First Person: Joseph Koo
In the 60s, many Hongkongers happily hummed away to Western musicians such as the Beatles and John Denver. It wasn’t until songwriter Joseph Koo (known to most as “Brother Fei”) and his peers appeared on the scene in the early 90s that Hong Kong finally developed its own music culture. Having composed more than 1,200 hit songs over the span of his career, Koo talks to Beverly Cheng ahead of his collaboration with the Hong Kong Dance Company, which puts his greatest hits into a new artistic medium.
When I was little, I was really into drawing. My teachers were very fond of my artwork. I never really thought too much about music growing up.
My sister, Koo Mei, was a singer and I would accompany her. Her boyfriend at that time was a pianist and he would teach me a bit here and there, that’s how I got into music. I would play [the piano] so my sister could rehearse.
I would sometimes go there to see him [my sister’s boyfriend]. But as soon as he took a break, he’d ask me to go up and play. I started playing with different bands.
While playing at a nightclub [called Savoy], I got handed a scholarship to Berklee College in Boston. The director of the school saw me perform and gave me a one-year scholarship. At the time the school taught jazz and pop.
When I got the scholarship, I was elated. It was as if I won the lottery.
I went back to playing at the Savoy nightclub when I returned [from college]. Back in the day, there’d be a band of five or six people and couples would dance pair by pair. I played there for two or three years until I joined TVB.