Gao Xiaosong

When talking about campus ballads, there are two soul-personas we cannot leave without mentioning: Gao Xiaosong and Lao Lang (old wolf). The former played an important role in the development of mainland campus ballads. He wrote many campus ballads and released his own created albums one after another: Campus  Ballads Volume One and Campus Ballads Volume Two. Among them the most famous song was "My Desk Mate," which was a great hit single in the 1990s. Lao Lang was a famous campus ballads singer who sung many of Gao's songs. During those years, this golden pair produced several famous works of these kinds.

As for female singers, Ye Pei is typical. She was a vocal major who graduated from the Music Academy of China. By chance, she met Gao Xiaosong and began to cooperate with him in music.

Another notable figure in this field is Huang Xiaomao, a senior music producer and now the deputy president of Warner's Music in China. He first introduced "Campus Derry" to the mainland.

Huang Xiaomao

Instead of purely pursuing commercial profit, campus ballads musicians make the quality of the song their priority. They won't blindly cater to passing trends, and are reluctant to add commercially appeal to their creations. Just as  Ye Pei once said, what she really wants is to produce more songs that are pleasant to the ears.

Nowadays, although the glory days of campus ballads have passed, the brief flame of the songs has left something to us. For one thing, it has encouraged more and more students to write original songs; for another thing, Gao Xiaosong's commercial success has helped promote the commercialization and industrialization of campus music.

Author:Ivana