HuaYu97: Starting as a Singer

Chapter 6 [006] This song might become a hit
Gao Xiaosong was later exposed for having many problems, such as expressing some subjective opinions through programs like "Xiaoshuo" and causing a car accident due to drunk driving.

But in music, especially in the area of ​​campus folk songs, he has some talent.

"My Deskmate", "Youth Without Regrets", and "My Brother Who Sleeps in the Upper Bunk" are all classic campus folk songs.

When Gao Xiaosong saw that Qi Yuan had written a campus folk song, his first reaction was that this kid was a bit arrogant.

Without even asking around, the most successful artists in the Chinese music scene who sang campus folk songs are Luo Dayou and him.

Qi Yuan playing campus folk songs in front of him is like showing off his skills in front of Guan Yu.
But upon closer inspection, he realized that wasn't the case and couldn't help but exclaim, "Holy crap! This kid's got some serious stuff inside him!"

As someone who started out playing folk music, Gao Xiaosong certainly knows what makes good folk music.

Qi Yuan's "You'll Be With Me All My Life" surpasses most of his works, and perhaps only "My Deskmate" can truly outshine it.

Song Ke is also one of the important figures in Chinese campus folk songs.

In the 1980s, he studied at Tsinghua University and taught himself guitar with a textbook. His composition "Walk Away" became popular throughout the campus and was once a staple of graduation parties.

His return to China and co-founding Wheatfield Music with Gao Xiaosong may be related to his passion from his youth.

They both understand music, so they could certainly tell how high the quality of Qi Yuan's composition, "You'll Be With Me All My Life," was.

"Xiao Song, I didn't misjudge him, did I? Qi Yuan absolutely deserves the title of musical genius," Song Ke said with a smile.

Qi Yuan was the first person he favored.
His confidence in Qi Yuan had reached the point where he was willing to go all in with Qi Yuan.

A week ago, Gao Xiaosong, his partner, raised concerns with him, arguing that he shouldn't hand over control of the album to Qi Yuan.

Today, Qi Yuan presented a high-quality piece, proving once again that his trust in Qi Yuan was well-placed.

"Hurry up and contact this kid, have him come over to record the song as soon as possible, and then put it on the radio to see the listeners' real feedback," Gao Xiaosong reminded him.

Whether a song becomes a hit is often not up to the music producers, but rather to the listeners.

Song Ke, of course, understood this principle, and he resumed his serious expression.

Park Seo recorded his first solo single, "The Train Heads to Winter," last year. They initially thought it was good, but then the market and listeners taught them a lesson, and the results fell far short of their expectations.

Hopefully, Qi Yuan's song "You'll Be With Me All My Life" will achieve some success.

Nortel.

Qi Yuan passed the ball to his teammate and took out his vibrating Nokia 6110 phone.

This thing was newly launched last month and is priced at 3,800 yuan. In many parts of Beijing, a house can't even sell for that price per square meter.

The official price is 3,800 yuan; the actual price you pay will be several hundred to a thousand yuan more.

Qi Yuan spent nearly 4,500 yuan to get the one he has.

These days, mobile phone stores are really shady.

"Qi Yuan, set a time to come over and record the song. Your song 'You'll Be With Me All My Life' is pretty good. We'll see if the audience likes it." Song Ke's tone was full of praise.

"I'll go tomorrow," Qi Yuan replied.

This year is 1997.

The years 96 and 97 were very important for the Chinese music scene, as they were two crucial years of transition between the old and new eras.

Last December, Taiwanese singer Richie Jen released an album called "Too Softhearted".

This album quickly became a hit across Asia after its release, and some media outlets reported that its actual sales have exceeded ten million copies, which is quite astonishing.

With this album, Richie Jen went from an unknown singer to the top artist at Rock Records.

In two years, Richie Jen will end the era of the Four Heavenly Kings and become the last Heavenly King in the Chinese music scene.

Why is he the last superstar? Because at the end of this year, a young man who returned to Taiwan from Los Angeles will release his debut solo album, "David Tao," bringing the brand-new R&B music style to the Chinese music scene.

This young man was none other than Tao Ze, who later became the PPT master and R&B godfather.

Tao Ze himself couldn't have a significant impact on Ren Xianqi, the last king of pop. But he proved that R&B music was viable in the Chinese music scene, and his music influenced countless music producers afterward.

The man who debuted in 2000 was one of them, and he was called "Little Tao Ze" by the media when he first debuted.

However, that man proved with his boundless creative ability that he was not just a minor Tao Ze, and that he would dominate the Chinese music scene for more than 20 years.

In short, the Chinese music scene will undergo tremendous changes in just a few years.

The old king was defeated, and the last king rose quickly only to be defeated just as quickly.

Just thinking about it gets my blood pumping.

Qi Yuan was lucky; he had the opportunity to join this wave.

He set some small goals for himself: to finish off the Four Heavenly Kings with Richie Jen, and incidentally, to earn the title of Godfather of R&B in mainland China, putting some pressure on that milk tea-loving kid who debuted in 2000.

The goal is ambitious, but we have to take it one step at a time to achieve it.

Let's make a name for ourselves with "You'll Be With Me All My Life" first.

……

The next day.

Qi Yuan went to a recording studio near the wheat field.

Here, Qi Yuan met the behind-the-scenes production team of Wheatfield, including Xiao Ke, who is good at arranging music, guitarist Li Yanliang, bassist Wang Xiaodong, and others.

Song Ke and Gao Xiaosong introduced these people to Qi Yuan.

Qi Yuan was very modest and greeted them one by one.

Xiao Ke is not affiliated with Wheatfield Entertainment; he is a singer signed to a record company, released an album in 1995, and received the Pop Music Decade Achievement Award.

He came to help mainly out of respect for his friends Song Ke and Gao Xiaosong.

"You're the composer, how do you plan to arrange the music for this song?" Xiao Ke asked.

Qi Yuan sat down at the piano and said earnestly, "This is what I'm thinking: start with a piano piece... then vocals... and gradually add the clarinet and guitar..."

Qi Yuan explained and demonstrated at the same time.

Although he hasn't extracted piano attributes from others yet, as a musician, he can easily play a few notes.

The piano intro to "You'll Be With Me All My Life" is not very difficult.

Qi Yuan's slender fingers tapped the piano keys.

It's a simple melody, but the effect it produces is amazing, as if it's telling a story, with a slightly melancholic youthful vibe that's palpable.

"Because I dreamt that you left."

I woke up crying.

"Watch the night breeze blow through the windowsill."

"Can you feel my love?"

Qi Yuan sang a few lines live, the catchy melody and moving lyrics creating an effect that gave everyone goosebumps.

By the way, Qi Yuan's singing skills and vocal quality are more stable than people imagine, and she is considered to be in the better category among singer-songwriters.

Xiao Ke and Gao Xiaosong, both musicians, looked at Qi Yuan.

They had a premonition.

This song might become a hit.

(End of this chapter)