chittima chueachai: tha hua chai chan mi pik

artist: จิตติมา เจือใจ (chittima chueachai)
album: ถ้าหัวใจฉันมีปีก (tha hua chai chan mi pik)
tracklist:
01. ถ้าหัวใจฉันมีปีก (tha hua chai chan mi pik)
02. หลักไม้เลื้อย (lak mai lueai)
03. คำพรสะท้อนใจ (khamphon sathon chai)
04. คำแถลงการณ์ของหัวใจ (kham thalaeng kan khong hua chai)
05. พระจันทร์ตับในดวงใจ (phra chan tap nai duang chai)
06. เพชรบุรีตัดใหม่ (phetburi tat mai)
07. เพียงเห็นหน้า (phiang hen na)
08. อิทธิพลรัก (itthiphon rak)
09. กาลเวลา (kan wela)
10. ขาดเธอฉันไม่รู้สึก (khat thoe chan mai ru suek)
11. แล้ววันนั้นเธอจะซึ้ง (laeo wan nan thoe cha sueng)
12. รักยามจน (rak yam chon)
13. ตัวสำรอง (tua samrong)
14. คำพรก่อนจาก (khamphon kon chak)
15. ฝนซาฟ้าใส (fon sa fa sai)
16. โชคดี...ยอดรัก (chok di... yot rak)
17. โถ...ช่างกระไร (tho... chang krarai)
18. ฝันดี...โชคดี (fan di... chok di)

this week, old bangkok ballads from chittima chueachai, courtesy of a tape sent over by our pal gary from bodega pop! after losing her day job as an accountant, ms. chittima supported herself by performing at clubs around new phetburi road, the major entertainment district for u.s. soldiers on r&r from vietnam and other well-heeled nightlife denizens of the late-60s/early-70s. her subsequent recording career was supported by her husband, songwriter thawiphong maninin, and despite his apparently notorious philandering, the two remained together until his mysterious murder in a drive-by shooting outside of metro records in 1983¹. chittima still performs with some regularity today, having been a longtime wednesday-night staple at the niran grand hotel on sukhumvit 103. this cassette features a collection of early recordings, including her signature 1976 song, "tha hua chai chan mi pik (if my heart had wings)", which was nominated for the royal golden record award but was disqualified for being adapted from a japanese melody. the selections are mainly the sort of torch songs and latin-inspired dance numbers common to luk krung, with occasional nods to the more au courant disco sounds of the 70s. enjoy!

[note: the folks at amigo seem to have overbooked themselves on this production, as the tracks ending both sides tail-out before finishing]

chaliphon buengthai: khorat sing prayuk, vol. 1

artist: ชลีพร บึงไทย (chaliphon buengthai)
album: โคราชซิ่งประยุกต์ ชุดที่ 1 (khorat sing prayuk, vol. 1)
tracklist:
01. ชมบึง (chom bueng)
02. ชมนก (chom nok)
03. ชมไม้ (chom mai)
04. แหล่ลา (lae la)
05. บรรเลง (banleng)
06. สาวหมอเพลงรักหนุ่มหมอลำ (sao mo phleng rak num molam)
07. หมอเพลงกล่อมลูก (mo phleng klom luk)
08. กลอนเล่นอักษร (klon len akson)
09. ชีวิตหมอเพลง (chiwit mo phleng)
10. บรรเลง (banleng)

this week, our first tape of phleng khorat! our mo phleng today is chaliphon buengthai, someone who i had never heard of, and who returns 0 results on the web. her genre, phleng khorat, is local to nakhon ratchasima province and as its geographic origin may suggest, sounds somewhere between the northeastern/lao molam and central thai lam tat, choi, or other traditional repartee styles. while often performed without instrumental accompaniment in its boran form, this tape features the sing prayuk style, and so is replete with 1997-era country-style production hallmarks, handled by chaloemchai phet-udon and khrongsak suanpom. the songs selections are actually a mix of phleng khorat (of course), along with a couple lae and luk thung numbers, all penned by chaliphon, plus a few isan-style instrumentals for good measure. enjoy!

somphon phetsayam & phatsara mabuntham: khon khi lang khwai

artist: สมพร เพชรสยาม + ภัสรา มาบุญธรรม (somphon phetsayam & phatsara mabuntham)
album: คนขี่หลังควาย (khon khi lang khwai)
tracklist:
01. คนขี่หลังควาย (khon khi lang khwai)
02. ทหารเกณฑ์ผลัดสอง (thahan ken phlat song)
03. รักจางที่บางประกง (rak chang thi bang prakong)
04. อ.ส. รอรัก (o.s. ro rak)
05. ทุ่งกุลาร้องไห้ (thung kula rong hai)
06. ด่วนจากพรากรัก (duan chak phrak rak)
07. หนุ่มปั้มน้ำมัน (num pump nam man)
08. เมียเขาคือแฟนเรา (mia khao khue faen rao)
09. แห่ชาวนา (hae chao na)
10. สั่งสาวชายแดน (sang sao chai daen)
11. ช่างหัวมันเถ๊าะ (chang hua man thoe)
12. เมษาอาลัย (mesa alai)
13. คอยรักที่ต้นกระโดน (khoi rak thi ton kradon)
14. แปรจ๋า (prae cha)

this week, by special request, another classic isan duo! miss phatsara mabuntham of roi-et is better known by the name em aphatsara and has enjoyed a long career in luk thung and molam, mostly with topline music. i don't know much about mr. somphon phetsayam, unfortunately; the only other work i have of his is with phatsara as well. this 1992 cassette is a bit of an oddity in that while most luk thung duet albums i'm familiar with feature the two stars trading verses, this tape finds phatsara and somphon singing in unison throughout. as part of krung thai records' kueng satawat (half-century) series, the selections are an assortment of genre favorites from decades past, penned by songwriters such as surin phaksiri, dao bandon, phongsak chantharukkha and sotsai rungphot-thong and like in our last post, the music is handled by a. num phuthai. enjoy!

phimchai phetphalanchai & dao bandon: 16 klon yot hit

artist: พิมพ์ใจ เพชรพลาญชัย + ดาว บ้านดอน (phimchai phetphalanchai & dao bandon)
album: 16 กลอนยอดฮิต (16 klon yot hit)
tracklist:
01. หนุ่มยาวสาวสั้น 1 (num yao sao san 1)
02. หนุ่มยาวสาวสั้น 2 (num yao sao san 2)
03. จีบสาวเลี้ยงเป็ด (chip sao liang pet)
04. จีบสาวขายไข่ (chip sai khai khai)
05. หนุ่มลำชีสาวลำโขง (num lam chi sao lam khong)
06. พาต้อยลอยกระทง (pha toi loi krathong)
07. เฮือนน้อยนางเมิน (huean noi nang moen)
08. คน ป. 4 (khon p. 4)
09. อีหวึ่งตายแน่ (i wueng tai nae)
10. น้ำตาสาวหวึ่ง (nam ta sao wueng)
11. รักจริงอย่าหลอก (rak ching ya lok)
12. เต็มใจให้หลอก (tem chai hai lok)
13. พาน้องล่องแหย่ง (pha nong long yaeng)
14. พาน้องดิสโก้ (pha nong disco)
15. คนบ่มีเก๋ง (khon bo mi keng)
16. ขอดังเบาๆ (kho dang bao bao)

this week, two major molam unite! legendary luk thung crossover star dao bandon and sam phalang sao leader phimchai phetphalanchai come together on this 1988 duets collection from ocean sound. dao himself handles the songwriting, and the late, great a. num phuthai leads the band. the music is classic late-80's isan-style, with prominent electric bass and live drums under the alternating phin, sax, and synth leads, plus an occasional extended khaen-backed kroen intro. extra flourishes adorn one themed number, "taking my girl to the disco" (track 14), where a hi-nrg beat and hard rock guitar solo added to the mix. excellent stuff.. enjoy!

kickapoo: mai rueang mak

artist: คิกคาปู้ (kickapoo)
album: ไม่เรื่องมาก (mai rueang mak)
tracklist:
01. หนูหนีเที่ยว (nu ni thiao)
02. ยังไม่ตาย (yang mai tai)
03. ลองกันไหม (long kan mai)
04. อกหัก 5 นาที (ok hak 5 nathi)
05. ซึม (suem)
06. หนูหนีเที่ยว (nu ni thiao)
07. เทใจ (the chai)
08. อีกครั้ง (ik krang)
09. ลุย (lui)
10. เพลงเต่า (phleng tao)
11. มันไม่เกี่ยว (man mai kiao)

happy 2023 and 2566! let's start the year off with a real obscurity: the only album (to my knowledge) from '90s bangkok rockers kickapoo. operating under the auspices of a purported indie label known as tham kan eng ["d.i.y."] music factory, and with a name presumably derived from an american soft drink once popular in thailand (the idea for which is attributed in the liners to "hia nok from khao kha mu kong phrap on chokchai soi 4"), there's little reference to the group on the internet. their line-up includes a list of unusual names (some of which, at least, are certainly pseudonyms) including maseda iochi and mustafa hummingbird on guitar, billy he-foot on bass, and detduang chimkamnoet on drums, as well as a number of different singers trading vocal duties, such as julie cheng, sharkie boy, nong kung & nong mai, banluesak, anurak, and bunthueng. released in 1997, this album features some songwriting and arrangement by akira wong, and was produced by (the only name i'm at all familiar with) sukit narin, who is mostly known as a film director. the music is a bit hard to classify, being a slightly erratic mix of blues-inflected classic rock (see: interpolation of badfinger, led zeppelin, and the electric light orchestra), synth-driven sentimental ballads (see: interpolation of mariko takahashi), and '80s-style hard rock (see: interpolation of pat benatar). they also include a shout-out in the dedications section to "the major tape labels, for their lack of interest".. here's hoping you don't feel the same. enjoy!