"Life does not matter what you get, but what you have done."
- Wong Ka-Kui
9 years ago today , on June 30, 1993, the famous Hong Kong musician Wong Ka-Kui passed away due to an accidental fall on the stage.
As a fan of Beyond, Feichun Tanwei, like everyone else, only started to like his songs after his death.
Today is the anniversary of his death, so I would like to write this article in memory of him.
. 1-year-old resume On the evening of June 10, 1962, in So Uk Village (cūn, a public housing estate in Hong Kong) in Sham Shui Po (bù) District, Hong Kong, Huang Jiaju was born into a less wealthy family.
’s parents’ ancestral home is Taishan, Guangdong.
Before giving birth to him, his mother dreamed of a strong horse. She thought it was God's will, so she discussed with her husband and named the child "Ju".
When he was a child, Ju was introverted and stubborn. When he made a promise with the children to jump from a high place together, the others chickened out, but he kept his promise and jumped down.
When he was a boy, Ju was very poor in studies, especially mathematics. He knew absolutely nothing about it and would skip classes from time to time.
graduated from junior high school, worked as a handyman, a TV set decorator, worked in insurance, and did not have his own business.
What he likes is music, but that dream is too high and too far.
When he was 17 years old, his father picked up a broken guitar behind the repair shop where he worked, which made Ju feel like he had found a treasure, and he began to study for his own entertainment.
He often practices guitar and his hands become swollen. He then puts his hands in cold water to reduce the swelling and continues practicing when he feels better.
Children from poor families have just this ability, can endure hardship and have dreams.
Later, he thought he had almost practiced, so he joined an amateur band.
Unexpectedly, the band's guitarist scolded him severely, saying that his playing was extremely poor and that he would never be successful.
These words deeply hurt Ju.
"I would rather bully a white-bearded man than a poor young man ", he vowed to surpass this guitarist.
After hard practice, in the early 1980s, he finally formed his own band with a few like-minded friends and named it Beyond, which means transcendence.
Actually, Lian Ju’s parents didn’t agree with taking the music path.
"My family opposed him playing guitar in a band. They would scold him and beat him, but he wouldn't listen. He just liked it, so the family had no choice but to let him go." Ju's younger brother Huang Jiaqiang said.
Boys should have such dreams and courage.
The stubborn pony makes his mother angry yet soft-hearted.
In the end, she was moved by her children's efforts. In the early days of the band's establishment, she quietly saved money to support their concerts.
In this world, the one who loves you the most will always be your mother. After
ju became famous, he wrote a song specifically for his mother, "Really Love You" . When he sang affectionately for his mother at the concert, his mother in the audience was moved to tears.
Beyond's concerts only began to gain popularity in 1991. Before
, during its obscure growth period, its performance was extremely embarrassing.
In 1985, they held their first concert at the Caritas Center on Hong Kong Island. It was a difficult journey and they put the most effort into it. However, before the show was even halfway through, more than half of the audience left, and they ended up losing money.
In 1988, after gaining a foothold in the Hong Kong music scene, Beyond came to Beijing for its first concert.
was embarrassed again this time. The audience was not very familiar with Cantonese. When reached the middle of the performance, half of the audience left.
Before he became famous, his official career was in insurance, but he had a stubborn personality and his business was not good. Therefore, he lives frugally and saves money every day to buy better musical instruments.
It was those difficult years that trained him and provided sufficient nourishment for his subsequent creations.
"Ka Kui is an angry young man," said his eldest sister Huang Xiaoqiong, "He has strong self-confidence and no one can shake him."
Keep working hard and persist in creating. By 1990, Beyond had become Hong Kong's top band .
In 1991, they co-starred with Faye Wong in the inspirational film "Beyond Diary: Don't Bully the Poor Young People", and the song " Who Will Accompany Me in the Adventures " was the episode of this film.
In 1993, Beyond went to Japan to develop. On June 24, accidentally fell off the stage and died while participating in a game show in Japan. Enjoy only 31 years old .
Ju's sudden and unexpected death left people with too many regrets.
Beyond lost its soul and barely managed to survive for a few years. In 2005, it announced its official disbandment.
A strange phenomenon is that many of Beyond's songs became popular after Ju's death.
Moreover, as the years go by, we find that his songs will last forever, become better and better as they are listened to, and are "singing" far and wide.
Many singers have passed away, and there are even more popular songs. Why is Wong Ka Kui being remembered more and more, while his songs remain popular forever?
Today, Feichun Detective mainly answers this question.
Actually, this problem can be broken down into three small questions. These three questions and three answers may give a rough idea.
. Three questions about Huang Jiaju’s life
1. How did Huang Jiaju die?
On June 24, 1993, Koma, who was developing his career in Japan, went to Tokyo Fuji TV to participate in a game show. The
program starts recording at 1 am.
12 guests, including Ju, were divided into two teams to participate in the "Coner Showdown".
This is a game similar to treasure hunting: there is a sink in the center of the stage, and there are "treasures" hanging above. The 12 guests are divided into two teams and start fighting on the side of the stage.
Because there was water on the stage and it was slippery, someone slipped during the game and crashed into the background board of the stage.
The stage is 3 meters high . After the background board was broken, the stage bracket fell off, and the stage collapsed instantly, and both the host and Huang Jiaju fell down. The host
landed on his butt, while Ju then landed head first and fell unconscious on the spot. After
was rushed to the hospital, resuscitation failed and he passed away on 30th .
Fuji TV has stopped hosting such games since then, and the host held a public apology press conference.
After one month of rectification, it was re-launched. The first episode of the TV station paid tribute to Wong Ka Kui, played Beyond songs, and read letters from music fans...
This is the publicly reported cause of death.
At the same time, there are also non-mainstream legends about Ju's death. It is said that the cause of
's death was that gangsters framed . They bribed the TV station's set crew and specially set up foam baffles as a trap to deliberately let the horse fall to the ground.
There is also a more legendary saying that Huang Jiaju did not die after being sent to the hospital. The underworld wanted to attack him again after learning about it.
At this time, a fan named Ruan Zhongyuan who looked very similar to Ju was preparing to be Ju's substitute.
He got acquainted with the underworld thugs. Both are fans of Ju and want to save Ju. So they reached a gentleman's agreement with Ju, and the civet cat was exchanged for the prince.
In the end, Ruan was beaten to death with a hammer, and Ju was anonymous and lived in Japan.
This kind of twists and turns in the Hong Kong movie style of the 1980s and 1990s is very legendary and meets the wishes of fans, but it is completely baseless.
2. Why did Huang Jiaju go to Japan to develop?
Huang Jiaju’s death makes people easily think of the second question: why did he go to Japan to develop.
Let’s talk about the music environment in Hong Kong.
In the 1980s, after 20 years of rapid development, Hong Kong has become one of the " Asian Tigers " . It has a prosperous economy, a small population, a small market, and the competition in the music scene is very fierce.. If
songs want to quickly capture the public, especially to gain recognition from young people who love entertainment, the best model is "love songs + covers" .
Love is the eternal theme of youth, and it is most likely to resonate and be sung.
Cover singing was once a golden shortcut in the pop music world. Many people became famous because of their covers, but they didn’t know who the original singer was.
"Qian Qian Que Song", "Fruit of Midsummer", "Flower Heart", "Red Sun", "The Wind Keeps Blowing", "So You're Here Too", "Later"...
Many people exclaimed after listening to the original Japanese song. Japan is a cover of our...
In fact, everyone in the industry knows that the Chinese pop song Half the Sky is an adaptation of a Japanese pop song .
Gao Xiaosong said, "The Han people have no music." China's strength is its lyrics. The music depends on Japan, and the rhythm needs to be learned from Africa..
Love + cover singing are not what Ju pursues.
The eagerness for quick success in the music market made him very disgusted. He believed that the reason why Hong Kong music could not go out of Asia was because it had no originality.
He criticized Hong Kong musicians for not doing their job properly and not concentrating on creating. Instead, they were keen on participating in TV variety shows, doing things like stepping on balls, drinking milk, and doing somersaults.
He despises such a musician who puts on entertainment shows to increase his popularity.
Ju has devoted his life to the creation of original music. From lyrics to music, from music to singing, 's works have strong vitality.
But the reality is also obvious that their road forward is destined to be a long and tortuous .
Don’t take shortcuts and work hard quietly. This is a difficult journey that all pioneers must go through.
3. Why are Huang Jiaju’s songs always popular?
Writings convey the truth, and songs sing the aspirations.
Meng Jiangnu cried at the Great Wall. Although the story is false, it still has a long history, not because she cried beautifully, but because of the spiritual accusation behind her crying.
For any literary and artistic work to last for a long time, it must have resonance and human pursuit.
Beyond's creations have three major characteristics: originality, idealism, and uninhibited .
Except for " Cold Rainy Night " and " Likes You ", has few love songs . Most of the works reflect social ills in a realistic style, or express what they see and feel about reality.
Reflecting on history and paying attention to reality ; Thinking about life and praising ideals and beliefs ; Expressing family, friendship and love are the three major themes of his works.
His songs are full of hard struggle, persistent pursuit, criticism of reality, unruly youth, and rebellious personality. These elements can deeply arouse the emotional resonance of young people.
" earth " "Great Wall" "peasant" " face party " " glorious years " " broad sea and sky " "gray track" "no more hesitation"...
You can tell it from the name The style of his work.
He does not sing to anyone against his will, let alone flatter power. For example, the Great Wall, what many people see is majestic, majestic, and great.
But his works represent feudalism, scars, conservatism, and war .
"The Great Earth" is based on the story of veterans of the Chinese army returning home to visit relatives in their later years, expressing sympathy for their fate.
is so niche, it does mean to be high-minded and reclusive.
Moreover, many of his songs are in Cantonese . Many mainlanders can't understand them and don't understand their meaning, so at first glance they sound like trembling voices, just like plaintive songs.
Therefore, his songs have not been very popular in the mainland.
In the 1990s, China's reform and opening up entered a historical stage with little success. People's minds were emancipated and their culture was prosperous. They needed spiritual strength to boost their morale, so their understanding of Beyond gradually deepened.
Erju's death was reported, and people in the mainland quickly got to know him. At this time, they realized that was a grassroots person, his road was difficult, his ambition was noble, and his music was profound.
His songs have become a kind of containing very special spiritual symbols. They are commemorated and sung by more and more people who work hard, pursue their dreams and never give up. They will last forever.
Today, it has been nearly 30 years since Wong Ka Kui passed away. Young people cannot understand the meaning of his songs. Only through struggle can they find joy.
Many people, when they reach a certain age, can no longer sing old love songs in KTV, but when "Broad Sea and Sky" and "Glory Years" are played, everyone can collectively sing:
"Forgive me for being uninhibited and indulgent in my life and loving freedom.
I will also be afraid One day I will fall down.
I have abandoned my ideal. Everyone can do it.
How can I be afraid that one day it will be just you and me? (End)
Reference:
● "The Biography of Huang Jiaju in the Glory Years", Electronic Industry Press, 2012
● "Peach Blossom" "Jellyfish", Wang Huayi, Fujian Education Press, 2017
● "Original Analysis of Beyond Music", Gao Jinghua, "Inheritance" 2012-07-15
● "The Huang Jiaju You Don't Know", Jiang Yusi, "East, West, North, South" , 2013-08-01
● "Rock and Roll Immortal Huang Jiaju", Xia Mianyin, "Tomorrow's Fashion (Entertainment Celebrities)", 2008-07-15
