I'm from NYC, not ethnically Chinese and in the 90s I became interested in Anita Mui because she was so funny in Drunken Master 2! I saw that movie at the Hong Kong Film Festival at Cinema Village in maybe 93/94. I was in high school. One article in the Village Voice about the festival mentioned that she was sometimes called "The Madonna of Asia" and so I thought I'd go down to Chinatown and buy one of her CDs... It was incredible! That voice! The album was called "Caution". Her voice didn't sound anything like I expected and she had so much range! I was expecting bubble gum pop but this was adult contemporary. There were two very radio-friendly pop songs but everything else was what you listen to with your lady when you're just chilling out with a glass of wine. Her voice was simply elegant! Clearly this was someone with a lot of experience and training. I became an instant fan! I'd even go down to Chinatown once or twice a year and just ask in the record stores if they had anything new from Anita Mui. If they did, I bought it! I think the clerks were surprised the first few times but eventually got used to seeing me. I like to think maybe the sight of a tall, young Black man into music he couldn't even understand simply because the voice was so moving opened some of their minds too. Art brings people together! Anita was the bridge that helped me deepen my understanding of Hong Kong art and culture. No disrespect to China but I still think of Hong Kong as being something different. That's the world I grew up in during the 80s and 90s. Anita helped shape that view because I don't think mainland China had the open mindedness to allow an artist like her to flourish and grow in the way she did. I'm in my 40s, married with two kids and I still listen to her music every night. Now even my wife is a fan!
I am a big fan of Anita Mui. Very glad to hear that you, as a Amerian African, like Anita so much and so long. Here comes are some wonderful and special live performances of hers. I hope you will enjoy them as much as I do. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-n5Aqt45dnBo.html ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-dyG5Mbjqquw.html ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-3wGqyNNd37Q.html ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-a-8jE9ShA5w.html
Hong Kong film fest in cinema village in NYC in 93/94 ? I may have been there too. I think I also saw Jackie Chan's Police Story 3: Super Cop and Stephen Chow's From Beijing With Love there too. I was going to Baruch College in the city then. Can't believe it has been nearly 30 years. My son just went off to college for his freshman year recently. Kinda cool that 2 people who have never known each other can bond on Hong Kong pop culture all because of a little known festival from 30 years ago.
