Friday, August 17, 2012

Selamat Hari Raya, Keroncong Style


Music plays a huge part of our memories. As in any balik kampung event, its our memories and nostalgia that fill the air. So, here are my favourite keroncong tunes by Kartina Dahari for listening pleasure over this festive period. Drive dafe.

Many Malaysians (including younger Malays even) have not heard of Kartina Dahari. Well, she was one of the top singers in the 60s and 70s. She was known for her keroncong songs. Don't ask me how I know of her songs, heard it on the radio when I was much much younger but you could hardly get a copy of her recordings on CDs. Keroncong styled songs are not everyone's cup of teh tarik, for me it struck a chord, you need to slow everything down, relax and take it easy and go with the flow of the songs - it soothes the soul. She is from Singapore although she lives in London most of the time now with her son. I love her voice, her delivery and her keroncong songs were highly accessible. Whenever I listen to her songs, I think of my younger days with my dad driving on the old trunk road on the way to Penang, late afternoon, windows down, with the breeze and trees as companions.


Easily her rendition of Sayang di Sayang has to be my favourite. Terkenang Kenang is also splendid. The third song doesn't quite fall into keroncong category but still good.


7 comments:

MyzXara said...

Love that song too! From ning baizura's version =D

Angin menderu
Dahan jatuh menimpa batu
Guguran...

Murai terkejut berkicau-kicauan
Langit mendung diliputi awan
Alamat bumi disirami hujan
Sayang disayang

azat said...

She usually spent sometime with her daughter and grandson in London for a least 2-3 times a year. Due to ill health she now resting in Singapore.Lets pray for her recovery.

azat said...

She usually spends sometime with her daughter and grandson in London .Due to ill-health now she spends more time resting in Singapore..Lets pray for her good health and a speedy recovery.

panaceaasia said...

Windows down? Pre air con.

How did we manage to survive the heat?

Those were the days. We did not know how special those days were.

ocean biru said...

If there is anything really original about Malay music ...it's keroncong [though it sound a bit hawaii'ish and if you imagine hard enough you can probably hear the waves gently lapping the shores]
When I was much much younger [double smiles] I remember they used to play keroncong right at night via RTM.
Simply love it.

clongviews said...

Clongviews: Thanks for highlighting the keroncong music which is sometimes played in the P. Ramli films. My grandchildren and I still enjoy his slap stick movies. I must have keroncong music in my playlist.

Unknown said...

KD'S keroncong renderings + cup of hot kopi O on a late drizzling nite in a Malaccan kampong house =
MAGICAL MOMENTS !!!!!!

Doa dan salam buat KD semoga cepat sembuh dan di kurnakan esehatan yaang baik.