June 2024 – Our new book is out with Palgrave! Written with Yiu Fai Chow and Leonie Schmidt, the book is titled It’s My Party: Tat Ming Pair and the Postcolonial Politics of Popular Music in Hong Kong.
The book is Open Access and can be downloaded here.
“This book is unique in focusing on just one band from one city – but the story of Tat Ming Pair, in so many ways, is the story of Hong Kong’s recent decades, from the Handover to the Umbrella Movement to the social protests in 2019. Empirically rich, theoretically informed, this study of Hong Kong’s past, present and future through the prism of Tat Ming Pair is a timely and daring inquiry of the intricate relationship between politics and pop music.”
This extraordinary book is a fascinating account of legendary Hong Kong musical duo Tat Ming, but it’s so much more than that too: it’s an analysis of political change in a postcolonial city, and of how much music can matter in situations where spaces for resistance are closed down. Elegantly drawing on cultural theory, it offers an exemplary model for versions of popular music studies that transcend Eurocentrism.
David Hesmondhalgh, University of Leeds
Melding empirical data, critical analysis and theoretical discourse, this book contributes an important case which has vast implications for a deepened understanding of the intricate relationship between popular music and politics in not just Hong Kong but also the global context. A must-read for anyone interested in Hong Kong as well as Asian popular music, it has not only showcased the authors’ theoretical acumen, but also demonstrated their special commitment to the popular music of the city.
Yiu-Wai Chu, The University of Hong Kong
