Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 798 Celebrity Effect
In the memory of later generations, there were no universally recognized "stars" in the vibrant 70s. It seems that movie stars and singers only started to appear in the 80s.

Actually, not necessarily.

There are a few people whose names the general public may or may not know, but as soon as they see their faces or hear their voices, they can recognize them.

Their names may not be remembered by posterity, but in the 70s, their brilliance was comparable to that of today's superstars.

For example, Bian Guirong, Li Shirong, and Lu Qingshuang.

Don’t know any of them?

Surely Guo Lanying knows that.

At that time, even Guo Lanying might not have been as popular as the three mentioned above.

First is Bian Guirong.

In 1973, the long-interrupted arts and culture industry was finally able to set sail again. At that time, Changchun Film Studio decided to remake Hao Ran's work "The Bright Sun". The film was released in 1974. Although the film was good, it was slightly less popular than the theme song "All People United and Moving Forward" (also known as "The Leading Goose Leads the Flock of Geese").

This song has been covered by many female singers, but the original singer and first singer is Bian Guirong.

Back then, you could hear her voice on the radio almost every day.

Besides this song, she also sang the theme song "Looking North with Deep Affection" from another film produced by Changchun Film Studio, "The Pioneers".

During the years when the movie was released, she was incredibly popular, becoming a household name.

Then there's Li Shirong, a famous tenor from Changchun Film Studio, and also Bian Guirong's teacher.

With that level of fame, there's no need to say more.

But I'll still mention his signature song, "There is a Golden Path in My Heart," which many people born in the 50s, 60s, and 70s can sing and is almost universally known.

Other songs include "Remembering Comrades-in-Arms" from the movie "Visitors on the Ice Mountain", "By the Butterfly Spring" from the movie "Five Golden Flowers", and "Morning Song of the Grassland" from the movie "Morning Song of the Grassland".

If it were around today, it would be the king of OSTs.

The third is Zhu Fengbo.

What? Lu Qingshuang?
Unfortunately, no one from her workplace came, so we ignored it.

Returning to Zhu Fengbo, her fame is no less than the previous ones.

She was originally a solo singer in the China Art Troupe, known as the "Oriental Nightingale". She began to be active on the concert stage in 76 and sang theme songs for movies many times. In 79, she released my country's first pop music cassette, "Roses Bloom Everywhere", which marked the beginning of the history of mainland pop music.

The famous "Jingle Bells" is a song from this album.

During this period, she collaborated with Shanghai Film Studio on several occasions. Xie Jin's film "Youth" not only made Zhang Yu and Chen Chong famous, but also introduced many people to Zhu Fengbo, the singer of the theme song "The Iron Tree of a Thousand Years Has Bloomed".

Later, in 80, Zhu Fengbo and Li Guyi were known as "Zhu in the South and Li in the North," considered equals.

In addition, there was Grandma Li who came from the Central Philharmonic Orchestra. Oh, no, now it should be Aunt Li or Sister Li.

She's 16 years older than Chen Fan on his household registration, so she's his older sister.

Four people from three different organizations came to Chen Fan's door, requesting to sing two songs he had composed.

Changchun Film Studio and Jilin Musicians Association came together as a group, and with their superior numbers, they took the lead.

The speaker was an official from Changchun Film Studio named Zhang Tingxue. Yes, he was a man, and his name was quite romantic.

He smiled at Chen Fan and said, "Vice Chairman Chen, our leaders have long wanted to visit you, but they haven't been able to make it. This time, they are unable to come because they need to oversee the factory's work, so they asked me to convey their greetings."

He then placed the two large bags in front of Chen Fan, saying, "It's just a small token of my appreciation."

Chen Fan quickly stood up and said, "You're too kind. Please accept the sentiment, and take the gift back with you..."

Before he could finish speaking, Zhang Tingxue unzipped the package and said, "These are just some cheap local specialties. I heard that you have been to Northeast China before and stayed in Changchun for a while. You like the mountain products from Northeast China, so our factory leaders specially ordered them to be brought over."

Seeing that the bag was indeed full of dried goods such as hazelnuts and shiitake mushrooms, Chen Fan stopped refusing and nodded with a smile, "Thank you very much then. Please convey my gratitude to your leader."

As I sat back down in my chair, I inadvertently kicked my large bag and was slightly taken aback.

These two big bags are a bit top-heavy.

But now is not the time to talk about that.

Zhang Tingxue sat back down on the sofa and said seriously, "As we just mentioned, the purpose of our visit is for the two songs you composed."

He suddenly stopped speaking and turned to look at the other person.

That person is Liu Zheyu, a leader of the Jilin branch of the Chinese Musicians Association. In terms of rank, he is one level lower than Chen Fan and one level lower than Ji Chenfeng, the chairman of the Jiangnan Provincial Musicians Association who just spoke.

Despite their low rank, they weren't very polite in their speech.

Of course, they were still quite polite to Chen Fan.

He first greeted Chen Fan politely, "Vice Chairman Chen, I've long admired your name, and meeting you today, I can confirm it's well-deserved. Jiangnan truly is a place of outstanding people and beautiful scenery!"

Then he turned to Ji Chenfeng and chuckled, "Hello, Chairman Ji. I have great admiration for the glorious achievements of the Jiangnan Music Association. It's just a pity that perhaps the winds were too strong in recent years, causing the singers in our Jiangnan region to have some discomfort in their voices, resulting in some great sounds being barely audible."

Ji Chenfeng's face flushed instantly, and he said irritably, "If you say we haven't produced any singers, then we haven't produced any singers. There's no need to cover for us."

He then raised his head and said, “But that was in the past. The reason why we didn’t produce any singers wasn’t because our members weren’t talented, but because we didn’t have the ability to do so. Instead, we didn’t have the ability to produce more and more songs because we relied on Changchun Film Studio. We made one movie after another, and there were so many songs that we couldn’t sing them all. Naturally, more of us became famous.”

Factory Director Wu, who was still sipping tea and enjoying the gossip, was suddenly dumbfounded. He stared blankly at Ji Chenfeng, his mind filled with questions. How did he suddenly end up being the butcher in the gossip?
Are you accusing Jiangxi Film Studio of not producing films?
I'd like to contribute, but where would I get the money?
How about your music association sponsors some money?

Ji Chenfeng was unaware that his words had hurt Director Wu's feelings, and continued to argue, "Now we have Vice Chairman Chen, whose works are endless. He can not only write novels and screenplays, but also make movies and compose songs."

"If our singers perform songs composed by Vice Chairman Chen, two famous singers will emerge from that group. Do you believe it?!"

Zhang Tingxue from Changchun Film Studio, Zhang Zheyu from the Jilin Provincial Musicians Association, Wang Bixuan from the Shanghai Musicians Association, and Sister Li, who came in person, all nodded in agreement.

Isn't that obvious? If it weren't for the two songs written by Chen Fan, who would come here today?

Good songs are always in high demand, right?

Most composers and lyricists are employed by organizations, and their works are subject to the arrangements of their organizations. Singers from their own organizations are given priority, and even within their own organizations, there is a "snatching" process to determine who will sing the songs. Only when there are no suitable candidates within their own organizations will they consider singers from other organizations.

It's rare for a wild musician to suddenly appear, and even a nationally renowned writer, the kind everyone knows, who suddenly created two unforgettable new songs. Shouldn't we hurry over and try to win him over, or just sit on the sidelines and watch the show?
Only these three groups of people came today; it's uncertain how many people will come tomorrow.

Looking at the scene before him, Chen Fan also felt a dull ache in his head.

The day before yesterday, he casually wrote two songs and asked Kuang Mingyi to give them to the Jiangnan Symphony Orchestra for recording, and at the same time asked the singers in the symphony orchestra to audition.

As it turned out, in less than half a day, the news had spread to music associations, symphony orchestras, performing arts troupes, and other cultural organizations all over the country.

Actually, you can't blame the members of the Jiangnan Symphony Orchestra for being impatient.

The main reason is that I've been feeling stifled for too long, and suddenly I got two classic works that I couldn't resist showing off!

We must thank the engineers of Wanmuchun Technology Co., Ltd. for their tireless work day and night in installing the program-controlled exchange. By the end of August, they had installed the equipment in more than a dozen provincial capitals, enabling the symphony orchestra to make calls all over the country within half a day.

He even sang for his colleagues.

The songs "Young Ambition Knows No Sorrow" and "Starting Over" not only moved the members of the symphony orchestra but also inspired the many musicians who answered the phone.

When an old friend suddenly has a chance to turn things around, it's even more painful than not winning an award yourself.

Almost overnight, more than a dozen organizations sprang into action, dispatching their best personnel to Jiangnan, determined to bring these two wild songs home.

As for whether there is a chance?
Jiangying Film Studio already deserves enough envy for securing two of Chen Fan's films; they can't possibly deny everyone even the chance to sing two songs!

If we're talking about who had the strongest resolve, it would undoubtedly be Changchun Film Studio, Shanghai Film Studio, and Sister Li.

The reason is simple: everyone else takes the train or drives a car, but they took the earliest flight to get here.

With such a commotion caused by music organizations across the country, it was impossible for the local provincial music association not to have heard the news. So Ji Chenfeng personally took action, intending to get Chen Fan to finalize the singer's name before anyone else.

But Chen Fan was busy editing when he came out, and by the time he did, three "hungry wolves" had already arrived.

And so, this is how things ended up.

It was only because of the short notice that the unit leaders and several singers were unable to come; otherwise, it would have been the singers themselves who came.

First, Zhang Zheyu and Ji Chenfeng argued that Changchun Film Studio had Bian Guirong and Li Shirong, who could be chosen by writer Chen. Moreover, Changchun Film Studio's status in the film industry was far superior to that of Jiangnan Film Studio. They said that once the film was completed, they could help distribute it in Northeast China.

They even booked the entire North China Film Studio if no one from the Beijing Film Studio came.

These words didn't move Chen Fan, but they did move Factory Director Wu, whose eyes shone like light bulbs as he looked at Chen Fan.

Chen Fan ignored him and was scratching his head in distress.

After their exchange ended, Wang Bixuan from the Shanghai Musicians Association played Zhu Fengbo's card, while also expressing that the Shanghai Film Studio was very willing to cooperate with the film's release in East China.

Finally, Sister Li stepped in and said only one sentence to Chen Fan: "We had a very pleasant collaboration last time. 'Young Friends Come to Meet' is a great song, and it made us both successful."

If you sing "A Young Man's Ambition Knows No Sorrow" for me this time, we will surely create new glories.

And not only that, from now on, whenever you need me, it's the same as me needing me. Just say the word, and I'll go through fire and water for you.

Chen Fan blinked. "Big sister, are you betting such a big amount?"
Now that everyone was watching him and the decision was in his hands, Chen Fan felt a headache coming on.

After pausing for two seconds, he carefully said under the expectant gazes of everyone, "Well, first of all, these two songs are actually more suitable for tenor singers to perform."

In just a few words, Sister Li and Wang Bixuan showed expressions of disappointment.

Ji Chenfeng, Zhang Tingxue, and Zhang Zheyu looked even more tense.

Feeling uneasy, Ji Chenfeng quickly added, "Vice Chairman Chen..."

Before he could even finish speaking, Chen Fan smiled and waved his hand, saying, "Well then, Chairman Ji, since you're all from the arts and culture scene in Jiangnan, I can save one of my two songs for you..."

Upon hearing this, Ji Chenfeng was overjoyed and grinned, saying, "Thank you, thank you. I'll send you your music association membership card later, but the national membership card will take a few more days. But it won't take too long. You'll be attending the literary and art congress at the end of next month, right? I'll give it to you then."

Chen Fan's lips twitched slightly. Would I care about these things?

My only worry right now is that too many things are going on and might interfere with my date.

He paused for two seconds, shook his head, and continued, "However, I want to hear the voices of the singers you recommend. If they are not suitable, I will find someone else."

Ji Chenfeng immediately nodded with a serious expression, "Don't worry about that. Although our Jiangnan Provincial Musicians Association doesn't have as many members as your Writers Association, we only have one or two people who are famous throughout the country."

Upon hearing this, the four people next to him all changed their expressions, but quickly covered it up and pretended to be nonchalant.

Chen Fan witnessed all of this and couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

What do you mean there are only one or two people? There aren't any at all!

Although there were dozens of singers when the association was established in the 50s, they were only well-known locally. Outside of Jiangnan Province, who would recognize them?
It's not that these singers lack talent, but rather that they lack representative works. What's the use of being talented if they don't have any?

Ji Chenfeng himself didn't seem to realize it and continued, "But our members are quite talented, and even during windy days, our music units have not stopped recruiting. There are many new people in our orchestra and performing arts troupe, so we can guarantee that you can find the sound you want."

Chen Fan nodded, then looked at Zhang Tingxue and Zhang Zheyu, whose eyes were full of expectation.

They were both secretly pleased. Chen Fan had reserved one song for the musicians from Jiangnan, so the other one could only be reserved for Li Shirong!
Sure enough, Chen Fan smiled at them and said, "I feel that 'Starting Over' suits Li Shirong's voice better. Why don't we let him try this song?"

The two immediately nodded in unison, "Okay, okay!"

Then Chen Fan looked at Sister Li and Wang Bixuan and smiled, "Although we couldn't collaborate this time, my next movie is about to start filming, and I'll be writing a few songs for it too. If you don't mind..."

Before he could finish speaking, Sister Li and Wang Bixuan immediately burst into laughter, "No, no, we don't mind!"

Who cares what song it is? Just grab it first. Otherwise, it'll be like these two songs, where we'll have to come and snatch it up at the last minute.
After Chen Fan finished speaking, he gave Factory Director Wu a wink.

I've reached an agreement, but you still need to continue negotiating.

A song can make a person famous, and a person can make a song famous. A good song paired with a famous singer is a perfect match.

They can also leverage their celebrity status and the resources of their organizations to promote their own films.

(End of this chapter)