Thai Pop Spectacular (***)

Thai Pop Spectacular
Various Artists, 1960-1980s
Sublimefrequencies Records

Score of the week from the library - and yes, I picked it up because of the cutesy cover! (Full disclosure: I am every bit as glib and shallow as I appear to be.) Compiled by Alan Bishop and Mark Gergis for Seattle's Sublime Frequencies label (sublimefrequencies.com), it's basically Thai music for Westerners who want to hear Thais trying to sound Western. Kind of like Bollywood kitsch. Though it starts out sounding slightly traditional, with songs addressing topics like "Magical Love of the Countryside" and "Papaya Salad Merchant" things start to pick up by the time of the Johnny Guitar instrumental "Fawn Ngeo (Dance of the Ngeo)" - Ngeo are Northern Thais of Burmese origin - and get very weird as the tracks progress. Like Chailai Chaiyata & Swana Patana's "Kwuan Tai Duew Luk Puen (You Should Die By Bullets)," which opens with electronic beeps and blips before merging into a disco toe-tapper with horns straight out of the chase sequence on a 70s TV cop show. Weirder still is Gawao Siangthong's "Gao Guek (Wise Old Man)," wherein the singer actually uses belches for syncopated percussion!

The group Generation's "Nan nan Pob Gan Tee (Long Time No See)" sounds like it comes from a Thai film soundtrack (like Shaft Goes To Bangkok, if such a film existed!), all wacka-wacka guitars and wah-wah pedal. Similarly, Kabuan Garn Yor Yod Yung Yong attempt some funk stylings on "Gang Geng Nai Krai Lab," a title translated here as "Look Whose Underwear Is Showing." This should probably be the official anthem of Bangkok's Patpong red-light district.


Thong Sung Blue: "Look Whose Underwear Is Showing"

But the song that gets the most attention on the compilation is Pairoj's "Khor Tan Gor Mee Hua Jai," a decidedly bizarre Thai cover version of Brit two-hit wonder band Paper Lace's 1974 hit "The Night Chicago Died." (Though "The Night Chicago Died" was their only U.S. #1 hit, Paper Lace's anti-war protest song "Billy, Don't Be a Hero" was a UK #1 in 1974.)


Paper Lace gets Thai-Died

Other standouts: Phet Potaram's trilly-voice backed by snake-charmer horns sounds very Bollywood on the delightful "Koh Phuket (Phuket Island)"

The only track I can't stomach is Man City Lion's "Tid Lom Ta lai (Drinking Whiskey Until I'm Blurred)" because the singer's high-pitched affected voice is annoying beyond belief. And am I the only one who envisions the Manchester City football club when they see this Thai group's name?

CD track listing:

1. Introduction - Welcome To Thailand
2. Roob Lor Thom Pai - Buppah Saichol
3. Mae Kha Som Tum - Onuma Singsiri
4. Lung Dee Kee Mao - P. Promdan
5. Fawn Ngeo - Johnny Guitar
6. Kwuan Tai Duew Luk Puen - Chailai Chaiyata
7. Dek Kai Nuang Sue Pim - Sangthong Seesai
8. Gao Guek - Gawao Siangthong
9. Tid Lom Ta Lai - Man City Lion
10. Mai Na Lork Gun - Kampee Sangthong
11. Nan Nan Pob Gan Tee - Generation
12. Koh Phuket - Phet Potaram
13. Gang Geng Nai Krai Lab - Kabuan Garn Yor Yod Yung Yong
14. Khor Tan Gor Mee Hua Jai - Pairoj
15. Sao Dok Kum Tai - Pumpuang Duangjan
16. Tangkon Tangnae - Sangthong Seesai
17. Keng Ma - P. Promdan
18. Na Doo - Man City Lion
19. Dteuu - Setha
20. Mia Rai Duen - Duongdao
21. Pleng Show (Title Theme) - Chalermpon Malakum

Product description from sublimefrequencies.com:

Thai pop history has been largely ignored and neglected by the international musical community for far too long. By the late 20th century, Thai pop music had developed as many faces as localized roots music such as Molam or styles like Luk Thung or Luk Krung, (each with their own respective pop-sectors). Bangkok – always the hub of the Thai recording industry – attracted musicians and singers from across the country that were both informed by tradition and inspired by the wealth of international sounds entering the region via radio and phonograph. Jazz, for instance, had a profound influence on early Thai pop music, the King of Thailand himself being a noted Jazz composer.

This superb collection features modern Thai music styles combining with elements of surf, rock, funk, disco and comedy, revealing the use of clever instrumentation, brilliant vocals, great arrangements, twisted breaks, and resourceful production techniques. Discover the Queen of Luk Thung, the 1960s “Shadow Music” sound, classic tracks from Thai films, blazing examples of Bangkok disco from the 1970s, legendary Thai comedy Pop, and the most outrageous version of "The Night Chicago Died" you'll ever encounter. Thick horn sections, wah-wah guitars, tight drums, and funky organs help round out this astounding set which proves beyond a doubt that the Thai were a completely unique and powerful force during the 1960's, 70's & 80's global popular music explosion.

MP3s:
Kabuan Garn Yor Yod Yung Yong - "Gang Geng Nai Krai Lab" (Look Whose Underwear Is Showing)

Kampee Sangthong - "Mai Na Lork Gun" (Don't Deceive Me)

Man City Lion "Na Doo" (Very Striking Girl)

More reviews:
Pop Matters
All Music Guide
Funeral Pudding

Mickey Baker (***)

In the 50s - Hit, Git & Split
Rev-Ola Records, 2007

Another new compilation I picked up at the library recently. I never knew much about Mickey "Guitar" Baker, other than hearing his late 50s session work at Mercury Records backing Louis Jordan's rocking blues sides like the 1956 version of "Caldonia" (which is included here). I had heard him thanks to the good taste of Kenny Vieth, who used to played the gifted guitarist at his Fells Point bar-and-restaurant Henninger's Tavern, and recently was thinking of him thanks to the Gallery Cafe, where Kate the sandwich girl was playing some instro compilation - I remember liking it because normally the place blared forgettable classic rock on 98 Rock. And I know Rolling Stone magazine included Baker as #53 in its list of the all-time Top 100 guitarists (Hendrix was #1 -surprise!).

If you check out this anthology, I recommend burning selected songs (git-the-hits-and-split!), mainly the instrumentals, because it's a hit-and-miss affair. Yes, there's the famous Mickey & Sylvia hit "Love Is Strange" (which ironically made its way onto the Deep Throat soundtrack) and Louis Jordan's "Caldonia '56," but with the exception of unsung rockabilly star Joe Clay's "Did You Mean Jelly-Bean (What You Said Cabbage-Head)?," a lot of the vocal sides are pretty pedestrian, being strictly B-list rockabilly and jump blues tunes.

Of those instros, I like the Bill Hendricks Orchestra's "Spinnin' Rock Boogie," Baker's own House Rockers' "Bandstand Stomp (Ho Ho Ho)", "Shake Walkin'", "Rock with a Sock" and "Greasy Spoon" (all of which would compliment any Las Vegas Grind collection) and Sam Price & His Texas Bluesicians ' "Rib Joint" (whose sleazy sax stylings are also worthy of Las Vegas Grind).

Of the vocal tracks, you gotta love Brownie McGhee's "Annie mae" - which features smokin' hot Baker solos after the first and second verses - and, of course, the irrepressibly charismatic Louis Jordan's "Caldonia '56" in which Baker conducts a riffs workshop, sliding up and down the frets like he's just greased his fingers with butter, and the boppin' titular "Hit, Git & Split" by Young Jesse.

Amazon product description: "2007 release, a definitive collection of Mickey's early world-shaking sides. Probably every guitarist has at least had a go at the legendary Mickey Baker's Complete Course in Jazz Guitar, right? And anyone who doesn't know the classic Mickey And Sylvia hit 'Love Is Strange' just hasn't been paying attention! As influential a stylist as Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley, as vital to the music as Ike Turner, as innovative in technique and technology as Les Paul, Mickey was the secret hero who defined the electric guitar as it now exists."

Johnny "Guitar" Watson (****)

Untouchable! The Classic 1959-66 Recordings
Ace Records, UK, 2007

Picked this up at the library, where they also have Watson's later Funk Anthology. But, like Elvis at Sun Records, the early recordings often represent an artist's best work, and this compilation from the UK's Ace Records certainly proves that theory right.

Although the compilation opens with the silly novelty song "The Bear" (aka "The Preacher and the Bear") - was there ever a good song about hunting bears? - the rest is solid stuff, especially the rockin' singles on King Records. I love the would-be dance craze song "Posin'" (the Vogue of its day) and the title track "Untouchable!" finds Watson grouchin' about how his girl is in love with Robert Stack's stoic FBI agent Eliott Ness of then-popular 60s TV show The Untouchables - pure Dr. Demento novelty song gold, replete with machine gun sound effects. And Watson proves himself a pretty adept ballad singer, albeit heavily influenced by the vocal stylings of James Brown (circa "It's A Man's World"), especially on "Embraceable You" and "The Nearness of You."

Good, fun stuff from the vintage age of American R&B.

Related links:
Johnny "Guitar" Watson (Wikipedia)

Kraut Funk (*****)

Raw Funk (2000)
"Various Artists"
Hotpie & Candy Records

I got this 10-track compilation CD out of the library recently and I've been listening to it while commuting to work ever since. It's easily the blackest, baddest, funkiest, sweetest soul music I've ever heard. But here's a poke at me, I'm a total dummy: it's by the whitest of whitebreads - Germans!

Hotpie & Candy was a small German label (a subsidiary of Soulciety Records) that released a series of singles between 1992-1995. All of these releases were by a band from Munich called The Poets Of Rhythm whose members included the very un-soulful-sounding Teutons Jan Whitefield, Max Whitefield, Boris Geiger, Till Sahm, Malte Müller-Egloff, Wolfgang Schlick, and Michael Voss. This German funk band (consider that oxymoronic term: German Funk!) recorded under various pseudonyms (Bo Baral's Excursionists, Bus People Express, Karl Hector & The Funk-Pilots, Mercy Sluts, The, Mighty Continentals, The, Neo-Hip-Hot-Kiddies Community, New Process, The, Organized Raw Funk, Pan-Atlantics, The, Polyversal Souls, The, Soul Sliders, Soul-Saints Orchestra, Soul-Saints, The, Syrup, Whitefield Brothers, The Woo Woo's), releasing albums in the guise of "compilations" by "Various Artists" between 1992 and 2002. Ha! Don't be fooled like I was. Despite their tighter-than-James-Brown sound, the Poets remained relative unknowns outside of Deutschland until they were discovered by DJ Shadow in 2001; Shadow helped bring them to the attention of London's Ninja Tune records, where their Define Discern release reached a broader Western audience.


Poets of Rhythm

The minute the first track played I realized I owned this CD (and probably still do, though I've since lost it in the pop cultural dumping ground that is my domicile). In fact I used at least two of the tracks, by the Whitefield Bros and The Woo-Hoos, on the first season of Atomic TV. The Whitefield's funk groove provided excellent accompaniment to a classroom scare film about fire safety while The Woo-Hoos riff was used to illustrate the monthly cycle on the Atomic TV menstruation episode, "It's Wonderful Being A Girl!"

This stuff lives more than lives up to its "raw funk" name and passes the colorblind test. Never in a million years would you suspect that rigid Krauts - from the land of clockwork-precision and Kraftwerky robotic rhythms - were kicking out the smooth grooves. After all, Germans aren't exactly known for having natural rhythm, in fact they're more renowned for possessing a Negative Funk Factor - more likely to be found goose-stepping than getting down on the good foot. There go all my musical preconceptions!

Essential in any music library.

Related Links:
http://poets.solesides.com/
http://www.myspace.com/thepoetsofrhythm
http://www.ninjatune.net/ninja/artist.php?id=40
Live in Limerick, Ireland (YouTube)

Constant Rider Omnibus (****)

Stories from the Public Transportation Front


Constant Rider Omnibus
by Kate Lopresti
Microcosm Publishing, 128 pages, 2007
Cover illustration by Kalah Allen

I came across this book while perusing the Graphic Novels section at Daedalus Books & Music and was instantly intrigued by the its concept: a journal devoted to documenting a woman's adventures riding public transportation in Portland Oregon and other diverse destinations. The woman, Kate Lopresti, mainly travels by bus, but sometimes hops a plane or train, and those journeys are documented as well. This anthology presents issues #1-7 of her zine Constant Rider, in which Kate records her aisle-side observations of "fights, intoxicated passengers, fellow travelers' reading choices, and even impromptu bus stop singers." She also has a website: www.constantrider.com

I have long been fascinated by people's horror stories about riding various bus routes in Baltimore City, so I picked it up and found it a very good read. Kate never tries too hard to write the be-all social psychology masterpiece: these are just everyday observations of both the plain and the (admittedly more interesting) unusual people and events that she's encountered riding public transportation. I did like her checklist of inappropriate conversation starters on the bus, my favorite being middle-aged men asking young women, "Are you a student?" That's creepy, fellows! Better to keep queries like that to yourselves - or the letters column of Barely Legal magazine!

Now I just wish someone would start a local version about Baltimore bus rides - or even a D.C. zine devoted to riding the Metro. I have many fond memories of being accosted there by hyper-aggro homophobic drunks! (Mental note: never be accosted by this demographic while clutching a Kennedy Center Ballet Playbill!)

Forbidden City, USA (****)

Forbidden City, USA
USA, 1989, 56 minutes, documentary
Directed by Arthur Dong
Cast: Larry Ching (The "Chinese Sinatra"), Frances Chun (Singer), Charlie Low (Owner, Forbidden City), Mary Mammon (Dancer), Toy Yat Mar (The "Chinese Sophie Tucker"), Jackie Mei Ling (Dancer), Dottie Sun (Comedic Dancer), Dorothy Fong Toy (The "Chinese Ginger Rogers"), Noel Toy (The "Chinese Sally Rand"), Tony Wing (Dancer), Jadin Wong (Dancer)

Thank God for Pratt Library for owning this out-of-print documentary on Charlie Low's famous San Francisco nightclub, which opened in 1938 and was still in business up through 1972. Famous because it was the first to feature an all-Asian entertainment cast catering (mainly) to white audiences that were too scared to go into Frisco's Chinatown. Having just seen the 1961 Rodgers & Hammerstein musical Flower Drum Song - whose Celestial Gardens nightclub was modeled after Forbidden City - I wanted to learn more about the source nightspot, and I'm glad I did. I got to see the Chinese Sinatra, Ginger Rogers and Sophie Tucker, as well as hear stories about the challenges facing Asian-Americans during World War II and afterwards. Many performers at Forbidden City were actually Japanese-Americans (white audiences couldn't tell the difference) and in at least one case, had to stop working there during the war when all persons of Japanese ancestry had to report, by law, to internment camps (so much for taking their act to Hollywood). I was particularly struck by "Chinese Sophie Tucker" Toy Yat Mar's recollections about touring the segregated American South and not knowing which bathroom to use - the one for Blacks or Whites. Some Chinese in her touring company used the Black restrooms, others the White. It reminded me of my half-Japanese girlfriend's dilemma when she fills out forms that ask ethnicity (she always opts for "Other"). And I liked how one Chinese dancer described a Texas town as being really small. "How small was it? It didn't have one Chinese restaurant - and every town in America has at least one!"

From IMDB:
"It was the swinging 30s. The big bands of the 40s. It was San Francisco night life Baghdad by the Bay. And the crowds were packing the nation's premiere all-Chinese nightclub, Forbidden City. Like the Cotton Club of Harlem which featured America's finest African American entertainers, Forbidden City gained an international reputation with its unique showcase of Chinese American performers in eye-popping all-American extravaganzas. Part That's Entertainment and part PBS, Forbidden City, U.S.A. captures this little-known chapter of entertainment history and takes it center stage."

Late Chrysanthemums (***)

Bangiku (Late Chrysanthemums)
Japan, 1954, 101 minutes, b&w
Directed by Mikio Naruse
Cast: Haruko Sugimura, Sadako Sawamura, Chikako Hosokawa, Yûko Mochizuki, Ken Uehara, Hiroshi Koizumi, Ineko Arima, Bontarô Miyake, Sonosuke Sawamura, Daisuke Katô

Though his quiet films are often compared to Ozu, Mikio Naruse is really the Japanese George Cukor - crossed with the existential concerns of Ingmar Bergman. He loves strong women's stories, especially those of aging or retired geishas and working class moms. Men are seen as good for nothing womanizing drunks and leeches that women are better off not having in their lives. Feminist cinema, Far Eastern style. This film is bleak - the women find their beauty has faded and their children and lovers are disappointing - but it has an uplifting finale that showcases the indominatable spirit of these resolute women - all retired geishas who have seen better days but keep on keeping on, despite the passage of their generation for a new post-war society that they are trying to understand. Naruse shows their lives, warts and all: in one amazing sequence we actually see a character nonchalantly pluck her nose hair! And I loved the scene where the two friends Tomi and Tamae watch a "modern" young woman wiggle down the road and Tomi remarks, "Look at her walking like that American woman Monroe! I can do that too!" before comically imitating the young girl. As former geishas, these woman had also looked ridiculous trying to attract and please men, but in this instant they recognize their former folly and laugh at it.