Media file:
mus. 2.5
Title:
Red is the East goes Chinese Pop: Zhao Dadi
Source:
Heidelberg catalogue entry, DACHS Archive
Keywords:
Red is the East, contemporary China, Pop, Jazz, red sun, Red Sun Fever, Chinese folksongs, traditional Chinese music

Red is the East goes Chinese Pop: Zhao Dadi

Numerous remakes of such MaoMusic have been and continue to be released. In some cases, the government plays “a role in the musical equation” (Tuohy 2001, 17), but this role remains difficult to grasp. What, for example, would the government think of one of the more ingenious variations of “Red Is the East,” Zhao Dadi’s 赵大地 (1965–) remake mixing elements from Chinese folk songs, suona (唢呐, an ear-piercing Chinese reed-instrument), Chinese gongs, Hammond organ, and pop strings to be heard here? Even in this exuberant version, with the interjected howls and cheers so typical of Chinese folksong and its relative lack of the seriousness and devotion that had been part and parcel of earlier versions of the song, its musical message can still be considered one of reverence or, at least, of continuous memory.