Thai VS Bollywood III: Waipod Petsuphan "Setthi Ngoen Gu" (7")

As requested another item concerning Thai-Indian (musical) relations... Waipod Petsuphan of "Ding Ding Dong" fame (Sound of Siam Vol. 1) issued this little gem on one of my favorite labels, Khob Ploeng - nearly every single I have from them is briliant (see label logo below). On this one, Waipod sings about one of the main professions of Indians in Bangkok, money lender, backed by pseudo-indian music, sung in his unique Lae singing style! Enjoy!

Noknoi Uraiporn - Isaan Molam from the 70ties (HLP 232) split album

Noknoi Uraiporn did this excellent album back in the 70ties - it is a split Album with Noknoi Uraiporn on Side A and Chutima Duangpon ("Fon dok Laew" featured on "Siamese Soul - Thai Pop Spectacular" Vol. 2) on Side B. Noknoi has the Phet Pin Thong Band backing her, but this record is a nice mix of ballads - which are luckily not as cheesy as other Molam singers attempts at Luk Thung - and groovy Molam tunes. Actually Miss Uraiporn is still touring with a big Molam group, but the sound is not as raw and funky as it was back in the 70ties. Please forgive me for just posting the Noknoi Side: Enjoy!

Chabaprai Naamwai - Lam Ploen Kidtueng Faen Tahan HLP 276

Chabaprai Naamwai is from Kalasin Province and issued some excellent records on the "Thra Pin Kaen" Label in the 70ties. This one, HLP 276, is one of her best, collecting some of her best "Lam Phloen" Songs. Basically I choose to upload this set because so far I feel that I did not yet post a lot of Lam Phloen (just the Pet Phin Tong Albums) even though my main motivation for this blog was my wish to make Lam Phloen better known. Chabaprai sings a more accessible kind of pop style Lam Phloen, which is good as an introduction to Lam Phloen. The early songs in the 50ties and 60ties had only the singer and the Kaen, and gradually musicians added drums and electric instruments. Usually these songs start with the singer vocalizing (ooh la nor... ooh la nai....) and after a minute or so the drums and other instruments kick in. Great fun, great music! Get on your dancing feet here!

If you like this, take a look at the excellent Monrakplengthai Blog, where you find an early tape, and another excellent post at saoban esan with a lot of information on Chabaprai!

JanMolam - WeddingMix for Lina

vielen Dank von Prairin und mir für deine Gastfreundschaft in Hamburg! - und wie versprochen findest du hier den Molam Mix, den wir für unsere Heirat vorbereitet hatten - so kannst du doch noch irgendwie dabeisein!


1. Ploen Promdaen - Farang Zeang Bong Fai
2. Angkhanang Khunchai - Toey Salap Parma
3. Banyen Sriwongsa - Lam Ploen Kon Baa Huay
4. Banyen Sriwongsa - Ramwong Saraphan
5. Montien Tiantong - Gor Gai
6. Angkhanang Khunchai - Kid Hod Chu
7. Chutima Duangporn - Fon Dok Laew
8. Suang Santi - Phu Yingyai Part 2
9. Ornuma Sringsiri - Mae Khai Somdam
10. Pet Pin Thong - Bump Lam Ploen
11. Banyen Rakgaen - Siang Toey Jak Jai
12. Petch Asia Band - Lam Ploen Doa Yang
13. Saksiam Petchompoo - Saksiam Doern Glon
14. Monruedee Promjak - Lam Dangwai
15. Ubon Pattana Band with Surin Paksiri - Lam Sarawan
16. Bratuang Siangpalong - Tahaan Palat Song
17. Waipot Petsupan - Nang Maew Pee
18. Saksiam Petchompoo - Saksiam Grab Faen
19. Chanpen Sirithep - Lam Ploen Ha Faen
20. Samli Sitong - Pong Lang Sang Sao
21. Rome Srithammarat - Sao New Look

คลิ๊กที่นี่

 

Saksiam Petchompoo - Thai Funk and Molam! HLP245 full album!

Saksiam Petchompoo should be well known, his songs are featured on the "Sound of Siam" Compilations and on the "Theppabutr Productions" Sampler... his music is more soul than funk, with razor sharp saxophones and a driving molam beat. Just check the first 2 songs, Saksiam Grab Faen (Saksiam salutes his fans) and Saksiam doen glorn (Saksiam spins a tale) and you will be hooked! This album "Saksiam Grab Faen" is a very rare compilation of impossible to find 7inches, and probably the best Saksiam LP ever. Enjoy!

45 of the week - Deep Molam from Brasitchai Srimueang: "Pee Jon Nong Oey"

Little is known about this singer - he sounds a little bit like Tiantong Montian ("Gor Gai")  from the second Sound of Siam compilation, but I just love his voice and the spaced out way he sings. So without further ado - listen to this super rare gem here!

Thai VS Bollywood II: Ultra rare Suang Santi (Iron Man) / Sumit Stachatape, full album!

You would never suspect it from the look of the cover - this is Suang Santi's record with the Black Sabbath cover "Iron Man" (Kuen Kuen Long Long) on it. The guy on the cover is of course not our cool hero Suang, but Sumit Stachatape, who is found on the A-side... and to my surprise it is a real find! It's a blend of Indian music and Luk Thung, hence I feature it in my little series of reports about thai-indian musical relations. Side B then is probably some of the most recent stuff from Suang Santi before his untimely death, and definitely some of his finest. Have fun!

...and if you have the chance to find it - there is a 7 Inch re-issue from Finders Keepers with "Kuen Kuen Long Long" on it, this time Suang Santi on the cover:

Our friend Chon a.k.a. Big Tiger opened bar & records studio in Bangkok!

Big Tiger Record Studio - open every day, located in Bangkok, Lad Prao Wang Hin, Soi 48.

If you love Thai Funk, Molam, Luk Thung and Reggae it is the place to be! Vinyl and drinks! For more info check Chon's Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/bigtigerstudio/

Thai VS Bollywood - Lata Mangeshkar VS Ream Daranoi

During the 70ties Indian movies were very popular in Thailand, so popular in fact that the music in some of these movies was dubbed as well. For Bollywood the dominant female voice of this time was that of Lata Mangeshkar, who sung what feels like half of all Indian movie songs from the 60ties to the 80ties. Her voice is truly remarkable. The song "Tanhai Men" was dubbed in Thai, sung by Ream Daranoi and called "Fai Yen" (cool fire), and is featured on Paradise Bangkok's excellent "Sound of Siam" compilation. For this post, I gathered the Indian Original and the Thai version. I will post more music at the intersection between Thai and Indian Culture in the next weeks... so here's "Fai Yen" and "Tanhai Men"... enjoy!

The Cat - Do the Watusi! 60s Garage/R&B/Shadowmusic from Thailand

A real astonishing set, presented by Thailands The Cat on their only LP. The title track may be considered Garage, other tracks are reminiscent of the Beatles or other 60s Bands. It is difficult to classify this set as pure Shadow Music (= those Bands from South East Asia, that were influenced by the Shadows extremely successful tour in the 60s thru the region and hence played instrumentals on western instruments with heavy farfisa organ sound like Son of P.M. or Johnny Guitar) even though this is the general feel. I picked 3 stand-out tracks, since my copy had a scratch, so I cannot upload the whole thing anyway. I picked the garage title track "Do the Watusi", a real groovy blaster called "I am gonna be free" (where the singer sounds like a young Big Maybelle or Little Esther) and the Shadow-style instrumental "Torpedo Run". They sing in English BTW! Enjoy! 

Pet Phin Thong - again! Thai Grooves from Isaan! Their 3rd Album (HLP 264)

Another Killer from the Pet Phin Thong Band! As requested the full album. Originally I wanted to post only the first side since all the groovy tracks are there. Side B in contrast contains several solo pieces, by Kaen or by Phin, and is rather for the real fan if I might say so... but please judge for yourself! BTW there were also 4 track EPs produced sometime in the early 70ties which contain the best tracks (3 EPs taken from the 3 Albums HLP 260, 262 and 264), so if its not possible for you to find the whole album (took me nearly 2 years to get a decent copy) you may get lucky with the 7 inch EPs!  Enjoy!

Re-up: Sroeng (Suang) Santi, the Black Superman! - "Phu Yingyai" - with Black Sabbath Cover! full album!

This week I would like to introduce Suang Santi (sometimes misspelled Sroeng Santi), a singer that started with rather common Luk Thung songs but later introduced Rock and Soul elements to his music, mixing it with great humor and political statements. He even did one Disco Album, but fans of Finders Keepers may know him mainly for his cover version of Black Sabbath's "Iron Man", repressed as a 7inch a couple of years back. "Phu Yingyai" ("the greatest") features a cover version of The Black Superman (Johnny Wakelin) as well as some Black Sabbath inspired songs (Dub Fai Kui Gan, Naman Paeng, Mai Rak Yaa Rak) that pop up from time to time on compilations, but the whole album is the real deal. As a little extra I included "Khuen Khuen Long Long", his iron Man Cover. Please forgive me as always for not naming single tracks, but to post A- and B-side as single tracks. Re-up!

45 of the week - Thai goes Disco - "Rasputin...Khao Niao"!

Since my previous posts cover early seventies stuff I decided to leap forward into the late seventies and into Disco! It is still surprising for me to see how popular songs like "Dschingis Khan", "Rasputin" or "Kung Fu Fighting" still are in Thailand. Once you listen to the Thai Versions you will realise how great some of these tunes are. So to pay respect to Disco pioneers like Frank Farian (German Writer, Producer and Singer of Boney M) I picked my favorite Thai Disco number, Nutchanat Nantana and Rasputin...khao niao. Khao Niao means sticky rice, so I assume that Miss Nantana is from Thailands North East. Another great cover version is to be found on the first Zudrangma Thai Funk CD, by Pannada Chayapark. To me, Nutchanat Nantana's is the better one - enjoy!

Hypnotic Lae Music from Waiphod Petsuphan (4-track EP)!

This little killer EP consists of 4 songs from Mr. Waiphod Petsuphan, in my humble opinion probably the best thai singer of all time! He started out singing Lae Music, which has a strong beat and usually religious or philosophical lyrics (other famous Lae singers are Porn Pirom or Kwanjit Sriprachan), and these 4 songs show several aspects of Lae. The first 2 songs are hypnotic variations on the same rhythm, with Mr. Waiphod using his voice on 2 tracks to speed up the acoustic music. The 3rd song has a mellow beat, whereas the last song comes closer to older and original forms of Lae. This little EP holds it all, so I uploaded the whole thing. If you are a little familiar with Thai Music you might know his song "Ding Ding Dong" which is a free improvisation on the "Ding Dong song" (referring to the caveman movie "When Women played Ding Dong" from 1971) and is featured on "The Sound of Siam" compilation from DJ Maft Sai. Paradise Bangkok recently did a repress of Ding Ding Dong (7"), get it while it is still available! Enjoy!

Pet Phin Thong - their debut record (HLP 260), full album!

Here is a gem from the Phet Phin Tong Band, issued on the Phet Phin Thong Label. The Band uses 2 Khaens (the mouth-organ carried by the players left and right on the cover) and the Phin, a 3-string guitar (seen in the center). For support some drums are added (Glong Yao, Thai longdrums), creating a hypnotic and driving beat that pushes harder than any funk number I know of. Usually the songs start slow and then pick up speed. I assume this record is from the early or mid-seventies. Several Tracks are "Lam Ploen" style, a music that is original from the area of North-East Thailand and has developed from very early forms of Khaen playing and singing. With the arrival of american soldiers in the sixties and tours of western pop-bands (The Shadows were huge in SEAsia!) these traditional forms of Thai music were played more and more danceable - other bands used western instruments (guitar, bass, drums) and combined them with thai instruments, creating exciting hybrid sounds. Enjoy this instrumental groovy monster and excuse me for just creating one audio-file...!

45 of the week - Bratuang Siangpalong: Tahan Plat Song

funky, slow, and very groovy - Mr. Bratuang Siangpalong! Rather hard to classify if this is Luk Thung or Molam style - it sounds actually similar to some early ska or rocksteady tunes (Prince Buster, Tommy McCook come to mind). Enjoy!

Ploen Promdaen - "Glua Duang", as made famous by the Butthole Surfers!

For my first post I selected the song which initiated my interest in Thai Music. In 1987 I saw the Butthole Surfers in Hamburg Germany, when they had a supposedly deaf skin-headed dancer on stage that would dance to what I then believed to be an arabian belly dance tune. That song was called "Kuntz". Fast forward, 20 years later I found myself working in Thailand, when out of Nostalgia I listened to that song again, suddenly realizing it was sung in Thai and being able to understand some, but not able to make sense out of it. Playing that song to several people I found out it was sung by famous singer Ploen Promdaen. Remarkable is that the Butthole Surfers hardly changed the song, just a bit of echoe and a spoken KUNTZ mixed in. Mr. Promdaens lyrics play with words, so it is not easy to understand. The original says just "khan" which means it "itches", refering to a "spot" (duang, caused by ringworm infection) on the skin, but using "duang" ambigiously also for fate (duang) - "why is a good fate good, when it itches...!". The Surfers added the "s", making it sound like a rather impolite word.  BTW, the Surfers said they got the Song of a tape (entitled simply "Thai Shotgun") that was send to them anonymously. So first post, first song, off the Album Glua Duang, here it is!