A Loner in Love: Sodsai Chaengkij and "The Boat That I Row"

Today's song is a throwback by the most popular singer in Bangkok in the 1960s. There isn't much information about Sodsai Chaengkij other than that she was originally from Bangkok and that she was one of the few Thai singers to perform American pop songs in English - most other Thai artists of the time translated them, more or less loosely, into Thai. She was probably seen by many American GIs on leave from the Vietnam War at the Lolita Night Club on Rajdamnoen Avenue. She apparently retired to the United States in the 2000's. This song, The Boat That I Row, is her cover of a 1958 song by Jesse Lee Turner, and can be found on the compilation CD Thai Beat A Go-Go, Vol. 2 (2003).

Listen to songs like this and more on the KUNM Global Music Show every Monday night from 10 pm - 1 am Mountain Standard Time. Live streaming, program information and the two-week digital archive can be found at http://www.kunm.org.

Source: https://questing.wordpress.com/category/sodsai-chaengkij-%E0%B8%AA%E0%B8%94%E0%B9%83%E0%B8%AA-%E0%B9%81%E0%B8%88%E0%B9%89%E0%B8%87%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%88/

She's a Crossfire Hurricane: Chaweewan Dumnern and "Sao Lam Plearn"

How about some Thai psychedelic spice for your random tune? Today's song, Sao Lam Plearn, is sung by Chaweewan Dumnern. There isn't much information on her other than she was born in Thailand in 1945, she sings Thai Molam, which is actually a Laotian form of flexible music that is tailored around the words of a text, and in its modern form is composed (rather than adapting already written poetry) and played with electric instruments. In 1993 Chaweewan Dumnern was named one of Thailand's National Artists. You'll recognize the guitar riff of this tune, though I don't think she has translated the original words into Thai but has put new ones to the song. You can find Sao Lam Plearn on the various artists compilation album Sound of Siam - Leftfield Luk Thung, Jazz & Molam in Thailand 1964-1975, released in 2010.

Listen to songs like this and more on the KUNM Global Music Show every Monday night from 10 pm - 1 am Mountain Standard Time. Live streaming, program information and the two-week digital archive can be found at http://www.kunm.org.

Don't Tease Your Mother: The Paradise Bangkok Molam International Band and "Sao Sakit Mae"

From Thailand, the Paradise Bangkok Molam International Band lays down the random tune for today. The band was formed as a project to capture the sounds of Thai music that were in danger of being lost. In particular, they begin with a base of Thai molam music, a traditional country-folk music from the hinterlands of Thailand and Laos. The arrival of American GIs during the Vietnam war helped create a new style of molam infused with rock, blues, soul, funk and psychedelia. Until recently, it was marginalized as "taxi-driver music" but has undergone a surge of popularity in the West in recent years, which in turn has made it more popular among mainstream Thais. The Paradise Bangkok Molam International Band has released two albums. This song, Sao Sakit Mae, can be found on their 2014 debut 21st Century Molam.

Please join us at the KUNM Global Music Show every Monday night from 10 pm - 1 am Mountain Standard Time. Live streaming, program information and the two-week digital archive can be found at http://www.kunm.org.