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Mixtape: Dakou

Through the 1980s, the vast majority of people in China had never heard western music, save for John Denver, the Carpenters, and a few other artists included on the hand-picked list of songs sanctioned by the Communist Party. But in the late 90s, a mysterious man named Professor Ye made a discovery at a plastic recycling center in Heping.In episode 1 of Mixtape, we talk to Chinese historians, music critics, and the musicians who took the damaged plastic scraps of western music, changed the musical landscape of China, and reimagined rock and roll in ways we never could’ve imagined.   Mixtape is reported, produced, scored and sound designed by Simon Adler with original music throughout by Simon. Invaluable reporting and production assistance was provided by Eli Cohen. Additional reporting by Noriko Ishigaki, Rebecca Kanthor and our amazing anonymous Chinese reporter.    Special thanks to: Paul de Gay, Juliette Kristensen, Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow, Nick Lyons, Michael Bull, Jiro Ishikawa, Hayley Zhao, Megan Smalley and Deanne Totto. This episode would not have happened without each and every one of them. Support Radiolab by becoming a member today at Radiolab.org/donate.   
Duration
53m
Broadcast on
22 Oct 2021
Audio Format
other

Through the 1980s, the vast majority of people in China had never heard western music, save for John Denver, the Carpenters, and a few other artists included on the hand-picked list of songs sanctioned by the Communist Party. But in the late 90s, a mysterious man named Professor Ye made a discovery at a plastic recycling center in Heping.In episode 1 of Mixtape, we talk to Chinese historians, music critics, and the musicians who took the damaged plastic scraps of western music, changed the musical landscape of China, and reimagined rock and roll in ways we never could’ve imagined.

 

Mixtape is reported, produced, scored and sound designed by Simon Adler with original music throughout by Simon. Invaluable reporting and production assistance was provided by Eli Cohen. Additional reporting by Noriko Ishigaki, Rebecca Kanthor and our amazing anonymous Chinese reporter. 

 

Special thanks to: Paul de Gay, Juliette Kristensen, Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow, Nick Lyons, Michael Bull, Jiro Ishikawa, Hayley Zhao, Megan Smalley and Deanne Totto.

This episode would not have happened without each and every one of them.

Support Radiolab by becoming a member today at Radiolab.org/donate.   


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No wait, you're listening to RadioLab from WNYC. Hello, I'm Akio Morita and I have been Sony's chairman and chief executive officer who's the last 10 years. Before handing you over to our narrator, I would like to offer human beings use or abuse technologies and it is in our mind and heart that the future will be decided. And now, here is our narrator telling my story and that those tips like this one. I'm Simon Adler and I'm Jada Boomerad, this is RadioLab. Truth be told, I don't even know if this is the way to start, but let's just jump in I guess. Yeah, take it for a spin. Alright, so I've got a short story for you about a piece of technology we don't think about much today and how one morning, it tore a small hole in the time space continuum. According to the memoir, this is Noriko Ishigaki and whose memoir are you reading from there? Yes, Kuroki. Okay, she's a Japanese to English translator as well as a long time friend and she says that on the morning of June 22nd, 1979 in Yoyogi Park. One of the biggest parks in Tokyo, magazine reporters and editors are gathered. Maybe a dozen or so alongside some press people from the Sony Corporation. Okay. And Sony has gathered this gaggle of journalists there to sort of unveil this new product for them. A product called Walkman. The Sony Walkman. Oh, yes. Now these reporters had very little idea what exactly to expect or even what this Walkman was. And the product leader carefully hands each reporter, the Walkman. With the cassette in, inside it already. Okay. Did you have a Walkman chat? Yeah. Oh my God. Yes. It was blue. Steel. None of this plastic shit. Yes. I remember the way that you would put the cassette in and then click its shut and there was something about that tactile sound. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Anyhow, so these reporters put on these orange headphones and then the event organizer says please press the play button one, two, three, go and there's this sound blasting into their ears and this voice welcoming them and the voice says to them, look out into the park. And they see that they are not the only ones listening to a Walk. There are dozens of other folks with orange headphones on moving through the park. Kids on roller skates, college students, joking, women exercising. People skateboarding, even a Buddhist monk. Like this scene that you and I see every day walking down the streets, people in their

Transcription truncated.

Through the 1980s, the vast majority of people in China had never heard western music, save for John Denver, the Carpenters, and a few other artists included on the hand-picked list of songs sanctioned by the Communist Party. But in the late 90s, a mysterious man named Professor Ye made a discovery at a plastic recycling center in Heping.In episode 1 of Mixtape, we talk to Chinese historians, music critics, and the musicians who took the damaged plastic scraps of western music, changed the musical landscape of China, and reimagined rock and roll in ways we never could’ve imagined.   Mixtape is reported, produced, scored and sound designed by Simon Adler with original music throughout by Simon. Invaluable reporting and production assistance was provided by Eli Cohen. Additional reporting by Noriko Ishigaki, Rebecca Kanthor and our amazing anonymous Chinese reporter.    Special thanks to: Paul de Gay, Juliette Kristensen, Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow, Nick Lyons, Michael Bull, Jiro Ishikawa, Hayley Zhao, Megan Smalley and Deanne Totto. This episode would not have happened without each and every one of them. Support Radiolab by becoming a member today at Radiolab.org/donate.