Exciting 1979!

Chapter 504 Vivian Chow's First Mandarin Album, a Collaboration Between Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan

After the interview, Wei Ming asked Liang Jiahui about the circulation of the first issue of "YES!".

He told Wei Ming, "The inaugural issue was printed in a total of 60,000 copies! The first print run was 30,000, and then another 20,000 were quickly added, but that still wasn't enough, so we added another 10,000 for the last time."

This is certainly a great result for a newly launched magazine. However, the first issue had a lot of promotion and attracted traffic with Amin and Youth Star. If the next issue can maintain 50,000 views, it will be a success.

The main topic of the second episode about the entertainment industry was Vivian Chow's first Mandarin album, "Mo Mo Mo". Half of the interview with her by Leung Ka-fai was about the new album and was included in this episode.

"My expectation for you is 100,000 copies sold. I hope you can lead the trend of youth," Wei Ming said to the staff of "YES!", which is also the height that "YES!" had reached in its previous life.

He then went to Aaron's office. Aaron had already finished reading the script for "Piccolo Daimaō Saga" and was very impressed. The plot was getting more and more exciting, with each wave more intense than the last.

Previously, he only had a general understanding of the plot, but now Wei Ming has written it all out, including the subsequent "Super Saiyan Saga" storyline, to give him advance preparation.

Ah Long figured it out: "This comic will take at least another two or three years to completely end."

Wei Ming thought to himself: Ah Long, you're too naive.

Although he wasn't as prolific as Japanese editors, who could tie up a manga for ten years, he would still take at least five or six years to complete. For long-running works, the longer the time, the easier it is for the story to take off.

Wei Ming noticed several copies of "Chinese and Foreign Film" magazine on A Long's desk and asked him, "Why are you suddenly so interested in movies? Looking for inspiration?"

Ah Long shook his head: "The film and television industry is booming right now. The company wanted to create a professional film and entertainment magazine, but after thinking about it, we realized that we don't have enough talent. It's better to just buy one than to create one ourselves, since the company has plenty of cash reserves right now."

With the Hong Kong dollar depreciating, Minglong can make money.

Although YES! magazine does have an entertainment section, it is not dedicated to that; the magazine's positioning is different.

It seems that Ah Long had his eye on "Chinese and Foreign Film Magazine," which later became the first Hong Kong film and television magazine to enter the mainland market.

"I heard this magazine was created by a group of young people who started their own business. Are they willing to sell it?" Wei Ming asked.

Ah Long said, "As long as the price is right, I believe even Wong Yuk-long would be willing to sell himself to me."

Wei Ming laughed and said, "Then go ahead and talk to them. I feel like you'll become a Hong Kong media tycoon sooner or later."

“That’s not my ambition,” Ah Long said excitedly as he stood up. “Come on, let me show you how our animation is coming along.”

The TV animation "Historical Cat" has already started production. Ah Long is making it to the standard that it can be watched in mainland China. He hopes to recoup some of the costs by then, but the most important thing is that it will be broadcast on ATV.

Because TVB had an animation department, it would be difficult for ATV to catch up when starting from scratch. Just then, Liu Rulong approached them, and the two parties hit it off immediately.

Upon arriving at the animation production department, Wei Ming first saw a busy, short man who looked somewhat familiar.

Most of the people here are from the Shanghai Film Studio, except for this one who is a new face. Ah Long introduced him: "This is Xu Chengyi, an intern and a student majoring in graphic design at Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He is very interested in animation and has submitted works to Kuangren before. He has a lot of talent."

Wei Ming nodded. Xu Chengyi, as people know him mainly because of the highly controversial "Monster Hunt", but in fact he was working for DreamWorks Animation in the late 80s and participated in the production of the "Shrek" film series.

I didn't expect Ah Long to move so quickly. The first episode, "The Creation of Heaven and Earth," is already finished. The main character of this episode is Nuwa Cat, which is very difficult to collect in blind boxes.

To make collecting the historical cat dolls easier, Langning divided them into different series, such as the Ancient Series and the Pre-Qin Series. In addition to toys, they also developed cheaper cards, allowing young people in Hong Kong to experience the fun of Water Margin cards ahead of time.

To be honest, the quality of this episode's animation is no match for "Transformers," and it's not even as good as "Black Cat Detective."

But it doesn't matter, Transformers has a high budget, millions of Hong Kong dollars were poured in, so it's on par with international standards.

Although "History Cat" also has Langning's investment, it is mainly aimed at the local market, so there is no need to be too detailed. It is enough to be entertaining and educational.

Even so, it was quite interesting. Wei Ming felt that if the IP was truly established, it wouldn't be impossible to make an animated feature film like "Old Master Q" in the future.

Although none of the Old Master Q animated films were huge hits, each one still made several million Hong Kong dollars, and there was also a market for them in Taiwan.

After working at Minglong Media, Wei Ming continued to juggle writing novels, spending time with Amin, and working on film sets.

Among them, accompanying Amin was the first to achieve success, and Wei Ming's acting debut is here!

That evening, Wei Hong and Amin were both at Wei Ming's house, and the three of them waited together for TVB's Jade Solid Gold program.

In this episode, Ah Min took the stage and first sang the title track of her new album, "Do You Know," with Leslie Cheung. The performance was pleasing to the eye and ear, causing a stir among young men and women throughout Hong Kong.

At the same time, Amin also announced on the show: "Tomorrow at 8 am, my first Mandarin album 'Mo Mo Mo' will be available in all major music stores and stalls in Hong Kong. Not only can you hear 'Do You Know, Do You Know,' but also many other excellent Chinese style works, all of which were written and composed by Wei Ming and me."

After this album, Vivian Chow will transform into a singer-songwriter. Although her songwriting ability is far inferior to Wei Ming's, she hopes that each album will have at least one decent song written by herself.

After the program, a surprise music video featuring the storyline of the song "Full Moon Over the West Tower" was also shown.

Amin quickly nudged Xiaohong: "Look, your brother is on TV!"

Wei Ming has been on television quite a few times, but this is his first time as an actor. He felt a little ashamed, while Amin nestled happily against him, as if the music video was a declaration of her ownership of Wei Ming.

Many viewers in front of their televisions may not have realized this, but the combination of songs and short films felt very fresh to them.

The song "Full Moon Over the West Tower" was released two months ago and has been one of the most popular Mandarin songs during this period. Now, with the addition of a music video, viewers feel that the quality has been elevated to another level, and the imagination of the song has become more concrete.

When I first saw PolyGram CEO Zheng Donghan, my first reaction was: Make a film! Immediately make a music video with a storyline for Alan Tam!

Capital Artists, due to its relationship with TVB, is already in the preparation stage. Leslie Cheung and Anita Mui will also be filming, but they don't plan to make it as exquisite as "Moonlight Over the West Chamber" because big-name directors and film production are too expensive.

After all, this thing isn't for sale; it can only be used for promotional purposes, so we definitely need to keep costs down.

At Liu Rulong's house, Gong Ying and her mother were also watching TVB and saw Zhou Huimin and Zhang Guohe singing together. Gong Ying's mother even praised the song as beautiful.

It wasn't until the music video for "Full Moon Over the West Tower" was released, showing Wei Ming and Zhou Huimin entering their bridal chamber on television and their loving married life, that Gong Xue's mother was slightly taken aback. She thought, "This doesn't seem like acting."

Fortunately, Wei Ming and Gong Xue's romantic relationship had not been fully revealed to Gong's mother, but Gong Ying knew about it.

Moreover, she had long suspected that her brother-in-law's relationship with Vivian Chow was unusual. There are so many singers in Hong Kong, and it would be difficult for others to get him to write a song, but Vivian Chow wrote songs for one album after another.

However, she didn't react in front of her mother. At this moment, Liu Rulong returned, and she dragged him into the bedroom to interrogate him.

"Tell me, what exactly is your buddy's relationship with Vivian Chow?"

"Which guy is it? Xu Jinjiang or Liang Jiahui?"

"Playing dumb, huh?"

"You know about pen pal relationships?"

"Is there anything else? Tell the truth!" Gong Ying's eyes widened, her expression serious, while she gently stroked her belly with one hand, as if she were using the crown prince to command the princes.

Ah Long was scared, but Wei Ming was his brother, so he said, "Why don't you ask him yourself? I'm not with him every day." Gong Ying: "Hmph, fine, I'll ask!"

However, she waited until her mother fell asleep before calling Wei Ming, who was taking Amin and Xiaohong home at that time.

After dropping her off, he let Xiaohong go upstairs by herself first. He and Amin lingered downstairs for a while before letting her go back.

~
After failing to get through on the first try, Gong Ying waited another half hour, but still couldn't get through.

As the so-called one-shot, and then decline, three and exhausted.

When Gong Ying picked up the phone for the third time, she was exhausted. She decided to remind her sister that she was, after all, an outsider in their relationship.

Although he couldn't do anything to Wei Ming, Ah Long was suffering along with him. He wasn't allowed to go to bed or sleep on the sofa today, or his mother would find out, so he had to sleep on the floor.

~
The next morning, TVB rebroadcast the music video for "Moonlight Over the West Chamber" after the morning news. Unexpectedly, the ratings took a turn for the better because of this music video, which is why the audience liked it so much. Naturally, they wanted to air it more often, and music companies also hoped that they would air it more often.

While some people were still watching the music video on TV, teenagers who hadn't started school yet were already lining up in long queues in front of record stores all over Hong Kong, just waiting to get their hands on a copy of "Mo Mo Mo".

These students included both boys and girls. The older ones were likely university students or even those who had already entered the workforce, while the younger ones looked like elementary school students.

Steven Ma is 12 years old this year. He is a fifth-grade elementary school student and a big fan of Vivian Chow.

If his mother hadn't insisted that he finish breakfast before leaving the house, he wouldn't have ended up so far back in line.

He clasped his hands together and said, "God help me, please let me buy it!"

The record store owner, smoking a cigarette, opened the roller shutter door. He wasn't surprised to see this scene. Although Mandarin songs are now weaker and not as popular as Cantonese songs, it was still the new album released today by Vivian Chow. He still hadn't forgotten the box office success of her last album.

Moreover, her fans don't care whether it's a Mandarin song or a Cantonese song; they like everything sung by Amin.

"Don't panic, don't panic, everyone has theirs, settle your bills one by one, finish yours, settle yours, two bills, right? We haven't given you change yet..." The owner of the audio-visual store calmly and skillfully completed each transaction.

But soon he was scrambling around in a hurry, not rushing him, oh no, it's not enough!

"Do you want Tam Yung-lun's records? If not, fine, but please don't swear..."

When it was Steven Ma's turn, the record store owner extinguished his cigarette and said, "Kid, there are others in line behind you. 'Mo Mo Mo' is sold out. Come back in a few days. Record production takes time."

"We're out of tapes, but do you have vinyl records?" Steven Ma gritted his teeth, thinking, "It's expensive, but so be it."

"Cassette tapes and vinyl records are all gone. I've even sold the ones I kept for myself." The shopkeeper shrugged. Because of their affordable prices, cassette tapes were more popular than vinyl records at the moment, so he stocked even fewer vinyl records. The people in front of him had gritted their teeth and bought vinyl records.

Just as Steven Ma was about to go home in disappointment, a young man with a buzz cut called out to him.

Chen Xiaochun waved the cassette tape in his hand. The cover featured a photo of Zhou Huimin in ancient style. So beautiful!

"Little brother, do you want to buy this?"

Steven Ma rushed over in two steps: "Brother, are you selling?"

"40 yuan."

"Huh? That's so expensive! It's more expensive than vinyl records! I could buy two of those for that price." Ma Junwei patted his pocket.

Chen Xiaochun: "You think it's expensive? You still think it's expensive? I started queuing at five in the morning. Considering all that hard work, plus Vivian's first and possibly only Mandarin album, which she personally co-wrote with painstaking effort, do you still think it's expensive?"

After thinking it over, Steven Ma concluded that the older brother's hard work was worthless, but Vivian's painstaking work was priceless.

Thinking about her duet with Zhang Guorong last night, "Do You Know," thinking about "The Moon Over the West Tower," a song that evokes vivid images when hummed, thinking about "Nian Nu Jiao," which is played on repeat every day at the Nian Nu Jiao milk tea shop, and so many other great songs he hasn't heard yet, Ma Junwei gritted his teeth, stomped his foot, and pulled out a hundred yuan.

“You must have more than one copy, I’ll buy two!” Steven Ma said firmly. A die-hard fan like him would definitely have one for his collection and one for listening to regularly.

Chen Xiaochun chuckled and pulled out two cassette tapes from his pocket. He handed over the money and the tapes, and when he got his change, he only had some small bills left.

However, after selling two cassettes, Chen Xiaochun still had one left in his pocket. These three cassettes had almost exhausted all his savings, but he didn't have a tape recorder at home, only an old radio.

But it doesn't matter. He went back to the barbershop where he worked and said to the owner, "I heard that the barbershop on the street has started playing Vivian Chow's new album. A lot of students are going in because of those songs."

"Damn it, we have Anita Mui, Alan Tam, and Leslie Cheung, how come there's no one here!" the boss cursed.

"How long have I been listening to these songs? Is Vivian Chow's song a new song?"

After a moment's thought, the boss said, "Put down what you're doing and go buy that 'Mo Mo Mo'. Here's the money!"

He directly took out fifty yuan and slapped it on Chen Xiaochun's wrist.

Chen Xiaochun immediately went out for a walk, bought an ice pop, broke the coin, and came back saying, "Boss, I bought it, I bought it, here's the change."

The boss took it and started putting it away.

Chen Xiaochun happily listened to the free cassette tape, "Full Moon Over the West Tower," which was a great song. He also heard there was a music video for it, but he wondered when he would be able to see it.

He listened to the songs one by one, occasionally humming along. The first few songs were sung in a relatively traditional female voice style, which he didn't learn very well. But later on, with songs like "Do You Know?" and "The Phoenix Hairpin", the style gradually changed, becoming more pleasant to listen to and more in line with contemporary tastes.

Of the 12 key songs, Chen Xiaochun felt that most of them were very good, and half of them were worth listening to repeatedly.

This is a review without the fan filter. He looked at the cassette cover and made sure to see which songs were written by Vivian Chow.

I originally thought that all the good songs were written by Wei Ming, but I didn't expect that the amazing "Chai Tou Feng" was written and composed by her, and "Que Qiao Xian" was also a joint composition.

Vivian is such a talented woman!
~
On Chung Ying Street in northern Hong Kong, a record store's copy of "Mo Mo Mo" was snapped up by mainland customers. Among them were genuine fans and some who wanted to make copies.

After all, the genuine products are too expensive, which is unaffordable for mainland consumers.

In addition to Hong Kong, "Mo Mo Mo" is also being sold in the Taiwan market through PolyGram's distribution channels.

Vivian Chow was already somewhat famous in Taiwan before, and her album "First Love: Vivian Chow" sold tens of thousands of copies.

This time it's a Mandarin song, and the Taiwan market might be even bigger than Hong Kong's, so the first batch of records will be the same as Hong Kong's, 100,000.

Wu Qilong, 13, did not have ideal grades, but he was good at sports and joined the school's judo team after entering middle school.

Because of his modest family background, he has always strived to achieve something in his profession.

While I was practicing diligently that day, I suddenly heard a beautiful female voice: "The fragrance of lotus fades, the jade mat grows cold in autumn..."

(End of this chapter)