Filed under: Lebanon
Back when I first started this whole insanity, one band that I was constantly reading about was The Cedars from Lebanon. They are most noted for using saz or oud instead of electric guitar on most of their songs, making them one of the best examples of East meets West.
On their first single they went by the name The Sea-ders, but on their second single they switched to The Cedars. This particular single was originally released in Israel, but due to the fact that the Six Days War had just broke out, most copies were destroyed. Soon after, The Cedars moved to London where they recorded two more singles. But after their fourth single, Decca decided to drop the band. Eventually they got into some serious money problems, sold all their instruments and equipment, broke apart and were forced to go back to Lebanon.
In 1969, Decca decided to re-issue this single in Turkey, were it was a big hit. In fact this song was covered by Mavi Işiklar and the B side “Hide If You Want To Hide” was covered by Selçuk Alagöz, both in Turkish (and both are featured on the Grey Past compilation “Turkish Delights“).
Catalog number 68.107 on Decca, manufactured in Turkey. Release in 1969.
Filed under: Thailand
♬ Mon Kla
♬ Sri Nuon
Johnny Guitar was from Thailand. The band was featured on the first Thai Beat A Go-Go compilation released by Subliminal Sounds and the Shadow Music of Thailand compilation released by Sublime Frequencies. Here are the liner notes for this album:
FACTS ABOUT FABULOUS JOHNNY GUITAR.
T. NOPARATANA (NOPARATANA TIPAYAOSOT) is the leader of Johnny Guitar. He’s 29 years old and almost six feet tall. He composes, listens politely to what the others have to say about his compositions and arrangement, and then insists that they Record Exactly what he wrote and arranged in the first place. He has very definite ideas of his own about almost everything. He plays Electric Organ more than 12 years. He used to be playing with “Bangkok Blue Band” his hobbies include all sports and art. He was born in Bangkok.
S. PRASERT (PRASERT SANGKLA) is 19 years old. He plays Lead Guitar. He was born in Surin.
P. KUA (KUA PHAN-NGARM) is 21 years old. He plays Rhythm Guitar. He was born in Surin.
M. MONGKOL (MONGKOL MOUNGVIROTE) is 20 years old. He plays Bass Guitar. He was born in Bangkok.
A. ANUN (ANUN AMARANONT) is 20 years old. He plays Drums. He was born in Bangkok.
Johnny Guitar is “A KING OF STRING BAND” in THAILAND.
He started to play string music in 1963.
Johnny Guitar is the first band who gets wonderful and new ideas in string music. They arranged THAI CLASSICAL to be THAI POPULAR ( A GO-GO for dancing and listen) Johnny Guitar got twice EXHIBIT in exhibition string band of THAILAND. In 1965 Johnny Guitar got a big succeed in string music. They can get “Golden Shield” From H.R.H. Prince BHANUBANDH YOKUL ( HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS PRICE OF THAILAND) In 1966 Johnny Guitar get a big hits from their first record “SUPHAN-NAHONG” after their first hits. They’re going to have the second Record “LAO CHA REON SRI” which is a biggest sell and biggest demand.
Now! Here is the first longplay which is very best, greatest sound for stereo phonic, and best souvenirs.
Catalog number LBS.999 on Thai Phonograph Record Company, manufactured and distributed by Lucky Bamboo Records. No release date listed.
Filed under: Dahomey
Orchestre Super Jheevs des Paillotes were from the West African country formerly called Dahomey, now known as Benin.
Since this song was originally posted on the site, it has been included on the African Scream Contest compilation on Analog Africa. Samy Ben Redjeb went to Benin, and interviewed guitarist D’Almeida Expédit:
The band formed, without me, around the early 70s. They had struggled to get things going, they didn’t have a steady guitarist and were soon looking for a musician who could transform their chaotic energy into something productive. A few members were dispatched to Cotonou in ‘71, and that’s where they found me. During our first jam session I improvised a few things on guitar. They had never seen someone handling that instrument the way I did, They all wanted me to stay, but I told the manager of the band, De Souza Marius, that I would only stick around if he found me a daytime job. Two weeks later not only me but the entire band was employed at the CFDT, the local textile manufacturer which De Souza was also managing. We all felt more comfortable financially and could better focus on our music. We had some incredible musicians.
Our late bass player Agbotro Jude was considered to be one of the best in the country; he is the composer of the song you want. And then our crazy drummer Ambroise Gnagenon…He was a genius He would build his drum kit out of goat skin and other weird tools; we use to call it “La batterie indigene”. The bass drum pedal would break in the middle of every live performance; we would stop, waiting for him to fix it, and then continue. He had a really wild style. He is gone now, but you can still see the drum at Las Trois Paillotes. That’s the place we would meet and rehearse everyday after work, and on Saturdays we would set that place on fire! We were popular here but it was a regional thing – we did not use to record you know -but we toured a bit. Dasa, Azofe, Sabalo; it was hot!
One day Apova Bruno from Discafric came to Bohicon to record a band called Las Superstar de Cotonou. which had come here for a concert. Bruno arrived with his recording equipment, and while he was assembling his set-up he heard us practicing nearby He was intrigued by our sound and came to talk to us about making a recording, which we did three weeks later at Les Trois Paillotes. He brought his Nagra reel-to-reel, we played into one microphone, and that was it. We recorded that track three or four times and he later chose the best version. We did not hear from him for a while after that, despite people telling us that they could hear our song on the radio. Anyway I finally bumped into him one day while he was trying to get drunk in a bar in Bohicon. I forced him to follow me to our manager’s house so that they could clarify our payment. They had a brief chat and one week later we received one 7” inch single. That was all we ever received for that recording, which is the only one we ever did.
This song is punk rock.
Catalog number DCF.26 on Discafric, manufactured in France. No release date listed
Filed under: Turkey
Mavi Işiklar roughly translates into Blue Lanterns, and they were from the swinging scene in Turkey.
This is from the Psyche Van Het Folk web page:
Mavi Işiklar was undoubtedly one of the most successful beat/rock bands of the latter part of the 60’s. They managed to sell thousand of records one after the other and be loved for what they really were even in the conservative Anatolian towns. They were a really good R&B band but gradually became a successful underground entity after 1968.
Apparently they reunited in the summer of 2000 and played some shows in Turkey to promote a CD compilation of their material that been released on Ada Müzik at the time.
Catalog number FS 175 on Sayan of Turkey, released 1968.
Filed under: Taiwan
♬ 媽媽送我一個吉他
♬ 淚的衣裳
The Telstar Combo were from the island nation / renegade Chinese province Taiwan.
I have not been able to find out anything about the band, except that they were the backing band for a number of Taiwanese singers, most notably Hsieh Lei 謝雷.
After the initial posting, I found this bit of information about the label:
The record was put out by Haishan Records, the dominant force on the pop scene back then. Their roster included around 80% of the big stars of the 60s and 70s, but they got hit badly by financial troubles in the early 80s. Many of the employees jumped ship and started their own record companies. Haishan is still around, but it only puts out re-issues of the oldies.
Thanks to Mack at Far East Audio for getting this translated for me.
Catalog number SL-2081 on Hai Sahn Records of Taiwan. No release date listed.
Radiodiffusion Internasionaal Annexe 