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CD
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RAS 104CD
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2005 UK compilation of tracks from this Indonesian vocalist, with material dating from the mid-70s thru 1984. "Elvy Sukaesih is revered as one of Indonesia and East Asia's greatest ever singers. From the late '60s, her career developed alongside dangdut, the deeply funky local street music, that emerged from 1950s Orkes Melayu (orchestras) and blended various foreign music including Arabic, Indian and western rock with Indonesian instruments such as suling (flute) and gendang (tabla shaped drums). Elvy was the undisputed 'Queen of Dangdut' during the music's golden age in the mid 1970s to '80s, before (arguably) the raw energy and blistering musicianship got drowned out by drum machines and synthesizers. This CD charts the course of this golden age, with a collection of Elvy's biggest hits and rare tracks. Born into a musical family in Jakarta in 1951, Elvy Sukaesih was at the forefront of establishing the genre called dangdut from the late 1960s. She has one of the great voices of southeast Asia, full of emotional ornamentation. She can sing with much power or at other times with extreme tenderness. Enormously popular in Indonesia, few albums are as easily available today to appreciate her true value. This new compilation is mainly of tracks she recorded for the Indonesian label Permana, when Elvy was in her prime. Elvy Sukaesih grew up as a singer in parallel with dangdut itself. She embodies the history of the music through her career and its allure by her skill. She is fully entitled to claim that she has been singing dangdut from its beginning. She truly is The Dangdut Queen."
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