
Various Artists – Those Shocking, Shaking Days. Indonesian Hard, Psychedelic, Progressive Rock and Funk: 1970-1978 (Reissue)
Now-Again Records – 12 February 2021
Time, once again, to dig out the tie-dyed grandad vest, pocket-less loons, sandals and joss sticks with this re-release of 2011’s anthology V.A. - Those Shocking Shaking Days. Indonesian Hard, Psychedelic, Progressive Rock And Funk: 1970 – 1978. Most of the tracks on this 20 track audio feast would have remained unheard were it not for the sterling collective efforts of Toronto-based hip hop producer and 60s & 70s South East Asian music specialist Jason “Moss” Conn, producer and record collector extraordinaire Eothen “Egon” Alapatt and Indonesian rock legend Benny Soebardja.
Mining what was indeed a rich vein, these collected gems are, as the title suggests, rare hard, psychedelic, progressive rock and funk songs from the ‘shocking shaking days’ of the Indonesian state under the regime of dictator Suharto, the second president of Indonesia, and show the breadth and depth of Indonesia’s vibrant 70’s scene.
Not only did the Indonesian rock scene flourish in the 70s, in particular in the country’s capital, Jakarta, not through record sales, but rather live performances and inter-group collaborations, but also, importantly, during this period Indonesian music documented the massive cultural and political change in what was now the world’s fourth most populous country. Dandgdut, the main element of the emerging pop scene, along with the heavily Western-influenced funk, jazz and rock scenes were all shaped by these changes. To gain an understanding as to why these changes may have occurred, it is necessary to delve a little into the country’s history and give a brief cultural contextualisation.
In the 1960s, whilst the West was enjoying the likes of the Beatles, Elvis and rock music in general, the left-leaning Sukarno government rejected this “Western imperialism”, banning the purchase and sale of Western records and coming down heavily on Indonesian artists imitating western-style rock music and instead promoting its own brand of pop music. Harassment, even imprisonment, was frequent, and several groups fled to Europe, mainly, somewhat ironically perhaps, to the Netherlands, Indonesia’s ex-colonial master. All this changed, in 1965 with a military coup, led by Suharto, with Sukarno forced from power in 1967. Improved and closer relations saw Western industry, finance and culture flock into Indonesia, and as a result, the green shoots of Indonesia’s emerging rock music scene were encouraged.
During the late 1960s and early 1970s, the rise and popularity of psychedelic, folk, and eventually hard and progressive rock in America and the West was reflected in Indonesia, with iconic groups such as AKA and Shark Move needing to respond to their popularity by touring Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and Australia. Under Suharto’s “New Order” regime, however, as in any such dictatorship, all forms of culture and art, including music, expressing an anti-government view or dissatisfaction was subject to censorship, or worse. The tracks appearing on this anthology that are concerned with ‘freedom’ in its broadest sense, are sung in English, thus escaping the censors. Indeed, at an extreme, because of their links with the OPM Papuan Freedom Movement,
Papuan band Black Brothers were forced to leave the country, seeking and receiving political asylum in the Netherlands. It is against this background that many of the songs presented here can be considered not only musically captivating but also truly rebellious.
The aforementioned genre of Indonesian music, Dangdut, is, in essence, a fascinating hybrid that incorporates, and is influenced by, Indian Bollywood film music, Arabic and Malay harmonies and melodies, together with Western rock guitars. Whilst this dance-friendly pop music was shunned and sneered at by many of Indonesia’s rock bands, some had no qualms in featuring traditional drum rhythms, sitars and Malay folk melodies into their music alongside their fuzzy electric guitars. Panbers, household names in their home country, even supporting The Bee Gees in Jakarta in 1974, are one such group and they open this collection with their contribution Haai, as psychedelic a slice of rock as you could hope for. In a similar vein, the raga-like qualities of Didunia Yang Lain, from the Ariesta Birawa Group, suggest a group drinking from a musical source far removed from Indonesia.
From the rockier end of the spectrum hard rock sounds are provided by Duo Kribo, regarded as Indonesia’s supergroup in this genre, whilst the raunchy Terenchem, renowned for exuberant stage shows involving kilts, coffins and snakes, provide Jeritan Cinta, from their second album, featuring droning fuzz guitar and insistent drum & bass interplay. Six-piece hard rock band Freedom of Rhapsodia, legends in Bandung, evoke the sound of Deep Purple here with Freedom, a track sung in English that escaped the censors. Heavily influenced by British bands, Golden Wing created what they termed the ‘Indo Rock Sound’, an amalgamation of Indonesian melodies and Western rock influences, introducing the country to the mini-Moog in the process. Hear Me, their contribution here is redolent of Uriah Heep.
Medan, North Sumatra, can hardly be seen as a hotbed of rock music, it did, however, spawn at least one successful group, Rhythm Kings, who relocated to Jakarta in 1970 to record their first rock album, from which The Promise is taken, a keyboards-dominated track with quite blistering guitar work. Also providing a somewhat uncharacteristic, for them, sound are Koes Plus, who whilst acknowledged as the kings of pop with a prolific recorded output, displayed a rockier edge with their Hard Beat album series, from where their Mobil Tua track is taken. This is almost certainly thanks to the influence on the three Koes brothers of drummer Murry.
Two tracks on the compilation are provided by AKA, one of Indonesia’s best known hard rock groups. Do What You Like, from the album of the same name, expresses sentiments of hedonism and rebellion, whilst Shake Me is nine minutes of unadulterated funk-rock. Funkiest of all, however, is The Rollies, another group formed in Bandung, here performing Bad News, from their eponymous album, featuring the raucous vocals of Bangun Sugito, (Gito Rollies), and Black Brothers, with Saman Doye, a funk-rock rendition of a traditional Papuan folk song, whilst Superkid’s People is the jewel in the Stevie Wonder Superstition mould.
With lesser-known bands such as The Brims, with their garage-pop rockAnti Gandja, the IVO’s Group, who provided the inspiration for the compilation’s title with their That Shocking Shaking Day, and the obscure Rasela whose Pemain Bola, with its fuzz guitar lead and intertwined bass & drum patterns pays homage to the favourite sport, (the song’s title translates as ‘football player’), a track from perhaps Indonesia’s most accomplished and prolific artist, the late Djauhar Zaharsjah Fachrudin “Harry” Roesli, represented here in The Gang of Harry Roesli, together with the ska-influenced Pantun Lama, from the already-mentioned Murry, all illustrate the depth and range of research that has been undertaken for this release.
It should come as no surprise that examples of work of the previously credited Benny Soebardja also feature on this release. Evil War, a politically charged fuzz rocker, taken from Ghede Chokra’s, Shark Moves’ 1973 album. Formed in 1972, this group heralded him as one of the archipelago’s most progressive rock musicians, although they were never successful as recording artists in their homeland. Following the demise of this band, Benny formed Lizard, from whom the quite splendid Candle Light track is taken, prior to forming the commercially successful Giant Step.
Musically, this is an extraordinarily excellent compilation that succeeds admirably in capturing the essence and magic of the time. With not a duff track to be heard and excellent, comprehensive liner notes from Chadra Drews, it cannot be faulted from a musical perspective. The same plaudits, however, cannot be given to the package overall. By way of explanation, perhaps it would be prudent to explain that this review has been written on a product that I purchased, as opposed to being provided by a PR, record company or artist, therefore is not a case of ‘looking a gift horse in the mouth’ My triple vinyl LP set seemed to be poorly pressed, the lead-ins so short that it was difficult to place the stylus correctly, with uneven edges and small pieces of vinyl ‘burrs’ present. The paper sleeves are poor quality, and whilst the liner notes are indeed wonderfully informative, they do not exactly match the track listing on the vinyl itself and, most disappointingly, are not provided as a physical copy and have to be downloaded with a code, which in my case was corrupt, (although to their credit, Now-Again Records, in the US, did sort this out, via email within two or three days). I believe that the CD version of this release provides a physical copy, which would certainly be preferable to running off some 33 A4 pages, many of which are full-colour band photos and album covers.
Notwithstanding these issues, this is an important historical compilation featuring some wonderful music which compares very favourably with that emanating contemporaneously from the West.