Research Paper

ABSTRACT
In the post-handover Hong Kong, one sees an influx of cultural products from different countries. One might conclude that Cantonese popular culture is in serious decline. However, this is not the case. Through a descriptive study of Cantonese popular music or Cantopop, as known in the West, this article argues that Cantonese culture is a unique and irrepressible cultural force . This essay also explores the rise and development of Cantopop since the 70’s as Cantopop has served the role of a strategic cultural form to delineate a local Hong Kong identity, together with the identity of the former British colonial and mainland Chinese identities.

ESSAY
Introduced by Hans Ebert, the editor of the American Billboard magazine, Cantopop is a colloquial abbreviation for "Cantonese popular music". It is also referred to as HK-pop, short for "Hong Kong popular music". It is categorized as a subgenre of Chinese popular music within C-pop. Cantopop draws its influence not only from other forms of Chinese music, but from a variety of international styles including jazz, rock and roll, rhythm and blues, electronic music, western pop music and others. In general, cantopop songs are almost invariably performed in Cantonese. Boasting a multinational fanbase, Hong Kong is the most significant hub of the genre. Prior to the development of popular music in the , Hong Kong's musical output was dominated by Cantonese opera, English pop and some Mandarin songs. Since the 70’s, Cantonese pop songs they have become the main stream of Hong Kong and Macau music. In terms of main stream, firstly, the majority of Hong Kong citizens listen to them; secondly, the popularity of cantonese pop songs has surpassed other kinds of music in Hong Kong and Macau after the 70’s. The development of Cantopop has very close relationship with the society as the rise of them exactly reflects the economic and cultural changes of the society. Today, I will do a presentation on the rise and development of Cantopop since the 70’s and its related influence on the society of Hong Kong and Macau.

The whole 60’s is dominated by Mandarin songs and English pop songs as Western culture at the time was a mark of education and sophistication, Elvis and The Beatles were the main attraction. Conversely, those who preferred Cantonese music were considered old or uneducated. Beginning with the 70’s, TV was a technological marvel mostly available to the rich, and broadcasted contents were highly valued and respected. The media were still conservative about using Cantonese songs as theme songs of soap operas. However, in 1971, many scholars agreed that the first Cantonese TV theme song,"Tai Siu Jan Jyuan" (啼笑姻緣) or “Love of Laughter and Tears” became a big hit and changed the listening attitude of the public. This song marked the beginning of the acceptance of local Cantonese pop songs of Hong Kong people. The genre was launched to unprecedented levels with virtually every TV drama using localized cantopop songs. Their prejudice over the inferiority of songs in their mother tongue started to disappear. As a result, the fading Mandarin songs, the still influential English songs and the uprising Cantonese songs shared the big pie of the popular music in Hong Kong in the 70’s. The media always play as the role of catalyst on the trend of the society that they may even change the prejudice of the public. Many socialists believed that the 70’s was a significant turning point for Hong Kong people.

The 70’s was an expansion period of the youth population that it occupied the largest proportion of the total population. Unlike the older generation who is immigrants and had little sense of loyalty towards Hong Kong, the new generation was born and brought up in Hong Kong. Just at this time, the TV industry worked as the pioneer of local culture, trying to focus the sense of local identity onto the little piece of monitor by directing the re-configuration of social identity. Those who used to sing Mandarin and English songs increasingly switched to Cantonese songs. The sudden popularization of Cantopop led to the great demand of new singers. Many different kinds of singing competitions emerged in the society that even the government participated in promoting local songs by holding “18 Territories Singing Contest”. Jacky Cheang, who is regarded as the “King of Cantonese Songs” came from this contest. Singers also started to hold concerts since 1973. From then on, going to concerts became new trend of life that many fans from different countries started to go to Hong Kong specially for local concerts. Another measure of the success of Cantopop was the “Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Awards” initiated by the local government radio broadcaster, Radio Hong Kong. From 1978 to 1989, 115 awards went to Cantonese songs while only 5 were written in Mandarin.

One highly respected figure Samuel Hui (許冠傑) contributed a lot to the promotion of Cantopop that he is known as “The God of Songs” for Hong Kong popular music. Though he also started out as a western musician his later songs, written in colloquial Cantonese, mirrored the life of common everyday citizens. He was not the first to do this but he was the first to gain widespread appeal and admiration locally. He was regarded as a legend of Hong Kong music as his songs just matched the demand that Hong Kong was searching for a strategic cultural form to delineate a local identity in relation to the old British colonial and mainland Chinese identities.. He was a bachelor of Art from the University of Hong Kong, he was a composer as well as lyricist. One can easily memorize the lyrics and the melody. The total sound was up-to-date, he sang in a friendly and witty way that one feels very relaxed after hearing his songs.

“Half a Catty and Eight Taels”, “半斤八兩”
-Make half-a-catty’s effort and want an eight-tael reward.
-Its difficult to make a living now and too impractical to want an eight- tael
compensation from half-a-catty s work
- We wage earners have to be the slaves of money all our lives
- This travail is as ghastly as going to hell (to die in front of your eyes).
Don’t say that it’s nothing.

His lyrics were drawing on the experiences of common people in Hong Kong, especially the grievances of the working class. The lyrics were really colloquial in tone which showed common bond among the public, especially the lower classes. He liked to mock or even criticizes the current events from the point of view of a lower-class citizen. However, he is sometimes criticized that he is being a bit coarse and mean for some songs.

“Money, Money, Money”, “錢錢錢”
(no money no talk) What makes you happy? Money! What makes you crazy? Money! With money, I don’t mind even if I am crippled. Always want more money. Everything gets wrong without money. Borrowing money is the worst way as you have to beg the idiots

His vivid, humorous, reflective, philosophical and insightful lyrics that conveyed both laughter and tears had generated great appeal from the public. The 70’s was really a very significant period for the development of Cantopop.

The 80’s was the golden age for Cantonese songs in which artists, producers and various record companies work in harmony for local music. Meanwhile, Colleges in Taiwan also encouraged students to express their feelings through composing songs. Then a trend of Taiwanese college folk songs entered Hong Kong market. Nationalistic in nature, the lyrics exhibited nostalgia for the homeland and a longing to return to the mainland. Those mandarin songs inspired a wave of Cantonese imitations.

“The Brave Chinese” 勇敢的中國人
being brave Chinese, our ardor revives the soul of China. All Chinese have one mind to break through the darkness in spite of the sacrifices.

This trend lasted for about 2 years. The mid-80’s witnessed the emergence of a group of new musical stars like Alan Tam, Leslie Cheung and Anita Mui. These immensely popular singing artists move their focus in presenting the most stylish fashion and make-up rather than on the quality of songs that they are called popular idols rather then professional musical singers. Most of their songs combined foreign melodies with Cantonese lyrics.

“Bad Girl”壞女孩 by Anita Mui (Madonna of the East)
Why why tell me why , taboos are broken in the night. Even gentle women stealthily want to go bad. Why why tell me why. There’s no way to be a little lamb. I blame myself for becoming too bad tonight.

Sung by Anita Mui , the “Madonna of the East”, her rebellious and saucy image was epitomized in public performance. Most of them crossover to film, television. This practice is particularly ingrained in Hong Kong because a few very large companies control so many mass media outlets. Furthermore, this elevated cantopop conveyed cult status and encouraged teenage idolatry and this becomes a dominant feature of Hong Kong youth culture. The 80’s was also the time that many people left Hong Kong for other countries due to their uncertainty towards Hong Kong’s situation after the handover. A number of songs were introduced to uplift the morale and strengthen people’s loyalty towards local cultural identity of Hong Kong.

“Beneath the Lion Mountain” 羅文, 獅子山下
we all meet beneath the Lion Mountain. Happiness comes more often than signs. Tears and sadness are inevitable in our lives. As long as we stay together and gather under the Lion Mountain, we eliminate all discriminations but just live harmoniously with each other

The economy of the 80’s was so prosperous that allowed the phenomenon of super-concerting in which performers did 30 or more consecutive concerts at the same location, such as the Hong Kong Coliseum, night after night. The number of concerts jumped from 18 in 1983 to 129 in the 1989 with audience rising from 150 thousand to over one million. The number of concerts held was sometimes used to compare the degree of popularity among various stars and such phenomenon also implied that Hong Kong was experiencing the era of consumption or consumerism. The end of 80’s was marked the period of band sound. The band Beyond is the most influential and is still the favourite band for many Hong Kong citizens even at this time. Their songs conveyed positive messages like the elimination of racial discrimination and the hope for a warless peaceful world.

Really love You” by Beyond(真的愛你)
your affectionate eyesight teaches me how to face difficulties, telling me not to give up even I fall down, do not know how can I pay for your love, your love is unconditional, please allow me to say “I really love you”

As the most well-known and familiar Cantonese song dedicated to mothers, the song “Really love you” endures for so many decades that it must be broadcasted on every Mother’s Day that follows up till now.

Then we come to the 90’s. In the early 90s, a number of Cantopop star and composers decided to semi or fully retire. There was a shortage of innovated songs as companies just cropped Japanese of English melodies. (e.g. Irreplacable, a Cantonese version by Andy Hui and a Japanese version, both becomes a big hit) It was the time when cover versions dominated the music industry. Claiming that Hong Kong lacks original music, Ultimate 903 Commercial Radio 2 started a policy of promoting local originals in 1993 by limiting the broadcasting to original Cantonese songs only. The development of local pop music was very unhealthy before the launch of the policy. The policy was quite successful in upsetting the imbalance between cover versions and original music and the policy had increased the demand for original music and more room is now provided for local composers.

The mid-90s was dominated by a small group of male artists who became know as the "Four Celestial Kings" (四大天王) of Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau, Aaron Kwok and Leon Lai were introduced to the adoring fans both in Hong Kong and overseas. They dominated all levels of media from magazines, TV, cinema, music and especially TV commercials. They rely on TV commercials to gain or maintain popularity that many songs in their albums are often the theme songs of their advertisements. Leon Lai’s 4 minute TV commercial aroused great response from the public and the theme song became the Song of the Year in most local music awards in 1993.(Commercial http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETiWa2f7eXQ)

On the other hand, the target listeners of Cantopop turned to the younger generation in the late 1990’s. To attract this age group, many different elements like Rap, Hip Hop, Contemporary Rock, Heavy Metal, R&B and even Techno were incorporated in Cantopop. In addition, this was a song celebrating their love towards Hong Kong, its residents and the harmonious situation after the handover.

“My land, Hong Kong” by Edison Chan (香港地)
We love the same piece of land, we remember it by heart, sad of happy, death or live, this is still my Hong Kong. Rap: (I have the same feeling like you. Although we are all busy, we have different ideas, we share the same Yellow Page. Roads and streets make up our home, Hong Kong)

In recent years the popularity of Cantopop has declined due to the continuation of poor sales and the lack of newcomers. The popularity of karaoke culture also out-competed the quality of mainstream products. As the main concern of record companies is profit but not quality, the lyrics and melodies of cover versions are usually tailored for karaoke, making the songs very similar only for commercial consideration.

“King of K-Songs” by Eason Chan (K 歌之王)
love! love! love!, even I compose 20 songs or sing 20 songs for you with all my heart, the microphone is touched too, but you just said I am the King of Karaoke Songs but no more.

As long as the melody and lyrics are easy to remember, they will become popular. Therefore, new song compositions and originality have also been questioned. Another interesting situation in the last few years was that, young singers are prompted to songs with self-humilating lyrics to express the grief and pain they suffer from a break-up.

“I deserve this”by Jordan Chan(犯賤)
Don’t laugh at me, I deserve such pain. I feel so sweet even I am abandoned. Don’t convince me, I am willing to suffer from this torture. Don’t save me, it’s natural to be tortured. Don’t care about me, I am willing to endure without any complaints

This suggested teenagers’ attitude towards love relationships. In the 2000s, A few backing vocalists (Janice and Justin), later on converted into a singer. This showed that record labels companies began promoting substance over publicity by featuring raw talent instead of image. Recently, many new artists play both roles singer and composer or lyricist. This trend brings in freshness and preserves special cultural feature of Hong Kong music and it encourages the development of local music industry.

“The Best Is Yet To Come” by @17
I cannot defend it if I am made to lose. It may not last long even I got it. If there is an end to merry, pain fades too. Life is not easy; you must encounter both laughter and tears. To hug someone to kiss someone the best is yet to come

Cantopop defined a cultural space that distinguished itself from the culture of China and Britain. It changed the way local Caotnonese people looked at their own local fulture, specifically the culture of colonialism, but also the culture of the new masters of the Hong Kong SAR. The central argument of this paper is that Cantopop serves the role of a strategic cultural form to delineate the Hong Kong identity, with the old British colonial and the mainland Chinese identities and lends support to the view that the mass media, as a central cultural institution of modern society, is deeply embedded in it socio-political contexts within media texts are produced and consumed. One point that should be emphasized in closing is that the development of Cantonpop into a successful medium occurred, like other aspects of Cantonese culture from foreign cultural influences. This may be a tribute to the strength and vitality of Hong Kong culture. Further, it might be observed that Cantonese opera, which was the predominant form of popular music prior to the inception of Cantopop, has practically died out as a form of folk music. The 1970 is the threshold of Cantopop that the marginal social groups are in the transitional phase. Alienated from their traditional culture and denied their own forms of cultural expression, they form their own peculiar brand of cultural identity. Cantopop gives Hong Kong people their culture that they had been denied by historical circumstances that saw them cast adrift in an alien place.

REFERENCES
Chan, Siu Sin. Time to evaluate. http://www.com.cuhk.edu.hk/varsity/0001/peri02.htm (2000)

Music of Hong Kong. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Hong_Kong

Cheung, Esther. Hong Kong Popular Culture Matters.
http://www.hku.hk/hkcsp/ccex/text/e_project/issue2/home.htm

A Short Analysis of Local Music from a Reading of Local Lyric.. http://www.friend-shop.net/newpage143.htm

Gary. Joey Ieong and Local Culture. http://crystalspman.mysinablog.com/index.php?op=ViewArticle&articleId=49838

Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Sam Hui and the Rise of Cantopop. http://hk.geocities.com/samhuipaper/

Development of Hong Kong Popular Music Culture. http://hk.geocities.com/project_music2003/develop1.htm

Siu, Yan Chong. The Influence and Development of Cantopop Lyrics. http://www.fed.cuhk.edu.hk/young_lit/Month28/free.htm
Zhang, Weiyu. Cantopop, The voice of Hong Kong. The Chinese University of Hong Kong. (2002)

Chan, H.M. Culture and Identity. In D.H. McMillen and S.W. Man (eds.)The Other Hong Kong Report 1994. Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press, 443-68 (1994)

Curtin, M. Images of Trust, Economics of Suspicion: Hong Kong Media after 1997. Historic Journal of Film, Radio and Television, 18(2) 281-294 (1998)

Chan, S.C.K. (ed.) The Practices of Affect: Studies in Hong Kong Popular Song Lyrics. Hong Kong: Oxford University Press (China) Ltd. (1997)

Luk, H.K. Hong Kong History and Culture. Chinese Sociology and Anthropology, 30(3) 13-24. (1998)

Manuel, P. Popular Musics of the Non-Western World. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (1988)

Witxleben, J.L. Cantopop and Mandapop in Pre-Postcolonial Hong Kong: Identity Negotiation in the Performances of Anita Mui Yim-fong. Popular Music, 18(2). (1999)

Lee, J.C.Y. Cantopop Songs on Emigration from Hong Kong. In D.Christensen (ed.) 1992 Yearbook for Traditional Music (vol. 24.) Kingston, Ontario: International Council for Traditional Music, 14-23. (1992)

Wong, James. The Rise and Development of Cantopop since 1947-1997. Hong Kong: University of Hong Kong. (1998)

00's TALENT OVER IMAGE

In 2000s, A few backing vocalists (Janice and Justin), later on converted into a singer. This showed that record labels companies began promoting substance over publicity by featuring raw talent instead of image. Recently, many new artists play both roles singer and composer or lyricist. This trend brings in freshness and preserves special cultural feature of Hong Kong music and it encourages the development of local music industry.

“The Best Is Yet To Come” by @17
I cannot defend it if I am made to lose. It may not last long even I got it. If there is an end to merry, pain fades too. Life is not easy, you must encounter both laughter and tears. To hug someone to kiss someone The best is yet to come

00's SELF-HUMILIATING

Another interesting situation in the last few years was that, young singers are prompted to songs with self-humilating lyrics to express the grief and pain they suffer from a break-up. This suggested teenagers’ attitude towards love relationships.


“I deserve this”by Jordan Chan(犯賤)
Don’t laugh at me, I deserve such pain. I feel so sweet even I am abandoned. Don’t convince me, I am willing to suffer from this torture. Don’t save me, it’s natural to be tortured. Don’t care about me, I am willing to endure without any complaints

00's K-SONGS

In recent years the popularity of Cantopop has declined due to the continuation of poor sales and the lack of newcomers. The popularity of karaoke culture also out-competed the quality of mainstream products. As the main concern of record companies is profit but not quality, the lyrics and melodies of cover versions are usually tailored for karaoke, making the songs very similar only for commercial consideration. As long as the melody and lyrics are easy to remember, they will become popular. Therefore, new song compositions and originality have also been questioned.


“King of K-Songs” by Eason Chan (K 歌之王)
love! love! love!, even I compose 20 songs or sing 20 songs for you with all my heart, the microphone is touched too, but you just said I am the King of Karaoke Songs but no more.

90's FOUR CELESTIAL KINGS

The mid-90s was dominated by a small group of male artists who became know as the "Four Celestial Kings" (四大天王) of Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau, Aaron Kwok and Leon Lai were introduced to the adoring fans both in Hong Kong and overseas. They dominated all levels of media from magazines, TV, cinema, music and especially TV commercials. They rely on TV commercials to gain or maintain popularity that many songs in their albums are often the theme songs of their advertisements. Leon Lai’s 4 minute TV commercial aroused great response from the public and the theme song became the Song of the Year in most local music awards in 1993. (Commercial available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETiWa2f7eXQ)

On the other hand, the target listeners of Cantopop turned to the younger generation in the late 1990’s. To attract this age group, many different elements like Rap, Hip Hop, Contemporary Rock, Heavy Metal, R&B and even Techno were incorporated in Cantopop. In addition, this was a song celebrating their love towards Hong Kong, its residents and the harmonious situation after the handover.

“My land, Hong Kong” by Edison Chan (香港地)
We love the same piece of land, we remember it by heart, sad of happy, death or live, this is still my Hong Kong. Rap: (I have the same feeling like you. Although we are all busy, we have different ideas, we share the same Yellow Page. Roads and streets make up our home, Hong Kong)

90's CROPPED SONGS

In the early 90s, a number of Cantopop star and composers decided to semi or fully retire. There was a shortage of innovated songs as companies just cropped Japanese of English melodies. It was the time when cover versions dominated the music industry. Claiming that Hong Kong lacks original music, Ultimate 903 Commercial Radio 2 started a policy of promoting local originals in 1993 by limiting the broadcasting to original Cantonese songs only. The development of local pop music was very unhealthy before the launch of the policy. The policy was quite successful in upsetting the imbalance between cover versions and original music and the policy had increased the demand for original music and more room is now provided for local composers.

80's BAND SOUND

The end of 80’s was marked the period of band sound. The band Beyond is the most influential and is still the favourite band for many Hong Kong citizens even at this time. Their songs conveyed positive messages like the elimination of racial discrimination and the hope for a warless peaceful world. As the most well-known and familiar Cantonese song dedicated to mothers, the song “Really love you” endures for so many decades that it must be broadcasted on every Mother’s Day that follows up till now.


"Really love You” by Beyond "真的愛你"
your affectionate eyesight teaches me how to face difficulties, telling me not to give up even I fall down, do not know how can I pay for your love, your love is unconditional, please allow me to say “I really love you”

80's UPLIFT MORALE AND SUPER-CONCERTING

The 80’s was also the time that many people left Hong Kong for other countries due to their uncertainty towards Hong Kong’s situation after the handover. A number of songs were introduced to uplift the morale and strengthen people’s loyalty towards local cultural identity of Hong Kong. The economy of the 80’s was so prosperous that allowed the phenomenon of super-concerting in which performers did 30 or more consecutive concerts at the same location, such as the Hong Kong Coliseum, night after night. The number of concerts jumped from 18 in 1983 to 129 in the 1989 with audience rising from 150 thousand to over one million. The number of concerts held was sometimes used to compare the degree of popularity among various stars and such phenomenon also implied that Hong Kong was experiencing the era of consumption or consumerism.

“Beneath the Lion Mountain” 羅文 "獅子山下
we all meet beneath the Lion Mountain. Happiness comes more often than signs. Tears and sadness are inevitable in our lives. As long as we stay together and gather under the Lion Mountain, we eliminate all discriminations but just live harmoniously with each other

80's NEW MUSICAL STARS

The mid-80’s witnessed the emergence of a group of new musical stars like Alan Tam, Leslie Cheung and Anita Mui. These immensely popular singing artists move their focus in presenting the most stylish fashion and make-up rather than on the quality of songs that they are called popular idols rather then professional musical singers. Most of their songs combined foreign melodies with Cantonese lyrics.


“Bad Girl” "壞女孩"
-Why why tell me why , taboos are broken in the night
-Even gentle women stealthily want to go bad
-Why why tell me why. There’s no way to be a little lamb
-I blame myself for becoming too bad tonight

Sung by Anita Mui , the “Madonna of the East”, her rebellious and saucy image was epitomized in public performance. Most of them crossover to film, television. This practice is particularly ingrained in Hong Kong because a few very large companies control so many mass media outlets. Furthermore, this elevated cantopop conveyed cult status and encouraged teenage idolatry and this becomes a dominant feature of Hong Kong youth culture.

80's NOSTALGIA

The 80’s was the golden age for Cantonese songs in which artists, producers and various record companies work in harmony for local music. Meanwhile, Colleges in Taiwan also encouraged students to express their feelings through composing songs. Then a trend of Taiwanese college folk songs entered Hong Kong market. Nationalistic in nature, the lyrics exhibited nostalgia for the homeland and a longing to return to the mainland. Those mandarin songs inspired a wave of Cantonese imitations.

This trend lasted for about 2 years.

“The Brave Chinese” "勇敢的中國人 "
-being brave Chinese, our ardor revives the soul of China
-all Chinese have one mind to break through the darkness in spite of the sacrifices

70's SAM HUI - FATHER OF CANTOPOP

One highly respected figure Samuel Hui (許冠傑) contributed a lot to the promotion of Cantopop that he is known as “The God of Songs” for Hong Kong popular music. Though he also started out as a western musician his later songs, written in colloquial Cantonese, mirrored the life of common everyday citizens. He was not the first to do this but he was the first to gain widespread appeal and admiration locally. He was regarded as a legend of Hong Kong music as his songs just matched the demand that Hong Kong was searching for a strategic cultural form to delineate a local identity in relation to the old British colonial and mainland Chinese identities.. He was a bachelor of Art from the University of Hong Kong, he was a composer as well as lyricist. One can easily memorize the lyrics and the melody. The total sound was up-to-date, he sang in a friendly and witty way that one feels very relaxed after hearing his songs.

“Half a Catty and Eight Taels” “半斤八兩”
-Make half-a-catty’s effort and want an eight-tael reward.
- It’s difficult to make a living now and too impractical to want an eight- tael compensation
from half-a-catty’s work
- We wage earners have to be the slaves of money all our lives
- This travail is as ghastly as going to hell (to die in front of your eyes).
Don’t say that it’s nothing.

His lyrics were drawing on the experiences of common people in Hong Kong, especially the grievances of the working class. The lyrics were really colloquial in tone which showed common bond among the public, especially the lower classes. He liked to mock or even criticizes the current events from the point of view of a lower-class citizen. However, he is sometimes criticized that he is being a bit coarse and mean for some songs.


“Money, Money, Money” “錢錢錢”
-(no money no talk) What makes you happy? Money! What makes you crazy? Money! With money, I don’t mind even if I am crippled. Always want more money. Everything gets wrong without money. Borrowing money is the worst way as you have to beg the idiots

His vivid, humorous, reflective, philosophical and insightful lyrics that conveyed both laughter and tears had generated great appeal from the public. The 70’s was really a very significant period for the development of Cantopop.

70's GOVERNMENT SUPPORT

The sudden popularization of Cantopop led to the great demand of new singers. Many different kinds of singing competitions emerged in the society that even the government participated in promoting local songs by holding “18 Territories Singing Contest”. Jacky Cheang, who is regarded as the “King of Cantonese Songs” came from this contest. Singers also started to hold concerts since 1973. From then on, going to concerts became new trend of life that many fans from different countries started to go to Hong Kong specially for local concerts. Another measure of the success of Cantopop was the “Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Awards” initiated by the local government radio broadcaster, Radio Hong Kong. From 1978 to 1989, 115 awards went to Cantonese songs while only 5 were written in Mandarin.

70's THE SOCIETY AND MEDIA

The media always play as the role of catalyst on the trend of the society that they may even change the prejudice of the public. Many socialists believed that the 70’s was a significant turning point for Hong Kong people. The 70’s was an expansion period of the youth population that it occupied the largest proportion of the total population. Unlike the older generation who is immigrants and had little sense of loyalty towards Hong Kong, the new generation was born and brought up in Hong Kong. Just at this time, the TV industry worked as the pioneer of local culture, trying to focus the sense of local identity onto the little piece of monitor by directing the re-configuration of social identity. Those who used to sing Mandarin and English songs increasingly switched to Cantonese songs.

70's THE RISE OF CANTOPOP

The whole 60’s is dominated by Mandarin songs and English pop songs as Western culture at the time was a mark of education and sophistication, Elvis and The Beatles were the main attraction. Conversely, those who preferred Cantonese music were considered old or uneducated. Beginning with the 70’s, TV was a technological marvel mostly available to the rich, and broadcasted contents were highly valued and respected. The media were still conservative about using Cantonese songs as theme songs of soap operas. However, in 1971, many scholars agreed that the first Cantonese TV theme song,"Tai Siu Jan Jyuan" (啼笑姻緣) or “Love of Laughter and Tears” became a big hit and changed the listening attitude of the public. This song marked the beginning of the acceptance of local Cantonese pop songs of Hong Kong people. The genre was launched to unprecedented levels with virtually every TV drama using localized cantopop songs. Their prejudice over the inferiority of songs in their mother tongue started to disappear. As a result, the fading Mandarin songs, the still influential English songs and the uprising Cantonese songs shared the big pie of the popular music in Hong Kong in the 70’s.

Background

Introduced by Hans Ebert, the editor of the American Billboard magazine, Cantopop is a colloquial abbreviation for "Cantonese popular music". It is also referred to as HK-pop, short for "Hong Kong popular music". It is categorized as a subgenre of Chinese popular music within C-pop. Cantopop draws its influence not only from other forms of Chinese music, but from a variety of international styles including jazz, rock and roll, rhythm and blues, electronic music, western pop music and others. In general, cantopop songs are almost invariably performed in Cantonese. Boasting a multinational fanbase, Hong Kong is the most significant hub of the genre. Prior to the development of popular music in the 1960s, Hong Kong's musical output was dominated by Cantonese opera, English pop and some Mandarin songs. Since the 70’s, Cantonese pop songs they have become the main stream of Hong Kong and Macau music. In terms of main stream, firstly, the majority of Hong Kong citizens listen to them; secondly, the popularity of cantonese pop songs has surpassed other kinds of music in Hong Kong and Macau after the 70’s. The development of Cantopop has very close relationship with the society as the rise of them exactly reflects the economic and cultural changes of the society.

Research Questions

Topic: The Rise and Development of Cantopop since the 70’s: An Analysis of Hong Kong
Popular Music and its Influence in Macau and Hong Kong

Research Questions:
1) How and why did Cantopop come into fashion in Hong Kong?
2) What are the changes in the lyrical content of Cantonese pop songs?
3) How is the development of Cantonese pop songs related to the economy, culture, and political status of Hong Kong or Macau?
4) What are the changes in the style or type (melody forms) of Cantonese pop songs?
5) How is Hong Kong Popular Music influenced by the trend of other countries?
6) How are the changes affected by living standards, educational level and social values of
the Hong Kong population?

Methodology:
Data Collection: I am going to analyse different Cantonese songs in terms of context, lyrics, type and melody. I will consult a linguistic professor whose PhD. research area is Cantonpop culture. I have downloaded some articles about the rise and fall of Cantonpop culture in Hong Kong.
Presentation: I will prepare a PowerPoint as my medium of presentation. I will incorporate
some video clips and songs in the file to assist the explanation of analysis.

Claims:
1) the lyrical context of Cantonese songs changes overtime
2) the content is affected by the trend or influence from other countries, social affair (economy, culture, and political status) and social values (living standard, educational level)
3) those changes influence people in Hong Kong and Macau. E.g.forms of expression (create new words or change in the meaning of words)
4) 70’s: Hong Kong TV drama series became popular (theme songs arose)
80’s: influence of Japanese culture while promotion of local creation
90’s: karaoke and idols have come into sight2000: crossover of various elements from different places