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Songs you can't play on Beijing radio

Here's a list of songs that are apparently banned from Beijing radio. A blogger going by the name of aside2006 snapped a camera-phone picture of the notice, which was posted at a company where he had an interview. The notice was not dated, but aside2006 said that it did not look new.

According to a notice from the Beijing Station, the following artists and songs are prohibited from being played during programs. Everyone in the department is urged to pay attention.

Artists: Teresa Teng 邓丽君, Hou Dejian 侯德健, Guan Guimin 关贵敏, Dong Wenhua 董文华, A-Mei 张惠妹

Luo Dayou 罗大佑: Pearl of the Orient 《东方之珠》, Queen's Road East 《皇后大道东》, Song of the Dwarf 《侏儒之歌》, Nighttime in the Capital 《京城夜》, 72 Transformations 《现象七十二变》

Cui Jian 崔健: Balls Under the Red Flag 《红旗下的蛋》, A Piece of Red Cloth 《一块红布》, Last Shot 《最后一枪》, Nanniwan 《南泥湾》

Qi Qin 齐秦: Memorial Day 《纪念日》

Julie Su 苏芮: Dream of Beiping 《北平的梦》, Steel Heart 《钢铁的心》

Ye Bei 叶蓓: The Years of Fluttering White Clothes 《白衣飘飘的年代》

Beyond: Great Wall 《长城》, Peasants 《农民》

Huang Shujun 黄舒骏: Changes 1995 《改变1995》

Jay Chou 周杰伦: Last Battle 《最后的战役》

Other: Out of the Great Wall 《出塞曲》, Night Jasmine 《夜来香》, Nighttime Shanghai 《夜上海》, Plum Blossom 《梅花》, When Will You Return? 《何日君再来》, China Nights 《支那之夜》, Green Island Nocturne 《绿岛小夜曲》Wild Flowers 《路边的野花不要采》

Thanks to William for recognizing Guan Guimin, a tenor popular in the late 70s who now practices FLG.

The Beijing radio station is understandably not very familiar with these songs, since the original text (see link below) has several typos - both Huang Shujun and Hou Dejian have their names miswritten, and the title of "Beijing Night" had an extra character.

Politics accounts for the inclusion of many of these songs - some are elegies for 1989, others are related to Taiwan and Hong Kong relations. Teresa Teng gave famous renditions of many of the "Other" songs, which probably accounts for their presence. Others are head-scratchers - Pearl of the Orient is not only familiar to practically everyone, but it has even been listed in collections of "patriotic songs."

Update: ESWN sends in the following explanation of the Other category:

- Night Jasmine, Nighttime Shanghai, When Will You Return?, China Nights were popular among the Japanese before WWII. So this is a Sino-Japanese issue, regardless of who sings them.
- Green Island Nocturne was the song for political dissidents (and gangsters) sent to prison on Green Island to the southeast of Taiwan during the period of White Terror under Chiang regimes. So this song may be taken to be the anthem of political dissidents.
- Plum Blossom is a plagiarized Korean tune used by a Taiwan director in a 'patriotic' (i.e. War of Resistance Against Japan) movie in Taiwan of the same name.

Most of the songs are downloadable through Baidu's MP3 search.

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Comments on Songs you can't play on Beijing radio

very interesting

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