![]() Death of Wong Ka Kui īeyond arrived in Japan in January 1993 to record new material and engage in media appearances. That song would become Wong Ka Kui's last song with the band. In May 1993, Beyond released the album Rock and Roll (樂與怒) which included the song " Boundless Oceans, Vast Skies" (海闊天空). The album Continue the Revolution (繼續革命) achieved commercial and critical success. Beyond started to become a more international band, and began to focus more time in Japan and Taiwan. ![]() They immediately signed with record company Amuse. In the same year, Beyond made their first appearance on Japan's NHK station. The song is still often used by Hong Kong's human rights bands to spread the message of peace. Part of the song's lyrics were written in Swahili. As suggested by the title, which means "peace" in Swahili, the song is about the plight of war-ravaged Africa and the yearning for world peace. The song was written during Beyond's trip to Tanzania. In 1991, Beyond released another critically acclaimed song "Amani" from the album Hesitation (猶豫). According to a later interview with Wong Ka-Keung, Mandela was "deeply moved" when he heard about the song during his final days in hospital. The song was from the band's album Party of Fate (命運派對), which sold extremely well, achieving triple platinum. The song was a huge hit, and had a fresh sound that stood out from the sea of love songs that dominated the Cantopop scene in Hong Kong. The song was about racism and the struggle of Nelson Mandela in South Africa. ![]() In 1990, they released one of their signature songs, "Glorious Years" (光輝歲月). They would soon win their first musical awards, the 1988 Jade Solid Gold Best Ten Music Awards Presentation and 1989 RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards. After a couple of flops, Beyond started to gain popularity following the release of the hit song "Great Land" (大地). However, they still considered the concert a success. Before the stadium was filled, half the people had already left. Since Beyond's songs were in Cantonese (instead of Mandarin), the performance was not well received by the audience. In 1989, Beyond became the first Hong Kong band to perform in Beijing at the Capital Indoor Stadium. Lau Chi Yuen left the band in 1988, leaving the band with four members only. They soon were in a new music underground trend along with a few number of bands, such as Tai Chi, Cocos and Raidas. The album Arabian Dancing Girls (阿拉伯跳舞女郎) was one of the band's first commercial hits. In 1987, Beyond produced the second album. They would then sign with Kinn's Music record company. Beyond was well liked and they joined another festival that same year. Small island was scheduled to go to a July 1986 Pan-Asian Music Festival in Taipei, and Beyond was added to the schedule. At the time Small island, Tat Ming Pair and Beyond made a recording together. Lau Chi Yuen (劉志遠) then joined Beyond as lead guitarist and keyboardist. In 1986, the band rented a studio to record the album Goodbye My Dreams (再見理想). He would help them raise HK$16,000, but the band was soon left with only HK$1000. The show was unsuccessful, but caught the attention of their first manager. The band's first self-financed concert took place in 1985 at Caritas Centre in Hong Kong. They had to do everything themselves, including organising its finance, selling tickets, performing and buying their own equipment. In the early years, time was difficult for the band. In 1985 Paul Wong joined the band to replace him. Chan soon had to leave for a foreign country, leaving the band without lead guitarist. At the time, the band consisted of Wong Ka Kui, Yip Sai Wing, Wong Ka Keung and new lead guitarist Chan Sze On (陳時安). In 1984, Wong's younger brother Wong Ka Keung joined the band as bassist. Wong Ka Kui and Tai Chi lead guitarist Joey Tang formed a temporary band called NASA band that did art rock style of music with English pop. The band's musical style was still experimental. However, the band name was not definite at the time. Tang wished the band's name to convey a feeling of surpassing or going beyond themselves, so the name "Beyond" was chosen. In 1983, they decided to join a music contest for "Guitar magazine" and they decided to form a band with lead guitarist William Tang (鄧煒謙) and bassist Lee Wing Chiu (李榮潮). In the early 1980s, lead vocalist Wong Ka Kui and drummer Yip Sai Wing started out as young musicians who were both interested in Pink Floyd's progressive rock. ![]()
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