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SCMP Reporter

HONG KONG bands may be waiting in the wings to take over the Canto-pop world but music experts say there is still a lot to be done before they can seriously challenge the market.

  If the amount of radio airplay they are getting these days is anything to go by, locals bands seem to have captured a portion of the limelight.

  But their existence is still threatened by practical reasons: their vague music individuality and weak money-spinning power.

  New generation bands such as Black and Blue, HUH!?, Black Box, AMK, Anodize, Zen, Art Gallery, to name just a few, have been making their intentions known since late last year.

  But, yet, even on the Ultimate Song Chart of Commercial Radio II - probably the most 'band-friendly' station in town - only 10 per cent of the top 30 songs are performed by bands.

  Mark Lui Chung-tak, the artists and repertoire manager of Warner Music (Hong Kong) which brought us Beyond and Tai Chi some years ago and recently signed up Zen, believes Hong Kong bands lack the sharp music image of their counterparts in the 80s.

  'Now we don't have bands with a sharp image such as Tat Ming Pair and the new bands are seemingly not individualistic enough at the moment,' he said.

  Critics such as Sam Jor, managing director of the music weekly Music Week, observed that new Hong Kong bands were not only weak in style but also in technique.

  'Their composing and playing techniques are not as good as bands in the 80s. Perhaps they don't have enough time to practise, but they need to improve,' said Jor, who has been involved in the show business industry for two decades.

  Independent band advocate and co-host of CR2's Quote Zone, Wong Chi-chung, said that probably '10 out of 10' London bands were original enough to make a good impression on record companies but added that this was, 'unfortunately not happening in Hong Kong'.

  Although some record companies were overcoming prejudice by offering more contracts, others still found it a gamble to sign up new bands.

  Mr Lui said it was more difficult making a profit with bands than with solo artists.

  'The public is still 'numb' in following solo artists,' he said. 'They used to follow idols and now singer-songwriters. But it is blindly following trends all the same.'   Mr Lui felt that one of the reasons why bands were not hitting the big time might be because they often lacked proper front-men.

  Beyond, the most successful band in recent years, was an exception because it had the late Wong Ka-kui as their 'idol' front-man.

  However, since Wong's death two years ago, the band appears to be suffering from a drop in popularity.

  For Music Communication's DIY label, which has HUH!?, Black and Blue, Anodize and Virus under its belt, making money was never a goal when they signed on new acts.

  Manager Peony Wong Pak-kwan said: 'If we wanted to make money, we would have signed up solo artists. What we are doing here is for the bands and to promote the 'band sound' in Hong Kong.

  'Our priority is to enable band members to earn a living through their music, instead of juggling [it] with full-time jobs.'   But even with record companies' good intentions, bands have been and, still are, finding it difficult to depend on their musical career for a living.

  When Beyond was at its peak, drummer Yip Sai-wing was still so poor that he had to sleep on the family couch in a tiny North Point flat.

  Things have not changed much. While Beyond may now be earning a decent living, there are many others who still pay a price for their artistic goals.

  Edmund Leung, guitarist for HUH!?, said Hong Kong has not completely accepted local bands, especially 'low-key' ones which were not signed up with big labels.

  'All four of us have to keep our daytime jobs; no matter how much we want to make music our main career, we just can't,' he said.

  Black and Blue drummer Ho Ngan-fung said financial considerations made it difficult for bands to strive for improvement.

   'Trying to make ends meet has got in the way of our music development,' he said. 'Bands are tightening their belts at the expense of upgrading and maintaining their musical instruments.'   Part of the responsibility for the bands' low earning power may lie with the record companies.

  Leung said record companies did not know how to market bands properly because they were too used to dealing with solo artists.

  'Bands can actually earn money for record companies but it is a matter of whether these management people know how to, or even want to, undertake the task,' he said.

  But there are still a few believers who predict that local bands will provide the over-saturated Canto-pop scene with an alternative sound.

  Brian Leung Siu-fai, chief music designer of CR2 who helped organise the two sold-out All Band Showcase concerts at the Hong Kong Coliseum last August, said: 'The local music industry has not shown any obvious new musical directions. Under such circumstances, new bands will be able to inject some stimulation.

  'But it is still too soon to say whether these bands can re-launch another band trend. It is good, though, to have a new variety of music for local fans.'   Another plus factor for bands is that they could help 'eliminate' low-quality singers, said RTHK Radio 2 disc jockey Alexander Lee Chi-kwong.

  Lee said: 'About half of the current female singers and two-thirds of male singers don't really know how to sing, and they will be eliminated by bands eventually.'   Eliminating some of these gimmick artists may be just the remedy that the bored Hong Kong music arena needs.

  But only time will tell whether the new generation bands will be good enough to fill the void.



The bands play on