The efforts of the young musicians in creating songs that were highly connected to the cultural identity and experience of local people ignited a surge of original music composition in Taiwan, which had a significant and far-reaching influence in Mandarin-speaking communities.
This cultural movement is now widely recognized as the "folk music movement" in Taiwan, which laid the foundation of the future development of pop music on the island.
Sense of nostalgia
Recently, on music show Infinity and Beyond, which is aired on Mango TV, Hu has resurrected the classic tunes from that bygone era.
Seated before a white piano on shore of the Riyue Tan, also known as Sun Moon Lake, in the island's Nantou county, the 72-year-old strikes the piano keys, unleashing the captivating melody of the song Olive Tree. The song, featuring lyrics by writer Sanmao, the pen name of Echo Chen Ping, and music composed by Li Tai-hsiang, was first performed by Chyi Yu in 1979.
It's widely recognized as a hallmark of the aforementioned "folk music movement", a period in which many writers, artists and musicians collaborated to create pop music.
The music show chronicles the progression of pop music in Taiwan by inviting singers to perform classic tunes from various stages of its development. Hu personally witnessed the creation of Olive Tree.
