(c) 2011 jonathan campbell, all rights reserved
1980
1986
1969
1981
1985
Wan Li Ma Wang, the first home-grown band, form at the Number Two Foreign Language Institute. They cover Western pop tunes.
1984
1989
Part IV: The Eighties
Rock seeps in; yaogun seeps through
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NEXT: Part V: The Nineties
The opening up of yaogun
1980
1989
1982
1986
AC/DC’s Back in Black and U2’s Boy released; John Lennon shot.
The Dragons’ Parfum de la Revolution.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame established; first inductees: Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Fats Domino, Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis.
Wham! disbands;
Mettalica’s Master of Puppets, Bon Jovi’s Slippery When Wet released.
1984
Band-Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”
September: Dr Feelgood by Mötley Crüe
1988
Guns n’ Roses’ Appetite for Destruction, Public Enemy’s It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back and Sonic Youth’s Daydream Nation released; CDs outsell vinyl for first time.
Meanwhile...
Gang of Four trial; Cui Jian joins the Beijing Song and Dance Ensemble
Pop-cover septet Seven-Ply Board formed.
Wham! performs in Beijing and Guangzhou.
Surf-rockers Jan and Dean perform seven nights’ of shows in Shanghai; student protests in Shanghai may or may not be linked to audience-authority conflicts.
findallvideo.com
vcstar.com
1987
Cui Jian officially leaves the Beijing Song and Dance Ensemble.
bjd.com.cn
rockinchina.com
May 1989: Cui Jian performs at Tiananmen Square for hunger strikers; Mayday (He Yong’s band) performs at the Square as well. Martial law is declared on May 20.
Feb: China/Avant Garde Exhibition at the National Gallery of Art
March: Cui Jian’s Rock and Roll on the Long March album release concerts
April: Much-loved leader Hu Yaobang dies; thousands flock to Tiananmen to pay respects, call for the rehabilitation of his legacy and, after his funeral, attempt to present a petition to Premier Li Peng.
June 4: Crackdown of demonstrators; estimates of casualties range from the hundreds to the thousands.
artspeakchina.org
en.artintern.net
underthejacaranda.blogspot.com
kasamaproject.org
facsimilemagazine.com
Jean Michel Jarre concerts in Beijing and Shanghai
Cui Jian sings “Nothing to My Name” at the Let the World Be Full of Love concert.
