As the title says "Indo Rock" Basically it's music made by people from mixed European/Indonesian descent. Indo's are a legacy of the Dutch Colonial Past. After the war and the uprising in the Dutch East Indies many of the Indo's relocated to the Netherlands. In the newborn country Indonesia there was no place for them. Holland in those days was a gray place with pretty much nothing to do. The Indo's brought along many things that are now considered Dutch which are actually distinctly Indonesian.
One of the things that they introduced was Rock 'n Roll. Radio stations from Australia always played the latest hits from the US. "Rock around the clock" for instance set this all of. These stations could be heard in the Dutch East Indies/Indonesia. In Holland you could only hear this if you listened to AFN (American Army Radio) or Radio Luxemburg. Basically there was no Rock 'n Roll in those days in the bleak Royal Kingdom of the Netherlands.
The first Dutch Rock 'n Roll single was "Rock little baby of mine" from the Tielman Brothers in 1958. The musical scene then in Holland was kinda corny to put it mildly. I posted two videos of the Tielman Brothers because they are the most famous/successful Indo Rock band. There were more bands but let's stick to them for now. The TV show that aired them got a lot of complaints from people and it was not very well received by the powers that be at the time.
They played in Germany in clubs where their wild show was very popular and meanwhile making a lot of money. Which they all spent on cars, booze and girls. Legend has it that four skinny pasty faced British guys frequently watched their shows in Hamburg. They learned from this wildman act and the rest is history.
More extensive information can be found here:
http://indorock.pmouse.nl/tielmanbrothers1.htm
I hope you like it because I certainly do. The fact that I'm an Indo as well might have something to do with it.
Here I also like the drums that rattle and guitars that sound crisp. The more current video shows Andy Tielman still playing and strutting his stuff. In all honesty I really don't like the sound on that gig. The guitars sound like a country band that has fallen asleep and the drums don't rattle but boom. For this kind of music I find it deadly because the song is the same. I do however appreciate the fact that he's around and still going strong. (I guess I like living legends)
It's amazing to watch my fellow country men pull of a show with musical entertainment (virtuosity?) in 1958 when Jimi Hendrix did the same in 1967 and became world famous and a legend. It makes me wonder what would have happened if the Tielman Brothers had the chance to perform in the US. What if indeed.
