Radiodiffusion Internasionaal Annexe

♬ Khaing Pann Sone / ခိုင်ပန်းစုံ

I was digging through an old box I had forgotten about and stumbled upon this cassette I had picked up in Singapore back in ’09. There was a post-it note on the case that said “A2 – Rocker”. So, I popped in the tape deck and gave it a listen. I had forgotten just how crazy this track is.

Thein Tan was born in Inn Wa / အင်းဝမြို့; on December 14, 1945. He was the 6th of 13 children, and the only member of his family to have an interest in music. He was apparently inspired after seeing Elvis in the film King Creole. His first band was called The Shades – possibly in reference to The Shadows – with Khin Nyo. After that, he started singing songs with Playboy Than Naing’s Playboy Group, and the first song he sang was “Manaw Hla Pan Maung Chit Thu” written by Zaw Min Lay. In 1979, he formed his own band, L.P.J – Love, Peace & Joy.

Many thanks to the amazing Peter Doolan of Monrakplenthai for translation and for most of the information about this record. I’m starting to suspect that he might have a Babel Fish in his ear…

Released by Soe San Recording / စိုးစံအသံကူးလုပ်ငန်း. No catalog number or release date listed.