chai mueangsing: chum chim

artist: ชาย เมืองสิงห์ (chai mueangsing)
album: จุ๋มจิ๋ม (chum chim)
tracklist:
01. จุ๋มจิ๋ม (chum chim)
02. สถานีรวมรัก (sathani ruam rak)
03. แฟชั่นมีชู้ (fashion mi chu)
04. ก้างขวางคอ (kang khwang kho)
with เรไร ณ โคราช (rerai na khorat)
05. คนรักเมีย (khon rak mia)
06. หน้าชื่นตาบาน (na chuen ta ban)
07. สุดแสนเสียดาย (sut saen sia dai)
08. แม่นกประหลอดท้องลาย (mae nok pralot thong lai)
09. ผีเข้าผีออก (phi khao phi ok)
10. เมรี (meri)
11. เมียพี่มีชู้ [ดนตรี] (mia phi mi chu [instrumental])

this week's cassette is part of a generous bequest gifted to us by educator cliff sloane, a former professor of ethnomusicology and founder of asianclassicalmp3.org, a major influence behind this blog.

this week, another set of classics from the "man city lion", mr. chai mueangsing! chai grew up in singburi province, although he left for bangkok at a young age. in the city, he studied at a school of agriculture while he could afford it, but eventually dropped out to sing with local ramwong groups and work as a sign painter and market seller in talat phlu. in the early 1960s he fell in with mongkhon amatayakun's famous chularat band and made his first recordings. audiences loved chai's odd voice, commanding stage presence and his good looks.. he even styled himself "the alain delon of thailand"! following a public dispute (maybe staged, maybe genuine) with fellow chularat member phon phirom, chai left the band to front a number of his own combos, playing mostly disco and lounge music under the name "man city lion" (the literal english translation of his stage name). eventually he left music altogether, heading home to become a farmer. in the late 80's, however, he returned to the stage to lead a luk thung revival, and today is recognized as a national artist of thailand. today's idiosyncratic compilation from the bangkok cassette co., ltd. (currently existing as maemaiplengthai), provides a snapshot from several stages of his career, from his early latin-tinged folk-pop, to driving rock'n'roll, to full-fledged disco.. enjoy!

preview: