He Zhongli
Sammel Ho Chung Lap (Chinese: 何重立; born 9 January 1951), known as Sam Gor, is a former general manager of record labels, record producer, lyricist, music director and presenter on radio. He has written music reviews for various newspapers and magazines. He has held production, publicity and management roles at Warner Music Hong Kong, Bodeman Music (Hong Kong) and Taiwan’s Rock Records. He currently hosts the online radio programme “Audiophile Player” on D100.
Early life
Ho was born on 9 January 1951 in Hong Kong. He grew up in Sham Shui Po, Tai Po Road, and Hung Hom, where he was immersed in music from childhood. His father worked at a bank and his mother was a primary-school teacher. He has one younger sister and one younger brother, Ho Chung Yan, who became head of RTHK's Chinese radio service, and sister Ho Chung Wai, a former classical music presenter at RTHK.[1]
He attended Ying Wa Primary School, graduating in 1963, then Ying Wa College, completing Form 5 in 1968.[2] He studied arts, with strengths in geography and English literature. In 1969 he enrolled in the Department of Communication at Hong Kong Baptist College, believing it had religious connections. During his studies he interned on RTHK Radio, and worked as a production assistant at Rediffusion Television preparing the variety show “Golden Jade Abundance.”[3] He completed his four‑year diploma in November 1973 and joined Polygram’s magazine Music and You as an editor and music reviewer.[4]
Journalism and broadcasting
After Polygram, Ho joined Commercial Radio Hong Kong as a reporter and editor.[3] He then worked on the literary magazine Big Thumb Weekly as music editor, and edited the visual arts section.[3] In the news department at Commercial Radio he edited the weekly news review programme.[5]
Music industry career
In 1975 he joined Rediffusion Television in news, while also hosting the RTHK music show “Love Songs to Late Night.”[5] When Rediffusion closed he was recruited by EMI Greater China to work on Young Hong Kong magazine.[5] In 1978, on the launch of Warner Music Hong Kong, he was hired as Promotion Manager. There he signed Liza Wang and co‑produced her first two albums, and later produced Teresa Carpio’s first Cantonese album, contributing lyrics for both artists. He collaborated closely with singer–songwriters Sally Yeh and Lam Tin‑Cheung, and worked under Warner Hong Kong general managers Wu Cheng‑yuan and Anthony Wong.[6]
From 1986 to 1990 he joined Tai Hoi Video, promoting martial arts videos overseas. He then moved to Pacific Music as Marketing Manager, promoting Western artists such as Whitney Houston and Air Supply, and secured Rock Records’ Hong Kong distribution. He persuaded Pacific’s owner to launch a Cantonese label, leading to the founding of Current Records with Chan Wai‑Chung. In 1990 he co‑founded the Megastore record shop in Causeway Bay with partners Norman Cheng, Lam Yuk‑Wah and Poon Kai‑Tik; the shop operated for just over a year. He then edited music for Sunday Weekly and co‑founded the music magazine Yellow Bus with writer Joe Cheng in 1996.[7]
From 1996 to 1999 he served as Vice‑President of International Business Development for Taiwan’s Rock Records, invited by Jonathan Lee.[8]
2000s and beyond
In 2000 he joined Emperor Entertainment Group as Senior Vice‑President of International Marketing in Taiwan.[8] In 2002 he became Regional and Music Director at Laser International.[9] He then assisted in founding Hi‑Fi CD clubs and record shops in Guangzhou.[8] From 2003 he provided consultancy for Mainland music companies, including training schools and record labels in Guangdong and Foshan.[10] Between 2005 and 2010 he wrote music reviews for the Asia Times. From 2010 until its closure in 2016 he served as Music Director and station head of DBC Digital Radio. Since 2017 he has hosted “Audiophile Player” on D100, and writes the weekly music column “Song Notes” for HK Express. In 2018 he also hosted RTHK community broadcast “Music Energy Perspectives.”
Television appearances
- 2007: Who’s the Singing King (chief judge; Guangzhou TV)
- 2007: Lingnan Salon (Guangzhou TV)
References
- ↑ https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BD%95%E9%87%8D%E7%AB%8B#cite_ref-3
- ↑ https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BD%95%E9%87%8D%E7%AB%8B#cite_ref-6
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Information on Ho’s college internship and early career is from RTHK Radio 1 interview “Shou Xia Liu Qing” broadcast 10 March 2020.
- ↑ https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BD%95%E9%87%8D%E7%AB%8B#cite_ref-13
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Information from RTHK Radio 1 interview “Shou Xia Liu Qing” broadcast 11 March 2020.
- ↑ https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BD%95%E9%87%8D%E7%AB%8B#cite_ref-14
- ↑ Information from RTHK Radio 1 interview “Shou Xia Liu Qing” broadcast 12 March 2020.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Information from RTHK Radio 1 interview “Shou Xia Liu Qing” broadcast 13 March 2020.
- ↑ https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BD%95%E9%87%8D%E7%AB%8B#cite_ref-17
- ↑ https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BD%95%E9%87%8D%E7%AB%8B#cite_ref-18
External links
- “Song Notes” by Sammel Ho (archived)