chinese rock

11 Things: Chinese Rock

Thursday, March 1, 2007

1. China Cat Sunflower: Grateful Dead's "Aoxomoxoa" (1969): "Look for a while/ at the China Cat Sunflower/ proud-walking jingle/ in the midnight sun." Add "I Know You Rider," bake lightly and dance.

2. China My China: Brian Eno's "Taking Tiger Mountain (by Strategy)" (1974): "In the haze of the morning, China sits on Eternity/ And the opium farmers sell dreams to obscure fraternities." Eno discovers postcards of a Maoist opera in San Francisco.

3. Kung-Fu Fighting: Carl Douglas (1974): "Everybody was Kung Fu fighting/ those kids were fast as lightning ..." In fact, the Soul Train video was a little bit fright'ning: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Rp8FR7p_Is.

4. Chinese Rocks: Dee Dee Ramone, Richard Hell (1976): "I'm living on Chinese rocks/ all my best things are in hock." Ramone wrote it, then the Heartbreakers played it, then Johnny Thunders took credit for it....

5. China Girl: Iggy Pop's "The Idiot" (1977), David Bowie's "Let's Dance" (1983): "I'll give you television/ I'll give you eyes of blue/ I'll give you men who want to rule the world." Iggy + Bowie = odd.

6. Chinese Radiation: Pere Ubu's "The Modern Dance" (1978): "He'll be the red guard/ She'll be the new world." Agreeable dissonance.

7. I Like Chinese: Monty Python's "Contractual Obligation Album" (1980): "I like their tiny little trees/ Their zen, their ping-pong/ their yin and yang-eze." Yang-eze?

8. Chinese Takeaway: The Adicts' "Sound of Music" (1982): "Hey, hey I want a Chinese takeaway/ Hey, hey, woo woo woo ..." Best song on this list.

9. Chinese Fire Drill: Mike Watt's "Ball-Hog or Tugboat" (1995): "Another day breaks, maybe I will too ..." Co-written with Joe Carducci.

10. Chinese Bombs: Blur's "Blur" (1997): "Bruce Lee come, save the day." Hurry, Bruce!

11. Ancient Chinese Secret Blues: Clem Snide's "The Ghost of Fashion" (2001): "How could you say that?/ You just opened your mouth/ now I haven't the courage to stay ..." Calgon, take me away.

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