In the early 1990s, China Fire was the most influential record brand in China, and it signed famous rock bands and musicians in Beijing, such as Tang Dynasty Band, Zhang Chu, He Yong, Dou Wei, and Wang Yong. And successfully promoted the wave of rock music in China, causing a huge cultural effect. Among them, the Tang Dynasty band sold millions of copies, which is regarded as the initial representative driving force for young cultural self-confidence and national aesthetics to become a creative trend.
Initial development
China Fire belongs to Magic Rock Culture (renamed Magic Rock Records in 1995) under Rolling Stone Records. Moyan Culture was founded in the winter of 1991 by Zhang Peiren, a Taiwanese whose ancestral home is Beijing. Zhang Peiren, born in 1962, was formerly the deputy general manager of the Chinese business department of Rolling Stone Records, and was a key cadre member of Rolling Stone Records, the most important music brand in the Chinese world at that time. When he was young, he was deeply influenced by Western rock music culture, and was inspired to create a way for young Chinese to exert their own cultural power. I first arrived in Beijing in early 1989, and in 1990, I attended an underground party and saw many groups of Beijing rock bands performing. He resigned from his position at Rolling Stone in Taiwan, established Moyan Culture in Beijing, and decided to sign the Tang Dynasty Band with the China Fire brand in early 1991 to carry out the music dream of China Fire.
In 1991, China Fire invited Jia Minshu, the then unknown former youth band leader, to be the producer of the series. Jia Minshu first recorded the China Fire Collection, a compilation album titled by the brand, which gathered rock bands from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan at the time, and included many iconic rock works of the time. Jia Minshu and in the late winter of 91, he completed the recording of the influential Tang Dynasty band album "Dream Back to the Tang Dynasty". Tang Dynasty Band, China Fire compilation album, plus the Black Panther Band album signed and promoted by Hong Kong native Chan Kin Tim and became a smash hit, became the first batch of Chinese Fire albums to come out.
These three records are authorized by Moyan Culture to be published by China Musicians Publishing House in Beijing. China Musicians Publishing House is a time-honored publishing house under the press and publication administration system; President Wu Yanwei is a singer and a senior music art scholar. Wu Yanwei believes that this batch of works has never had any musical content in the conservative environment at that time, and there is no complete marketing and publicity system for the environment full of piracy at that time, but he believes that there are ideals and market opportunities. It was decided to make a bold breakthrough and was released in the winter of 1992 after obtaining official approval.
At that time, Hu Cuisong, the administrative assistant of Moyan Culture, was in charge of this part of the administrative promotion business, leading the Tang Dynasty to carry out the launch ceremony arranged by the Chinese Musicians Publishing House at the entrance of the record store in front of the Beijing Railway Station. The day's event was said to have provoked a huge reaction, leading to the intervention of the police and its interruption. At that time, the media environment was conservative, there were no suitable communication channels, and there was no precedent for rock music, the release of the album in the Tang Dynasty was a milestone.
Tang Dynasty albums, Black Panther albums, and Chinese fire compilations, including pirated copies, are said to have sold more than 20 million copies.
Signed a contract with the Three Heroes of Magic Rock
After the sensational release in 1992, Zhang Peiren and Jia Minshu became close partners, and in 1993, they signed three singer-songwriters, Dou Wei, Zhang Chu and He Yong. Dou Wei was the lead singer of the first generation of the Black Panther Band, and later left the Black Panther and formed his own dream band, which was signed by Ni Chonghua, the head of the Taiwan branch of Japan Poli Jiayin Co., Ltd. Later, Dou Wei left Dream, decided on personal development, and signed an agreement with Moyan Culture. Zhang Chu was Zhang Peiren who heard his classic work "Sister" for the first time after being recommended by a friend, and it was rumored that Zhang Peiren burst into tears after hearing it and decided to sign a contract. He Yong was originally a Dadi Record singer, and later agreed to be operated by Moyan Culture.
The three albums were released by the Shanghai Audio-visual Publishing House in the spring of 1994, and it is said that Zhang Peiren wanted to enter the southern market at that time, so he cooperated with Shanghai Music Station on a music radio program, which was quite well received. Hu Zhanying, the head of Shanghai Audio-visual, and Zang Yanbin, vice president, decided to cooperate after hearing this. The circulation and influence of the three albums were also far-reaching, and as a result, Shanghai Audiovisual became the most successful record label in China at the time.
At that time, the Chinese popular brand had already gained a lot of attention, but it was rarely noticed in the Chinese media and the media in Taiwan and Hong Kong, because of the conservative domestic environment in China and the overseas music market full of idols and mainstream. I can't understand and don't want to accept rock music. Mr. Luk Siu-hong, the general manager of Rolling Stone Hong Kong at the time, took a big business risk and cooperated with Hong Kong Commercial Radio to hold a concert of rock and roll Chinese music in Hong Kong on December 17, 1994. Tang Chao, Dou Wei, Zhang Chu, He Yong and others attended the performance. The performance was met with great enthusiasm and was later highly praised by the media in Hong Kong and Taiwan, becoming the first example of a Chinese young cultural force performing with great success overseas, and also causing a greater impact on China's already huge wave of rock music. The live LD of the concert is said to have sold 20 million copies including pirated copies in China.