Chinese rock
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (September 2023) |
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Chinese rock (Chinese: 中国摇滚; pinyin: Zhōngguó yáogǔn; also simplified Chinese: 中国摇滚音乐; traditional Chinese: 中國搖滾音樂; pinyin: Zhōngguó yáogǔn yīnyuè, lit. "Chinese rock and roll music") is a wide variety of rock and roll music made by rock bands and solo artists from Mainland China (other regions such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau are considered separate scenes).Rock music as an independent music genre first appeared in China in the 1980s. Typically,Chinese rock is described as an anti-traditional instrument, a music that defies mainstream ideology, commercial establishment, and cultural hegemony. Chinese rock is a fusion of forms integrating Western popular music and traditional Chinese music.[1][2]
History
The Northwest Wind (1980s)
Rock music did not take hold in Mainland China until the end of the
Chinese rock had its origins in
Many Northwest Wind songs were highly idealistic and heavily political, parodying or alluding to the revolutionary songs of the Communist state, such as "Nanniwan" and "The Internationale". It is associated with a non-Communist national music perspective instead of CCP revolutionary fervor. The music reflected disillusionment among Chinese youth, as well as the growing influence of Western concepts such as individuality and self-empowerment. Both the music and lyrics articulated a sense of pride in the independence and power of the northwest's peasantry. Songs such as "Sister Go Boldly Forward" (《妹妹你大胆的往前走》) came to represent an earthy, virile masculine (Yang) image of Mainland China, as opposed to the soft (Yin), civilized, polished urban gangtai HongKong style.
Birth of Chinese rock and roll (1984)
The birthplace of Chinese rock was the city of Beijing.[7] In the nation's capital, rock music was highly politicized and open to a wide range of foreign influences. For most of the 1980s, rock music existed on the margins, represented by live performances in small bars and hotels. The music was almost exclusively the domain of university students and "underground" bohemian intelligentsia circles. By the late 1989 and early 1990 Chinese rock partially emerged into mainstream music as a combination of the growing popularity of Northwest Wind and prison song fads.
The first Chinese rock song was arguably the Northwest Wind anthem "
In the spring of 1989, "Nothing To My Name" became the de facto anthem of the student protestors at
Prison songs (1988–1989)
"
Popular Chinese rock (1990–1993)
After the Tiananmen Square protests, rock became part of general urban youth Chinese culture. Its rise from the margins was celebrated on 17 and 18 February 1990, when Beijing's largest ever all-rock concert was held in the Capital Gymnasium, one of the city's largest halls. The concert featured six rock bands, among them are Cui Jian's ADO and Tang Dynasty. The criterion that the organizers set as qualification to participate was "originality".
Chinese rock reached a peak of creativity and popularity between 1990 and 1993. In 1991, the glam metal band Black Panther released their self-titled debut album. With glossy production and hard rock melodies backing the sincere voice of lead singer
Rock goes underground, earns newfound respect (1994-1998)
By 1994, mainstream popularity of Chinese rock slowly began to ebb, due in no small part to strict
With the tragedy of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain's death in 1994, a new underground movement emerged in popular music. That year, former Black Panther frontman Dou Wei released Dark Dreams. This album marked a complete departure from his "glam metal" days. Instead, this album emphasized thicker and more jangly guitars. Dou sang in a thin, almost apathetic drone-like voice and began experimenting with gothic and electronic sounds. This innovative direction earned him a whole new kind of reputation, as well as credibility in the alternative culture movement. Another unlikely figure in the scene was the father of Chinese rock himself, Cui Jian. A rare compilation album, titled "Rock Pioneers" was also released. The album showcased raw, rather unorthodox playing styles, as well as a rejection (even sometimes a mockery) of mainstream rock music. With the exception of Dream, the only band on the compilation to achieve mainstream success was Than Man, who went on to revitalize the popularity of rock back for "the masses." Self-styled punk He Yong fiercely resisted cantopop imitators on the mainland. His only album, Garbage Dump, was embraced by alienated Chinese youth, and earned him an enormous cult following. In 1995, a handful of younger punk bands (Brain Failure, Reflector, A Jerks, and 69) produced an album called "Wuliao Contingent," (无聊军队, alternate translation "Battalion of Boredom") representing the boredom and frustration collectively felt within the urban landscape. At the forefront was Brain Failure, the most successful of these bands, who continue to tour internationally with their ska/punk sound. English is used to both express what Chinese lyrics cannot, and also to crossover to the Western music market. In 1998 Hang on the Box were formed, the first all-girl Chinese punk band. One of the significant turning points for rock was Cui Jian's performance with The Rolling Stones in 2003 at the age of 42. It opened the genre to the rest of the world for the first time.
In December 1994, Dou Wei, Zhang Chu, He Yong and "Tang Dynasty" participated in the concert held at Hung Hom Stadium in Hong Kong.This is an extremely important concert in the history of Chinese rock music, filled with media from all over the world and nearly 10,000 Hong Kong audiences, Hong Kong people were shocked by the music brought by mainland Chinese rock bands.
In November 1994, the band "43 Baojia Street" was established at the Central Conservatory of Music, with Wang Feng as the lead vocalist.In 1995, he formed "43 Baojia Street" as the soul vocalist.His first album, 43 Bow Street, was released in 1997.In 1998, she released her second album, Storm Comes.In 2000, the band disbanded, and that same year Wang Feng released the album "Flower Fire".In 2002, she released her album Love is a Bullet for Happiness.In 2004, he released the album "Smiling and Crying".In 2005, the album "Raging Life" was released.[11][12]
Rock Revival (2000–present)
This section possibly contains original research. (September 2007) |
From 2000 to 2004
- Director Kevin Fritz:
The film Wasted Orient is what it is pure and simple. It's honest. It is the true way of Chinese rock n' roll. It's not glamorous. It's filthy. It's filled with despair. It's very unwanted in that society and is shown in its citizens' apathetic response to it
Presently, Chinese rock enjoys a new media forum in the popular Chinese television program, the "Pepsi Battle of the Bands" (百事群音) [4] a weekly live program featuring top 10 Rock bands from all over China who compete for weekly survival. Each Episode features guest Celebrities such as, Cui Jian, Paul Wong, Richie Jen, Wang Feng, Van Fan, Jolin Tsai, Mayday, and Show Lo to name a few. The show is sponsored by Pepsi, and produced by Ato Ato Integrated Media.
The Beijing Midi Modern School of Music and Music Festival
Another important step in the development of Chinese rock music had been the Beijing Midi School of Music in Beijing.Beijing Midi Music School is the first modern music school in China approved by the Beijing Haidian District Board of Education. Established 1993 by Zhang Fan, it was the first school nationally to offer classes for jazz music and rock music. When the school was established in early 1993, it established a clear purpose of running the school: to spread the theory of modern music of the arts and humanities, and to educate and promote exquisite modern music interpretation techniques. Modern music covers blues, jazz, rock, pop, Latin, country, funk, and various genres of music developed from the beginning of the last century, as well as various styles of music derived from them.Started as a school festival in 1999, the Midi Modern Music Festival advanced to the largest rock music festival nationally with up to 80000 visitors and over 100 bands. Both the school and the festival supported the underground scene across the country and opened the door for over 18 foreign bands in 2006 to perform at the festival and elsewhere in the country. (i.e. Alev, Monokino, Yokohama Music Association, The Wombats, etc.).[14]
In addition to the Midi school, the Painkiller heavy music magazine started efforts to bring bands such as Edguy, Lacrimosa and Hatesphere to China and organized tours of the country for them. Especially in the metal and gothic genres these tours are considered milestones in China.
The 2008 Olympics and the Sichuan earthquake
A major drawback for the music scene in general was the cancellation of several events leading up to the
The Sichuan earthquake in general shook the music scene and spawned dozens of "We are together" and "Think of Sichuan" gigs and charity events throughout Beijing and other cities. London Chinese Radio made a Special Earthquake Edition on their New Sounds of China podcast to cover this.[16]
The Shanghai Scene
Historically more open to the outside, Shanghai is home to musicians from around the world. The unofficial home of the local jazz scene is JZ club while DJs and Electronic Producers frequently play The Shelter. Underground rock bands converge at Yuyintang. The 2010 World Expo and auxiliary events brought legal limitations to live performances and dried up venues temporarily, even censoring Shanghainese indie rock band Top Floor Circus.[17] But since late 2010, Shanghai has seen a surge in concert goers, bands and live music venues with websites, blogs and independent record labels in English and Chinese dedicated to promoting concerts and artists.[18] With Shanghai being the home of the most creative young talents, high school students also became well-involved in the city's rock scene. From 2010 to 2014, BRR Shanghai High School Music Festival held by The BRR Shanghai High School Music League (a coalition of the best high school musicians in Shanghai founded by Xu Qifei) grew increasingly influential and started the trend of high school music festivals in Shanghai.[19][20][21][22]
Artists
Solo
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Bands
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Websites
Rock in China
The Rock in China website was founded by Yu Yang.[23] It began in April 2004 as a subsection of Painkiller titled "Metal in China" before being migrated to its own domain name in mid-2005.[24] Focused on Chinese rock, it had a bulletin board system, a wiki, album details, and musician biographies.[25][26] According to G1, it was "among the largest websites dedicated to promoting Chinese rock groups abroad".[23] The Insider's Guide to Beijing 2005–2006 called it "a hugely informative site", while Beijing Review's Fu Mao Gou said it was "the most comprehensive Web portal there is on Chinese rock".[25][27] The website operated until at least July 2010.[24]
See also
- Midi Modern Music Festival
- Beijing Pop Festival
- Modern Sky Festival
- C-pop
- Cantopop
- Chinese heavy metal
- Mandopop
- Taiwanese rock
Notes
- ^ Gao, xingjian (2013). ""Mountains and seas" : a Chinese rock musical / Hua li yao gun yin yue ju "Shan hai jing zhuan"".
- ISBN 9781489635938.
- ^ "Peking Music". Graham Earnshaw. Archived from the original on 8 June 2017. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
- ^ Published online, by Cambridge University Press (2001-04-20). "Yaogun Yinyue: rethinking mainland Chinese rock 'n' roll".
- ISBN 0-89608-427-2
- ^ Steen, Andreas (2000). "Sound, Protest and Business. Modern Sky Co. and the New Ideology of Chinese Rock". Berliner China-Hefte (19).
- ^ ISBN 0-8223-2694-9
- ISBN 978-1-4773-1654-2.
- ^ YOU, TUBE. "迟志强,歌曲集锦".
- ^ Sou, hu (2022-12-05). "演员迟志强:21岁犯"流氓罪",26岁结婚和妻子至今恩爱34年".
- ^ Dou, ban. "鲍家街43号".
- ^ You, tube. "Album "43 Baojia Street"".
- ^ WastedOrient. "WastedOrient Archived 2007-07-18 at the Wayback Machine." Wasted Orient: The Official Rock n' Roll Film of Joyside. Retrieved on 2007-04-10.
- ^ Du, shuiya (2023-01-20). "The young people of Beijing's "Midi" school, and the life they choose".
- ^ "Midi Music Festival 2008 - Rock in China Wiki". 2008-06-28. Archived from the original on 2008-06-28. Retrieved 2023-09-25.
- ^ "New Sounds of China – Episode III / 中国新声:三 | 倫敦華語 London Huayu". 2011-10-07. Archived from the original on 2011-10-07. Retrieved 2023-09-25.
- ^ Shanghaiist. "[1]." Shanghaiist: Shanghai doesn't welcome you video harmonized off Youku. Retrieved on 2009-12-15.
- ^ Rock in China Wiki. "[2] Archived 2012-02-02 at the Wayback Machine." Rock In China Wiki: Shanghai blogs and websites about the scene. Retrieved on 2012-02-22.
- ^ Shanghai Daily "[3]." Shanghai Daily: High School Bands Rock Retrieved on 2013-02-14
- ^ "Yangpu District Government - English version home page". Archived from the original on 2015-12-22. Retrieved 2015-12-18.
- ^ "娱乐频道_凤凰网".
- ^ "上海新航道学校Brr2013暑期高中生音乐节成功举办".
- ^ a b Efe, Da (2009-09-13). "Programa que caça-talentos musicais é fenômeno na TV chinesa" [Musical talent scouting program is a phenomenon on Chinese TV]. G1 (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 2023-09-25. Retrieved 2023-09-25.
- ^ a b "Rock in China Wiki:About". Rock in China. 2010-07-25. Archived from the original on 2010-08-06. Retrieved 2023-09-25.
- ^ .
- .
- ^ Gou, Fu Mao (2009-08-13). "The Rise of Metal" (pages 1 and 2). Beijing Review. Archived from the original (pages 1 and 2) on 2023-09-25. Retrieved 2023-09-25.
References
- Campbell, Jonathan (2011). Red Rock: The Long Strange March of Chinese Rock and Roll Earnshaw Books. Video of Campbell discussing his book.
- Jones, Andrew F. (1992). Like a Knife: Ideology and Genre in Contemporary Chinese Popular Music. Ithaca, New York: East Asia Program, Cornell University.
- Wong, Cynthia P. (2005). “‘Lost Lambs’: Rock, Gender, Authenticity, and a Generational Response to Modernity in the People's Republic of China.” Ph.D. dissertation. New York, New York: Columbia University, 2005.
- Brace, Timothy L.(1992). " Modernization and Music in Contemporary China: Crisis, Identity, and the Politics of Style." Ph.D. dissertation. Austin, Texas: University of Texas, 1992.
- Steen, Andreas. Der Lange Marsch des Rock'n'Roll, Pop- und Rockmusik in der Volksrepublik China. Berlin: LIT Verlag. ISBN 3-8258-2941-3
- Amar, Nathanel. (2022). "‘We come from the underground’: grounding Chinese punk in Beijing and Wuhan", Popular Music, Volume 41, Issue 2, pp. 170 - 193.
Compilations
- 2003 - Beijing Band 2001: New Rock Bands from the People's Republic of China. Kemaxiu Music.
External links
- Band forming timeline since 1984
- timeline of all Chinese rock/punk/metal records over the last 20 years
- Chinese Rock Database (Japanese, some English)
- Rock in China (detailed archive about Chinese rock music in English)
- Rock in China - Wiki (wiki system about Chinese rock music in English)
- Heavy Metal Magazine from China: Painkiller Mag
- Beijing Beat Regular column on the Chinese Music Scene.
- Live at the Forbidden City Musician/author Dennis Rea's memoir of the early Chinese rock scene.
- "A History of Chinese Rock: Post-Punk, Post-Politics and Post-Putonghua" An analysis of the stylistic development of rock in China
- "The Sound Stage" A web video series produced by China Radio International in Beijing about underground Chinese music
- "Fa Zi's Chinese Rock & Roll History" Musician/author Kevin Salveson's memoir of the YuanMingYuan and Chinese rock scene in the early 1990s.
Radio stations playing Chinese rock
- 华流另类AllChinaAlternative https://web.archive.org/web/20090222033724/http://www.live365.com/stations/bluemonty2
- 伦敦华语 London Chinese Radio http://www.londonhuayu.co.uk/
Listening
- Interview with Dennis Rea about early Chinese rock, from KUOW, November 9, 2006
- "A History of Chinese Rock: Post-Punk, Post-Politics and Post-Putonghua" An analysis of the stylistic development of rock in China Paul Kendall April 2009