View source for Peking All-Stars

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name            = Peking All-Stars
| background      = group_or_band
| genre           = [[Rock music|Rock]]
| origin          = [[Peking, China]]
| years_active    = 1979–1984
| label           = none
}}
[[File:Pekingallstars.jpg|thumb|Peking All-Stars circa 1985]]
The '''Peking All-Stars''' were a [[rock band]] formed in [[Beijing]] in 1979 by a number of foreigners then resident in the Chinese capital, the same year as the first Chinese rock band, [[Wan Li Ma Wang]] (万里马王) was formed. The band was formed by [[Graham Earnshaw]], on guitar and vocals, Chris, a Brazilian drummer, and Richard Thwaites, an Australian bass player who doubled as the China correspondent of the [[Australian Broadcasting Commission]]. It played one of the first rock concerts in China at a [[university campus]] hall in Beijing in late summer of 1979. Their performance at Beijing's Teacher's College in 1981 was commemorated by a photograph in the book ''[[China After Mao]]'' by [[Liu Heung Shing]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=China After Mao: Seek Truth From Facts|last=Liu|first=Heung Shing|publisher=Penguin Books|year=1983|isbn=0140067612|location=Hong Kong|pages=[https://archive.org/details/chinaaftermaosee0000liuh/page/168 168-168]|url=https://archive.org/details/chinaaftermaosee0000liuh/page/168}}</ref>
==Members==
The lineup changed regularly over the years, but members included:
* Guitarist and singer Graham Earnshaw, the band's founder, who went on to claim to be the first person to play the [[kazoo]] on the [[Great Wall of China]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.earnshaw.com/who/the-long-bio |title=Graham Earnshaw: The Long Bio|accessdate=22 February 2011 |publisher=[[Graham Earnshaw]]}}</ref>
* Guitarist Michael Schoenhals, later to leverage his collection of [[Chairman Mao badge|Chairman Mao button]]s into a position as Scandinavian expert on China's [[Cultural Revolution]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sol.lu.se/staff/person.html?personid=221|language=Swedish|title=Michael Schoenhals|publisher=[[Lunds universitet]]|accessdate=22 February 2011}}{{dead link|date=March 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
* Palestinian lead guitarist Nassir, who took a sabbatical from the band in mid-1983 to drive tanks against Israel in southern Lebanon, and committed suicide in around 1991.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.newyorker.com/news/evan-osnos/old-books-recovered-graham-earnshaw |title=OLD BOOKS RECOVERED: GRAHAM EARNSHAW |magazine=The New Yorker |access-date=31 May 2017 |date=20 May 2009 |first=Evan |last=Osnos}}</ref>
* American guitarist Tad Stoner, who later became a journalist and bar owner in [[Hong Kong]] and is now a journalist in the Cayman Islands.
* American bass player Fred Burke, who went on to become a prominent corporate lawyer in [[Vietnam]].
* American guitarist Larry Vest.
* Swedish sax player Frédéric Cho, who went on to become one of Scandinavia's top China financial experts and Asian Manager at [[HQ Bank]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.establishingabroad.com/Bazment/1012.aspx |title= Establishing Abroad - HQ Bank - Kina|website=www.establishingabroad.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090427145918/http://www.establishingabroad.com/Bazment/1012.aspx |archive-date=27 April 2009}}</ref>
* Madagascan drummer Robinson, who went on to found his own band named [[Nogabe]] that is currently based in [[London]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/randriaharimalala |title=Afatra |publisher=CD Baby |access-date=31 May 2017}}</ref><ref name="cir071229">{{cite web |url=http://gb.cri.cn/18024/2007/12/29/3305@1895663.htm |title=old Luo |publisher=China International Radio International Online |access-date=31 May 2017 |date=29 December 2007 |first=Zhi |last=Li}}</ref>
==Dissolution==
The band played a number of performances at the Friendship Hotel, the Jianguo Hotel, the [[Beijing Foreign Languages Institute]] and at embassies, but restrictions on cultural activities resulting from the so-called [[Anti-Spiritual Pollution Campaign]] in 1983-1984 made it difficult for the band to find opportunities to gig.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Uu3EF-2bmXsC&q=peking+%22all+stars%22&pg=PT313 |title=The Insider's Guide to Beijing 2005-2006 |publisher=True Run Media |access-date=31 May 2017 |date=October 2005 |first=Kaiser |last=KUO|isbn=9780977333400 }}</ref>
Earnshaw, who owned the bands gear, eventually passed on the drums and amplifiers to a [[Madagascar|Madagascan]] band that was starting up in 1984, while his [[Fender Telecaster]] went on long-term loan to the Madagascan guitarist Eddie, who later became the lead guitarist with the so-called godfather of Chinese rock, [[Cui Jian]].
==References==
{{Reflist}}
* https://books.google.com/books?id=3lzAP60wWj8C&dq=peking+%22all+stars%22&pg=PA129
* https://web.archive.org/web/20170608105857/http://www.earnshaw.com/peking-music
[[Category:Chinese rock music groups]]
[[Category:Musical groups from Beijing]]