Lee Hom's " Forever 1st Day " Album Diary

89/07/29~89/08/04 @Part 8

Dear Friends,

Another week has passed, and I am writing to you from my hotel in Tokyo, Japan. This has been quite a week! When I arrived here three days ago, I already had flowers and cards waiting in my hotel room from many Japanese fans welcoming me! To be honest, I never knew there were so many Japanese people who listened to Chinese music. I am so pleasantly surprised. Audiences here are familiar with my name, they know "wong li hong" or "oh riki hiroshi" because of the work I have done with TK (Tetsua Kamuro), Taro Hakase (Ye Jia Lai Tai Lang), and Ken Hirai (Ping Jing Jian). However, this is the first time I have done promotion in Japan, going on local TV shows and radio stations, and this is the first time Japanese fans have had the opportunity to see me live in concert.

It is such a thrill for me to meet some of these fans for the first time, and use my broken Japanese to carry on simple conversations. In my conversations with Japanese radio DJ's, and other media reporters, I have come to realize that the Japanese audience seems to have a different musical sensibility that the Chinese. So far, their favorite songs on my new album "Forever's First Day" include "City of Pleasure", "the World of Wild Imagination" and "This is Love", none of which were among the first three single songs in Taiwan! I guess it goes to show that music is a two-way street. Who's listening can be just as important as who's singing.

Also, the questions that the Japanese media ask are quite different from the questions asked by the typical Chinese reporter. Almost every reporter askes me the question, when did you first know that you wanted to become a professional musician? It's true! Almost every reporter has asked me that question! Oddly enough, there was one interview that I did here in Tokyo with a Taiwanese reporter , and the topic immediately was, "what do you think are the differences between Japanese girls and Taiwanese girls?"...as if I were an expert.

I told the Japanese reporter that as far as I am concerned, a musician is a musician. I don't care if he is a "professional" musician or not. Theoretically, the only thing that separates a professional from an amateur is that one gets paid, and one doesn't. Yet at the same time, in the hearts of most musicians, they would be doing the same thing out of love for the craft even if there was no money involved. In my book, money is an independent variable from the music. I told the Chinese reporter the best I could come up with.. You all probably know by now, I am not fond of answering questions about what kind of girl is my "dream lover" etc etc. I always feel like saying, "At this moment can we first talk about music? I think I know a lot more about music than I do about girls!"

My schedule for the next week is to fly to Hong Kong after my concert in Japan and begin shooting my new movie "Tekken". Those of you who are interested in seeing my action movies, "China Strike Force" and "Tekken" will both be coming out early 2001. And maybe if all the production goes smoothly, the movies will be out by the end of this year! Wouldn't that be cool?! I'll be sure to keep you informed. After a week of shooting, I'll be coming back to Taiwan to attend a concert in Taipei, in which I will again collaborate with a Japanese artist, Ken Hirai. If you haven't heard of him yet...he has been #1 on the Japanese Oricon album chart, and his debut album has a great sound! Till next week, my friends, stay inspired with life, and bravely creative.

love,
Lee-hom