[Originally posted in early 2010; first reposted in August 2011. See recent articles I wrote on Chinese punk here and here.]
After 10 years of bodega diving, very little surprises or shocks me. When I picked up, last summer in Brighton Beach, a Russian CD featuring on the cover two large shirtless orthodox Jewish guys made up to look like walruses, complete with huge tusks, I pretty much figured I'd seen and heard it all.
Not so, as it turns out. I found Red Rock in one of my favorite Bowery Video stores, all way the in the back of the joint, where they keep the stuff from Korea and mainland China.
The rock versions of these communist songs are intentionally ironic; artists include Cuī Jiàn, whose "Balls under the Red Flag" I posted here.
In addition to a lot of the music on this admittedly uneven collection, I love the list of songs as translated into English on the back cover:
The long march newly on the road shakes to roll
The Chinese people's liberation army army song
Socialism is good
The internationale
The small bird
Member of a society all is a light exposed to the sun
Brother
Colorful clothes clothing
Ideal and peace
Leave oil lamp light
The Chinese people's volunteer battle song
The detachment of women even song
We walk on the main road
The egg under the red flag
Nanniwan area
Not own a thing in the world [this is actually Cuī Jiàn's legendary anthem "Nothing to My Name"]
Feel too ashamed to show the face
Is not that I am in vain unknown
The end rises lucky its tommy gun
The tunnel warfare
The holding in arms armed forces flower drum
Learn the good good example of Lei Feng
The rambles in the sky
Big production
Mans and wives are in pairs the family still
It is full of water
Greenhouse girl
Together Hong Bu
Girl is handsome
Elder sister
The ant ant
The river water of folk song in the spring of Caing be compared to
Beijing that good night
The beacon-fire Yangzhou road
The bird hovering
Check out this fabulously punked out video of Communist classic "She Hui Zhu Yi Hao" ("Socialism is good," the third track in Red Rock):
You messed up the tags so there is no way to know which artist did what song :(
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