Asia a Go-Go

I loved making mixtapes in the 80s and 90s. The mixtape was the way to get all the favorite songs from recent record purchases on the go - car, walkman, other people's stereos. The home-made soundtracks to your life. The mixtape also makes a perfect, highly personal gift. And it allows one to share musical taste and sophistication. The production of a mixtape, especially trying to "make it flow", usually includes plenty of tedium and euphoria in quick succession. And when it's finished, one is proud :)

So here's a little mix"tape" I've wanted to make for years: 60s Psych, pop and beat music from Asia. Which I herewith name "Asia a Go-Go". Wikipedia defines "a Go-Go" music as a subgenre of funk but this is less about musical roots-finding than what Go-Go means to ME: 60s nightclub dance music. You can find all the tracks in mp3 here.

1. Ros Sereysothea / Chnam Oun Dop Prum Mouy (I'm 16) - Cambodia, mid to late 60s
Cambodian superstar of the late 60s whose forays into rock are amazingly energetic and fierce. Haunting sounds and beautiful songs, unfortunately all masters and vinyl of her has been destryoed by the Khmer Rouge (and Ros almost certainly killed). This is one of her many songs that the band "Dengue Fever" has covered very well.

2. The Mops / Asa Made Matenai - Japan, 1967
Melodic garagepunk from Japan's self-styled "first psychedelic band".

3. Chang Siao Ying / Come back to me - Singapore/China, 1968
Great Chinese Go-Go Fuzz-Pop number.

4. Nana Kinomi and Leo Beats / Suki Sa Suki Sa Suki Sa - Japan, 1968
Sultry cover version of the Zombies hit "I love you".

5. Ismail Haron & The Guys / Bersedia - Singapore/Malaysia, 1968
Ismail Haron was quite the man (dubbed "Singapore's Tom Jones") in the late 60s and 70s and toured South East Asia for many years. Here's a "Get Ready" (The Temptations) version in Bahasa Malaysia.

6. The Tielman Brothers / Marabunta - Indonesia, 1965
Four Indo guitar wizards from Surabaya who made it moderately big in Holland and Germany in the 60s. Some impressive live TV footage of them can be found on youtube

7. Nancy Sit / Hanky Panky - Hong Kong, 1967
Popular Chinese actress with a super charming version of the classic "Hanky Panky" (Tommy James and the Shondells).

8. Pan Ron / Knyom Mun Sok Jet Te "I'm Unsatisfied" - Cambodia, mid to late 60s
She and Ros Sereysothea were the two female superstars of Cambodian music in the late 60s and early 70s. Unfortunately not much of them survived the Khmer Rouge.

9. Thai Thanh / Bù'ng Sàng (Dawn) - Vietnam, late 60s/early 70s
Music performed and recorded by a local superstar mostly for G.I.s in South Vietnam. Thai Thanh's "Dawn" is powered by a combination of R&B-influenced sax honking and West Coast Jazz guitar. She fled from the war in '75 and become a successful jazz singer in the USA.

10. The Son of P.M. / Lhow Lenum - Thailand, 1965
The sound of The Shadows had a major influence in modernizing Thai popular music in the early 60s. This one's a traditional Thai melody given the Shadows treatment.

11. The Spiders / Yves - Japan, 1968
Perhaps Japans most popular and experimental "British Invasion"-band of the 60s."Yves" is the psychedelic stand-out track in their catalogue.

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12. Traces / Je t'aime moi non plus - Thailand, 1969
A trippy, spaced-out hipster luk-thung version of the Gainsbourg classic. No picture to be found.

13. Mika Nohira / Nikui Aitsu - Japan, 1969
Don't know who she is or what she sings about but it's a sophisticated and melancholy R&B pop number with some twisted guitar effect work.

14. Ros Sereysothea / Have You Seen My Love - Cambodia, mid to late 60s
See first track. Even though the sound quality is pretty poor you can hear a backing band as tight as Motown's Funk Brothers and a singer who should have been as big as Diana Ross. A perfect blend of beat, groove, swing and a monster wah-wah guitar. I can listen to this EVERY day.

15. Elvis Phuong / Bài Ca Ngông - Vietnam, 1970 (?)
A douche performer and crooner of schmaltzy love songs for most of his adult life, Elvis Phuong did have some balls in his younger years. Wait...who does that remind me of?...Anyway, this is a pretty WILD and stormy number.

16. Mike Ibrahim & The Nite Walkers / Senyum selalu - Malaysia, 1969
One of the first bands to push the rock envelope in Malaysia. This one's a nice, straightforward beat number.

17. Dara Puspita / A Go Go - Indonesia, 1967
Indo's most popular, prolific and adorable 60s all-girl (!) band. A Go Go is the title track of their 2nd album.

18. Sakarin Boonpit / Kotmorn Yoop Yap - Thailand, late 60s (?)
I could have done without a Thai Elvis in this selection but Mr. Boonpit's version of "All Shook Up" is just too charming, fresh and swingin' to ignore.

 

19. Mieko Hirota / Nagisa No Tenshi, Japan, 1969
A shameless blend of "Cool Jerk" (The Capitols), "Batman Theme" and various Motown ingredients (strings, harmonies). Works great :)