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Zhang Qiang
"Dear little sister / Please don't cry / I will use / My love / Warm your heart ..."
Have you heard this song?
The singer is zhang qiang, who was a superstar who was very popular in the 1980s.
It is no exaggeration to say that when Zhang Qiang was most popular, even the popular diva Teresa Teng Had to avoid his sharp edge!
Teresa
At the age of 17, he became a diva of the 80s music scene and released a record that sold 20 million copies!
At the age of 19, he was honored to appear in time magazine in the United States, becoming the first Chinese artist to appear in the magazine!
Foreigners were amazed at the talent of this Chinese girl.
At the peak of her career, she was suspected of being "banned" and ran away overseas.
Since then, he has been married and had children, washed his hands to make soup after marriage, gave birth to three children, and willingly became a housewife with a baby!
Zhang Qiang and daughter
Today, after many years of silence, 54-year-old Zhang Qiang has become popular with a song "Don't Ask Me What Is Disco"!
Fire all over the Internet, not to mention, even the post-00s love her!
The concert and music festival scene are all silly young people together!
Why is she silent, and why is she red? Today, let's talk about the magical life history of disco empress Zhang Qiang.
01 The "second generation of art" was frustrated by their dreams, and the "hot head" actually asked for tickets?
In 1967, Zhang Qiang was born into a Beijing family with a strong artistic atmosphere.
Her mother, Yang Yin, graduated and is a violinist with the China Film Symphony Orchestra.
Violinists of the China Film Symphony Orchestra
Zhang Qiang lived with her mother in the orchestra dormitory, and under the influence of her ears, Zhang Qiang quickly became fascinated by music.
The spring breeze of reform and opening up blew all over China, blowing foreign pop music for Zhang Qiang.
She loves Michael Jackson's "Billie Jane" the most.
Michael Jackson and his album Billie Jane
In 1983, with the support of her mother, Zhang Qiang, who was only 16 years old, bravely stepped on the stage of the Haidian District Young Singers Grand Prix and sang Carpenter's "Assorted Dishes".
MV for the band Carterpen's "Assorted Dishes"
Her unique metallic voice and brilliant performance shocked the audience and judges.
But she didn't win the prize.
The organizers of the competition told her: "The song you sing is not suitable for the current political climate."
At that time, the reform and opening up had just been reformed, and the cultural and entertainment atmosphere throughout the country was still relatively conservative, and the mainstream culture had some prejudices and doubts about popular music.
In this era, Zhang Qiang wanted to make a curly hair style, and she also needed to entrust someone to get a hot invoice.
Zhang Qiang's classic curly hair style
The shadow of these planned economies is incomprehensible to young people living in the present.
02 The recorded song became a hit and won the "Time" weekly magazine
Fortunately, although she did not win the prize in the competition, she was noticed by a nobleman.
A person named Lin Shutai contacted Zhang Qiang on behalf of Yunnan Audiovisual and invited her to record album cassette tapes and give her 1400 yuan.
Zhang Qiang and Yunnan Audio-Visual Publishing House
This is not a small amount. You know, the average monthly salary of Beijingers at that time was 124 yuan!
But the production team of the box tape is very simple, with only two people: Zhang Qiang and his mother.
They took care of everything behind the scenes, including singing, styling, acting, production and production.
Zhang Qiang and her mother
At the end of the recording, the owner of Yunnan Audio-Visual was very satisfied with the recording effect, and opened a "sky-high price" of 9,000 yuan to ask Zhang Qiang to record the second album.
It is said that buying a courtyard in Beijing at that time was only a few tens of thousands of yuan.
Half a month, two albums, so that the teenage girl transformed into a "million yuan household" that everyone envied.
These two albums are "Tokyo Night" and "Shy Girl", which later became popular all over the country and sold out.
Tokyo Nights album cover
Shy Girl album cover
At the beginning, the company was also worried that Zhang Qiang was not famous, could not return to this book, and only made 600,000 box tapes.
Who knows, the time and place are favorable and the people - Zhang Qiang has the strength and has caught up with the good times.
At the end of 1984, the market demand for popular music exploded in China, and the mainland music scene urgently needed a voice to fill the gap.
Zhang Qiang is here!
With her good voice of "noisy and wild and wild", "grinning and singing", she successfully captured the young and middle-aged people in the 80s who were depressed and looking forward to emotional release.
Because the songs "Clap Disco" and "Disco in the Moonlight" became the popular songs in the disco ballroom at that time, Zhang Qiang was even nicknamed "Disco Queen".
"Disco Empress" Zhang Qiang
Her voice sang into the streets and alleys, into the dance hall, into the fields, into the hearts of every Chinese!
Zhang Qiang, 17 years old, became famous in singing.
The box straps that were previously worried about not being sold were also sold out of stock in an instant.
"Tokyo Nights" sold more than 2.5 million boxes, and "Shy Girl" set a record of 4.2 million copies!
Zhang Qiang became the most popular female singer in China.
A well-deserved debut is the pinnacle!
In 1986, Zhang Qiang became the first Chinese artist to appear in Time magazine in the United States!
Zhang Qiang appeared in Time magazine
"Phenomenon 1980": Zhang Qiang became the first person to appear in Time magazine
She was listed as one of the world's top six pop music superstars by foreigners, ranking third. "Even Teresa Teng, the taiwanese singer who swept Southeast Asia, can only be relegated to the back"!
Phenomenon 1980: Teresa Teng can only be relegated to the back
This year, an interesting thing happened: Zhang Qiang and Mo Yan once passed by.
It turned out that Mo Yan, a great writer who would win the Nobel Prize in the future, was a screenwriter at the Xi'an Film Studio at that time.
He once came to invite Zhang Qiang to act in a movie, the role was a military sister-in-law, and Zhang Mother refused on the grounds that Zhang Qiang was "too young".
"Archives": Mo Yan wants Zhang Qiang to appear in the movie
03 Suspected of being "banned" by the mainstream, he willfully fled overseas
At the same time, something strange happened.
1985 and 1986 were the peak of Zhang Qiang's career.
She released 19 albums in 2 years, and became famous in the folk, but she could not find this person in the mainstream media of All China.
"Archives": Zhang Qiangcha has no such person
Some people say that Zhang Qiang was "banned"!
The evidence is that when she went to Sanmenxia to perform, she was disqualified by the local authorities.
The reason is: "Zhang Qiang dresses like a foreigner, sings like a bar singer, and sings songs that poison teenagers." ”
Zhang Qiang's performance was stopped
This represented the views of some conservatives at the time, but it was not the norm.
In fact, Zhang Qiang's cancellation of the performance was only an accidental event, and most of the performances went smoothly.
It is certainly an exaggeration to say that it has been "banned" by the mainstream.
However, Zhang Qiang's "no one to check" is indeed related to the background of the times.
In the eighties, dancing discos was seen as an act of "little hooligans".
Young people who jumped disco
As the hottest disco-style singer in China, Zhang Qiang's performance has attracted the resistance of many conservatives, and the mainstream media naturally avoid talking about it consciously or unconsciously.
This means losing exposure, but it is not the same as being "blocked."
In April 1987, Zhang Qiang, who was at the peak of her career, suddenly decided to drop everything and study in Australia.
Zhang Qiang in Australia
Before leaving, she released the album "Walking In a Dashing Manner", and the words "Zhang Qiang left the last episode before leaving The country" and "Zhang Qiang's out-of-print tape" were prominently marked on the cover.
Album "Walking Away"
This move has made the rumors of "banning" boil over again.
Everyone has speculated whether she went abroad as a "helpless move" after being banned.
To this day, Zhang Qiang is denying this "rumor".
In an interview, she said that the end of the 80s was the "going abroad fever", and she went abroad to experience a new way of life.
Zhang Qiang: Going abroad is a change of lifestyle
Moreover, "there is nothing to translate in the cover, and the original is not particularly good."
Zhang Qiang talked about the reasons for going abroad
Zhang Qiang said frankly: At that time, her own teenager became famous, and it was smooth sailing all the way.
Because "it is not difficult to become famous", "I can leave and put it down".
For the decision to study abroad at the peak of her career, she did not regret it when she was young.
04 "When the disco disappeared, I disappeared too."
Because of the huge cost, Zhang Qiang stayed in Australia for a year and then hurried back to China.
However, the storm clouds suddenly changed.
Just one year before and after, there is no place for Zhang Qiang in the mainland music scene.
In 1988, starting from Qi Qin's album "Wolf", Hong Kong and Taiwan music invaded the mainland market strongly.
Qi Qin and the album "Wolf"
Hong Kong and Taiwan singers such as the Little Tigers, Zhang Yusheng, Su Rui, and the "Four Heavenly Kings" appeared on the scene and mixed up in the mainland song scene.
Young people love to listen to their songs, and they think that local songs are "tacky".
Therefore, the new album "Zhang Qiang from Australia" released by Zhang Qiang after returning to China sold dismal.
Album "Zhang Qiang from Australia"
Frustrated in her career, Zhang Qiang chose love as a way out.
She said: "When the disco disappeared, I disappeared too. ”
People's Entertainment interviewed Zhang Qiang
In the year that disco disappeared, Zhang Qiang married a Hong Kong businessman, became pregnant and had a child, and began an eight-year-long career as a housewife.
A generation of superstars, thus silent.
"Disco Empress" Zhang Qiang became a housewife who washed her hands and made soup.
Zhang Qiang: I take care of the children at home
No one does not sigh.
She herself felt good, smiled and said, "Two people will always have a companion and children together, and I like that kind of life." ”
For this reason, "the brilliance of her career does not matter", because she does not have the ability to take care of it.
What's more, she was already acutely aware of:
The "golden age" of disco music has passed.
Zhang Qiang: That wasn't my time either
05 52 years old turned red to do "top stream", and now the post-00s love her!
Unexpectedly, this silence was twenty-five years.
In 1996, Zhang Qiang's marriage broke down, and she finally came back after a gap of eight years, publishing the music albums "Swing Freely" and "Beautiful Day".
Albums "Swing" and "Beautiful Day"
There was no splash as expected.
After all, it was already "over" in the late 1980s, let alone ten years later?
Zhang Qiang is not discouraged, she is a person who truly loves music.
In 2000, the choreographer of "The Same Song" invited Zhang Qiang to the show, and the final repertoire was "Acacia Riverside", and Zhang Qiang insisted on singing "Love You Are Hard to Open in Your Heart" that suited her own style.
Zhang Qiang sang "Love You In The Heart Is Hard to Open"
It was the first time viewers had seen her on television.
Since then, Zhang Qiang has remained tepid and has not returned to the glory of the past.
But she didn't stop: seriously releasing albums, opening concerts, going on shows...
Zhang Qiang concert poster, scene
Instead of pandering to popular tastes and markets, she still sings "outdated" electronic music.
The opportunity for Zhang Qiang to become popular was in 2013.
She signed to Modern Sky and released a collaboration album with New Pants, Stop Asking Me What a Disco is.
Collaborative album "Stop Asking Me What a Disco"
As soon as the album was released, it triggered public opinion and successfully won the "Top Ten Chinese Record Awards" at the 2014 Chinese Golden Melody Awards! Zhang Qiang became active in the music scene again.
But the real help that made Zhang Qiang soar again was the tide of the times.
Nowadays, the Internet is popular, short videos are popular, and rhythmic music just fits the aesthetic tastes of young people and has regained its audience.
Zhang Qiang's album "Don't Ask Me What a Disco Is"
Zhang Qiang considers herself lucky to have "chosen the right form of music." ”
Today, the 52-year-old Zhang Qiang is not only connected to the high-popular variety show "The Voice of Heaven" and "Children of Tomorrow Orchestra Season", but also invited to participate in this year's Beijing Satellite TV New Year's Eve Party. Did you see it?
Zhang Qiang was invited to participate in the 2022 Beijing Satellite TV New Year's Eve Party
The tide of the times, the ebb and flow of the tide. Zhang Qiang has also been floating and sinking in it for decades.
Every time there is a rise and fall, if you want to find out the reason: there is both her personal strength and choice, as well as the help or obstacle of the times.
What are some of the times in your life when you step into the wind? What kind of thinking does Zhang Qiang's life experience bring you?