A review taken from StarZine Interactive - Music

推 出 過 一 張 英 語 專 輯 《 Hope In Just One Day 》的 Black & Blue 成 績 一 般 。 唯 一 令 人 注 足 的 並 非 樂 隊 而 是 主 音 Candy ， 曾 被 譽 為 香 港 版 Dolories （ Cranberries 主 音 ） ， 孰 好 孰 劣 ， 還 是 未 知 ， 不 過 不 夠 健 康 ， 因 為 樂 隊 最 怕 紅 主 音 但 其 他 成 員 不 紅 。

轉 入 大 公 司 後 ， 找 來 台 灣 另 類 音 樂 鬼 才 林 強 監 製 ， 料 到 歌 曲 的 玩 鬧 味 必 然 十 分 重 ， 果 然 。 《 割 歌 》 、 《 玩 笑 》 都 是 重 搖 滾 作 品 ， 有 著 強 勁 的 Guiter Noise 節 奏 ， 可 惜 技 術 有 限 ， 負 荷 過 重 ， 反 效 果 較 多 。 還 是 唱 回 Rock Ballad 較 討 好 了 。 Candy 的 靚 聲 夠 獨 家 ， 《 其 後 ...... 》 將 Cranberries 的 唱 法 混 入 Cocteau Twins 那 種 laid back 的 編 曲 ， 雖 然 British Sound 得 很 但 總 算 似 個 樣 ， 不 過 ， 還 是 《 Father's Me 》 好 一 點 ， 畢 竟 先 入 為 主 。

林 強 這 次 監 製 實 是 把 玩 笑 開 得 太 大 ， Band Sound 本 好 ， 可 惜 樂 手 不 才 ， 未 夠 能 力 ， 形 成 尷 尬 場 面 。
推 薦 ： 《 其 後 ...... 》 、 《 我 》

Written by 文 盲


A short review taken from August 96 bc Magazine

Although not as high-profile as Beyond or Tai Chi, Black and Blue is a more adventurous local rock and roll band which is more mature technically. But its songs are a bit too rational, which fail to impress people with something which can arouse your sympathy and make you think. Lam Keung is a good artist, but I don't think it was a good idea for him to act as a producer, for he failed to input anything exciting and original. However, the feelings expressed in a couple of songs, such as the anger in Pride and Prejudice, and the hopes in The Lost Prairie, are sure to appeal to local music lovers. Anyhow, I still support their efforts to try something different from the mainstream Cantopop music and am looking forward to their new breakthrough in the near future.

An interview from 3rd December 1995 SCMP

Sound Practices

Situated in an industrial block, Black & Blue's band room seemed completely out of synch with the printing and welding factories.

Inside were wall-to-wall U2 posters(the Irish rock band not the clothing chain), ashtrays overflowing with cigarette butts, masses of CDs and tapes, several battered guitar amplifiers and a microphone that tilts but refuses to fall.

Then it struck me: the seedy band room mingling with factories was, struggling to carve a place for itself in a gimmicky local music industry dominated by Canto-pop artists.

To an extand, the clutter of the room reflected the band's moxed up musical indentity.

When guitarist Brian Fung Ka-kin, bass guitarist Chu Yat-wang and the drummer Ho Ngai-fung, all fans of British rock, first got together in 1992, there was no thought of trying to crack the ballad-dominated music sence here. Indie bands signing up with big labels have often ended up with a Canto-pop image and, eventually, losing most of their band sound.

All things considered, Black & Blue, albeit out of synch, is still holding on to its dream. Its debut ablum, Hope In Just One Day, released in March, featured 13 songs that the band produced and arranged.

`We started right away to write songs but we were very green back then and still are,' said vocalist/guitarist Charles Chan Wai-kay. `We still haven't found the definite Black & Blue sound and we don't know when we can find it.'

The fledgling band tried its luck in the8th and 9th Carlsberg Music festivals but got nowhere.

`The only time we got into the semi-final wsa when a typhoon screwed up the preliminary rounds in Kowloon Park, forcing all the bands into the semi-final,' Chan joked.

Candy Lo Hau-yam, the only woman and, at 20, the youngest in the band, joined when the group saw the need for another vocalist.

With a soild lineup, the band found itself in gigs such as "Bands in the Park" and "Dark Entry VII". Before long, it was signed up with Music Communication, the indie label that includes Anodize, Virus and ....huh!?

However, critics have dismissed Black & Blue as "copycats" of British rock groups, lacking in style and good musicianship.

Chan admitted the comment were not far from the truth. The scourge, according to the band, was twofold - the dominance of Canto-pop and financial constraints.

`It all stems from from the abnormal Hong Kong music industry which has nothing but Canto-pop to offer,' Fung said.

`How can we except the young generation to accept the band's sound, let alone create good music of their own, if what we feed them is Canto-pop?'

Even the response of the Canto-pop fans shows this, he said. "They just sit there staring at you and clap. But that's not what the bands need. Bands like it to be a party for everyone to enjoy.

`Even in some rock shows when fans wanted to come out to the stage front, security guards would get them back to their seats.'

The lack of financial support and a proper space to practise also hindered Black & Blue. They all have daytime jobs: Chan and Fung are in TV production; Lo is a clerk; Ho is a nurse and Chu a graphic design assistant.

`That's why bands in Hong Kong develop a bit slower. Most face the same problem of making ends meet.'

`It's all comes down to the fact that we're still an amateur band with all of us in full-time jobs. But now we have a band room of our own, we're improved,' Fung said.

Despite constraints, the band believes local music has improved, thanks in part to the efforts of Commercial Radio.

`CR2 is putting a lot of money and effort in to staging shows just for indie bands and the media is giving us better coverage,' Fung said.

`The media controls what sort of music Hong Kong is exposed to. But even if it stops its coverage of indie music, those bands will keep on doing what they are doing. Only nobody will notice.'

Any discussion of bands invites comparison with those in the 80s, groups like Tai Chi, Bryound, Tat Ming Pair and Blue Jeans. But factors contributing to success are not the same in the teo periods.

Fung said: `The music companies now and back then were very different.

`In the 1980s, it was a couple of big labels on whether Beyond, Tat Ming Pair and Tai Chi could hit the jackpot. They did and the companies made big bucksout of them. But those bands were not indie.

`They were not like Sound Factory or Music Communication, willing to take bigger risks wih indie bands.'

The band's hope is simple: to be able to make a living for music.

`The factors are whether the public accepts us and how good we are. Although it's not entirely inour hands, I still think that being good as a bad is more important,' Chan said.

Even if its label stops providing finanical support, the group has pledged to carry on as everyone has a job.

`We never intend to make music that sells, just what please us. At this moment, we still regard the band as a way to entertain ourselves, although we hope one day we will be able to make a living jist with that.'

Nonetheless, they realise they have to sing in Cantonese to reach their audience. So the forthcoming album, scheduled for release in February, will be mostly in Cantonese.

Next Sunday, see the band when it performs with other indie groups in `Rockathon', the closing carnival of a series of campus shows organised by CR2, in the Phase Three lawn area at the University of Science and Technology.

Written by Benson Chao