一生一世懷念你

Willy Han：Member of Roman & The Four Steps

1968 TimeWrap disbanded, invited by Ronald Tsang to join in Roman & 4S.
1969 Firecrackers, Glo-Go
1970-71 Purple Union
1973 immigrated to America
1986 Chicago met Roman
2002 visited Roman and Vinton in HK

Interview in Chinese：https://roman-tam.com/memoir-interview-guest-willyhan/

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First impression of each other?

Thank you for your questions. I will try to answers your questions but some I have to ask the guitarist, George Fung, who is now living in San Fransisco.

The first time I met Roman and George was at Wan Chai where most HK pop musicians cut their teeth. I met Danny and Vinton the same way. We got along right away. We were all in love with music and happy to get paid to play music at the Wan Chai bars. Every night during break we used to hang out in front of the bars and talk music. Many times we would visit each other and listen and watch each other. We learn from each other. It was a good time. At that time Roman played the guitar and sang. The first time I met Roman he did not say anything to me. He just looked at me and nodded, George did most of the talking.
As I get to know Roman better, he is a humble person but sometimes people misunderstands him as proud and aloof. At that time the music scene was quite small we all know where each other work and was able to kept in touch so when their bass player, Ronald Tsang, asked me to replace him on the same day the Anders Nelsson band disbanded.
I was working with Anders at the Spider Web disco on Peking Rd. and R&4S was at President Hotel’s Firecracker bar across the street. Hope the information will be helpful. I will answer the other questions as soon as I can.

How did Roman and George meet?

As to how did George and Roman met I will have to ask ask George. I met them when I was 16 and both of them always cooperated and work together even till I join when I was 20. Now I am 75. Time flies.But the band broke up afterwards. It’s a long story but I was mainly responsible. Time flies.

About T.N.T

George told me Nelson Kok introduced Roman to George’s band TNT. TNT is trinitrotoluene, which is an explosive.
Anders and I were in Timewarp with Anna Chu (keyboard) and Steve Tebutt (drummer). I know Anna for a long time, she was with the Power Puffs. I met Steve through Michael Remédios (he has voice like Johnnie Mattis).

Did you perform at TVB as well? Some articles said that it was Lydia Sum who introduced R&4S to TVB?

We used to perform at TVB almost every month. I do not know the details but Lydia Sum is a friend of Roman. It was fun at TVB and a good bonding experience with the guys.
We all had to get up early to arrive at the studio around 9 AM. First we record the sound track and then we wait in the dressing room. It takes the production crew about an hour to get ready and then we get called for rehearsal with the dancers. Everyone was very professional so the most we needed was 2 rehearsals then we go straight into recording. Also, no more than 3 takes were necessary. After that we can leave, usually it will be around 11 AM. The best fun we had was in the dressing room. We would tell jokes and make fun of each other. I miss those times at TVB. The schedule also leaves me time to work as a free lance musician at Diamond Records in the afternoon, when called.

What did you feel when visiting Roman in 2002?

Here are some pics from my trip to HK visiting Roman in May 2002 right before he passed. That was my first trip back since 1973.I met Anders too.
Alice Fung, our 6th band member. George’s wife is our unsung hero. She is our therapist/morale support person as well as our costume designer and maker. She was there when Roman passed. Here’s an example of how Roman was always considerate of other people. Before Roman passed he said to Alice (paraphrased),” Silly girl why are you crying? I am the one that is dying.” We all miss Roman. It was a privilege working with him.

(How very touching!)
Here’s something hopefully will cheer you up a bit. It’s about a Roman’s signed DVD I bought back from my 2002 visit. I gave one of the signed Roman DVD to my HK childhood friend now in NY. He called me and said after he told his staff he has a Roman signed DVD, the whole office stopped working and everyone was scrambling to see and touch it. He said took him all morning to let everyone into his office to see it. He said some were even fighting over it. He said he had to take it home after work. He used to own a tourist brokerage specializing in China tours so everyone knows Roman.

Can you share more stories about getting along with him? What did Roman react when the members called him “Emperor”?

As you know, we have known each other for many years before I was invited to join the 4 Steps. At that time, we already had respect for each other as professionals and I think the mutual respect made it easy to quickly become good friends and later grown into more like a brotherly relation.
Certainly, we had arguments but like family, in a few minutes it was like nothing ever happened. I cannot even recall any serious arguments except for music and we never argued about money or in a decadent way, over girls. Too much of both already!
Luckily for the band, we have George Fung. George is the de facto band leader and our wise big brother. He is the big bro!
Roman never does band business without talking it over with George first. George is a great musician and Roman was a savvy businessman so they made a great team.
I have rarely seen such teamwork between Roman and George. They are so tuned to each other that they know what is on each other’s mind without talking or looking at each other.
George is also like our wise big brother; he takes care of us and discipline us when we went too far.
For example, George had to deal with Vinton who is always late for work. To finally resolve the problem, George asked Danny to play the drums until Vinton shows up. A wise decision. Everyone was happy especially Danny, he likes to do drum solos. George is clever and wise.

Also, sometimes when we tried to do crazy things like, see who can stay awake the longest. The record was a tie between Danny and Vinton for 3 days and 3 nights.
They asked me to join the contest but I declined. I found out later they did not tell Roman or George.
During the contest’s last night Vinton’s drumming became slower and slower and Danny was made mistake after mistake. They were asleep on stage and running on auto pilot.
This incidence was so bad even Roman spoke up and that is when the “Emperor” title came up.
As punishment Roman decided they had to bow and call Roman “Emperor” every time Vinton and Danny saw Roman. Also, when “Emperor” wants something like a cup of tea they will have to fetch it for him. I have to say Roman can act like an “Emperor”. He has the style.
In the end, everyone had a good laugh even though their playing was inconsistent for another day. My excuse is we were still teenagers.A week later Roman told them they are freed.
It was a real pleasure working with the guys and I am grateful we did not have any personal arguments except music. We are still in touch with each other today.

The transition of music style(You said once you fancied more about those avant-grade music while R&4S still sang like the platters and the Beatles. How did you convince them to sing differently?)

The R&T4S music and performance transition from bubble gum music to, at that time, the more avangarde music and the best example is Psychedelic Rock. Pop and folk music was going through a transition too but for us is rock n roll. I think it was Sargent Pepper (took me a while to understand the album but my friend Steve Tebutt, drummer extraordinaire, helpfully explained) and the Iron Butterfly’s “In A Gadda Da Vida” song. I think Roman was first captivated by the new “Hippie” wardrobe style. It wasn’t until George said “OK” then we started rehearsals and it worked out well. We became even more popular. I have to hand it to George and Roman. George knows how to organize and package the band, for example, we still performed a mix of Platters and Beatles and Bubble Gum music with the new music. George did a great job. Plus Roman was an extremely good businessman. A dynamo team.

Are there any interesting moments when choosing clothes? Given that Roman was somehow a bit stubborn when it comes to his dressing style.

As to Roman’s stubborn dressing style let me talk to Alice, she knows more because we don’t care, in fact we would sometimes make fun of Roman’s outfits. But once we went silent in the dressing room when we saw his latest outfit, he dared to bare his mid-section. That’s style!
I will continue to answer your questions from the first message. I want to thank you for keeping Roman alive for us.

How did Roman & the Four Steps decide to record the songs on that two albums?

I talked to George. He said EMI record picks the songs. He said he doesn’t like the songs, weak melodies but it’s a job.

Roman’s accent when singing in English? What’s your opinion on Uncle Ray’s comments?

Here is a story almost like a fairly tale…
About Uncle Ray’s comment on Roman’s English accent. My personal opinion is it is unfair for Uncle Ray to single out Roman because many singers and entertainers have an accent, for example, Maurice Chevlier.
The accent actually adds the HK flavor to the Western music. Also, I have never heard any audience complain or even mention about Roman’s assent. Maybe there is something more about the article I do not know.
However, a miracle appeared from the article. After Roman’s American god-mother read the article she got so mad she asked Roman to move in with her and she taught her English. After a few months I was surprised how much Roman has improved but I did not say anything even though he still had an assent because of 2 reasons.
One, in order not to have any assent in any language, for most people, they have to start the language before 10 years old and two, I like the assent because it made R&T4S sound unique. It makes the band real and fits our image (we are Chinese) But what is more important is Roman’s god-mother gave him confidence to do big things. Roman told me during my 2002 HK visit, he took a big chance to study singing in Japan for 2 years but that was what made his career ascend. Miracles do happen. Some people call it karma. Thank you for reading.
Briefly, Roman’s god mother, Helene, was a wealthy American. She went to HK to buy Chinese furniture for her huge house (I visited her and almost got lost in her house). She was suppose to stay for a short time but she was having such a great time in HK she stayed over 10 years. Roman met Helene through their hairdresser and became friends. Helene started coming to Glo Go and then Purple Onion every night. They just like each other and she became his god mother. In a way like a fairy tale, she definitely helped Roman.

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Dear Willy, thank you so much for your kindness. These precious memories are keeping Roman alive in our hearts forever.