 A talented but reckless young longshoreman Sun Chi-Chiang (Ling Yun) from the wrong side of the docks gets a chance to achieve showbiz stardom as the Krupka-esque  Thunder King Drummer  with a tip from his mild mannered but equally talented composer brother Yi-chuan (Fang Fan), both to the dismay of his bitter working class mother who disapproves of her sons leading their lives as struggling musicians. Chi-Chiang gets his 15 minutes of fame with the patronage of the beautiful well-heeled promoter Li-Chen (Lily Ho) seeking a replacement for the drummer & lover (Chen Hung Lieh) who was tempted away by a rival promoter. Chih-chuan wins a televised jazz drumming contest against his rival and achieves new-found fame but not without further obstacles including his mother s (Kao Pao Shu) disapproval, his rival s jealously, his rival s vamp (Angela Yu Chien) girlfriend s advances and a chorus of shady denizens who inhabit the nightclub scene plotting for King Drummer s demise.