Chinese music scene Shanghai era (1)

In 1929, the first pop music record "Drizzle" was born in China. Its creator was Li Jinhui, the godfather of Chinese pop music who founded "Mingyue Club", and his daughter Li Minghui sang it. The recording industry has grown rapidly along with popular songs. In 1927, brothers and sisters Wang Renyi and Wang Renmei joined the "Mingyue Club". Wang Renyi later became the first generation of performers in China, and he was also Nie Er's violin teacher. Wang Renmei is a first-generation pop singer in China. She is one of the "Four Heavenly Kings" of "Mingyue Club". In 1934, Wang Renmei starred in "Yuguang Song" directed by Cai Chusheng and sang the theme song. It was a smash hit, and the guitar accompaniment was Nie Er. At that time, besides "Mingyue Club", there were also some singing and dancing groups, such as "Ewha Song and Dance Troupe", "Xinhua Opera Club" and so on; It has many talents and brings a wide range of repertoires. At that time, no musical theater club could compare with it. The "Pear Blossom Song and Dance Troupe" organized by Wei Yingbo was relatively early, with a small scale and Gong Qiuxia in the troupe. There are also some musical drama clubs, such as "Xinhua", most of them were founded by the members of "Mingyue Club" after they left, so the source is still "Mingyue Club". "Xinhua" belongs to Yan Hua, and "Datong Singing Club" belongs to brothers and sisters Yao Min and Yao Li. These small groups have no system. If these people do it, the group will exist. If they don't, the group will disband. It's not as influential as the "Mingyue Society". "Mingyue Society" inherited the traditional Chinese "professional class" system, and what they made was popular. Guo Moruo's wife, Yu Liqun, was originally from "Mingyue Society". Like Li Lili, she was Li Jinhui's adopted daughter. She was called Liming at that time. healthy. There is also Yang Lucy, who used to belong to the "Mingyue Club", and these people's social status after the founding of the People's Republic of China is not low. Back then, popular singers generally became famous through singing on the radio, records, movie episodes, and dance halls. Different people have different ways of starting out. If you are lucky, you will be picked up by the record company directly, and you will record your first record without singing much. For example, Yao Min, his younger sister Yao Li was already recording in EMI, and she recommended her brother to go. Yao Min not only wrote songs, but also sang along with EMI, so the record was released soon and became famous. Of course, more people still take two paths, one is resident singing in dance halls, and the other is radio stations, which has a lower threshold. At that time, the so-called radio stations were relatively small, with an antenna on the roof of the building, and the transmission power was low, and it could only spread within a radius of one or two kilometers. It was like a "community radio station". There are hundreds of radio stations in Shanghai. There is a live band (band) in the radio station, a few people, the resident singer of the small radio station is only one Two people, not a bunch of singers, listeners can order different songs for them to sing. At that time, popular singers ran different radio stations every day, the so-called "running platform", so there were not many people who really liked "people", but more "music". Record companies pay singers based on royalties, usually 6%. However, creators are paid very little. Creators are usually bought out, and some are hired. Like Yan Hua and Li Jinguang, EMI specially hires them to write lyrics and compose music, but there are very few such people. It is said that the first person to hold a solo concert was Bai Hong, the "Queen of Songs". On January 12 and 13, 1945, he held a Bai Hong singing concert in "Lysin Heart". At this time, pop music in Shanghai had developed to a relatively mature level. stage. After the concert, the song became the dominant one, and everyone bought tickets to listen to the song. This is a very important and epoch-making event. At that time, Bai Hong was already very mature in art, and her qualifications were relatively old, so she was the first to open. After Bai Hong opened "Solo", it didn't take long for Zhou Xuan to hold a solo concert. Zhou Xuan must have had more fans than Bai Hong back then, because Zhou Xuan had a large number of fans. Therefore, Zhou Xuan opened "Solo", one day longer than Bai Hong, three days. Bai Hong was in "Lan Xin", which was relatively small, and Zhou Xuan held a concert at the "Jindu Theater", and her "Golden Voice" reputation was once again spread. Zhou Xuan's singing style does not seem to be very "modern", but Bai Hong and Yao Li's singing voices are closer to the current pop singers. Zhou Xuan's singing style is determined by her own innate conditions. Her voice is not loud, and her voice is very thin. In addition, in the "Mingyue Society", some of her predecessors - Li Minghui, Wang Renmei and others sang in the 1930s with this voice, the voice of a little girl who was babbling, It is the voice of Lu Xun's "hanging the cat". In the 1940s, everyone's singing voice was being adjusted. Bai Hong's voice was not as good when he was young, and the most obvious contrast was Wang Renmei. In the 1940s, perhaps influenced by American musicals, I became more and more proficient in how to use breath, and many "good voices" came out. For example, Ouyang Feiying, she is a very strange talent, she taught herself, but she can sing coloratura, she uses some skills of Western singing to perform popular songs, and she sings very well. In addition, there is another reason. The recording technology in the 1930s was relatively poor. The expressive power of the mid-range and low-frequency was very weak, and they were all high-frequency, so I always heard a very high-pitched sound. Recording equipment improved in the 1940s, so it sounds more comfortable. After 1945, the original three record companies in Shanghai - Shanghai EMI, Greater China (registered trademark as "Double Parrot") and Shanghai Shengli (RCA and Sheng Merger of Lee Phonograph, which is a Japanese-funded company) has undergone major changes in the pattern. "Victory" became the enemy's property at this time, and it has not been able to start construction since then; "Emi" resumed operation after the end of the Anti-Japanese War; the national enterprise "Double Parrot" was struggling and dying. It is equivalent to saying that after 45 years, the Shanghai record industry will be dominated by the "EMI" family.