Radiodiffusion Internasionaal Annexe

♬ Penyesalan

Who would have guessed that Black Sabbath had been so popular in Southeast Asia? First, you have Sroeng Santi’s “Kuen Kuen Lueng Lueng” – which borrows heavily from “Iron Man” –  and then this take on “Paranoid“.

After releasing their first single as Orkes Rima Melati Indonesia, the band changed their name to The Commandos in 1968. They released two other singles and three albums backing various singers. They apparently broke up in 1973.

If you have any further information about this artist or anything else about this recording, please leave it in the comment section below.

Catalog number MCEP 8023 Roebuck Record of Malaysia. Released 1970.

♬ a) Putri Kenari b) Kelap Kelip c) Tukang Sado

Band D’Strangers were from Indonesia. They recorded over fifteen albums – and at least four singles – many of which you can find over at the Madrotter Treasure Hunt. They were primarily a backing band for various vocalists, but two of their albums were instrumental – or instrumentalia. To the best of my knowledge, this is their first album.

If you have any further information about this artist or anything else about this recording, please leave it in the comment section below.

Catalog number SML-1005 on Istana Stereo of Indonesia. no release date listed.

♬ Oh Dara

Favourite’s Group was formed by Aloysius Riyanto with his band mates from Band 4 Nada and singer Mus Mulyadi in 1973. Soon after, the rest of the members of Band 4 Nada decided to leave to continue on under that name. Riyanto then enlisted his two cousins, Is Haryanto on drums and Harry Santoso (AKA Harry Toos) on guitar, and a friend of his, Tommy WS on bass, to complete the band’s new line up. 

Although the principal musicians of the band have passed away – Aloysius Riyanto in 1995, Is Haryanto in 2009 and Tommy WS in 2013 – Mus Mulyadi still occasionally performs as Favorite’s Group.

Catalog number RLL-403 on Remaco Records of Indonesia. Released 1975.

♬ Dia Jang Dulu

Dicky Suprapto and Suzzanna Martha Frederika van Osch – AKA “The Horror Queen of Indonesia” – are backed up by Eka Septa. In addition to this single, they recorded an album together. Dicky also record one other single with Lilis Surjani. But the star of the show here is Eka Septa.

Catalog number CRE 7001 on Canary Records of Malaysia. Released 1970.

♬ Sang Kodok

Pomo bersama The Pro’s were from Indonesia.

Pomo – which is short for Soepomo – was the singer and played saxophone on this record. They recorded at least one other single together. Pomo’s only other recording is an album with a band called The Eternals before a brief stint in The Rollies – although there is no mention of him on The Rollies Wikipedia entry

The Pros’s were: Abadi Soesman (keyboards), Broery Marantika (vocals, keyboards), Dimas Wahab (bass),  Enteng Tanamal (guitar), Fuad Hasan (drums), Ronny Makasutji (guitar). I am guessing this is a list of everyone who had played in the band since this single only had four people plus Pomo pictured on the back cover. Abadi Soesman currently plays in a band called God Bless that has been active since 1973. Broery Marantika – more commonly know as just Broery – had a lengthy career, recording up until his death in 2000. He recorded two albums with The Pro’s backing him. And Enteng Tanamal played in Eka Sapta and recorded a solo single.

Catalog number SSE 523 on Star Swan of Singapore. Released 1968.

♬ Biduan

♬ Dilarang Melarang

Dangdut. Besides be a really fun word to say, it is a music that is byproduct of the cultural collisions of Malay, Arabic, Hindustani, and Western sounds that could only happen in Indonesia. Having emerged in the early Seventies, dangdut has continued to grow in popularity to this day, even spreading to parts of Malaysia and the southern Philippines.

Oma Irama was born December 11, 1946, in Tasikmalaya, West Java. During the height of his stardom in the 1970s, he became the self-proclaimed Raja Dangdut (King of Dangdut) with his group Soneta. He was known by Oma Irama before he made a pilgrimage to Mecca and became a haji. He later took the name Rhoma Irama, which is a shorten version of “Raden Haji Oma Irama” (Raden is an aristocracy title for Javanese and Sundanese cultures).

Irama’s career began in the late 1960s when he recorded solo records and with the group Orkes Melayu Purnama. He sang duets on several record albums with Indonesian female vocal stars such as Inneke Kusumawati, Ellya Khadam, Vivi Sumanti, and the later to be crowned ‘Queen of Dangdut’ – Elvy Sukaesih. Once Oma broke from recording with the Purnama Group, he eventually formed Orkes Melayu Soneta – the first so-called Dangdut group. In fact, Oma established the term “Dangdut” with a song by the same name. Rhoma was also known for adding rock to the music and political content – much of it Islamic – to the lyrics, earning him the ire of President Suharto. Once Soneta was established in the early 70’s, Oma changed his name to Rhoma and went on a decade long run of successful hit records and films – all of which starred Rhoma playing himself while performing all of his hits.

As for Rita… There is no information available.

Catalog number IMR-90056 on P. T. Yukawi Corp. of Bogor, Indonesia. No release date listed.

♬ Kampong Nah Djauh Di-Mato

Ernie Djohan was born on April 6th in Indonesia. She was the daughter of M. Djohan Bakhaharudin, and spent much of her youth in Den Haag, the Netherlands and Singapore. In 1962, she began her singing career for Radio Talentime in Singapore in 1962. That same year, she won the All Singapore’s School Talentime and recorded her first record for Philips Recording Company. In 1966, she became the first Indonesian artist to go Platinum with the song “Teluk Bayur” and starred in her first film Belaian Kasih.

Ernie continues to perform across Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and – as well as a recent performance in Geneva, Switzerland – to this day.

You can find a gallery of her early singles at Toshi’s A Go Go Asian 60’s Beat • Pretty Flamingo 2 site and a few of her albums and videos at the mind-bogglingly endless Madrotter blog.

Catalog number PMT/MEP/51/67 on The P. M. T. Organisation of Malaysia. No release date listed.

♬ Wo Tjal Ni Tjo Jew

Kroncong (also seen spelled: Keroncong, Kerontjong, Kronchong, Krontjong) is the name of a ukulele-type instrument and an Indonesian musical style that typically makes use of the kroncong, a flute, and a female singer. The small kroncong guitar itself is related to the Portuguese cavaquinho, as is the Hawaiian ukulele. The roots of Kroncong music can be traced to Portuguese Fado, having originated in the communities of freed Portuguese slaves in the 16th in Batavia – now known as Jakarta, Indonesia.

During the 1960s, Pop Keroncong emerged in an attempt to modernize the genre by adding electric guitars, keyboards and drums. The most popular singers of that time were Hetty Koes Endang and Mus Mulyadi. Meanwhile, backing bands like The Steps and Band 4 Nada – who were already recording Instrumentalia albums – started making instrumental Kroncong records.

Eka Sapta formed as an instrumental backing band in 1963. From the beginning, they were influenced by The Shadows and The Ventures. Their first album was released the following year, baking up a number of singers, including Lilis Suryani and Elly Kasim. The band became one of the most sought after backing bands, recording albums with Inneke Kusumawati, Sitompul Bersaudara and others. Their last record was released in 1975.

While the band had many members over the years – there are nine people credited as being in the band on this album – two of which were guitarists Jopie Item and Entang. Jopie Item was in Trio Bintang and may or may not have been in Band 4 Nada. Entang had a solo career, backing up the Pattie Bersaudara, as well as others.

The band supposedly reformed in 2007. Other than a lone article, I have not been able to find any other evidence to support that fact.

Catalog number CLP 17003 on Canary Records of Indonesia, released 1970.

♬ Carilah Kawan Yang Lain

♬ Bunga Di Tepi Jalan

Dangdut, Gamelan, Jaipongan, Krontjong, Orkes Gambus, Qasidah Modern… What is it about Indonesia that makes the music their so unique?

Indonesia is a very diverse country. Just about every one of the 17,508 islands has its own cultural and artistic history that are the result of distinct ethnic, linguistic, and religious groups. The archipelago has been an important trade region since at least the seventh century, when the Srivijaya Kingdom traded with China and India. Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms flourished, until Muslim traders brought Islam to the region.

The first Europeans arrived in Indonesia in 1512, when Portuguese traders sought to monopolize the sources of nutmeg, cloves and cubeb pepper in Maluku. Dutch and British traders soon followed. In 1602, the Dutch established the Dutch East India Company and became the dominant European power. Following bankruptcy of the Dutch East India Company in 1800, the government of the Netherlands established the Dutch East Indies as a nationalized colony.

All of these different cultures – both native and foreign – collided to produce an endless variety of amazing music. Much of it has been documented and recorded, but not all of it. Research by Indonesian and international scholars is still ongoing.

One of these variations was known as Instrumentalia, which was also popular in Malaysia and Singapore. Band 4 Nada, or “4 Tones Band”, were one of the first and more popular Instrumentalia bands in Indonesia. They took the instrumental rock sounds of The Shadows and The Ventures, and mixed it with other indigenous types of music, to create a new sound quite unlike anything else. Band 4 Nada were occasionally the backing band for singers such as Ernie Djohan, Lilis Suryani, Pattie Bersaudara and Titiek Sandhora. The main guy was A. Riyanto, who later went on to form The Favorite’s Group. Apparently, Jopie Item – of Trio Bintang – was a member at some point during the history of the band. Also, this album contains covers of several Koes Plus songs.

Catalog number SKL. 003 on Sakura Records of Indonesia Manufactured by Republic Manufacturing Co. Ltd (Remaco). No release date listed.

♬ Putri Malu

♬ Abunawas

Trio Bintang were from Indonesia.

The Republic of Indonesia, is a nation in Southeast Asia. Comprising of 17,508 islands, it is the world’s largest archipelagic state. It is also one of fourteen nations that the Equator runs through. With a population of almost two and a quarter million people, it is the world’s fourth most populous country and the most populous Muslim-majority nation, although officially it is not an Islamic state.

During the early 1960s, President Sukarno was under pressure from the pro-communist organization Lembaga Kebudayaan Rakyat to ban rock’n’roll. Local groups rock groups were often thrown in jail. Due to this fact, one of Indonesia’s first rock bands, Koes Bersaudara had a hit with a song called “I’m In Jail”, which was also included on their first album.

The only information that I have been able to find about Trio Bintang, is that their guitarist was Jopie Reinhard Item. He apparently had also performed with Lilis Suryani, Elly Kasim, Titiek Puspa, Ernie Djohan – to name a few. He now plays instrumental jazz. And apparently, Trio Bintang performed for a reunion show in 1999 for the Wisma Anak-Anak Harapan orphanage in Untal-Untal Dalung on the island of Bali.

Catalog number BT-102 on Bintang records. No other information available.