiaju, Beyond did change.
Before Huang Jiaju's death, Beyond was a pop rock band with a clear melody and sincere lyrics. After Huang Jiaju's death, Beyond was forced to transform into a hard rock band, a style far from its debut.
In 1999, Beyond announced its dissolution. Subsequently, the three began to develop their own music careers.
In 2003, in order to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the founding of Beyond Band, the three of them made a comeback to the music scene and held "Beyond Beyond Live 2003" concerts in various places.
At the concerts in Hong Kong and Beijing, Beyond Sanzi reproduced the image of Huang Jiaju with high technology.
Huang Jiaju on the big screen looks very realistic, recreating the grand situation of the 4-member band Beyond sharing the stage. This scene made fans burst into tears.
In 2005, Beyond announced its official dissolution.
Today, Beyond's three sons have their own lives. Huang Jiaqiang married a Japanese wife and had two sons; Huang Guanzhong and Zhu Yin had been in love for many years and had a daughter married; And Ye Shirong and mainland supermodel Zhang Weiling were happily married.
Counting the Spring and Autumn, it has been 28 years since Huang Jiaju's death.
To this day, many fans still feel sorry for his death. They couldn't figure out why Beyond had to go to Japan in the first place.
Once, Huang Guanzhong gave the answer in an interview: "If the creative atmosphere of the Hong Kong music scene at that time could be better, we would not have left, and we would not have been sold." ”
A "sell" word, expressing Beyond's embarrassment and helplessness at that time.
Huang Jiaju said before his death: "Music is art, it is not as simple as entertainment, music is a rhythm in life." He regards music as his life, and in every one of his works, there is great love hidden.
Today, he is no longer in the music world, but his story is still circulating in the music world.
Beyond, as its name suggests, is destined to surpass its peers and stay in history.
Huang Jiaju sang in "Lover" -
"I'm even leaving, in your sky
You know who is willing to go home
How many spring and autumn wind and rain changed
How much rugged unchanging love"
Dear foal, may there still be rock in heaven...
Author: Museum owner