“A vivid and faithful description of Chinese rock, Campbell has achieved a significant feat with this book.”
Hao Fang, former Rolling Stone (China) editor; music critic; author

(c) Jonathan Campbell all rights reserved

“In this dazzling account of contemporary Chinese music, Campbell convinces us that there is always more than what we think we understand as popular music, there is always more than what we think we understand as China.”
Jeroen de Kloet, author, China With a Cut, Assistant Professor of Media Studies, University of Amsterdam

“The story of Chinese rock music is a complicated and colorful one, which Campbell tells in an engagingly passionate way…[A] rollicking account of how a global genre was transformed as it sank down roots in a very special setting.”
Jeffrey Wasserstrom, author, China in the 21st Century: What Everyone Needs to Know

“Campbell is the most objective observer of Chinese music I’ve come into contact with... He doesn’t employ a completely foreign perspective of exploiting the Chinese aesthetic, nor is he mislead by the Chinese self-consciousness. It is rare to see this kind of impartiality in promoting Chinese music. We hope he can continue to contribute to an understanding and promotion of Chinese music abroad.”
Zhong Sheng, managing director, Pilot Records

“Musician, journalist, tour manager, van driver, guanxi master, barstool philosopher, old-school Beijinger -- Campbell is the insider's insider and the perfect person to chronicle the rollicking rise of rock in China. “
Adam Pillsbury, managing editor, Insider's Guide to Beijing

“Campbell gives us a creation story for a one of the world's newest musical genres…that is both comfortingly familiar and disconcertingly different…[He] skillfully blends a unique history of modern China with a series of vivid dispatches from the frontiers of rock. The ancient rhythms of East meets West have rarely been played out so intensely or at such a raucous volume.”
Jonathan Watts, author of When a Billion Chinese Jump

“Campbell, has worked quietly and tirelessly to introduce and promote Chinese rock to the world while involved as a musician as well. His book...[demonstrates] his insight into each generation, band and artist…Campbell is the most qualified and capable writer to have undertaken this project. In the rock community here, we hold the same respect for the author as China does for Dr. [Norman] Bethune. Campbell has made China’s business his own; he shares our hopes and concerns. Whether inside or outside of China, Campbell is with us.”
Lü Bo, founder, Scream Records

Red Rock has the narrative power of a fine novel, and is at the same time a cogent work of historical analysis…Campbell brings together the seemingly diverse themes of the Chinese rock and roll movement, and shows how they came together to produce an experience unprecedented in Chinese life. Campbell's command of these themes is unexcelled; his ability to make the period live again is masterful. Red Rock ought to be the benchmark against which all future accounts of the phenomenon will be measured.”
Teng Jimeng, Center for American Studies at Beijing Foreign Studies University; author, Music-Made America: Popular Music since 1960's (Chinese); commentator at China Central Television and China Radio International

“No dusty research required, no distant Q&A’s necessary, as performer, promoter, writer and pure fan, Campbell was part of the Beijing rock scene when the needle hit the mainline. As an insider’s guide to the otherwise impenetrable world of what will become know as the golden period of Chinese rock music his book, pulsing with the energy of the country itself, its not only a fascinating read but an invaluable document.”
Steve Barker – BBC/On the Wire

“By examining Chinese rock in its wider cultural context and resisting the prevailing tendency to romanticize and overanalyze his subject, Campbell offers a lively, clear-eyed assessment of both the promise and failings of this potentially transformative cultural phenomenon.”
Dennis Rea, musician and author of Live at the Forbidden City: Musical Encounters in China & Taiwan

“Jonathan Campbell offers an enthusiastically written history of Chinese rock music... He succeeds in grasping the particular feeling – and meaning – of “yaogun”, which is bound to the Chinese context and “officially” began twenty five years ago. This book is highly recommendable to everybody interested in rock music, China or – even better – both.”  
Andreas Steen, author, “Der Lange Marsch des Rock’n’Roll” and numerous articles on yaogun, Aarhus University, DK  

“A brilliant exploration of the Chinese opening to rock & roll, from a keen observer on the front lines of cultural transformation.”
Ken Stringfellow, The Posies, R.E.M., Big Star

“Red Rock is an entertaining and illuminating romp through the weird world of Chinese rock and roll. Jon Campbell is the ultimate Beijing insider...”
Jan Wong, Red China Blues, Jan Wong's China, Beijing Confidential

“With consumerism the pervasive religion, freedoms taken for granted, and apathy rampant, the West largely has forgotten the power of rock 'n' roll -- if not to change the world, than at least to change ourselves (and that is much the same thing). In China, the music never has seemed more vital or necessary, and as an astute listener, sharp journalist, and excellent writer, Jonathan Campbell does an outstanding job explaining why.
Jim DeRogatis, author, rock critic, co-host of "Sound Opinions"”

“Jon Campbell spent a decade in the not always pleasant bowels of the Chinese rock scene, as a musician, promoter, tour organizer, entrepreneur and journalist. You couldn't ask for a better guide to Chinese rock.”
Jeremy Goldkorn, danwei.org and danwei.com

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Advanced Praise for
Red Rock: The Long, Strange March of Chinese Rock & Roll

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Independent Publishers Group

...Few people are better positioned to compile the first comprehensive study of China's rock scene than [Campbell]... a page-turner... a rare China book that isn't focused on politics or profits, simply people yearning for change and a stage.
Wall Street Journal April 13-15, 2012

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