Huayu Entertainment 1995 started with hijacking.

Chapter 50 The Generous Tu Honggang (Please continue reading)

Upon hearing Tu Honggang's name, Wu Yuchen was overjoyed.

When it comes to the ancient style, boldness, and masculine spirit of Chinese songs like "Loyalty to the Country" and "Farewell My Concubine," Tu Honggang is second to none.

If we could get Tu Honggang to sing "The Spirit of Chinese Martial Arts," it would be absolutely perfect!

However, Wu Yuchen hesitated for a moment and asked, "Is Teacher Tu easy to invite?"

"Hey, don't worry about that. Old Tu is a very loyal and chivalrous person. He'll be thrilled to see your song and would love to sing it himself!"

Sun Chuan got up to make a phone call, then smiled and invited Wu Yuchen to come over together.

……

Tu Honggang was trained in Peking Opera, specializing in the copper hammer painted face role for 7 years.

Later, as Hong Kong and Taiwan pop music spread to the mainland, he became fascinated with it, won an award in a campus singing competition, and then began covering a large number of songs by Hong Kong and Taiwan singers, performing in various venues. In 90, he participated in the Spring Festival Gala and recorded songs for the Asian Games, which brought him to the public's attention.

However, he went to the United States to do business in 91, but returned in disastrous failure. Three years later, he returned to the music scene, set up his own company, and is currently planning to produce the song "Farewell My Concubine".

Actually, Tu Honggang isn't that famous right now, since the film that made him a star, "Farewell My Concubine," hasn't been released yet. It's Wu Yuchen who has a distorted impression of him.

Inside the recording studio, listening to Tu Honggang's singing, one can feel the boundless passion mixed with a touch of sorrow, the masculinity tempered with gentleness. He truly sang "The Spirit of Chinese Martial Arts" with great spirit and deep emotion!
Truly worthy of being called Tu Honggang himself!
After he came out of the recording studio, Tu Honggang burst into laughter:
"That was awesome! Absolutely awesome!"

Old Sun, thank you so much for sending me such a great song! I was just worried about not finding a song that suited me!

Although Tu Honggang has already recorded "Farewell My Concubine", he felt that one song was not enough, so he has been asking for songs recently. Unexpectedly, a good song that suits his style was delivered to him while he was sitting at home.

"No, this song isn't mine, it's Xiao Wu's!" Sun Chuan quickly explained.

Tu Honggang looked at Wu Yuchen, and generously held up two fingers, laughing as he said:
"Little brother, how about you sell this song to me? I won't let you lose out, 2000 yuan, and you can put your name on both the lyrics and the music."

Seeing that Wu Yuchen didn't speak, Tu Honggang assumed he thought it was too little, so he said:
“Little brother, I’m not trying to rip you off, you’re not in the industry so you don’t know, this is absolutely a fair price. Newcomers usually only get a few hundred or a thousand yuan. Do you know Gao Feng, the one who sang ‘Great China’? He’s been writing it for years, and if he hadn’t become famous, the lyrics and music together would only be worth a few thousand yuan. You can ask Lao Sun if you don’t believe me. How about this, this song is to my liking, I’ll add another 500 to your price.”

Wu Yuchen naturally knew about the song "Great China," which was incredibly popular and had been featured on the Spring Festival Gala twice. People who heard it on the street would hum along, "We all have a home, named China~" and "Two dragons coiled in our home, the Yangtze and the Yellow River."

It wasn't that he was dissatisfied with the price; Tu Honggang's offer was really high, and he even credited him. Just think, when Gao Xiaosong wrote "My Deskmate" last year, he only got 800 yuan for the lyrics and music. For Tu Honggang to give a newcomer like Wu Yuchen 2500 yuan was really generous!

Wu Yuchen could only lament the lowly status of songwriters in China. He thought of Wang Pidai, a top-tier singer in the country, who had written hundreds of songs and whose total royalties over twenty years amounted to less than 60 yuan—less than a third-rate singer earns from a single commercial performance. Therefore, anyone with a chance to become a singer was unwilling to work for someone else for free; the disparity was simply too great.

"Teacher Tu, I have no objection to the price. I thank you for being willing to sing this song, but this matter still needs our production team's approval."

"Haha, of course!" Tu Honggang wasn't worried at all. He had dealt with many people in the system, and as long as he could sing the song well, they were all easy to talk to.

A few days later, inside the Prince Gong's Mansion, the production team gathered in front of the television. The videotape playing on the screen was the theme song of "Chinese Martial Spirit". Not only was the song recorded, but Wu Yuchen had also found various famous scenes from martial arts movies and edited them into a music video. What everyone was watching now was the finished music video.

Tu Honggang's singing, combined with the heroic, passionate, and tragic movie scenes edited in by Wu Yuchen, created an effect far greater than the sum of its parts, giving everyone present goosebumps. This is true martial arts! The older comrades present were not young, but at this moment, they were also moved by the "Chinese Martial Spirit" MV and felt a surge of passion.

Standing to the side, Tu Honggang stared wide-eyed. He knew his own singing level, but the effect of combining the song with these edited visuals far surpassed listening to the song alone, leaving even the singer astonished and deeply moved.

Music videos (MVs) aren't popular in China right now, and the production quality is generally quite rough, with many still being black and white. Forget about cheap special effects; you're lucky if you even get some decent scenery. How can they possibly compare to a music video composed of the highlights from dozens of martial arts films?

If we're talking about the person who filmed the first music video in mainland China, it's none other than Tu Honggang. In 1990, he took 70,000 yuan and approached Zhang Guoli to film three music videos, which resulted in the creation of China's first music video, "Feeling Myself".

But after watching the MV of "Chinese Martial Spirit" in front of him, and thinking about the things he and his colleagues had made, Tu Honggang felt that they had just been making a mess of things!

"Xiao Tu sang so well, and Xiao Wu edited so well! Even this old man felt like waving his arms around!" Everyone praised him.

Tu Honggang clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Thank you for your praise, teachers. I have a favor to ask."

Jia Leilei smiled warmly and said, "Go ahead."

"I really love this music video and would like to use it. I wonder if you could do me that?"

Jia Leilei hesitated for a moment and then remained silent.

Tu Honggang said urgently, "I'll pay!"

Jia Leilei waved his hand: "Strictly speaking, our documentary is a research project, and it is currently non-profit, so we can't sell it."

In 95, the market economy was far less open than it is now. In government-affiliated units, many things couldn't be linked to money; if you sold them, it was a violation of discipline.

However, Jia Leilei thought that since Tu Honggang sang the song and didn't ask them for money, it was only natural for him to want to use it. But they weren't a TV drama crew; they were a research institute, and Jia Leilei wasn't sure if it was appropriate for Tu Honggang to use it.

His gaze swept over Wu Yuchen, and a thought suddenly struck him. This kid wasn't one of their employees; at most, he was just a temporary worker.

Jia Leilei smiled:
“Xiao Tu, I understand your situation, but we don’t have clear guidelines in our department. However, Xiao Wu edited this music video, so you should actually go and discuss it with him.”

Wu Yuchen was stunned. Good heavens, he had become the legendary temporary worker who could be used as a scapegoat when something went wrong.

Tu Honggang's face lit up with joy. He pulled Wu Yuchen to a side room in the side hall, and once inside, he held up two fingers again:

"Little brother, I'm not stingy, twenty thousand!"

These days, even shooting a music video outside costs tens of thousands of yuan, so Tu Honggang, having gotten such a good opportunity for free, naturally felt embarrassed to ask for too little.

Wu Yuchen opened his mouth but didn't say anything.

Seeing this, Tu Honggang put his arm around his shoulder and lowered his voice:
"I understand. This money isn't for buying the music video; it's all for your lyrics and music fees. Don't worry!"

Thank you everyone for your support! It's Tuesday already, please read on!


(End of this chapter)