Endnotes
- All translations of song titles and lyrics, related interview notes,
and TV documents, are the author’s own, unless stated otherwise.
- Chinese pop songs of the 1980s were close but not exactly identical to
Western pop songs at that time. Melodically, these songs were rooted
in the Chinese folk song and lyrical song (shuqing gequ ), which
were well known in the revolutionary era and before, for instance, in
the adoption of a de-localized traditional music style and a
preference for high pitches and fast speeds. Meanwhile, they were
rhythmically and instrumentally updated to Western popular music
ideals to appeal to the interest and aesthetics of ordinary people. As
such, the 1980s’ pop songs can be seen as transitional between the
style of the lyrical songs of the revolutionary era and the more
radically Westernized pop song styles of the 1990s and afterwards.
- The middle-aged musicians were those born in the 1930s-40s, and they
introduced and launched local pop music writing in the early 1980s.
Their works combined the melodic writing of revolutionary songs with
some aspects of Western pop music in rhythm, vocal style, or
instrumentation. On this foundation and with the support of the
middle-aged musicians, a younger generation of pop musicians (born in
the 1950s-60s) emerged and performed from the mid-1980s.
- Interview with Fu Lin, Beijing, 1 September 2008.
- A cipher notation is available at
http://www.gepuwang.net/gepu/44572.html, accessed 4 May 2017.
- Interview with Jin Zhaojun, Beijing, 23 August 2008.
- Generally speaking, official lyrical song during the 1980s developed
from the lyrical songs of the 1950s and 1960s which emphasized
emotional expression, showing this characteristic via expressive
melodies and highly-skilled composition synthesis of Chinese classical
music, traditional folk music, and Western musical techniques. The
lyrics usually praise the prosperity of the nation and the people’s
merits (Qian, 2011: 46-58, 253).
- “Blood-Stained Dignity” was written in 1986,
lyrics by Chen Zhe, music by Su Yue.
- The term “Northwest wind” literally means the style of Northwest
China. The genre combines folk characteristics (mainly melodic
patterns and vocal delivery) of the Northwest with a strong, fast,
disco-rock beat in the “easy listening” style typical of the
so-called gangtai pop songs of Hong Kong and Taiwan during this
period (Baranovitch, 2003: 19).
- Interview Chen Zhe, Beijing, 29 December 2009.
- Interview with Fu Lin, Beijing, 1 September 2008.
- The notation is transcribed from the live performance in the 1987
Spring Festival.
春晚回忆1987--血染的风采
- YouTube, accessed on 16 December 2020.
- Interview with Chen Zhe, Beijing, 29 December 29 2009.
- The description is both from documentary collections of The Tiananmen
Square protests and also interviews with the musicians who claimed
themselves were on sites during the protests.
- “Stinking ninth” was a term of abuse applied by ultra-leftists to
educated people, especially in the Cultural Revolution; see Schwarcz
(1994: 177).
- River Elegy.
大陆经典禁片《河殇》
(3小时完整版) - YouTube, 1:46:56, written by Wang Luxiang, accessed
on 14 December 2020. Also refers to the book He Shang (Su and Wang,
1988)
- Interview with Chen Zhe, 29 December 2009.
- In the “Resisting Spiritual Pollution Campaign” of 1983-84 there was
a rule that no more than three popular musicians were allowed to play
in any official performance.
- Wang Jian was also the lyricist of “The Sentiment of the Leaves for
the Root”, discussed above. It is interesting to note that message
that the song’s romantic title (“Fill the World with Love”) came
from this middle-aged woman rather than from any of the four younger
male lyricists.
- Interview with Xu Peidong, Beijing, 27 August 2008.
- Interview with Chen Zhe, Beijing, 29 December 2009.
- The live performance is available at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCQBXZMcYPA, accessed on 14 December
2020.
- Interview with Cai Guoqing, one of the 108 singers in performance, on
the program Yishu rensheng 艺术人生, China Central Television
3, 4 October 2012. The live performance can be seen at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCQBXZMcYPA, accessed on 14 December
2020.
- “The Devotion of Love”, lyrics by Huang Shiqi, music by Liu Shizhao,
sung by Wei Wei in 1989.
- “Longing”, lyrics by Yi Ming, music by Lei Lei, sung by Mao Aming in
1990.
- “Peace be with You”, lyrics and music by Liu Qing, sung by Sui Yue
in 1994.
- Damucang salon was held in the outskirts of Beijing every two weeks
for about two years from March 14, 1987. The role of the salon was to
encourage innovative song writing. Composers, lyricists, and singers
nationwide were invited there to communicate, share new works, and
find potential collaborators.
- Interview with Xu Peidong, Beijing, 27 August 2008.
- The song is on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGGPE2QJs7E, accessed
on 17 December 2020.
- The content of the article was taken from the recollections of my
interviewee Chen Zhe, Beijing, 29 December 2009. For better
understanding the description of ‘a heap of sand’ in Chinese context,
refers to (Poole 1993).