Immersive exhibition on golden age of Cantopop composer and lyricist shows impact they had

James Wong Jim and Joseph Koo’s work writing songs for radio, TV and Cantopop stars including Leslie Cheung and Roman Tam vividly recalled

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Lyricist James Wong Jim (right) and composer Joseph Koo Ka-fai wrote 236 songs during a three-decade partnership that began in Hong Kong in 1972, as well as advertising jingles and TV show theme tunes. Photo: Joseph Koo family collection

Published: 7:15am, 15 Jul 2024Updated: 2:25pm, 16 Jul 2024

In a three-decade creative partnership that began in 1972, lyricist James Wong Jim and composer Joseph Koo Ka-fai wrote 236 songs, including the unofficial Hong Kong anthem Below the Lion Rock, that depicted and shaped how people in Hong Kong saw themselves in a time of great change.

An immersive exhibition newly opened at the Tai Kwun arts and heritage centre in the city’s Central district pays tribute to their genius and influence, and transports visitors back to a time many refer to as the golden age of Cantopop.

The Duplex Studio exhibition space in Block 01 of Tai Kwun, which used to house the Central Police Station, has been made to resemble, among other nostalgia-inducing scenes, the living room of a typical Hong Kong apartment of the 1970s – which was when Cantopop was born.

Before Cantopop, the music market had been dominated by Cantonese opera and English-language pop music. The genre produced home-grown pop icons such as Rebecca Pan Di-hua, Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing, Frances Yip Lai-yee and Roman Tam Pak-sin, better known as Law Man – all of whom recorded songs written by Wong and Koo.

The Tai Kwun studio is full of reminders of the era in Hong Kong that witnessed Wong and Koo’s rise as songwriters. Photo: Cyril Ip

“These are two absolute musical giants of Hong Kong who represented an era,” says Hong Kong-born, New York-based musicologist Joanna Lee, curator of the exhibition, called “Soundtrack of Our Lives”.