Dangdut Stories: A Social and Musical History of Indonesia's Most Popular Music

269 Pages·2010·3.358 MB·English

by  Andrew N. Weintraub

Dangdut Stories
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D S
ANGDUT TORIES
A Social and Musical History of
Indonesia’s Most Popular Music

.
ANDREW N WEINTRAUB
1

2010
1

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Weintraub, Andrew N. (Andrew Noah)
Dangdut stories : a social and musical history of Indonesia’s most popular
music / Andrew N. Weintraub.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-19-539567-9; 978-0-19-539566-2 (pbk.) 1. Dangdut—Indonesia—History and
criticism. 2. Popular music—Social aspects—Indonesia. I. Title.
ML3502.I5W45 2010
781.6309598—dc22 2009027535
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
Acknowledgments
I would like to express my gratitude to all the dangdut singers, musicians, com-
posers, and fans who provided the stories that constitute this book. I am partic-
ularly grateful to Rhoma Irama, Elvy Sukaesih, Mansyur S., Munif Bahasuan,
Zakaria, Fazal Dath, and Dadang S. for their kindness and generosity.
I would like to thank my friends and colleagues for their sound advice and
strong criticism. Philip Yampolsky pointed me in all the right directions and
gave me access to rare materials in his vast collection of music recordings.
Henry Spiller was a constant source of friendship and moral support. I am
grateful to Shamsul A. B., Sandra Bader, Sharon Berk, Siddharth Chandra,
Tony Day, Laurie Eisler, William Frederick, Jocelyne Guilbault, Toriq Haddad,
David Harnish, Marty Hatch, Ariel Heryanto, Ritaony Hutajulu, Lambertus
Hurek, Kaoru Iijima, Irwansyah Harahap, Peter Manuel, Scott Marcus,
Goenawan Mohamad, Nelly Paliama, Dana Rappoport, Anne Rasmussen,
Ismet Ruchimat, Jerome Samuel, Rizaldi Siagian, Ishadi S. K., Ati Sumiati, R.
Anderson Sutton, Katsunori Tanaka, Ricardo D. Trimillos, Jeremy Wallach,
Sarah Weiss, Sean Williams, Tinuk Yampolsky, Bell Yung, and Ben Zimmer.
T he Dangdut Cowboys band helped me playfully work through many of
the musical ideas in this book. I thank Mathew Rosenblum, Mike Witmore,
Ben Pachter, Kavin Paulraj, Margot Goldberg, and Ben Rainey for their cama-
raderie and willingness to try new things.
For assistance gathering permissions I am indebted to PAMMI (Persatuan
Artis Musik Melayu Indonesia). I am thankful for having three excellent
research assistants: the late Yoseph Iskandar, Tiur Manalu, and Indra Ridwan.
Kerrith Livengood helped me reformat the music transcriptions in the book.
vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Ening Rumbini was an insightful and provocative interlocutor since the
beginning of this project. I offer her my deep and heartfelt affection. And to my
son Noah, who traveled to Indonesia with me for fi ve months and put up with
loud rehearsals in the basement of our Pittsburgh home, I dedicate this book
to you.
A Fulbright Senior Scholar Award and travel grants from the Asian Studies
Center and the University Center for International Studies at the University of
Pittsburgh supported this project.
Contents
Note on the Web Site, ix
1. Introduction, 3
2. Mythologizing Melayu: Discourse, Practice,
and the Stakes of Authenticity, 33
3. A Doll from India, Mr. Mahmud, and the Elvis of Indonesia, 57
4. Music and Rakyat : Constructing “the People” in Dangdut, 81
5. “Suffering” and “Surrender”: Dangdut and the Spectacle of Excess, 113
6. Dangdut Nation: “We Bring the Happiness of Dangdut”, 149
7. “Dance Drills, Faith Spills”: Islam, Body Politics, and Dangdut in
Post-Suharto Indonesia, 173
8. “Dangdut Daerah”: Going Local in Post-Suharto Indonesia, 201
9. Conclusion: Why Dangdut? 225
Glossary, 235
References, 239
Index, 253
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Note on the Web Site
T he companion Web site, found at w ww.oup.com/us/dangdutstories, contains
streaming audio and video of many of the songs analyzed in this book. The
Web site is designed as an educational resource that allows readers to fully
appreciate key points presented in the book. Each audio and video example is
cued in the text, and readers are encouraged to refer to the recordings while
contemplating the points addressed in the text.
Each audio and video example has its own caption that includes (a) title;
(b) year of recording (issued); (c) record number or name of album; (d) singer(s);
(e) accompanying band and director; and (f ) composer.
An effort has been made to limit the access time of videos by reformatting
them into .wmv fi les. However, the reformatting of videos has resulted in a
slight loss of quality. Despite this reduction in quality, the points made in the
analysis can be clearly seen from these examples.
Accurate information about the dates of dangdut recordings are often dif-
fi cult to obtain because data are either not available or not accessible. In some
cases, the recording artists, composers, and producers could only estimate the
year of production. Based on estimated dates of recording, as well as the sound
and style represented on the recording, I have provided the most accurate
information possible. A complete discography of dangdut recordings awaits
further treatment.
Many other audio and video examples of dangdut, including examples of
songs discussed in this book, are available on commercial recordings as well as
the Internet.