James Wong (lyricist)

Last updated

James Wong
Wong Jim on stage.gif
Background information
Chinese name (traditional)
Chinese name (simplified)
Pinyin Huáng Zhān(Mandarin)
Jyutping Wong4 Zim1(Cantonese)
BornWong Jum-sum (Chinese :黃湛森; Cantonese Yale :Wong4 Jaam3 Sam1)
(1941-03-16)16 March 1941
Panyu, Guangzhou, China
Died 24 November 2004(2004-11-24) (aged 63)
Hong Kong
Occupation
Years active 1962–2004
Genre(s) Cantopop
Instrument(s)
  • Vocals
  • piano
  • harmonica
Spouse(s) Hua Wa (1967–1976)
Winnie Chan (1995–2004)
Partner(s) Eunice Lam (1976–1990)
Awards
Hong Kong Film Awards
Best Original Film Score
1988 A Chinese Ghost Story
1991 Fight and Love with a Terracotta Warrior
1992 Once Upon a Time in China
1995 Butterfly Lovers
Best Original Film Song
1988 A Chinese Ghost Story
1991 The Swordsman
Golden Horse Awards
Best Original Song
1992 Once Upon a Time in China II

James Wong (Chinese :黃霑, Wong Jim; 16 March 1941 – 24 November 2004, also known as "Uncle Jim") was a Cantopop lyricist and songwriter based primarily in Hong Kong. Beginning from the 1960s, he was the lyricist for over 2,000 songs, collaborating with songwriter Joseph Koo (a.k.a. Gu Gaa-fai) on many popular television theme songs, many of which have become classics of the genre. His work propelled Cantopop to unprecedented popularity. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Traditional Chinese characters Traditional Chinese characters

Traditional Chinese characters are Chinese characters in any character set that does not contain newly created characters or character substitutions performed after 1946. They are most commonly the characters in the standardized character sets of Taiwan, of Hong Kong and Macau, and in the Kangxi Dictionary. The modern shapes of traditional Chinese characters first appeared with the emergence of the clerical script during the Han Dynasty, and have been more or less stable since the 5th century.

Cantopop music genre

Cantopop or HK-pop is a genre of popular music written in standard modern Chinese but sung in Cantonese. Cantopop is also used to refer to the cultural context of its production and consumption. The genre began in the 1970s and became associated with Hong Kong popular music from the middle of the decade. Cantopop then reached its height of popularity in the 1980s and 1990s before slowly declining in the 2000s and slight revival in the 2010s. The term "Cantopop" itself was coined in 1978 after "Cantorock", a term first used in 1974. Cantopop reached its highest glory with a fanbase and concert reaching Mainland China, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, Japan especially with the influx of songs from Hong Kong movies.

Joseph Koo Kar-Fai, GBS, is one of the most respected composers in Hong Kong. He used the pen name Moran (莫然) for Mandarin songs early in his career. He has two siblings: an older sister, the famous Chinese singer/painter Koo Mei (顧媚) and a younger brother, Koo Kar-Tseung (顧嘉鏘).

Contents

He was also well known in Asia as a columnist, actor, film director, screenwriter, and talk show host. He took part in creative directing positions within the entertainment industry in Hong Kong.

Wong died on 24 November 2004 of lung cancer after a four-year battle at the age of 64. [5]

Education

Wong was born in Panyu, in what now is part of Guangzhou, China and migrated to Hong Kong with his family in 1949. He completed his secondary education at La Salle College. In 1963, he graduated from the Chinese Department, Faculty of Arts of the University of Hong Kong. Wong received an MPhil degree from the University of Hong Kong in 1983 for his study in Cantonese opera. In May 2003, in the midst of his fight with lung cancer, he obtained a PhD degree from the Department of Sociology, University of Hong Kong. The title of his thesis was "The Rise and Decline of Cantopop : A Study of Hong Kong Popular Music (1949–1997)". [6]

Guangzhou Prefecture-level and Sub-provincial city in Guangdong, Peoples Republic of China

Guangzhou, also known as Canton, is the capital and most populous city of the province of Guangdong in southern China. On the Pearl River about 120 km (75 mi) north-northwest of Hong Kong and 145 km (90 mi) north of Macau, Guangzhou has a history of over 2,200 years and was a major terminus of the maritime Silk Road, and continues to serve as a major port and transportation hub, as well as one of China's three largest cities.

La Salle College secondary school in Hong Kong

La Salle College is a boys' secondary school in Hong Kong. It was established by the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, a Roman Catholic religious teaching order founded by St. John Baptist de La Salle.

University of Hong Kong public research university in Hong Kong

The University of Hong Kong (HKU) is a public research university in Hong Kong. Founded in 1911, its origins trace back to the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, which was founded in 1887. It is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong.

Career and contributions

Exhibition of Dr. James Wong's works during University of Hong Kong's CAS Openday in October 2005 Dr James Wong HKU CAS OpenDay 2005-Oct.jpg
Exhibition of Dr. James Wong's works during University of Hong Kong's CAS Openday in October 2005
Music Blanket is one of James Wong's favourite personal collection James Wong Music Blanket.jpg
Music Blanket is one of James Wong's favourite personal collection

Wong participated in a variety of media fields including advertising, movies and music. He was best known for his achievements as a lyricist of Cantonese songs in Hong Kong. Beginning from the 1960s, he was the lyricist for over 2,000 songs, collaborating with composer Joseph Koo (a.k.a. Gu Gaa-fai) on many popular TVB TV drama theme songs, many of which have become classics of the genre. His works pushed the development of Cantopop to unprecedented popularity.

Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) is a television broadcasting company based in Hong Kong. The company operates five free-to-air terrestrial television channels in Hong Kong, with TVB Jade as its main Cantonese language service, and TVB Pearl as its main English service. TVB is headquartered at TVB City at the Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate.

While well known and praised for his creative works in the entertainment and advertisement fields, Wong was also famous for his vulgar and indelicate jokes. He had a series of best-selling joke books. He was regarded as responsible for breaking the barrier to many cultural taboos in Hong Kong during the conservative environment in the 1970s. He is best remembered as the person who came up with the slogan "Two kids are good enough" for The Family Planning Association of Hong Kong.

The Family Planning Association of Hong Kong organization

The Family Planning Association of Hong Kong (FPAHK) is a voluntary organisation that promotes family planning in Hong Kong. The current Executive Director is Susan Fan.

Wong hosted several TV programs, mostly interviews or talk shows oriented towards adults, on both TVB and ATV. One of the talk shows called "Off-guard Tonight" (今夜不設防), co-hosted by Wong and his close friends Chua Lam and Ni Kuang on ATV, is particularly remembered.

Asia Television Limited is a digital media and broadcasting company in Hong Kong. Established as the first television service in Hong Kong as Rediffusion Television on 29 May 1957, it shifted to terrestrial television on 30 November 1973, and was renamed Asia Television on 24 September 1982. ATV operated two main over-the-air channels: the Cantonese-language ATV Home, and ATV World.

Chua Lam Singaporean writer

Chua Lam is a columnist, food critic and occasional television host in Hong Kong and Japan. He was also a movie producer for the Hong Kong movie studio Golden Harvest.

Ni Kuang Hong Kong writer

Ni Cong, courtesy name Yiming, better known by his pen name Ni Kuang, is a Hong Kong-American novelist and screenwriter. He has written over 300 Chinese-language wuxia and science fiction novels, and more than 400 film scripts.

In the 1990s, Wong's creative works became less popular, and many entertainment companies featured fewer of Wong's songs. Some TV shows hosted by Wong were also unpopular. Wong decided to return to Hong Kong University to get a doctorate degree in Hong Kong popular culture. His dissertation essay is now in the library of Hong Kong University.

On 24 November 2004, Wong died at the Union Hospital in Hong Kong. His funeral was a low-key family funeral as per his wishes. Hong Kong citizens reflected on his career and accomplishments during this time. In the following days, the news of his death became the primary media headline in Hong Kong, and his compositions were played throughout the week. A remembrance ceremony took place at Hong Kong Stadium, with over 15,000 attending this ceremony. [7]

Personal life

Wong was officially married twice, but had three notable relationships. He had three children with his first wife, singer Hua Wa. Their marriage ended while Hua Wa was pregnant with their only daughter, Ursule Wong. Wong once said the most important love of his life was Eunice Lam, a writer whom he lived with from 1976 to 1990, but did not marry. [8] [9] Lam was also a radio host, and was the sister of Richard Lam, a Cantopop lyricist. Wong's second marriage was to his long-time assistant, Winnie Chan, until his death, but she was never seen with him in public.

Important works in lyrics

Awards

Wong received numerous awards for his works.

– Music Awards

– Film Awards

Filmography as actor

See also

Related Research Articles

Andy Lau Hong Kong actor and singer

Andy Lau Tak-wah, is a Hong Kong actor, singer, lyricist and film producer. He has been one of Hong Kong's most commercially successful film actors since the mid-1980s, performing in more than 160 films while maintaining a successful singing career at the same time. In the 1990s, Lau was branded by the media as one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Cantopop and was named as "Fourth Tiger" among the Five Tiger Generals of TVB during the 1980s

Anita Mui Hong Kong singer and actress

Anita Mui Yim-fong was a Hong Kong singer and actress making major contributions to the Cantopop music scene and receiving numerous awards and honours. She remained an idol throughout most of her career, and was generally regarded as a Cantopop diva.

Sally Yeh Hong Kong singer

Sally Yeh, sometimes credited as Sally Yip or Yip Sin-Man, is a Taiwanese-Canadian Cantopop singer and actress.

Jacky Cheung Hong Kong actor and singer

Jacky Cheung Hok-yau is a Hong Kong singer, songwriter and actor. With more than 25 million records sold as of 2003, he is regarded as one of the "Four Heavenly Kings" and has been deemed the "God of Songs" of Hong Kong.

Sam Hui Hong Kong singer, lyricist, and actor

Samuel Hui Koon-kit, usually known as Sam Hui, is a Hong Kong musician, singer, songwriter and actor. He is credited with popularising Cantopop both via the infusion of Western-style music and his usage of vernacular Cantonese rather than written vernacular Chinese in biting lyrics that addressed contemporary problems and concerns. Hui is considered by some to be the first major superstar of Cantopop, known as the God of Song.

Eason Chan Hong Kong singer and actor

Eason Chan Yick-shun is a Hong Kong singer and actor. Chan was ranked number "6" in the 2013 Forbes China Celebrity Top 100 List.

Music of Hong Kong music

The Music of Hong Kong is an eclectic mixture of traditional and popular genres. Cantopop is one of the more prominent genres of music produced in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and the Hong Kong Sinfonietta regularly perform western classical music in the city. There is also a long tradition of Cantonese opera within Hong Kong.

Anthony Wong Yiu-ming singer-songwriter from Hong Kong

Anthony Wong Yiu-ming is a Hong Kong singer and record producer. He rose to prominence as the vocalist for Cantopop duo Tat Ming Pair during the 1980s. Wong is the director for music production company People Mountain People Sea.

<i>Once Upon a Time in China</i> (film series) Hong Kong film franchise

Once Upon a Time in China is a Hong Kong–Chinese film franchise directed, written, and produced by Tsui Hark. The stories are based on the life of Chinese martial arts master and folk hero of Cantonese ethnicity, Wong Fei-hung, who is portrayed by Jet Li in the first three films and Vincent Zhao in the fourth and fifth films. The first two films in the franchise were among the most popular of the Golden Age of Hong Kong cinema and were known for their depiction of Chinese nationalism as well as action choreography. The Once Upon a Time in China films were among Jet Li's best known hits at that time.

Shirley Kwan Hong Kong singer and actress

Shirley Kwan, Kwan Suk'E, or Kwan Suk Yee is an influential Cantopop singer from Hong Kong. Kwan first shot to fame in 1989 with the hit, "Happy Are Those In Love" (難得有情人) and was widely popular throughout the early to mid-90s. She is noted for her distinct, whispery vocal style and known equally for singing mainstream ballads and more alternative songs.

<i>100,000 Whys</i> album by Faye Wong

Sapmaan go Waisammo? or One Hundred Thousand Whys? (十萬個為什麼) is a 1993 Cantonese album recorded by Chinese Cantopop singer Faye Wong as 王靖雯 Wong Ching Man, when she was based in Hong Kong. It is named after a popular Chinese science book by Ye Yonglie.

Cass Phang is a retired Cantopop singer from Hong Kong, affiliated with EMI from 1993–1998 and then with Sony Music Entertainment. She was born in Hong Kong, studied at Munsang College and a high school in Australia. In September 1998, she married Hong Kong actor and pop singer Jan Lamb, a member of musical rap duo DJ Softhard. She gave birth to two daughters in 2000 and 2004.

<i>Luk Siu-fung</i> (1976 TV series) television series

Luk Siu-fung is a Hong Kong television series adapted from Gu Long's Lu Xiaofeng novel series. It was first broadcast on TVB in Hong Kong in 1976.

ATV Home was a free-to-air Cantonese television channel in Hong Kong, owned and operated by Asia Television. It was formed in September 1963 as a result of the split of the bilingual Rediffusion Television subscription service into dedicated Cantonese and English-language services. In 1969, the broadcaster was granted a license for over-the-air broadcasting.

Linda Wong (singer) Hong Kong singer and actress

Linda Wong Hing-ping is a Hong Kong singer and actress who grew up in Taiwan. She was most active in the 1990s.

<i>Prudence Liew</i> (album) 1986 studio album by Prudence Liew

Lau Mei Gwan is the self-titled debut album of cantopop singer Prudence Liew, released on December 23, 1986.

Chan Fai-young is a Hong Kong Cantopop composer. Chan was born in Macau in 1970. He attended Berklee College of Music, an American college in Boston, Massachusetts.

<i>Love Addict</i> (album) 2011 studio album by Prudence Liew

Love Addict is the 14th studio album and second mandopop album by Hong Kong singer Prudence Liew. This album marks the first Mandarin language studio album release from Liew since 愛自己 Love Yourself was released in Taiwan in 2000. This album is a cover album that consists entirely of songs that were originally sung by male singers. This is the first in a series of three cover albums released by Liew in three different languages: the Cantonese album 偷 Stolen Moments came after in July 2012, and an English album titled Reincarnated Love released in July 2017.

References

  1. Growing With Hong Kong: The University and Its Graduates... 2002– Page 317: "Good lyrics are an essential ingredient of Cantonese songs and James Wong Jum-sum, lyricist and composer, has created more than a thousand to ..."
  2. Yiu-Wai Chu Lost in Transition: Hong Kong Culture in the Age of China – 2013 Page 83 "The Cantonese version was written in 1974 by James Wong, the Godfather of Cantopop, when a Walt Disney show... While Hong Kong Disneyland highly valued James Wong's lyrics, the Hong Kong government tended to think differently."
  3. Jingzhi Liu – A Critical History of New Music in China – 2010 Page 584 "stage—songs in Cantonese by popular composers like Sam Hui (Xu Guanjie), Joseph Koo (Gu Jiahui), James Wong (Huang Zhan) and Lai Siu-tin (Li Xiao- tian). These new-style Canto-pop songs were welcomed with open arms by the young people of Hong Kong, because the lyrics, ..."
  4. World Music Volumn 2 Latin and North America Caribbean India Asia ... Simon Broughton, Mark Ellingham, Richard Trillo – 2000 – Page 49 "Amongst the Chinese – and particularly the Cantonese-speaking population of southern China and Hong Kong – by far ... Cantopop (Cantonese pop) began to appear in the 1970s – an amalgam of Western soft-rock and mellow Cantonese lyrical singing — 'Southern China-meets-the West', ... Joseph Koo and James Wong were the groundbreakers, composing Cantopop song for TV themes in the 1970s."
  5. "Hong Kong Government statement on Wong's death (Chinese only)". Hong Kong Government. 24 November 2004. Archived from the original on 7 March 2005. Retrieved 14 June 2007.
  6. "In memory of Dr James Wong". Hong Kong University. Retrieved 14 June 2007.
  7. "Memorial Service at Hong Kong Stadium". China Daily. 6 December 2004. Retrieved 14 June 2007.
  8. Wong, Martin (6 December 2004). "Private grief of the one Uncle Jim loved best". South China Morning Post.
  9. Chow, Vivienne (2 December 2004). "Uncle Jim puts family first at the end". South China Morning Post.
Awards
Preceded by
Paula Tsui
Golden Needle Award of RTHK Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Award
1990
Succeeded by
Roman Tam