Rhythm - the Online Magazine to HKVP Radio

by Cassie Kwok

July 29, 2003 | Browse Features

Retrospect: the 1970s

Cantonese pop music, also referred to as ‘Cantopop’, was a phenomenon that emerged during the 1970s in Hong Kong. Before then, popular Chinese music included classical Chinese opera, the melodic and sensual old Shanghai nightclub songs of the 1940s, Mandarin pop songs from Taiwan from the 1950s through the early 1970s, and classical and popular music from the U.S. And Europe. The 1970s gave birth to a pop culture revolution that addressed the entertainment needs of the Cantonese speaking population of Hong Kong.

While tourism was beginning to boom with the advent of the Boeing 747 airplane, and the government was trying to clean up the scandalous police force, western rock music found a large audience in the territory's under-25 crowd, which made up about half of Hong Kong's population in the mid-1970s. The island population of 4 million people at the time was a mass market to be reckoned with as the materialistic mindset took over and everyone was always looking for something new to feed that hunger. The Hong Kong people were ready to welcome anything different and refreshing into their cramped existence, where fads spread as quickly as wildfires and changed as quickly as the direction of the wind.

It was Sam Hui Koon Kit, the founding father of Cantopop, and first writer-composer-singer of Cantonese music who started it all in the mid-1970s and appealed to the masses. He began with groups singing western pop hits, but after he went solo in 1974, he almost single-handedly created the Cantopop craze with his treasure chest of musical talents which included composing music, writing lyrics, playing his own guitar accompaniments and singing his own songs. He took many western cover songs and re-wrote the lyrics in Cantonese, and composed not only for himself, but for other singers as well. Sam was the first to hold major concert events, break movie box office records as an actor and director, while maintaining top album sales. He had working class roots and was a very down to earth guy, but it was his profound insight into the essence of Hong Kong people’s psyche, combined with his artistic talents, that allowed him to capture the hard work and fun times of everyday life through music and film.

While Sam was crooning away about the Eiffel Tower, the habits of Hong Kong girls and the arrival of wealth gods, he was paving the way for others. Paula Tsui Siu Fung released her first album in 1970 and was quickly making her way into this new genre of music. Her early career consisted mostly of Mandarin hits and contemporary Cantonese opera, but as Cantopop evolved, her collaborations with the likes of Joseph Koo, Wong Jim and other renowned composers and songwriters of the time helped her became a major force in the industry. Paula’s uniqueness exuded from her elegant sense of style paired with a delicate yet strong singing technique, ranging in style from poetic love ballads to ballroom dance tunes to movie theme songs.

As Hong Kong's major television studio, TVB, started producing dramatic television series, theme songs became one of the staples of Cantopop towards the end of the 1970s. Some of the series embodied legends in a time of emperors, dynasties and martial arts, and the music that accompanied them was bold and upbeat with lyrics about adventure, heroism, courage, perseverance and loyalty. Each series had at least one major theme song and many sub-songs as part of the soundtrack. Traditional Chinese instruments were used, giving the songs a more classical Chinese sound. The most prominent singers who contributed to the theme song genre included Roman Tam Lo Man, Jenny Tseng Yan Nei, Adam Cheng Sui Chow, Francis Yip Lai Yee, Teresa Cheung Dak Laan, Susanna Kwan Gook Ying and Michael Kwan Jing Kit.

Among them, Adam Cheng Siu Chow stood out as being one of the only singers who also starred in many of these TVB period series. Hailed as the "evergreen" of the Hong Kong entertainment industry, Adam has been a celebrated actor and recording artist who has produced over 40 albums in 25 years - many which have enjoyed platinum and triple-platinum sales. Always playing the hero or the good guy, his charismatic style, handsome looks and natural talent for singing and acting made him a favorite male star in many of the early TVB series from the 1970s, which included “Luk Siu Fung”, “Cho Lau Heung”, “Legend of the Book and Sword” and “Sai Yu Yup Do Saan”.

A Cantopop pioneer and fixture in the Hong Kong entertainment industry since 1976, Roman Tam entertained Chinese audiences the world over with ballads, TV theme songs and lively concert performances. A prolific singer-songwriter, his catchy, sentimental tunes about life's struggles struck a chord with ordinary Hong Kongers and he was credited with transforming the style of Canto-pop. He performed at the Royal Albert Hall in London in 1979, and at New York's Carnegie Hall in 1987, both firsts for a Hong Kong singer. Fans who are older than 35 will remember such late-1970s hits as "Below The Lion Rock" and "Romantic Swordsman," while those a little younger will know him for the theme songs from TVB's “Legend of the Condor Heroes” trilogy. Later in his career, he acted as a mentor for singers Ekin Cheng Yi Kin, Joey Yung Tso Yi, Charlene Choi Cheuk Yin and Gillian Chung Yan Tung.

A favorite singing partner of Roman’s was Jenny Tseng Yan Nei. With her powerful yet angelic voice, and their obvious chemistry together, they quickly became the dynamic duo of Cantopop as their collection of theme song duets became classics. Besides Hong Kong pop music, Jenny was already an established pop singer among the Chinese population all over Asia, with many Mandarin hits such as “Plum Blossom.”

As an alternative to the theme song genre, the 1970s was also the start of boy bands, in particular The Wynners, a quintet of young male singers and musicians, one of who would make unexpected transformations in the Hong Kong music industry in the following decade. Hong Kong's fabulous five consisted of lead vocalist Alan Tam, vocalists and guitarists Kenny B and Bennett Pang, drummer Antony Chan and bass player Danny Yip. Their early albums were mostly English cover songs, and it wasn't until the early 1980s that they started singing more Cantopop tunes to stay in line with the rest of the booming industry. The Wynners appeared in several films during the late 1970s, and were all the rage to mobs of teenyboppers.

One female singer, Teresa Teng, was one of the first commercial singers to break through the “bamboo curtain” into Mainland China, creating a stir for the “Little Teng.” A popular phrase of the time was “By day, Deng Xiaoping rules Mainland China, but by night, Teresa Teng rules!” She was Asia’s most beloved sweetheart during the 1970s, with her sweet voice, natural beauty and girl-next-door image, and mesmerized the Asian music industry with her ability to sing fluently in multiple languages (Mandarin, Taiwanese, Cantonese, Japanese and English). During the peak of her career, one could always hear her popular tunes being played on the radio in a taxi, the back of a mom and pop store, beauty salons, restaurants and private homes across all of Asia. Some of these songs include “Sweetness”, “The Moon Represents My Heart”, “When Will He Return”, “Goodbye, My Love” and “Story of a Small Town.”

Fashion in the early Cantopop culture was relatively conservative, as many of the fans consisted of a more mature audience. Paula Tsui, Francis Yip, Jenny Tseng and Teresa Teng all dressed elegantly in western style gowns or formal Chinese “cheong saam” in their concert performances, and the Sam Hui and Adam Cheng wore suits or casual western styles. However, Roman opened the fashion runway for future singers, such as Leslie Cheung Kwok Wing, by performing in drag and in a very controversial move, posing nude for a magazine in 1983. His flamboyant costumes were always glitzy, eye catching and something to talk about after a concert. The Wynners made an impact on the younger generation with their long, shaggy hairstyles, tank tops and bellbottoms, T-shirts and blue jeans, which became the standard uniform of the contemporary Hong Kong teenager of the 1970s.

The 1970s was for Hong Kong pop music like the big bang theory was for the beginning of the universe. It was as if there was a major explosion and all the stars fell into the sky, shining brilliantly. It was through these artists’ talent, dedication and love of music that allowed them to lay the foundation for the future of Cantopop.