Filed under: Sri Lanka
The Gypsies were formed in 1970 by Anton Perera in Sri Lanka. The band was comprised of Perera’s five sons (Sunil, Nihal, Piyal, Nimal, Lal) – all of whom had recently completed high school. Lead singer Sunil Perera, schooled at St Peter’s College in Colombo, renovated a portion of his house in Ratmalana into a recording studio and began recording their first album.
Their early success was due to a series of albums they released in the 1970s entitled “Dance With the Gypsies”. In the 1980s the group released their first audio cassette containing their novelty hit “Kurumitto” (“Dwarves”), which is a cover version of Dutch musician Father Abraham‘s “The Smurf Song”.
Their first performance out of Sri Lanka, as the resident band at the Delhi Taj in New Deli was for three months, was followed by successful tours in foreign countries where many Sri Lankans now reside, such as the U.K., U.S., Australia and Canada. They are still active to this day.
Thanks to Upendra Samaranayake for translating the Sinhalese.
Catalog number G T -08 on Guththila of Sri Lanka. No release date listed.
Filed under: Rwanda
♬ Ururabo
The Republic of Rwanda is a small landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of east-central Africa, bordered by Uganda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania. Home to approximately 10.1 million people, Rwanda supports the densest population in continental Africa, most of whom engage in subsistence agriculture. A verdant country of fertile and hilly terrain, the small republic bears the title “Land of a Thousand Hills”.
The country has received considerable international attention on account of its 1994 genocide, in which between 800,000 and one million people were killed. In 2008, Rwanda became the first country in history to elect a national legislature in which a majority of members were women.
As for Rossisendi & His Group… There is no information available. The only clue to the origin of the band, is that the song is in Kinyarwanda (also known simply as Rwanda). Kinyarwanda is a Bantu language spoken primarily in Rwanda, where it is one of the official language of the country, as well as in southern Uganda and in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
If you any information about the band, please contact me.
Catalog number PEA 226 on Pathé Records, manufactured in Kenya. No other information available.
Filed under: Burma
♬ 
♬ 
This week’s post is the first in a series of guest posts. I recently came to the realization, that if there was ever going to be a post on the music of Burma, I would have to turn to Alan Bishop. Alan is best known as one third of the Sun City Girls and co-founder of Sublime Frequencies. Also, this post is the first to feature music from cassette.
After hunting all over Myanmar (Burma) during my many trips there, I’ve never come face to face with a Burmese vinyl LP. Nor have I heard of one or seen a photo of one. I also have a feeling there were few 45s although I have two children’s song recordings on 7” vinyl. Every Burmese musician or music fan I have ever spoken to claim LPs and 45’s didn’t exist between the 78 and cassette formats. Since Burma’s independence in the late 1940’s, the government has kept a fair distance from the rest of the International community and the regime discouraged western-influenced music until things loosened up a bit in the 1970’s. During the 1960’s, the local music scene wouldn’t have been allowed to work above ground as a “western-styled” record producing pop industry and it’s a truly sketchy period with hardly a spec of info. I’ve searched far and wide for anything coherent from the 1960’s and come up frustrated thus far. There are tales about how reel to reel tapes were transferred to cassette for sale in the early 1970’s. The kids would go to the shop and choose specific songs and the shop would dub a custom cassette from reels and charge accordingly per track. And the reels were apparently from copies of the master studio reels from popular groups at the time. One of the most popular, the Playboy Group, was a Burmese rock band formed in the early 1970’s by guitarist/vocalist Than Naing (often referred to as “Playboy Than Naing”) Other members of the group included Ko Kyaw Min (guitar), Ko Kyaw Naing (bass), Zaw Win Shein (drums), Tin Oo Thaung (keyboards) and Than Naing’s wife Pearl (vocalist). The band specialized in western-styled cover songs and helped turn on Burmese society to a wide variety of foreign artists including The Beatles, The Doors, CCR, The Youngbloods, and many others. The band was active into the 1980’s and recorded many cassette-only releases during their career. A few years ago, they reformed and began recording and performing again. Than Naing now owns a construction company in Yangon and in 2005, became committee secretary for the newly founded Myanmar Music Association.
/ “Flower With Only a Night Time Scent” – This track is Than Naing’s clever way of describing a prostitute. He sings the story of a woman (flower) who is only sweet to him in the evenings (has a night time scent only).
Alan Bishop (March 2009)
No catalog number, record label or release date listed. Distributed by Tapyi Thu A Twat of Myanmar.
Filed under: Georgia
♬ Aдaндaли
Georgia (Georgian: 
, Sakartvelo) is a transcontinental country in the Caucasus region, located at the dividing line between Europe and Asia. It is bordered by the Russian Federation to the north, Azerbaijan to the east, Armenia to the south, and Turkey to the southwest.
Founded in the capitol city of Tbilisi in 1958 by lead vocalist and guitarist Robert Bardzimashvili, Oрэрa became a Soviet sensation on the scale of Beatlemania. The group, which included several male voices and sometimes a female one, grew out of the Georgian musical tradition of polyphonic choirs. They fused many styles – choral pop, jazz, Georgian and Russian folk music into their own sound. The band also launched the careers of Vakhtang “Buba” Kikabidze and Nani Bregvadze.
Oрэрa reached a peak of thier popularity by 1967 when they represented the USSR at the World EXPO in Canada. The band was one of a few Soviet groups that were allowed to tour around the world. Their repertoire included popular Soviet songs as well as folk songs from different countries and renowned international hits.
In 1975, Bardzimashvili left Oрэрa to form one of the first Soviet rock bands – Via-75, who were popular throughout the Soviet Union as one of the first and officially sanctioned rock bands in the country. In the post-Soviet years, Bardzimashvili headed the Tbilisi Opera and established the Lakhti Studio music school for children. Bardzimashvili was awarded the highest official honor of the National Artist of the Georgian SSR, and in 2000 Oрэрa received a star on the Plozhad Zvezd in Moscow. He passed away passed away in 2003.
Catalog number ГOCT – 5289 – 61 / ЦEHA 1 – 30 on Dolgoigrayuschaya of Tbilisi, Georgia. No release date listed.
Filed under: Mauritius
Mauritius is an island nation off the coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about 900 kilometres east of Madagascar. First settled by the Dutch who then abandoned it, the island was taken by the French who lost it the English in the Napoleonic Wars in 1810. Over a century and a half later, Mauritius gained independence in 1968.
The island of Mauritius – as well as the islands of Réunion, Seychelles, Comoros, Mayotte and Rodrigues, along with parts of Madagascar – are best known for Sega music. Sega evolved out of the culture of the Western Indian Ocean islands, in the mid-18th century that were influenced by an influx of polka and quadrilles from Europe. The music’s traditional form was largely improvised and intensely emotional and expressed the tribulations of a subjugated, initially enslaved, people. It was also used as a dirge and as part of traditional exorcisms.
Although John Kenneth Nelson is considered one of the first big names in Sega, there is very little information available about him. He was included on Playasound’s Air Mail Music series compilation “Les Mascareignes” that was released in 2002. He also is credited as playing on Harold Nelson’s album “L’Amitié des Îles” that was released in 2007, which was the same year that he passed away at the age of 57. A street in the capital city of Port Louis, where he and his family has lived for over forty years, now bears his name.
Catalog number C. 47002 on Disques Capricorne of Madagascar. No release date listed.
Filed under: North Korea
♬We Always Look Up to The Central Committee of The Party
There are places that I thought I would never find records from, like Brunei or Iraq. Then, there were countries that I didn’t know what I would find… Let’s say, Eritrea. And then there are places that I thought I would have no problem finding records from, but haven’t had any luck… For instance, Burma. Of course some of these countries have had Civil Wars or Cultural Revolutions, where most of the recordings were destroyed. But then there are other regions that just never had a recording industry, or the musicians did not venture out to other countries.
The best weapon for hunting records, is information. That was one of the reasons I started this whole mess. The more you know, the easier it is to find what you are looking for in the endless depths of the vinyl jungle. And, where you can find one band or artist… You can usually find another. Where I have discovered the more interesting music scenes, there tended to be a handful of musicians, a record label or two, and a studio to record. Studio being a somewhat loose term, for example most of the great music from Benin was recorded live to two track on a portable reel to reel tape machine.
On the other hand, be it governmental control, religious restrictions or what have you, some places you just aren’t going to find anything. North Korea is a prime example of that. Since the government controls all aspects of the media, any recordings would have to be approved. The only real “band” from that country would be the state sponsored Pochonbo Electronic Ensemble, who make Tangerine Dream sound like Black Sabbath. Only recently has what Westerners would consider Modern Pop Music has been exposed to the outside world as heard on the Sublime Frequencies’ Radio Pyongyang disc.
But with compilations popping up like The Roots of Chicha: Psychedelic Cumbias from Peru, 1970’s Algerian Proto-Raï Underground, and bands like Konono N°1 coming to light after being in existence for a quarter century, it makes you wonder: What else is out there? What have I missed? Maybe there were some kids in a basement somewhere with an electric guitar, or keyboard or even some kind of electrified gayageum making some unholy racket. And maybe, just maybe, there’s reel to reel, cassette recordings or possibly even some bootleg X-Ray records floating around with those unimaginable sounds. That is what keeps people like me, and other obsessive types like myself, constantly searching.
Catalog number ㄱ – 809804 ᄆ– 28015 / ᄆ– 28016 on the Korean Gramophone Record label of Pyongyang, in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. No release date listed.
Filed under: Tunisia
♬ Yendam
Writing about music, at least for me, is a somewhat laborious process. It is definitely much less enjoyable than actually just listening to it. Even though in high school I was voted most likely to write for Rolling Stone, I’ve always thought that my writing skills were… Well, let’s just say it could use some work. But I keep slugging away at it, like a monkey with a typewriter.
For the most part, in these posts I try not to pass judgment on the music. I usually try to find as much information as I can, slap it all together, and voila – another post is hurled into cyberspace. Although I do think that the historical and geographical context is important and can temper the listener’s opinion, I believe that the music pretty much speaks for itself. But there are many times when I get a record and have nothing to go on. I start searching the interwebs, e-mailing a few contacts… Nothing. What then?
Unlike the record that I thought was from there, I am pretty sure that these guys were actually from Tunisia. The record was self released with no information about where the songs were recorded, or the address of the label that released it – only a phone number. On the back, it lists the musicians including the principle singer / songwriter “Mahjoub H.”, who also released the record. The only real clue, is that it says “Presse Ennagham” on the bottom of the back cover. Disques Ennagham was a Tunisian label that had their own pressing plant. Other than that, I know the band’s name, Omnya, translates as “Hope”, but song title “Yendam” means “Regret”.
Thanks to Alan Bishop, Anis Bousbia and Hicham Chadly for their help. If you any information about the band, please contact me.
Catalog number A. 77 001 on Omnya, pressed by Disques Ennagham of Tunisia, released 1977.
Filed under: Cameroon
The urbanization of Cameroon in the 1940s had a major influence on the country’s music. Up until that point, other than imported pop music and French-style chanson, there was the indigenous guitar based Ambasse Bey, which was developed in the costal city of Douala. But the migration to the capital city of Yaoundé, was a major cause for the popularization of Bikutsi music. Bikutsi is a native folk music based on a war rhythm played by three to five balafon players and various other percussion instruments. The vocals were usually sung by women, and the lyrics were about everyday problems and featured sexually explicit lyrics. During the 1950s, bars sprang up across the city to accommodate the influx of new inhabitants, and soon became a symbol for Cameroonian identity in the face of colonialism.
Anne-Marie Nzie was perhaps the most important of the early innovators of Bikutsi, followed by Messi Me Nkonda Martin and his band, Los Camaroes, who added electric guitars. Messi Martin had been inspired to learn the guitar by listening to Spanish language-broadcasts from neighboring Equatorial Guinea, as well as Cuban and Congolese rumba. Messi changed the sound of his electric guitar by linking the strings together with pieces of paper, giving the instrument a “thudding” sound that emulated the balafon. His style was instantly popular, and his songs “Mengalla Maurice” and “Bekono Nga N’Konda” became radio favorites throughout the country beginning in the early 1960s.
In the late 60s, Ekambi Brillant scored the first major Cameroonian hit, “N’Gon Abo”, and set the stage for the development of Makossa. Manu Dibango took Makossa worldwide popularity with his 1972 single “Soul Makossa”. Also, during the same time, a local variant on palm wine music called Assiko was popular. By the 1970s, Bikutsi performers had started adding brass instruments and more explicit lyrics. At the same time, Mama Ohandja was bringing Bikutsi to new audiences in Europe.
As for Les Kilts… I have not been able to find any information, other than what I can decipher from the record sleeve. This record was a promotional item for the local branch of the Bastos Cigarette Company, which was based in Belgium at the time. According to the liner notes, it was recorded at “Radiodiffusion Nationale du Cameroun Studios in Yaoundé and Douala”. Maybe side one was recorded in Yaoundé and the other was recorded in Douala? Who knows? The only credits, other than the recording information, is to the songwriters: Geo Duala for “Jerk Bastos” and Bob Ronald for the B side “Bastos Oyè”.
If you any information about the band, please contact me.
Catalog number… Well, there isn’t one. Released by the Bastos Cigarette Company. There is a matrix number engraved in the vinyl: AST PPN 4263 380. No other information available. Bastos, tourjous jeune!
Filed under: Cambodia
♬ Sinn Sisamouth • The Favourite Belonging of The Heart
♬ Ros Sereysothea • The Star of My Heart
From the first time I heard “A2“ on Paul Wheeler’s Cambodia Rocks compilation on Parallel World, I knew something wasn’t quite right. It didn’t hit me until many years later, but something in my brain made a note and filed it away somewhere… Thankfully, due to an onslaught of Khmer Pop compilations in recent years, I have since learned that the name of that song was “I’m Sixteen“ by Ros Sereysothea.
By now, anyone with even a passing interest in the popular music of South East Asia and / or Sixties Garage music has probably at least heard of Ros Sereysothea and Sinn Sisamouth. They were the Queen and King of Khmer Pop. That is, until the Khmer Rouge overthrew the Cambodian government on April 17, 1975. And while the rest of the world is only now discovering their music, their popularity in Cambodia has never really faded.
Not too long ago, I stumbled upon a number of channels devoted to Khmer Pop on YouTube. There, you will find loads of songs by Ros Sereysothea and Sinn Sisamouth as well as others. But on most of the songs, they have left the original vocals and replaced the music with a synthesizer and a drum box grafted on top of older recordings. How long have Cambodians been recycling their pop songs?
Since most of Khmer Pop collections of Sixties pop are compiled from old cassettes that have been floating around, most being dubbed copies with little or no liner notes, the sound quality is lo-fi at best. And as a fan of the music, you come to accept that. There are no master tapes. They’re all gone. But because of that fact, on many of these compilations the vocals and the instrumentation sometimes sound as if they were recorded at different times – perhaps even different decades.
My suspicions were piqued even more when I picked up a copy of the “Cambodian Psych-Out“ compilation, released on Defective / El Suprimo. Besides the spelling discrepancies (Ros Sereysothea is spelled four different ways in the liner note – Sinn Sisamouth seven different ways), is the inclusion of the song “If You Wish To Love Me Don’t Laugh Or Cry“. This same song was entitled “If You Wish To Love Me“ on “Cambodian Rocks Vol. 2“, except their version does not have the xylophone (or is that a glockenspiel?) in the first part of the song. You can also tell that the guitars and drums have been re-recorded over the old track. When was this done? Who knows?
I suspect it was not when these songs were originally recorded. And now as I go back thru looking for clues in the liner notes of previous compilations, it was right in front of me all along. They are only briefly mentioned phrases like “overdubbed percussion and keyboards“ and “re-recording“…
I know that the people who put these things together cherry pick the best cuts. The songs they choose may not have been the most popular songs of their day, but to modern ears, they pick out what sounds to them like the best track. And I can tell you, having listened to some of the original vinyl records from Cambodia, as well as records from neighboring Vietnam and Laos, from that time period – I have yet to hear anything remotely similar to the psychotic sounds found on “Cambodian Psych-Out” compilation – especially the first track “Month After Month Always Busy, Can’t Go Out”. Now I am not talking about all of the songs of that compilation, or the others on Khmer Rocks, but for a lot of those songs the studio production just doesn’t match up. The guitars, keyboards and drums that were recorded during mid 1970s just don’t sound like that. The original songs? Yeah. But those searing guitar and keyboard solos? I am not so sure…
Hopefully, whenever the documentary “Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten“ is finally released, maybe then will some of my questions be answered.
Thanks to Vatthana Lim for the Khmer translation.
Catalog number P. T. 111 on Bayon of Cambodia. No release date listed.
Filed under: Lebanon
Prior to the Civil War in 1975, Lebanon enjoyed a period of relative calm and prosperity, driven by tourism, agriculture, and banking. At that time, it was considered one of the banking capitals of Western Asia, which some even referred to as the “Switzerland of the East“. The country also attracted large numbers of tourists, so much to the point that the capital city of Beirut became known as the “self-proclaimed Paris of the East.”
From the late Sixties up until the Civil War, Lebanon was the center of music for most of the region. Musicians from Egypt, Syria and even Armenia came to Lebanon to record and perform there. A handful of record labels sprung up, and even for a short while the country had it’s own pressing plant – Société Libanaise du Disque. During this time, there were concerts and festivals featuring artists from all over the world, including Charles Aznavour, Joan Baez, Gilbert Bécaud, Dalida, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Julio Iglesias, Mireille Mathieu and many more
I do know that this record is from Lebanon. But as for Jacques Kodjian, I am not so sure. I do know he was of Armenian descent, but whether or not he was born in Armenia or Lebanon is unclear. Besides being a pianist, composer and conductor, he also ran his own record label “JK” and worked with other Armenians in Lebanon. When the Lebanese Civil War started, he left for America. There, he worked with Adiss Harmandyan. In 1996, Jacques Kodjian performed in New York City accompanying the Shushi Armenian Dance Ensemble.
Many thanks to Hany Zaki for the information.
Catalog number GVDL34 on Voix de l’Orient series for A. Chahine & Fils in Lebanon, manufactured and distributed by EMI of Greece, 1972.
Radiodiffusion Internasionaal Annexe 