Hong Kong had long been a British colony. Western cultural influences started early and seeped into people’s daily life as early as the 1920s.
Cultural influences from the West took an upward turn in the 1950s, firstly through films. During the time when Wong Jum-sum grew up, the number of Western films on show every year was never less than 200. The West was also prominent in radio broadcast. Thanks to the work of progressive radio show hosts like Aileen Woods and Uncle Ray, a whole generation came to be exposed to all styles and genres of Western pop music. They helped to nurture a world where one could embrace simultaneously the diverse sound and sentiments of Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and Benny Goodman. A new collective outlook was thus embodied in the skin and bone of the baby boomer generation.
Before Beatles became a phenomenon, Western pop meant American pop.
American pop was interestingly diverse by nature. In each period, the mainstream was never the only sound on offer. In the 1950s, because of the general prosperity of the American music market, the co-existence mainstream and subcurrents was even more tangible. The music that travelled to Hong Kong then exhibited the same pluralistic tendencies. Amidst these, some stars shone.
In the 50s, the dominance of big band and swing music in America had gone. In their place was a trend favouring star vocalists singing broadly slow-tempo ballads, often expanding upon the Tin Pan Alley standards. New singers joined established ones. Together they brought about the golden age of the vocalist tradition.
Wong Jum-sum looked to the West at this time. He met those golden stars, and never looked back.
