Click to hear the recordings I made
Amsterdam 1968
One summer evening I was randomnously turning the dial of radio set when suddenly exotic music filled my room.
My attention was drawn and with interest he continued listening.
The deejay appeared to be a man named Suhandi.
The program under his supervision was intended for people originating from the ex-colonies who were now living in Holland.
Various kind of music could be heard on this station, from Caribbean steelbands to Papua choruses from West Irian.
I was attracted the most to the Indonesian popmusic. ( Many to be found on my playlists )
I never heard this before, but in someway it touched me , as if I had a presentiment for this kind of music.
I succeeded in recording the program on my tape recorder.
SUHANDI.
When I first heard his voice on the radio, I thought Suhandi was an Indonesian person, as he often spoke their language when on the air.He appeared to be a Dutchman: Hans Oosterhof.
In the period after the second world war he was active with Radio Batavia, still under Dutch supervision, later switched to Radio Republik Indonesia. Afer that period he went to West Irian ( West Papua ) which was still a colony. There he was the announcer with Radio Biak. When West Irian became a part of Indonesia Suhandi went to Holland. Here he became the deejay of "Radio Veronica" The program was named: "Radio Sinar Sang Surya" ( SunRay Radio )
When Radio Veronica closed down Suhandi went to the tropical Island of Curacao, in the West Indies. Again he picked up his career in the radio business and very active.
The Name Suhandi was given by an Indonesian witch doctor. Only under the condition he would accept this name Suhandi could be cured from a disease.
THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE IN HOLLAND IN THE PERIOD 1950 - 1970.
The years directly following the second world was a period of hard work to build up the country that was partly destructed during the second world war. A time of hard work, early to bed and a sober living. To make things even worser: Holland lost its colony Indonesia. "Indie verloren rampspoed geboren" was the saying. Literally translated this means: "Indie ( Indonesia ) forlorn, disaster be born" But things changed gradually, prosperity was growing, a miracle pessimists never had expected. this.
For the first time ever young people had money of their own to spend. In this period a youth culture culture emerged.
They developed a style of their own, like in many other countries, especially in the U.S.A.
All this happened in the years following 1956.
The two national radio stations did little to satisfy the musical demands from the younger people. To their delight offshore radio stations were established on ships outside the territorial waters so the long arm of justice could not reach them, as officially only two radio stations were allowed. The new stations often called "Pirate stations": Radio Caroline, Radio London. Radio Mi Amigo, Radio Noordzee etc.
Among them was the populair "Radio Veronica". Pop music the whole day long, often interrupted by commercials, which was a novelty those days.
The sixties was a period with many new things, a decade for the younger people.
THE INDO-EUROPEANS IN HOLLAND
During the period after the second world war and the turmoil following the battle for independence in Indonesia, many Dutchmen, Dutch-Indonesians of mixed origins and other people who had ties with Holland migrated to this country.
it was still recovering from the second world war, so there was little attention for the newcomers, who were eager to adapt as soon as possible. In the beginning their cultural identity seemed almost forgotten. Everyone was too busy to make a living and trying to forget the past. In the sixties, when all sorrows began to loosen up, the Indo's ( as they were called ) became aware about their cultural heritage and so we come back to the beginning of this story, when Mazef discovered a radio broadcast for Indo's and Indonesians when he stumbled on Radio Veronica. Not exclusively old kroncong songs were played, but also contemporary Indonesian songs from the sixties, which were unknown for most of the Dutch-Indonesians also, as they immigrated to Holland before these songs were released.
Back to the beginning of this blog:
When I first heard these songs, I imidiately noted down the songtitles and the names of the vocalists.
Years later in 1977 I was walking along the "Jalan Surabaya'' antique market in Jakarta. To my surprise many albums with songs he had noted down almost ten years before were to be found there easily and at reasonable prices.
The mp3 attachments: As I told you I succeeded in recording the broadcasting of radio Veronica.
The program starts with the sound of the "Tokeh" animal and gamelan music.
The voice of Suhandi can be heard, followed by songs that I could record on my crude machine.
"Badminton" by Etty Bardjah', "Tidurlah" by Lilis Suryani, "Kroncong Kemayoran'' by ?? ( ( Bing Slamet ? )
"Euis'' and "Eteh" by Anna Susanti & Atun Z. , "Dharmawisata" by Pattie Bersaudara.
"Ucang Ucang Anngge" Anna Susanti '' Gado Gado Dari Jakarta" by ? ( Isnarti? )
