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.
There was much more to American pop than enticing ballads. The post-war boom benefited the mainstream as well as the sub-currents. Thanks to rising prosperity and new technologies of communication, many styles of music found their niches. Some blossomed. It was a world for music lovers, with a wide array of choice in blues, country, Latin, gospel, rhythm and blues as well as rock and roll.
The teenage Wong Jum-sum opened his ears to Western music in the 1950s. What awaited him was this unique sound world where everyone was invited to cross boundaries and turn a new page.
