CBS acted quickly and found Zhou Hexuan the next morning and invited them to the broadcasting company's studio to perform live singing.
When the radio program aired, American listeners showed three different reactions
The upper class and some middle-class white people said they couldn't accept it. This thing was too noisy and noisy, and it was completely unworthy of their elegant status.
Rural listeners in the Midwest don't care about this. They neither like it too much nor dislike it too much. Their favorite is country music.
The black group, the lower class people and some middle-class white people, as well as the vast number of young people from all walks of life, have shown an unprecedented love for rock music.
The controversy is huge, and the source of the controversy is those young people.
Some high-status congressmen and wealthy people suddenly found that their children and grandchildren were holding the radio and listening to noisy and vulgar songs. This made them feel unforgivable and insulted, so they wrote about it in the newspaper
A round of scolding started.
Zhou Hexuan couldn't laugh or cry about this. He could predict that rock music would cause controversy, but he didn't expect that the initial controversy would be related to class and race.
Who told black people and the poorest people to listen to noisy songs?
This is more serious than parents hating their children and grandchildren for listening to Jay Chou, and has escalated into class and racial conflicts.
But it’s actually not that serious. Take “swing music” as an example. It is actually a type of jazz, and jazz originally belonged to black music. During World War I, jazz was not very accepted by mainstream American society, but
There were obvious changes in the 1920s.
By the 1930s, swing, a variant of jazz, quickly became popular throughout the United States. This low-key and noisy form of music became the favorite of young Americans and the middle class and quickly moved from folk dance halls to top concert halls.
Rock music, to put it bluntly, is the ultimate evolved version of swing, blues, and pop. It has a wide fan base in the United States.
And to be honest, the song played by Zhou Hexuan is not noisy. Under the arrangement of the two black singers, verse A even has the flavor of black spiritual songs, which is fresh, soothing, sad and sacred. The mood of the whole song is
It progressed step by step until it finally turned into a crazy shouting, which made it easier for people in the early 1940s to accept it.
When mainstream public opinion begins to condemn an emerging thing, it means that this emerging thing has succeeded. Just like at the beginning of the 21st century, the whole world was discussing the dangers of Internet addiction. In the past ten years alone, everyone is surfing the Internet.
Become a habit and normal life.
Those with the most sensitive sense of smell were undoubtedly the record companies. They immediately organized musicians to analyze and discuss, and many swing singers also spontaneously tried the new genre of rock music.
Only a week later, rock songs adapted into rock versions appeared in dance halls. Those rock songs were full of sexual innuendos and swear words, and were wildly sought after by young people and the middle class who were looking for fun.
This led to two results: first, rock music quickly became popular; second, rock music was regarded as a symbol of vulgarity because it was full of pornography and violence.
Hardcore swing musician Fletcher Henderson was very dissatisfied with this. He wrote an article in Billboard magazine saying: "This new music form named rock and roll by Mr. Zhou Hexuan should not become a vulgar song.
A trash can should be positive and pursue freedom and liberation."
Immediately, Fletcher Henderson, who is good at composing, personally adapted three of his classic swing songs into a rock style, and they were sung by the famous young swing singer Count Siebel. These three rock songs were performed within two months.
It was later recorded as an album and sold 250,000 copies within half a month, making a lot of money.
Since then, more and more record companies have begun to produce and sell rock songs. Although public opinion controversies still exist, the popularity of rock music has been irrepressible. Zhou Hexuan was also regarded as the "ancestor of rock" by countless fans later.
…
Headquarters of Huamei Association.
Three young black men inquired for a long time and finally found the club sign in a certain building. They walked in and asked: "Is this where donations for the war to aid China are accepted?"
"Yes," the staff of the China-American Association said, "Thank you for your generous donation. If possible, please leave your name and information. The Chinese people will always remember your friendship."
"My name is Oscar Moore, and I'm donating $50."
"My name is Nat King Cole, and I'm donating $50, too."
"My name is Wesley Prince, and I will donate $50."
After everyone had registered, Nate Cole suddenly said: "Please tell Mr. Zhou that I like his rock songs very much. They are really great. I hope he can release a record."
The staff member smiled and said: "I will pass it on, thank you."
These three young black men are the newly formed "Kim Cole Trio". They are not famous yet, but they will become famous in a few years. Even if Nate Cole died later, after his death,
For 35 years, his records still sell an average of more than 5,000 copies per week.
Nat King Cole was a jazz singer. Most of the songs he sang in the 1940s were swing songs, which shows how popular this type of song was.
"By the way, this is our band's new record. Please help us pass it on to Mr. Zhou." Nate Cole took out a vinyl record.
When Zhou Hexuan got this record, his expression was a little weird, because it was the first record of a legendary American band, and it also came with the signatures of the three original members. If it were taken out 50 years later, it would definitely make jazz fans
Completely crazy.
Will that black singer be affected by this and switch to rock music in the future?
Yu Peichen counted the donation accounts and said happily: "Brother Xuan, this performance was so successful. We received 2,833 US dollars in anti-war donations in one week. What's more, many American newspapers are reporting on our performance now.
China’s war of resistance was also mentioned, and more and more Americans sympathized with China.”
"Yes, those who have attained the truth will be helped a lot," Zhou Hexuan said, "Come back to China with me to celebrate the Spring Festival."
Yu Peichen shook his head and said: "I want to stay in the United States. I like my current job very much."
Zhou Hexuan couldn't help but smile bitterly: "What you said is exactly the same as what Vivien Leigh said."
Yu Peichen was a little embarrassed: "How about I come back to China to see you on New Year's Day next year? I'm really busy during this period and I can't leave at all."
"It's okay. It's good that you find something serious to do," Zhou Hexuan urged. "It's not easy to go back to China. It's very dangerous. I'll come to the United States to see you in the future."
"That's okay," Yu Peichen said with a smile. "Judging from the current situation in the United States, they will soon join the war. As long as the United States joins, China will definitely win. I estimate that the Anti-Japanese War will be over by 1942. By then we will
The family can be reunited."
"Yes." Zhou Hexuan did not want to dampen Yu Peichen's enthusiasm.
Historically, when the news of the United States' participation in the war reached China, Chinese people of insight were also very excited, and some even predicted that Japan would be driven away in three months.
Yu Peichen said: "You should leave after New Year's Day. My daughters have just learned to call you daddy and are very close to you. They will be very disappointed if you leave."
"Well, we'll leave after New Year's Day." Zhou Hexuan nodded. He also wanted to buy shares in Coca-Cola.