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Liu Yijun (guitarist)
Liu Yijun (), also known as Lao Wu (; lit. "Old Five") is a Chinese musician and artist, best known for his work as the former lead guitarist for seminal Chinese progressive metal band Tang Dynasty. He is often regarded as China's first guitar hero. Early life Liu was born in Tianjin, China. Most sources list his birth year as 1962, although one source specifies his birthday as 10 January 1963. "Lao Wu" was the fifth child in the family, and acquired the nickname early in his youth. The family moved to nearby Langfang in 1971, during the Cultural Revolution. Liu's older sister was involved in an arts-and-literature propaganda team; as a result, he grew up surrounded by musical instruments. He studied the erhu for two years during primary school. At the end of 1976, Liu got his first guitar. Upon failing the cutoff for the ''gaokao'' by ten points, Liu realized that music was the only way he could make a living, and threw himself into practicing guitar up to fifteen hours a day. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Liu (surname)
/ ( or ) is an East Asian surname. pinyin: in Mandarin Chinese, in Cantonese. It is the family name of the Han dynasty emperors. The character originally meant 'kill', but is now used only as a surname. It is listed 252nd in the classic text Hundred Family Surnames. Today, it is the 4th most common surname in Mainland China as well as one of the most common surnames in the world. Distribution In 2019 劉 was the fourth most common surname in Mainland China. Additionally, it was the most common surname in Jiangxi province. In 2013 it was found to be the 5th most common surname, shared by 67,700,000 people or 5.1% of the population, with the province with the most people being Shandong.中国四百大姓, 袁义达, 邱家儒, Beijing Book Co. Inc., 1 January 2013 Origin One source is that they descend from the Qí (祁) clan of Emperor Yao. For example the founding emperor of the Han dynasty (one of China's golden ages), Liu Bang ( Emperor Gaozu of Han) was a descendant o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Erhu
The ''erhu'' (; ) is a Chinese two-stringed bowed musical instrument, more specifically a spike fiddle, which may also be called a ''Southern Fiddle'', and is sometimes known in the Western world as the ''Chinese violin'' or a ''Chinese two-stringed fiddle''. It is used as a solo instrument as well as in small ensembles and large orchestras. It is the most popular of the huqin family of traditional bowed string instruments used by various ethnic groups of China. As a very versatile instrument, the erhu is used in both traditional and contemporary music arrangements, such as pop, rock and jazz. History The ''Erhu'' can be traced back to proto-Mongolic instruments which first appeared in China during the Tang dynasty. It is believed to have evolved from the '' Xiqin'' ( 奚 琴). The xiqin is believed to have originated from the Xi people located in current northeast China. The first Chinese character of the name of the instrument ( 二, ''èr'', two) is believed to come fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zhang Ju (musician)
Zhang Ju (Chinese: 张炬; pinyin: ''Zhāng Jǜ'') (May 17, 1970 – May 11, 1995), was a Chinese musician, best known as the founding bassist and backing vocalist for the seminal progressive metal band Tang Dynasty. Early life and career Zhang was born into a Tujia family in Hunan province. As a child, he showed an interest in athletics, winning second place in the national high jump competition. He received his first guitar as a birthday present during his first year of junior high school. In 1987, Zhang formed a band with vocalist Gao Qi and guitarist Cao Ping, switching to bass as they did not yet have a bass player. The band soon broke up due to ego clashes and musical differences. Zhang founded Tang Dynasty in February 1989 with Ding Wu and Kaiser Kuo, serving as the band's lead vocalist until mid-1991. The band's eponymous debut album, released in December 1992 on Magic Stone Records, was an unprecedented success, selling around 900,000 legal copies, and is conside ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Progressive Rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Initially termed "progressive pop", the style was an outgrowth of psychedelic bands who abandoned standard pop traditions in favour of instrumentation and compositional techniques more frequently associated with jazz, folk, or classical music. Additional elements contributed to its " progressive" label: lyrics were more poetic, technology was harnessed for new sounds, music approached the condition of "art", and the studio, rather than the stage, became the focus of musical activity, which often involved creating music for listening rather than dancing. Progressive rock is based on fusions of styles, approaches and genres, involving a continuous move between formalism and eclecticism. Due to its historical reception, the scope of progressiv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tang Dynasty (album)
''Tang Dynasty'' (Chinese language, Chinese: 唐朝; pinyin: ''Tángcháo''), also known as ''A Dream Return to Tang Dynasty'' (Chinese: 梦回唐朝; pinyin: ''Mènghuí Tángcháo'') is the eponymous debut studio album by China, Chinese Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Tang Dynasty (band), Tang Dynasty, released in China in December 1991 and internationally on December 11, 1992 by Rock Records, Magic Stone Records. The album is lauded as the first Chinese metal album, combining heavy metal and progressive rock with traditional Chinese folk styles, Chinese poetry, poetry, and Beijing opera vocal techniques. Background Tang Dynasty was officially formed in February 1989 by Americans Kaiser Kuo (guitar) and Andrew Szabo (drums), along with Beijing musicians Ding Wu (guitar) and Zhang Ju (musician), Zhang Ju (bass). However, the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, Tiananmen Square Protests forced Kuo and Szabo to leave China. The band went on hiatus, and Ding Wu moved to Xinjiang ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spin (magazine)
''Spin'' (stylized in all caps) is an American music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione, Jr. Now owned by Next Management Partners, the magazine is an online publication since it stopped issuing a print edition in 2012. History Early history ''Spin'' was established in 1985 by Bob Guccione, Jr. In August 1987, the publisher announced it would stop publishing ''Spin'', but Guccione Jr. retained control of the magazine and partnered with former MTV president David H. Horowitz to quickly revive the magazine. During this time, it was published by Camouflage Publishing with Guccione Jr. serving as president and chief executive and Horowitz as investor and chairman. In its early years, ''Spin'' was known for its narrow music coverage with an emphasis on college rock, grunge, indie rock, and the ongoing emergence of hip-hop, while virtually ignoring other genres, such as country and metal. It pointedly provided a national alternative to ''Rolling Stone's'' more e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rock Records
The Rock Records Co., Ltd. () commonly known as Rock Records (), is a record label based in Taipei, Taiwan. Founded in the 1980s as the Rock Music Publishing (滾石有聲出版社; ) by Tuan Chung-tan and Tuan Chung-i, It is the largest record label in Chinese-speaking world and the second largest independent record label in Asia. Beside its headquarters in Taiwan, it also has locations in Japan, Singapore, Malaysia (acquired SCS in 1995 (Suara Cipta Sempurna, founded in the 1980s), South Korea and the Philippines. Distributors * Avex Group (Japan, former) * Nippon Crown (Japan, former) (until 1997) * Pony Canyon (Japan and South Korea) * Synergy Music / Ivory Music (Philippines) * Star Records (Philippines, former) (1997-????) Artists Singers * Wakin Chau (周華健) * Yorick Lau (刘洋) * Gary Chaw (曹格) * Ambrose Hui (許紹洋) * MC HotDog * Chang Chen-yue (張震嶽) * Nine Chen (陳零九) * Shi Shi (孫盛希) * MJ116 Groups * Astro Bunny () * New Formosa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kaiser Kuo
Kaiser Kuo (; born March 7, 1966) is a Chinese American freelance writer and musician. Career Kaiser previously worked as director for international communications for Chinese search engine Baidu. Before that he was a technology correspondent for '' Red Herring'' magazine, and also worked as director of digital strategy, China, for Ogilvy & Mather in Beijing. He used to write a column for the foreigner-focused English-language magazine ''The Beijinger'' from 2001 to 2011. In 2010, Kaiser started the Sinica show, a current affairs podcast based in Beijing that invites prominent China journalists and China-watchers to participate in uncensored discussions about Chinese political and economic affairs. Guests and co-hosts have included Gady Epstein, Mary Kay Magistad of Public Radio International, Tania Branigan of ''The Guardian'', Evan Osnos of ''The New Yorker'', Arthur Kroeber of Dragonomics, Jeremy Goldkorn of Danwei and Bill Bishop, founder of CBS MarketWatch. Sinica was rec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tiananmen Square Protests Of 1989
The Tiananmen Square protests, known in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident (), were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing during 1989. In what is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or in Chinese the June Fourth Clearing () or June Fourth Massacre (), troops armed with assault rifles and accompanied by tanks fired at the demonstrators and those trying to block the military's advance into Tiananmen Square. The protests started on 15 April and were forcibly suppressed on 4 June when the government declared martial law and sent the People's Liberation Army to occupy parts of central Beijing. Estimates of the death toll vary from several hundred to several thousand, with thousands more wounded. The popular national movement inspired by the Beijing protests is sometimes called the '89 Democracy Movement () or the Tiananmen Square Incident (). The protests were precipitated by the death of pro-reform Chinese Communist Party (CCP) general secretary Hu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ding Wu
Ding Wu () (born December 30, 1962) is a Chinese musician, best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the seminal progressive metal band Tang Dynasty. His distinct, wailing falsetto draws influences from Beijing Opera. Early life and career Ding Wu was born in Beijing. His father was a soldier in the People's Liberation Army, and his mother was a Party cadre. He took up drawing at age 3. In 1968, Ding and his family relocated to Manchuria, moving back to Beijing in 1972. As a result, he did not attend school until he was ten years old. Ding developed an interest in Beijing Opera at around age 8, and picked up the guitar in 1976. He was admitted to the Beijing School of Arts and Crafts in 1978, where he was first exposed to rock music, and formed his first bands with his peers. Upon graduating in 1982 with a degree in fine arts, Ding took a job teaching basic art at Beijing's No. 132 Secondary School. However, he resigned the following year after the school dema ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zhao Nian
Tang Dynasty () is a Chinese rock band formed in 1989. They are often credited as being the first Chinese heavy metal band. Biography Singer and rhythm guitarist Ding Wu, bassist Zhang Ju, and Chinese-American guitarist Kaiser Kuo co-founded Tang Dynasty in early 1989. Kaiser left shortly after to return to the United States. Liu "Lao Wu" Yijun took his place and, according to Kaiser, went on to become China's first "guitar hero." In 1991, the band released its metal/rock version of "The Internationale" in Chinese. Tang Dynasty rose to fame with their eponymous debut album, released in December 1992. The album officially sold about 2,000,000 authentic copies throughout Asia and abroad, not counting the multitudes more of infringing copies. Their sound is part progressive rock and artistic metal and part traditional Chinese vocal technique. The lyrical poetry and musical arrangements meant to hearken back to the glorious days of ancient Chinese civilization; in particular, t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cui Jian
Cui Jian ( zh, c=崔健, p=Cuī Jiàn, ; born 2 August 1961) is a Beijing-based Chinese singer-songwriter, trumpeter and guitarist. Affectionately called "Old Cui" (), he pioneered Chinese rock music. For this distinction Cui Jian is often labeled "The Father of Chinese Rock".Gunde, Richard. 002(2002) Culture and Customs of China. Greenwood Press. Early career Cui Jian grew up in a musical family in Beijing—his father was ethnic Korean and a professional trumpet player, and his mother was a member of a Korean dance troupe. Cui Jian followed his father to start playing the trumpet at the age of fourteen. He joined the Beijing Symphony Orchestra in 1981, at the age of twenty. He was first introduced to rock during this period when friends smuggled in illicit recordings from Hong Kong and Bangkok. Inspired by the likes of Simon and Garfunkel and John Denver, Cui began learning to play the guitar. In 1984 he formed his first band, Qi He Ban (七合板, literally "Seven-Ply Boa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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