The Birth of Cantopop: 1970s

History

the rise of “Hong Kong consciousness” 香港意識 (a distinct Hong Kong local culture) in the mid-1970s, owing to the coming of age of a new class of educated youth, who were born or brought up in Hong Kong, thus having a better sense of belonging to Hong Kong

the “refugee mentality” 難民心態 in the 1950s and 1960s shifted to a new “market mentality” 市場心態 in the 1970s (“the more frustrated or blocked the aspirations to democracy are, the more the market booms”)

the year 1974 was widely considered to have marked the rise of Cantopop

 

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Sam Hui 許冠傑

• As the member of Lotus, a local band which performed English songs in the 1960s, Sam Hui started singing Cantopop in the 1970s, and thanks to his own background he was able to transform the perceived grassroots image of Cantopop of the 1960s.

• Most of his songs emphasized social problems caused by the uneven distribution of wealth in society, serving as a kind of populist catharsis for the grassroots community.

Listening

許冠傑〈鐵塔凌雲〉

 

許冠傑〈浪子心聲〉

 

許冠傑〈浪子心聲〉

 

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Television Broadcasting Company (TVB) and the Jade Theatre《翡翠劇場》

• Free television service provided Hong Kong people with common leisure, and it united the taste of Hong Kong people by offering a common ground for the “Hong Kong” consciousness to develop.

• Wuxia 武侠 (martial hero) drama, adapted from the famous novel by Jin Yong 金庸, with title songs mostly written by Joseph Koo 顧嘉煇 and James Wong 黃霑

• their songs combine elements of Western music with a traditional Chinese tune 

Listening

仙杜拉〈啼笑因緣〉

 

關正傑 關菊英〈兩忘煙水裡〉

 

羅文 甄妮〈鐵血丹心〉