SAMUEL HUI

'Samuel Koon-kit Hui' (, Jyutping: heoi2 gun3 git6; pinyin: Xǔ Guànjié; born September 4, 1948), usually known as 'Sam Hui', was a star in Cantopop and movie industry in Hong Kong's 1960s to 1990s. He graduated from the Arts Faculty of University of Hong Kong and St Francis Xavier's College in late 1960's to early 1970's. He and his brothers Michael and Ricky made several comedy blockbusters in the 1970s. Many credited Sam for popularising Cantonese music into Cantopop that we are familiar with today, incorporating a hitherto then unknown practice of blending Western music and instrumental treatment into the Cantopop mainstream.

Contents

Film & singing career

Retirement

Performance

Personal life

Discography

Filmography

External links

Film & singing career

He started his career as a host to a youth music TV show on TVB. At the time, he was the lead musician of his band named The Lotus. In the early years of his career, he sang Western songs from Britain and the U.S.. He started on Cantonese songs when he wrote and sang the theme songs for the comedy movies produced by his brother Michael Hui.
His music appealed to the Hong Kong masses and working class people with its simple lyrics and light-hearted nature which was the rage in Hong Kong music in the late 1970s. He penned most of the compositions and personally wrote most of the humorous lyrics that generally encompassed current issues in Hong Kong such as the song 話知你 97 (''Could Not Care Less About 1997'') which literally encourages the Hong Kong public to throw caution to the wind and enjoy their life instead of worrying about the imminent Handover to China in 1997.
On a personal note, he was closer to elder brother Ricky Hui than to Michael Hui as they were said to have parted in high dudgeon since falling out with each other after their pre-1985 successes. However, in Michael's 'Chicken and Duck Talk' 1988 Sam appeared in a short 3-minute cameo. Then in 1990, the three brothers reunited in 'Front Page', a lampoon on Hong Kong's sometimes overly enthusiastic entertainment news industry.
Sam also collaborated with several popular singers like Leslie Cheung both musically and on the silver screen culminating in the hit single co-written by both Sam and Leslie Cheung titled 沉默是金 ''Silence is Golden'' which Leslie Cheung also sung in solo form and is a track in his album Hot Summer in 1987. They also collaborated in "I've Never Been Afraid", which was a fast catchy number. Sam also starred in the ''Aces Go Places'' series of Hong Kong action–comedies in the 1980s, with Karl Maka.
He had a farewell concert in 1993 where he invited many other music celebrities and officially declared that he would not be active in the movie industry nor in Cantopop in the future. He was once seriously injured while filming The Legend of Wisely in Tibet due to lack of oxygen, thereafter falling very ill and many of his fans pointed out that this near fatal accident may have been pivotal on his decision to call it quits as they believed that he was haunted by a spirit.
Despite all of these 'retirement' reiterations, Sam came back for a short stint in the movie ''Winner Takes All'' co-starring Nicholas Tse and Ruby Lin. This, he maintained then, was a result of desiring to do something which was closer to his heart and was something not easy to ignore.

Retirement

Apparently, the life as a retiree from the entertainment industry in Hong Kong proved to be too uncomfortable for someone who was widely acknowledged as the "God of Song" in Hong Kong. He decided to come out of his retirement recently in 2004 and held many concerts where he was still warmly received from musically fickle Hong Kong public where every concert had a sold-out turnout. In these concerts, he cited the recent deaths of close colleagues, Leslie Cheung and Anita Mui in 2003 influenced his decision to retract his earlier retirement affirmation.

Performance

He performed in a concert in Kuala Lumpur on February 19 and February 202005 with his sons and his brother Ricky Hui but has not made active plans for any follow-ups. He also performed in Vancouver on 15 December 2005.
He is currently performing in concert at Mohegan Sun Casino and Resort

Personal life

He is married to Rebecca "Rebu" (nee Fleming) with sons Ryan and Scott.

Discography

Cantonese Albums:

★ 鬼馬雙星 (1974)

★ 天才與白痴 (1975)

★ 半斤八兩 (1976)

★ 財神到 (1978)

★ 賣身契 (1978)

★ 79夏日之歌集 (1979)

★ 念奴嬌 (1980)

★ 摩登保鑣 (1981)

★ 最佳拍檔 (1982)

★ 最佳拍檔大顯神通 (1983)

★ 新的開始 (1983.12)

★ 最喜歡你 (1984.08)

★ 最緊要好玩 (1985.08.30)

★ 熱力之冠 (1986.08)

★ 宇宙無限 (1986.12, EP)

★ 潮流興夾Band (1987)

★ 許冠傑新曲與精選 (1987)

★ Sam and Friends (1988)

★ 許冠傑89歌集 (1989)

★ 香港情懷90 (1990)

★ 90電影金曲精選 (1990)

★ 歌神與您繼續微笑(04) (2004.06.01)
English Albums:

★ ''Time of The Season'' (1971)

★ ''Morning After'' (1974)

★ ''Interlude'' (1975)

★ ''Came Travelling'' (1977)

Filmography

★ Back Alley Princess (馬路小英雄,1973)

★ The Tattooed Dragon (龍虎金剛, 1973)

★ Chinatown Capers (小英雄大鬧唐人街, 1974)

★ Naughty! Naughty! (綽頭狀元, 1974)

★ Games Gamblers Play (鬼馬雙星, 1974)

★ The Last Message (天才與白痴, 1975)

★ The Private Eyes (半斤八兩, 1976)

★ Money Crazy (發錢寒, 1977)

★ The Contract (賣身契, 1978)

★ Security Unlimited (摩登保鑣, 1981)

★ Aces Go Places (最佳拍檔, 1982)

★ Aces Go Places II (最佳拍檔大顯神通, 1983)

★ (最佳拍檔之女皇密令, 1984)

★ A Family Affair (全家福, 1984)

★ Working Class (打工皇帝, 1985)

★ Aces Go Places IV (最佳拍檔千里救差婆, 1986)

★ The Legend of Wisely (衛斯理傳奇, 1987)

★ Chicken and Duck Talk (雞同鴨講, 1988; Cameo)

★ Aces Go Places V: The Terracotta Hit (新最佳拍檔, 1989)

★ The Dragon from Russia (紅場飛龍, 1990)

★ The Swordsman (笑傲江湖, 1990)

★ Front Page (新半斤八兩, 1990)

★ All's Well, Ends Well Too (花田囍事, 1992)

★ Laughter of the Water Margins (水滸笑傳, 1993)

★ Winner Takes All (大贏家, 2000)

External links

★

★ Samuel Hui Fan site