After last week's city special on Radio Pink Flamingo - it'll be up for download any day now - , let's take the 'world trip' concept a bit more literally. For some time now, I've been wanting to compile an RPF featuring rock'n'roll bands from not so evident origins. I'm still trying to complete the list so it'll fill an hour - please do leave a comment if you have a suggestion - but at the moment I've already discovered a couple of priceless tracks from India, Japan and Cambodia (kudos to Evil Fons on that last one).
First up: Ted Lyons and his Cubs - at least, that's what it says on their drumkit in the hilarious clip shown below. I couldn't find much info on this band, except for this baseball playing person, but their fabulous 'Jaan Pahechan Ho' (Hindi for 'we should get to know eachother') was featured in 'Gumnaam' ('lost one'), in 1965 the very first Indian suspense thriller. In fact, its storyline was stolen from Agatha Christie's 'Ten Little Indians', its theme song's a blatant rip-off of Henry Mancini's 'Charade' theme, and save for one stunning dance sequence, the entire movie may be disregarded. Credited for the film's music is a duo called Shankar Jaikishan, so I suppose they're the ones responsible for this genius track. It's also in the opening sequence of 'Ghost World', an excellent adaptation of Daniel Clowes' comic featuring Steve Buscemi and a teenage Scarlett Johansson. Whatever, just enjoy this one:
First up: Ted Lyons and his Cubs - at least, that's what it says on their drumkit in the hilarious clip shown below. I couldn't find much info on this band, except for this baseball playing person, but their fabulous 'Jaan Pahechan Ho' (Hindi for 'we should get to know eachother') was featured in 'Gumnaam' ('lost one'), in 1965 the very first Indian suspense thriller. In fact, its storyline was stolen from Agatha Christie's 'Ten Little Indians', its theme song's a blatant rip-off of Henry Mancini's 'Charade' theme, and save for one stunning dance sequence, the entire movie may be disregarded. Credited for the film's music is a duo called Shankar Jaikishan, so I suppose they're the ones responsible for this genius track. It's also in the opening sequence of 'Ghost World', an excellent adaptation of Daniel Clowes' comic featuring Steve Buscemi and a teenage Scarlett Johansson. Whatever, just enjoy this one:
Next: the 5.6.7.8's. Again, there's a movie connection: this Tokyo all-girl garage trio has been rocking it since 1986, but it wasn't until they did three tracks in 'Kill Bill Vol.1' that they got some international recognition - come to think of it: those Indian dancers sure look a lot like the Crazy 88. Mostly playing covers of 50's and 60's American bands, this bunch manages to give it their own distinctive sound by injecting loads of fuzz, fun and flimsy English. Posted here, though, is the completely wordless 'Woo Hoo', a brilliant cover of the Rock-A-Teens who recorded it in '59 - here's a video collage of the original. Also, as you could tell by that sticker on the cover above, it was a big hit in the US thanks to a Carling commercial.
And finally: Ros Sereysothea. It's not a happy story, this one: in the early seventies, an American tourist named Paul Wheeler bought some cassettes at a market in Cambodia. No playlists were included, but the recordings were from various indigenous musicians playing psychedelic rock music, inspired by western bands. Not much later, in 1975, the Khmer Rouge took power in the country, and it's safe to say that most, if not all, of the people on these tapes were murdered. Thankfully, their music made it through, as the Parallel World label released the excellent 'Cambodian Rocks' compilation in '96.
MP3: Shankar Jaikishan - Jaan Pahechan Ho
MP3: The 5.6.7.8's - Woo Hoo
MP3: Ros Sereysothea - Chnam oun Dop-Pram Muy
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