"Zhao has a new album!"
One day in 2021, when hearing this sentence, many people may have to pause to react.
Who's out with a new album?
Zhao Chuan? Which Zhao Chuan?
It is the Zhao Chuan who sang "I am a little bird"!
Speaking of which, a lot of people are in a trance, oh! It turned out to be him!
Yes, in April this year, Zhao Chuan released a new album, the name of the album is "Old And Restless", which contains 11 songs.
However, it has been 4 months, and many people probably don't know the news yet.
For many young people now, Zhao Chuan is a name that is both familiar and unfamiliar;
But for those who lived through that era, Zhao Chuan's name is as timeless as his songs.
Zhao Chuan was the fourth oldest in the family, and when he was a child, he and 5 other siblings lived in his father's army dormitory, often sleeping on the ground with a paper shell as a bed.
At that time, Zhao Chuan liked to listen to the US military radio, which broadcast a lot of English songs, and his favorite was the Beatles and the Eagles.
After he heard those songs, he could follow them, tune the door and raise his voice well, and sing everything was similar.
In the third year of the country, he bought the first guitar in his life, began to grope for fingering, and played a song for several hours, repeating it non-stop, and he was not bored but enjoyed it.
In the world of music, you can find the freedom you want.
At the age of 17, Zhao Chuan joined a band called "Metal Boys" and became their lead singer.
During the day, he works as a clerk in a trading company, and at night he goes to the stage and sings heavy metal rock music.
Two points and one line, careful not to let the unit leaders know.
In 1982, Zhao Chuan, his brother and several friends formed a "Red Cross Choir", as an underground band, the Red Cross soon opened up in the circle, Zhao Chuan's high-pitched tone and punk style dress is very eye-catching.
Four years later, the Red Cross won the first "Island-Wide Hot Choir Competition".
Soon after, he was favored by the planning manager of Rolling Stone Records and signed as a singer.
The first album was "I'm Ugly, But I'm Gentle", released in November 1988.
At that time, "I am ugly, but I am gentle" was an "abandoned baby", because of the song title and lyrics, no one wanted to take it and sing it.
Zhao Chuan's height of 1 meter 67, a large collapsed nose, small eyes, at first glance looks a bit like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and has nothing to do with words like "handsome".
So this song "I'm Ugly, But I'm Gentle" was sung by him, which was most appropriate.
At that time, after knowing this arrangement, Zhao Chuan was very unhappy in his heart, because he not only had to admit that he was ugly, but also had to shout out loud.
Huang Yunling (the composer) explained to him that this "ugly" does not refer to appearance, but to the ordinary side that everyone has.
Li Zongsheng also advised him that if he wanted to succeed, it was right to sing this song.
Zhao Chuan was half-convinced.
Later, when he recorded it, he found that the song was particularly suitable for his own experience, especially:
"In the jungle of reinforced concrete,
In the calling career,
Calculating the gap between dreams and reality"
These few words instantly reminded him of the days when he was a clerk in a trading company a few years ago and was summoned by the envoy, and emotions surged up.
But after the song was recorded, the problem came again, at that time Taiwan was the era of idols, the appearance was not high enough to defeat the favorability, directly put Zhao Chuan's face on the album cover, rolling stones really did not dare.
At this time, Li Zongsheng gave the company another trick, he proposed to take that kind of "hazy" photo, using angles and postures to "hide" Zhao Chuan's face, so the cover that was taken that year was like this:
Before the release of the film, the company's people asked Zhao Chuan: "How many do you think you can sell?" ”
Zhao legend, 10,000 pieces of it.
The man was anxious: "I spent so much money, you yourself have no confidence in your own records!" ”
As a result, the album sold 300,000 copies as soon as it was released.
Zhao Chuan became famous in World War I.
After that, Taiwanese people knew that there was such an "anti-trend" singer in the original music scene.
"The men who are not good-looking have finally found a reason for complete confidence - I am ugly, but I am gentle;
Women who once fantasized about perfection also began to admire another type of man on the grounds that he was gentle, though he was ugly. ”
A year later, Zhao Chuan released his second album "I Finally Lost You".
The title song of the same name is closely related to a certain lover of Zhao Chuan, when the two met on a plane from Beijing to Hong Kong.
After Zhao Chuan became famous overnight, the girl's family felt that this relationship was unreliable, and Zhao Chuan, who was in the ascending period, was too busy.
Finally lost the girl.
Li Zongsheng put Zhao Chuan's reluctance into the song, which was particularly moving.
Only when recording the song, Zhao Chuan and Li Zongsheng had a dispute.
Regarding the division of the first sentence, Li Zongsheng believes that it should be "when all the people leave me";
Zhao Chuan felt that it was time to sing "When, when all the people left me".
The powerful Li Zongsheng let Zhao Chuan listen to him, which aroused Zhao Chuan's rebellious psychology, no.
The two men froze for more than an hour, and Li Zongsheng suddenly jumped up from his seat, opened the glass door of the recording studio, and rushed in.
The crowd was frightened and stupid, thinking that the eldest brother was going to beat someone.
Unexpectedly, Li Zongsheng was furious and prepared to kneel down for Zhao Chuan, and as soon as he bent his knees, Zhao Chuan immediately understood:
"He meant to say, Old Zhao, please!"
Saying that it was late and fast, Zhao Chuan immediately took the initiative, and the whole person fell to the ground and threw his body to the ground.
When the crowd saw this, Fang Cai's tense atmosphere was swept away, and they all burst out laughing.
This is the famous "kneeling incident" between Li Zongsheng and Zhao Chuan.
However, although Zhao Chuan was clever, the winner of the final stalemate was still Li Zongsheng.
After the album came out, the girl heard the song and ran to the backstage of the concert to meet Zhao Chuan, but at that time she already had a family, and there was no possibility.
However, Zhao Chuan was very pleased with this matter, and he felt that the girl finally understood his thoughts.
"It took her a few years to know that I was good to her."
The record was a huge success, and was listed as the two most popular albums in Taiwan that year along with Chen Shuhua's "Waking Up".
Soon, in August 1990, Zhao Chuan released a third album.
This album is the blockbuster "I Am a Little Bird".
A sentence: "I am a little bird, I want to fly but I can't fly high!" ”
The helplessness of the little people is all sung into the song.
Li Zongsheng wrote about his mental journey of "from little Li to old Li", and Zhao Chuan sang about his state of mind after suffering a change.
At that time, Zhao Chuan's studio was stolen and set on fire, 140,000 cash was taken away, and the staff was injured, all of which was the work of his former "partner".
This incident gave Zhao Chuan a huge blow, and the good friends who had fought side by side actually turned their eyes against this picture for the sake of profit.
The darkness of human nature made Zhao Chuan feel extremely terrible.
Seeing the depressed and sad Zhao Chuan, Li Zongsheng was shocked to realize that a loner who was so arrogant and unruly also had a vulnerable corner in his heart, and he was greatly inspired to write this song "I Am a Little Bird".
Zhao Chuan recorded this song for 5 days, and each time he was emotionally agitated and could not continue.
As soon as I sang "All the people who know my name, are you all right?" I couldn't stand it.
But it is this painful song that makes Zhao Chuan become the king of golden songs and truly become a household name.
In 1991, Zhao Chuan was invited to hold a solo concert at the Beijing Workers' Stadium, becoming the first Taiwanese singer to hold a solo singing in Beijing.
Speaking of Zhao Chuan's concert, there are many legendary stories.
For example, now when we go to the concerts of the stars, we are not allowed to bring lighters and bottled drinks.
Both of these provisions began here with Zhao Chuan.
In 1991, with the spring breeze of reform and opening up, Zhao Chuan's voice had already been transmitted to thousands of households in the interior along with the audio tape.
At that time, many people came to the capital from thousands of miles away, just to see Zhao Chuan.
At the beginning of the concert, the lights in the workers' gymnasium were turned off and the whole venue was dim.
When Zhao Chuan sang "I Am a Little Bird", I don't know who first took out the lighter from his pocket and raised the burning flame above his head.
Soon, the second, the third, the fourth, more and more people raised their lighters.
There was a constant "click" sound, the sound of fingers crossing the lighter gears.
In an instant, the faces of the spectators were illuminated by countless flames in the darkness.
So many people use lighters together, which can frighten the security staff, and from then on, celebrities are not allowed to carry lighters at concerts.
The other time was in 1993, when Zhao Chuan, who was on stage at the time, was singing to the end of the stage, feeling dry mouth and wanting to drink water, when Zhao Chuan shouted at the staff:
"Is there any water, take it and drink it?"
Before the staff could react, one by one the mineral water bottles flew from the air in a graceful arc.
One has not yet landed, the other has risen from the crowd, and many mineral water bottles are still colliding in the air, changing the trajectory of the parabola.
More than 200 mineral water bottles, all of which fell to the stage with precision.
Two of them hit Zhao Chuan's face door and one hit him in the chest.
Since then, assembled drinks have also been banned.
In addition, Zhao Chuan was also the first person to smash the guitar at the concert.
In 2010, at a concert, Zhao Chuan, who was half-naked in tights, sang "I Am a Little Bird" and took off the guitar hanging around his neck and threw it into the air with both hands.
After a few up and down, the guitar was smashed to pieces.
That year, Zhao Chuan was 50 years old.
We set the clock back 20 years.
After three albums, Zhao Chuan's fourth album showed a downward trend in sales.
The company immediately began to snub him, and the warmth of human feelings became particularly real at this moment.
So much so that when the fifth album "Engagement" was produced, Zhao Chuan's pressure reached its peak, when his money was running out, and the studio's salary was not settled.
If the record fails, it is equivalent to falling into an ice cave.
Other things also began to plague Zhao Chuan.
Zhao Chuan's family regarded him as a cash cow, and always felt that as soon as he opened his mouth, the golden mountain and silver mountain would come immediately.
So after her sister failed in business, she actually mortgaged the house where Zhao Chuan lived to the creditor.
What was even more frightening was that Zhao Chuan was the last to know.
"Even your dearest family members do this to you."
Zhao Chuan had no way to accept such a completely unreasonable thing.
At the same time, in Taiwan, singers not only have to make records, but also have to keep catching up with announcements and going on variety shows.
In the 8th and 90s, Taiwan's whole-trick program was popular, and Zhao Zhao was always rectified, and it was worse than ever.
Some hosts joked that Zhao Chuanchang's face was because his parents "had a problem" when they were pregnant with him.
Later, a fan wrote to Zhao Legend: "It is very sad to see you. ”
Careers stagnate, family members hurt, and the environment is poisonous.
In the most popular years, Zhao Chuan often felt mentally confused and could not lift his spirits for anything.
Doctors later told him he was suffering from severe depression.
At that time, he disappeared from the stage, spending a lot of time alone, traveling around, seeking an outlet for emotions.
In 1997, the year of Hong Kong's return to The Motherland, Zhao Chuan met a woman in Shanghai, and this woman was his current wife, Li Bingzhen.
Unlike the period of "I finally lost you", Zhao Chuan and Li Bingzhen's marriage was 18 years, and the two had 2 daughters and a son.
On the phone that year, Zhao passed on to Li Bingzhen to improvise a cappella, and the lyrics were like this:
"You are my eternal treasure, the most beautiful in my heart; if you are willing to be together, I hope we will always be dependent on each other." 」
After Li Bingzhen listened, her heart was full of flowers, and the two really became partners for a lifetime.
Because Li Bingzhen's English name is "Lisa", and Zhao Chuan has a song called "Ao, Sally", every time Zhao Chuan sings this song on the stage, Li Bingzhen feels that he is singing to himself.
Under the luster of love, Zhao Chuan slowly healed his heartbreak.
The rest time is very long, and Zhao Chuan's rest is 10 years.
10 years have passed, the song world has gone haywire, and the stars have shifted.
From the age of records into the digital age.
This year's Zhao Chuan is already 60 years old.
For him, the peak seemed to have left long ago.
In 2010, he produced an EP "Initially" at his own expense, which contained 3 songs.
This work handed over by Zhao Chuan after 10 years of dormancy finally received a mediocre response.
"The current musical environment has changed so much, in fact, it is quite frustrating.
Over the years, we have all grown up in frustration, and every time we have gotten the spirit to start over, trying to find a way not to lose money. ”
While the current top streams are effortlessly relying on fans to dominate the top three on major charts, musicians like Zhao Chuan are desperately looking for a balance with the trend of the times.
He seemed really old.
Only when he opened his voice did the audience realize that he had not changed at all.
On the "Art Energy Song Throat Battle", he played the upgrade key directly to F6, which shocked Huang Shujun and apologized to him.
"Every Day Upward" soared with Huang Qishan and Hu Yanbin, singing "I am ugly, but I am gentle", and the strength did not diminish at all.
Participating in "Singer", music critics commented that he sang as easily as he sang at home, lifting weights, but others immediately knew how good he was when they compared.
When Qi Qin's voice frequently went wrong, Zhao Chuan was still a model of singing admired by countless vocal teachers.
After Hu Yanbin and him soared high, he replied shyly: "Brother Chuan's voice is good." ”
On December 15, 2018, he also won the Best Min Song of the Year at the Chinese Golden Melody Awards for his song "Thank You".
No matter when talking about the Taiwanese music scene and Talking about Chinese rock, Zhao Chuan is always a name that cannot be avoided.
Today, in this era of traffic, many people are still listening to Zhao Chuan, saying that his songs are classics.
Why are these songs classic?
Just because of quality songwriting and hardcore singing?
No, but also because of the values conveyed in the song:
Living in this world, most of us are ordinary, no one will set up a monument for you, no one will know your birth and death date, no one will give you a chance to soar.
We are often faced with the morning when the subway is crowded;
Order takeout at noon;
Stay up late and work overtime nights;
Monthly car loans of several thousand years, high tuition fees for children, and rising prices.
Many times, even if you try your best, you only eat a bowl of plain white rice.
This kind of ordinariness is difficult to change, but we can accept it, settle in it, and live and play with sincerity and enthusiasm.
Even if there is occasional pain, it must continue to move forward.
Birds that don't fly high also have their own value.
This is the realism of Zhao Chuan's voice, and it is our common joy and sorrow.
I believe that as long as this world does not fade its fireworks, Zhao Chuan will not pass away.
As soon as he opened his voice, someone must be willing to dance his hands vigorously.
Finally, I end this article with a lyric from Zhao Chuan's new song "The Old Never Ends":
"My voice is still high-pitched,
The copper wall is iron and cannot be stopped,
Penetrate the distance. ”
Why did he, who wrote songs for the Four Heavenly Kings after his debut, completely changed after Mei Yanfang's death?
Debuted on the same stage with Aaron Kwok, and Yu Chengqing passed on the gossip, the most popular "good voice" mixed into this?