Anders Nelsson

ANDERS NELSSON (HONG KONG)

Anders Nelsson (聶安達), has been active in the Asian entertainment business for over 40 years. 1n 1963, his band, The Kontinentals, signed their first recording contract and shortly afterwards released I Think Of Her and I Still Love You, both chart-topping hits in Hong Kong. Since that time, Anders has played and recorded with several bands, including MING, which had many hits in the 1970s, including Reasons Why and U ’n’ I. 

In 1976, he switched to composing and producing and has written many jingles and film soundtracks, including the main theme for the award-winning Cantonese movie Mr. Vampire. From 1976 to 1979, he worked for EMI (HK) Ltd as Artist & Repertoire Manager and in 1979 started his own group of Companies, The Melody Bank which became a successful production and publishing house, and The Entertainment Company, which managed several successful Hong Kong artists, including Rowena Cortes and Louie Castro.

Ten years later he sold The Melody Bank to BMG Pacific Limited and joined this newly-emerging ‘major’ in the music industry as Managing Director. In this role he set up BMG’s music publishing operations in the Asian Region as well as running the record company in Hong Kong.

After completing his three-year contract, Nelsson was headhunted by the well-known Hong Kong Swaine family (patriarch of this family, Sir John Swaine QC was at the time chairman of both the Royal HK Jockey Club and the Legislative Council.) A new company called The Media Bank was set up under the Chairmanship of elder son John Swaine Junior, with Nelsson as MD. Through Nelsson’s music industry contacts the company acquired representation of several indie labels and publishing catalogues. Nelsson left the company shortly after the Handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997 to pursue China-related opportunities as a consultant.

Over the decades, Nelsson has also presented concerts by and booked major international artists such as Kenny G, Elton John, Bob Dylan, INXS, Bananarama and Michael Bolton. He still books artistes for corporate events and charity events.

His acting career started with a small role in Bruce Lee’s "Way of The Dragon" in the early 1970s and he has appeared in countless Hong Kong-made TV dramas since then, for all the Hong Kong channels, CTV, RTHK, HK-TVB and RTV/ATV.

Among his popular roles have been Divine Retribution (ATV) as 'Seth', Wiselee (TVB) and feature film "Journey To The West" with Nicholas Tse, released in late 2005. During late 2005 and early 2006 he taped several drama serials for HK-TVB including Stanley Story, which went on air on May 15, 2006 and Land of Wealth, which was screened in October, 2006.

He has also appeared as a guest in Jade Solid Gold and is currently seen as an expert promoting HK-TVB’s HD-TV channels. He finds that having his face appear on TV on a regular basis opens many doors, especially in China, and keeps this aspect of his career as a business tool as well as hobby.

He is currently a well-respected entertainment industry and PR consultant doing work for prestigious Asian companies, including some of the major record companies, Hong Kong’s popular restaurant and bar district Knutsford Terrace, and his native country of Sweden, through his group of companies, which include a music production company, a music publishing company and a PR company.

He still enjoys singing and in mid-2005 started a new concept band…..the concept being that it can range in size from just Nelsson and a pianist up to as many musicians as a client can afford or accommodate on a stage! In view of this flexibility, he named the band INFINITY and the group has performed at many high-profile events including the 2005 Macau Grand Prix, the final New Year’s Eve party at the legendary, now-closed, Hyatt Regency Hotel, the Canadian Community Ball (2004, 2005, 2006), the Jailhouse Rock party at the historical Victoria Prison to raise funds for the Community Chest and many private parties and events.

In September 2006, the Guangzhou-based based Mutual Chord record company released an album of Chinese favorites sung in English by Nelsson and instrumental versions by his friend and former bandmate Andrew Oh on saxophone and flute. The album is called SPIRIT OF RESPECT.

In 2012 he celebrated 50 years in the Asian entertainment industry by releasing a CD of some of his favorite songs, new arrangements of some of his hits as well as his first-ever bi-lingual composition (English and Putonghua) called Wo Xiang Ni (I Miss You) which has been covered in 2013 by popular star of stage and TV Ken Chan Kai-Tai. This new CD is called NOTEBOOK VOL II.

He continues to act on TV and in films and his most recent acting efforts were in FOREIGN HUSBAND, LOCAL WIFE , a top rated Guangzhou TV-produced sitcom and as a priest and judge in dramas for HK-TVB. He also plays the American Consul in the new film HELIOS directed by Sunny Luk and Longman Leung, their follow-up to multi-award winning Cold War.

In late 2013, he had two of his compositions in simultaneously running films, a revival of his Mr. Vampire theme (Vampire’s Bride) in the Juno Mak directed "Rigor Mortis" as well as Love Is Like Coffee in the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups supported When G7 meets C7.

Anders Nelsson is constantly in demand for corporate and public events as well as supporting charities by singing, emcee-ing, and at Christmas time, entertaining underprivileged children as Santa Claus. Nelsson is considered somewhat of an expert in music-related copyright matters and in a more serious side to his career has been engaged by the Hong Kong government as an expert witness from time to time. 

He has in the past served several terms as a director on the boards of both the Music Publishers Association (M.P.A.) and The Composers and Authors Society of Hong Kong (C.A.S.H.).

(Anders Nelsson [left] with Adam Cheng (郑少秋) [Right], Hong Kong actor/singer in the famous ATV drama series 'Divine Retribution')

(Anders Nelsson [left] with Sean Lau Ching Wan (刘青云) [Right], Hong Kong actor in the famous ATV drama series 'Divine Retribution')

(Sir Elton John [Left] with Anders Nelsson [Right])

(Bee Gees [Left] with Anders Nelsson [Right])

He is part of our panel of Honorary Patrons to advise us on matters related to the Performing Arts and Music.