In the 50-year history of ‘Cantopop’, there are always some singers who, in various periods and behind the heavenly kings, work hard silently and contribute their own strength to the ‘contention of a hundred schools of thought’ in the historical chart of ‘Cantopop’. Mr. William So will hold his solo concert at the (training hall) of Lingnan Mingzhu Gymnasium in Foshan. As a runner-up of the fourth Hong Kong New Talent Singing Contest in 1985, Mr. William So officially stepped onto the ‘Cantopop’ stage. His initial singer career path can be said to be unsatisfactory. After waiting for four years, finally in 1989, he waited for his first behind-the-scenes ‘Bole’, the generation of ‘Cantopop’ composing master Mr. Lam Muk Tak who presented a song for him. Mr. William So released his first album ‘Insomnia’ in his singer career. With this album, in the next year, he won the first award in his singer career, the ‘Most Promising Newcomer Award (Bronze Award)’ of the 12th Top Ten Chinese Golden Melodies in 1990. Thus, his professional singer career was officially launched. Although it seems that he started a bit later than singers of the same session, due to four years of accumulation, he then achieved rapid development. From 1989 to 1994, within five years, Mr. William So completed five albums, two EPs and one compilation, handing in a relatively complete and satisfactory answer sheet in the first Cantonese song era of his ‘Cantopop’ career. The appearance of another ‘Cantopop’ composer Mr. Wong Sheung Wai who plays an important role in Mr. William So’s singing career in the music field even more indicates the arrival of his peak in the music field later. Since 1995, Mr. William So has started to develop in both Cantonese and Mandarin music fields. Especially in the Mandarin music field, with the album ‘Men Shouldn’t Make Women Cry’, he became popular in the Mandarin music market including Taiwan and the mainland, and stepped out of Hong Kong at one stroke, becoming a singer known to all in Chinese regions. Later, with a series of Mandarin lyric classics such as ‘Old Love Is Still the Most Beautiful’, ‘Let Those Who Understand You Love You’, ‘If This Is the Best Distance for Me to Love You’, ‘Love Is Like a Wild Tide’, etc., he became one of the best spokespersons for ‘men’s voices’ in Chinese regions. His full emotional and dedicated interpretation can make people who listen in the dead of night be filled with countless thoughts and shed tears involuntarily.
As for the story behind “More Kisses, More Heartache”, it is a typical story of ‘good people are rewarded’. After Mr. Ng Kwok King wrote “More Kisses, More Heartache”, it was ignored by people in the circle. It was not until Mr. William So offered to ‘help’ that this song, which later became one of the ‘hottest singles’ in the history of ‘Cantopop’, was not buried. The two friends who cherish each other also achieved mutual success, making the success of “More Kisses, More Heartache” even more precious.
Taking the success of “More Kisses, More Heartache” in 1998 as a new starting point, Mr. William So has gradually become an artist with all-round development in ‘film, television and music’. Through his performances in professional roles in “File of Justice” and “Healing Hands” before and after 1998, we remember a ‘diverse’ William So, not just a singer with strong singing ability. After the new millennium, with the passing of the golden age of ‘Cantopop’, there are really only a handful of singers who can still hold up the banner of ‘Cantopop’ outside the Greater Bay Area. But in this short list of singers, there is still the name of Mr. William So. Especially in 2011, his song “Who’s That” written by his good friend Wyman Wong, with his delicate interpretation of the line ‘Your tear stains are like green rust, stubbornly planted in the corner of your eye until forever, unable to be wiped away’, became another representative work of Mr. William So in the ‘Cantopop’ music scene and was recorded in the classic playlist of ‘Cantopop’. In 2010, the ‘BIG 4’ formed by him and his good friends Andy Hui, Edmond Leung and Dicky Cheung also showed Mr. William So’s silent efforts to revive the past glory of ‘Cantopop’, and he is always on the way. In the Chinese music scene, Mr. William So is not only an unrivaled powerful singer individually, but also frequently produces excellent duets. In addition to his first Cantonese duet representative work “Never Like to Be Alone” collaborated with Peng Jiali in 1994, followed by “It’s Not Easy to Be Together” with Tong Pui Yu, “The Night Is Still Long” with Kit Chan, “Lingering Desire” with Rain Li, until the duet classic “William So’s Dressing Room” published in 1999, all of them show his duet strength. And those that can be left behind have become classic duets often sung by men and women in the KTV era. Finally, it should be specially mentioned that as a representative of powerful male voices in ‘Cantopop’, William So has also made great contributions to the jazzification and HI-FI-ization of ‘Cantopop’. His preference for jazz can be seen from the fact that he named his son ‘Sir So’. And his “SOUL JAZZ” released in 2000 and “LOVE FROM THE LAST CENTURY” released in 2017 even more vividly demonstrate his reputation as ‘Jazz So’ and ‘HI-FI So’. It can be seen that Mr. William So is an experiencer who silently inherits the diversification of ‘Cantopop’, and here he deserves another thumbs up.As the concert of Mr. William So at the Lingnan Mingzhu Gymnasium (training hall) in Foshan on January 4 is approaching. In conclusion, we should be even more looking forward to this concert. Whether it is his solo works or duets, whether it is love songs expressing men’s feelings or impromptu live performances that are ‘jazzified’ or ‘HI-FI-ized’, they are all highly anticipated. After all, there are not many opportunities to listen to such a super powerful male voice who has been quietly cultivating in the Chinese music scene for 35 years. At least the editor has been waiting for him for 35 years in Beijing. We must cherish this opportunity this time. On January 4, let’s gather at the Lingnan Mingzhu Gymnasium (training hall) in Foshan and sing loudly with ‘Kang’ and recall the classics of ‘Cantopop’. Opening time: Saturday, 01/04. The start time of the performance is 20:00. The specific duration of the performance is subject to the site.
