Anders Gustav Nelsson
Anders Gustav Nelsson, 57, became a Hong Kong teen idol in the days before Canto-pop as lead singer of The Kontinentals (right). A born entrepreneur, Nelsson stopped performing when he turned 30, but continued in the field as a promoter and publicist. He was host of RTHK's popular country music show for eight years, but is probably best known to Chinese audiences for his roles as a string of baddies on local TV. He speaks about the 53 years in his adopted home.
The Kontinentals started life in the late 50s as The Cagey 5, a play on the name of our school, KGV [King George V]. That group evolved over the years into The Kontinentals, when we were not all KGV kids. One of the outsiders was a La Salle College boy named Mike Souza [later head of programming at Commercial Radio]. We never made a fortune because it was a very small market, but we had a lot of fun. We made two singles and they went to the top of the pops. We were the first act in Hong Kong to record our own compositions. We also had that 'import appeal'. In those days anything imported had to be good.
One of our regular venues was the Bayside in Tsim Sha Tsui. The place was full of China watchers and actual spies. People were always pointing each other out as CIA spies and other spooks.
My parents were missionaries. I was born in the US and we went to Hunan when I was eight months old. When we were kicked out three years later in 1949 (following the Communist takeover) we were sent straight to Sweden and I arrived speaking just a few words of Swedish. Then when we came to Hong Kong in 1950, I spoke a four-year-old's Swedish and a bit of Hunanese. Of course, nobody here spoke either. Cantonese came much later when I made friends with Chinese musicians.
I was there for the early days of Commercial Radio. They had DJ contests and I won a couple of times when Nick Kendall was running the shows. Ten years ago, RTHK producer Gerry Jose called and asked if I could fill in temporarily on Today's Country. It lasted eight years. I still fill in when 'Uncle' Ray Cordeiro goes away.