Filed under: Israel
Arik & The Einsteins were formed by Arik Einstein in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Arik Einstein has had a long career, not only in music but also on the stage and on televison.
He was born in Tel Aviv, to Yaakov Einstein, a theatre performer. He participated in the Young Guard movement and became the Israeli junior champion for high jump. His father urged him to apply for an army band, and Arik was accepted into the Nahal Brigade band.
Upon his release from the IDF in 1959, Einstein joined the Green Onion Band and the Sambation theatre. In 1960, he released his first solo album.
He sang in a band under the pseudonym Ari Goren, and then went on to join the Yarkon Bridge Trio, where he performed with Yehoram Gaon, Beni Amdorsky and later Israel Gurion. As the band became successful, so did Einstein.
In 1964, he played in the comedy film Sallah Shabbati, along with Chaim Topol, who was also from the Green Onion Band.
In 1966, he released the album Singing for You (שר בשבילך Shar Bishvilekh), and joined The High Windows, where he performed pop songs.
In 1968, Einstein released his album Mazal Gdi (lit. Capricorn), which was not very successful. He therefore looked for a new tune, and went on to produce the album Poozi with The Churchills Band, which was considered the first Israeli rock album.
Einstein was part of the critically acclaimed, early 1970s TV series Lool (Chicken Coop), a sketch and song show with an original format and a creative cast. The show had an off-the-wall sense of humor not unlike Monty Python’s Flying Circus. However, it also featured songs written by some of the most prominent poets and performed by some of the best singers Israel has ever produced. In spite of the fact that it had only four parts, it remains a cult-show to this day. The show, as well as movies such as Shablool (Snail), showcased Einstein both as a first line singer and a top comedian.
Einstein continues to write songs and release albums to this day. In 2004, he released Two Guitars, Bass, Drums (שתי גיטרות בס תופים Shtei Gitarot Bas Tupim).
Arik & The Einsteins only released three singles, all of which had at least one song that was originally written by The Beatles (but redone with Hebrew lyrics).
Catalog number MN – 545 Hed Artzi (which translates to “The Echo of My Country”) of Tel Aviv, Israel, released in 1966.
Filed under: Dahomey
D’Almeida Blucky et Les Black Santiago were from the city of Cotonou in Dahomey, now known as Benin.
Other than the fact that they obviously had listen to some James Brown (most noably “Licking-Stick Licking-Stick” and “Mother Popcorn”), I have been unable to find any information.
Catalog number L.A. 32, on L. A. Aux Ecoutes of Cotonou, Benin. No release date given.
Filed under: Thailand
Anyone who picked up the first volume of Subliminal Sound’s Thai Beat A Go Go compilation, was most likely amazed at the wild and crazy sounds coming out of their speakers. The first track entitled “Kratae” by Johnny Guitar is truly unlike anything Western ears had heard before.
Just one problem… That song is not “Kratae”, and the artist who recorded it was not Johnny Guitar. The song is “Klong Yao”, and it was recorded by Payong Mukda, also known as Pocket Music. In addition, he has recorded under the name Son of P. M.
The music of Payong Mukda, as well as Noparatana Tipayaosot (a. k. a. Johnny Guitar), was known as “Shadow Music”. The term was in reference to the British instrumental band The Shadows, who were quite popular throughout all of Asia. Recordings of this music were often billed as “Thai Modernized Music“, taking classic Thai compositions and mxing in elements of surf guitar, a-go-go music and other styles to create an entirely new form of music. Sublime Frequencies “Shadow Music of Thailand” compilation features tunes by P.M. Pocket Music, The Son of P.M., P.M.7, Johnny Guitar and Jupiter.
In 1991, Payong Mukda was honored with the National Artist award which is presented by the Office of the National Culture Commission in Ministry of Culture of Thailand. Here is a brief biography from their website:
Lieutenant Commander Payong Mukda was born in Ratchburi Province. He was an artist who composed more than one thousand country songs, popular songs, and modern-songs as well as influencing a number of new singers. He was awarded Golden Record Awards for his musical compositions for three years in a row. Apart from writing music and lyrics, he was also a singer who sang humorous songs and owned a band called Pocket Music. Regarded as a pillar of musical circles, he was invited to perform for the general public at the Or. Sor. Station, Chitrlada Palace. He was also one of the founders of a number of associations such as the Musicians Association of Thailand under the Royal Patronage of His Majesty the King. He was a musician who could portray the messages in his music, and he liked to offer consultation and guidance to music lovers. Besides this, his songs were beautifully crafted, both in terms of language and meaning, with valuable ethical and moral messages closely intertwined. As such, he was considered a role model for people who fought through life with perseverance as well as being a master of the Thai music industry.
While researching information about Payong Mukda, I came across this strange news article from June 1st, 1999:
On World No-Smoking Day, anti-smoking advocates proved that cigarettes can be hazardous to your health. Their huge mock cigarette stuffed with hydrogen-filled balloons accidentally caught fire and exploded in a sheet of flame. No one among the two dozen or so celebrities and activists standing next to the cigarette was seriously hurt — although there were were several singed eyebrows and hair. Payong Mukda touched off the three-second inferno. The popular singer was supposed to cut the 10-metre cigarette with a sword. As he hacked at the stubborn smoke, flames suddenly shot five metres into the air.
Catalog number 3 on Rosana Records of Bangkok, Thailand. No release date given.
Filed under: Algeria
Brothers Rachid and Fethi Baba Ahmed were from the Northwestern town of Tlemcen in Algeria.
They formed their first band in the 1960’s, which was called The Vultures. Althought I have been unable to find any recordings by the band, they were supposed more Western styled rock ‘n’ roll.
After The Vultures, they released a few records as Rachid et Fethi (here’s one other that I know of), and made a number of appearances performing on Algerian television in the 1970’s.
Since that time, Rachid and Fethi became the most well known Raï producers in Algeria. They openned one of the first 24 track studios in the country, which is in the town of Oran. They were the first to introduce the synthesizer and drum machine into Raï in 1982, which would galvanize that music’s signature sound.
Sadly, Rachid Baba Ahmed was killed on 15 February 1995 in his car with shots from a submachine gun in Oran.
Thanks to Anis Bousbia for his help.
Catalog number 28846 Editions Rally of Tlemcen, Algeria. No release date given.
◄●►◄●►◄●►◄●►◄●►◄●►◄●►◄●►◄●►◄●►◄●►
UPDATE: 05/27/23 This song – as well as it’s flip side – can be found on the Sublime Frequencies compilation 1970’s Algerian Folk And Pop. You can also find one of their other records that has eluded me for ages – the “Youk Baba Jeïm” / “Maghboun” single – over at Gary Sullivan‘s Arabic Singles Going Steady blog.
Filed under: India
Sunil Ganguly was born at Sonamura village in Tripura, which is a state in North East India. He was one of the first musicians to popularize guitar in Bengali music in the early 1960’s, but then he switched to mainly release recordings of popular Bollywood songs on steel guitar. He is widely considered to be the best and set the standard for all who followed him. It has been said that “his instrument seemed to sing like a human voice”.
Surprisingly, the best information I was able to find was from Answers.com
One of the most respected Hawaiian electric guitarists in the Indian sub-continent is the Late Sunil Ganguly. Coming from a modest background, Ganguly developed his very own style of playing the instrument. No matter what he played, his instrument seemed to sing like a human voice. For years his recordings have formed the basis of many aspiring guitarists in the country in terms of style and technique. Nuances were a child’s play for Ganguly and he never went overboard doing it.
Ganguly’s repertoire ranged from classical based songs to Hindi movie hits and from traditional folk songs to those composed by the greats like Dr. Rabindranath Tagore and Kazi Nazrul Islam. Major labels like HMV and Concord Records have recorded and released at least one album of Sunil Ganguly every year starting from late sixties / early seventies till about a year or two before he passed away.
There were years when Radio Ceylon and All India Radio used to regularly broadcast his recordings which actually used to be a motivating factor for many aspiring young guitarists.
The Indian style of playing the Hawaiian Guitar is based around Ganguly’s style and most of his contemporaries used to discreetly copy his style or claim to be based around Ganguly’s school of playing.
Many references to Ganguly can be found on the internet and there are some interesting comparisons made. Perhaps it was due to Sunil Ganguly that the Hawaiian guitar rose to popularity in India but alas in these days of electronic music, the instrument’s popularity has dwindled. Of course, there are still some who would like to promote the instrument, post-Ganguly. Newer styles and newer techniques have come up and some of them are again from India (Brij Bhushan Kabra, Vishwa Mohan Bhatt etc.).
This song was originally from the 1978 movie Don, which was a very popular Bollywood film that has reach cult status outside of India. The movie was recently remade as Don – The Chase Begins Again in 2006.
Since the initial post, this song was included on the “Bollywood Steel Guitar” compilation on Sublime Frequencies.
Sunil Ganguly passed away at the age of 62 in Calcutta in 1999.
Catalog number S/MOCE 3015 EMI of India, manufactured and distributed by The Gramophone Company of India Limited in 1979.
Filed under: Madagascar
Although I have read that some people thought Les Safari may have been from Morocco, they were originally from Madagascar.
They moved to France in an attempt to have the same success as fellow Malagasys Les Surfs (who were not a surf band).
They released four records between 1965 and 1967. This record is the second of two singles that they recorded for the French Palmarés label. They would later record two singles for CBS. Before they changed their name to Les Safari, they were called C.C.C. Guitares.
Thanks to Stéphane Leroux-Lemeuier at Encyclopédisque for the information.
Catalog number 1010 M on Palmarés records of France, released in 1966.
Filed under: Brunei
♬ Rindu
Kugiran Irama Perindu were from Brunei.
Brunei is a country located on the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia. Apart from its coastline with the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the states of Sarawak and Sabah of East Malaysia. Brunei, the remnant of a very powerful sultanate, restored its independence from the United Kingdom on January 1st 1984.
What little information I have been able to find about Kugiran Irama Perindu is about their Management / Label: Times Record Company.
Around 1960’s in Singapore, Times Record was a record company which released Malaysian EP’s and LP’s, on labels such as Olympic, Eagle, Sea Lion, etc. There record labels had competition with international recording companies such as EMI and Philips. In the 1960’s there were many artists and singers and records under Times management, so audience can listen them.
This song is from their first single. I do know that they released at least two other singles, one of which is pictured here. The liner notes on the back of that record reads:
Only one time when Time Record, which was popular with Olympic label has recorded some new songs with Irama Perindu, it’s also popular in Brunei Darussalam, Singapore, and Malaysia. These songs were playing on radio stations and a night club in Brunei. With a new songs which was playing in our edition will make you had a romantic feeling. Thank you and enjoy our songs!!
Thanks go out to Anton Pulung of Red Chamber for the translation.
Catalog number T.R.C. 1033 on Olympic Records of Singapore. No release date given.
Filed under: Turkey
♬ Adanali
Turkey has a long tradition of musical talent to begin with, and being Europe’s crossroads into Asia, the whole phenomenon of East-meets-West hybridization (in this case, traditional Anatolian folk and ’60s pop) makes for some amazing music that couldn’t come from anyplace else. In the last few years there has been a few great compilations and a handful of albums that have been re-issued.
Here is a really good overview of the evolution of the music scene in Turkey, written by Gökhan Aya:
“Turkish rock’n’roll scene started as early as 1956 and blossomed by the arrival of The Shadows. It is very important to underline the influence of The Shadows because the missing essence which held the rock music from being popular in the first years was the problem of language. As Turkish did not have any roots in relation to English it was really very hard to understand what rock’n’roll was all about. The Shadows served very good as the nation was very used to listen to instrumental music. It also should be noted that 60’s marked very rapid changes in Turkey: year by year general level of culture was increasing, by 1961 the most democratic period of country started and by every year, as far music’s concerned, record sales were geometrically multiplying.
“The Shadows reigned heavily until The Beatles came along and that blew up everything! There was such a blasting of bands that one of the biggest national newspapers called Hürriyet decided to organise a big contest that would help the young amateur bands have their names heard throughout the country. But, what the contest organisers wanted was interesting: the musicians who wanted to attend the contest had to either compose songs in Turkish or arrange a traditional tune. Also they had to perform this in a western style with electric western instruments! The ones who ware finalists ware to perform live In many cities that the newspapers arranged a tour for them. If Altin Mikrofon had not been assembled, we wouldn’t likely to be talking about 60’s & 70’s Turkish rock scene.”
Between 1966 and 1968, they recorded five singles, two of which were for Altin Mikrofon (Golden Microphone) contests. This song is from their second single which was part of the 1967 contest, and their third single was in the 1968 contest.
Catalog number H-019 on Altin Mikrofon of Turkey, released 1967.
Filed under: Kenya
Madico were from… Well, I’m not sure.
The person who sold me the record said that they were from Kenya, which is where the record says it was manufactured in the small print.
But, the language listed on the label says “Lingala”, which is spoken throughout the northwestern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaïre) and a large part of the Republic of the Congo, as well as to some degree in Angola and the Central African Republic.
I guess that they may have been from Angola, due to the song’s title. But if that was the case, the record would have been pressed either in that country or Portugal. Similarly, if they had been from the Democratic Republic of the Congo or the Republic of the Congo, the record would have been pressed in France. So that leaves the Central African Republic… But then why would the song have Angola in the title?
If you have any information, please contact me.
Catalog number PEA 200 on Pathé Records, manufactured in Kenya. No other information available.
Filed under: Indonesia
Dara Puspita (Flower Girls) was Indonesia’s most successful girl band of the 1960s. While there were many popular female vocalists in Indonesia at that time, they nearly all relied on the services of a backing band. Dara Puspita was one of the few girl groups who actually played all their own music as well. Comprising Susi Nander (the drummer, who was featured on the cover of this single), Titiek Hamzah, and sisters Titiek A.R., and Lies A.R., they formed in 1964, after being inspired by ‘The Beatles‘ sound. With all of them still in their late teens, they initially faced parental objections, but soon won them over. Apparently, when on stage, these girls had the habit of jumping up and down while shouting, such that their lyrics were often inaudible.
Over at Toshi’s A Go Go Asian 60’s Beat • Pretty Flamingo 2 site, he has an interview with Mr. Anthena Leo, who was a friend of Titik Hamzah during the time the band was active. Here is an excerpt:
Because their style was referred to as “A Go-Go” or “Twist” it was considerably unusual then, they hit the top seat and became pop icons among young people in the blink of an eye at that time. In 1966, they had performed in Bangkok before they made their debut in Indonesia, and you can listen to some works based on their memories of Bangkok in their first and second albums.
Dara Puspita started on a journey to perform in Europe immediately after they released their 4th album. They kept touring in many countries such as Iran in the Middle East, West Germany, Turkey, Hungary and other countries for 1 year and 3 months. Until they came back to Indonesia in October, 1969, they performed 250 concerts held in 70 cities total.
Collin Johnson, who was an initial manager of the Beatles, just appeared in front of them in those days. At Collin’s request, they went to Britain at once and debuted with “Welcome To My House/I Believe In Love,” but it did not become a hit. 2nd EP “”Ba Da Ba Dum/Dream Stealer” did not become a hit, either. Drummer Susy Nander looks back at that time, saying “No one will be sure to buy the record of the unnamed female band like us”.
In concerts held in Britain, they mostly performed as an opening act for top groups such as Uriah Heep and Shocking Blue. They also toured to France, Belgium, Spain, and the Netherlands. They were very welcomed in the Netherlands. Everyone seems to have cried when they performed a song “Surabaja” from their first album. (It could be because Indonesia was a colony in the Netherlands for 360 years.) One single phonograph record put on the market in the Netherlands included an English version of “Sjurabaja” as A-side and “Cabaleuro” as B-side, which were the most popular at their concert.
Afterwards, they returned home to Indonesia, the triumphant return performance of the stadium class was done, and their popularity faced its peak. I still remember that in the concert, Titik Hamzah who was the bassist and the chairperson said honestly “We debuted in foreign countries, but we failed…” while talking about the story of life in foreign countries. When I heard her sincere comment toward her experience, I felt like assisting them more and more.
Later, Titik Hamzah told me that dissolution already seems to have come out in Dara Puspita before they returned to Indonesia even though it was made secret. Actually, the idea of dissolution was from her, Titik Hamzah, who was the most talented of the four. While the other 3 members said “Let’s continue because we are still popular,” Titik insisted “It is boring to keep playing songs by others. We should dissolve our band while we are popular.” Finally, as a result of the fact that the other 3 members couldn’t persuade Titik, dissolution was announced from their mouths on the final day of their triumphant return concert. Even though there had been a rumor of dissolution, the impact was still huge and all of the fans felt sad when we heard it…
After years, Titik A.R, the lead guitarist of the band, formed a reunion band with the original drummer Susy Nander, a new bassist Judith and a keybordist Dora Sahertian.(I believe they released an album with these members). Neither Titik Hamzah nor Lies A.R participated in this reunion because they had already married.
Titik Hamzah, who had never forgotten to sing, returned to the scene later. She released 2 albums with drummer Susy Nander until it dissolved. The sound of this newborn Dara Puspita by Titik and Susy was different from the original Dara Puspita. In these records, they tried to play various genres of music together. “There was no will to make hit-songs then. I just wanted to show my zeal to music.” said Titik Hamzah afterwords…
By the way, the original 4 albums of Dara Puspita were released only in record format not even in cassette format. There have been no re-issued versions so far. According to Titik Hamzah, once, the father of Titik A.R. and Lies A.R. tried to reissue them as cassettes, but it didn’t go well (Or Titik Hamzah refused) because there were a bunch of problems related to copyright. Therefore, it is very difficult to obtain Dara Puspita’s four original albums currently.
There is a good post on Dara Puspita, as well as songs from their first two albums at Garage Hangover. Also, Toshi has a gallery of most of Dara Puspita’s records here.
Catalog number BT-107 on Bintang records. No release date listed.
Radiodiffusion Internasionaal Annexe 
