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:: Saloma - Chiki Chiki Boom ::

:: Saloma - Lenggang Kangkong Baru ::

Raise your hand if you've heard of Malaya. Yeah, I hadn't either, before buying this record. Basically, it was a part of what is now all simply called Malaysia, and at one time included Singapore. Having a busy port like Singapore nearby no doubt helped bring in very Western cultural influences, like pop music and movies. You can hear these influences on this record.

Malaya, the album, is divided into two sides. The first side has songs performed by Malaya's most beloved actor and entertainer, P Ramlee (real name: Teuku Zakaria Teuku Nyak Puteh), a prolific artist who managed to make 66 movies (including the curiously titled Curse Of The Oily Man,) and win awards for many of them, before his untimely death from a heart attack in 1973, at age 44. Unfortunately, his singing doesn't really do much for me, and as much as I'd like to put up a song called "When Mama Wears Her Jeans," I'm going to stick with songs from side two.



Side two features the singing of P Ramlee's wife, Saloma (real name: Salmah Ismail). Chiki Chiki Boom is gondola rock, and sounds like it's from an Elvis movie, but Elvis movies never made it all the way to Malaya. Maybe Elvis moved there after faking his death. Lenggang Kangkong Baru is an ode to an edible plant. It's more traditional, and might be stuck in your head all day long.


Tony

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