Heintje- I’m Your Little Boy

This week’s theme is the Dutch records I bought during my vacation in November which now seems like eons ago.  As noted in this blog, I bought these records and a few more from a vendor at the Waterlooplein Swap Meet for a Euro a record.  At the date of sale, that would translate to $1.06 dollars.  Not sure why this record other than I thought the title was funny. After typing this post, I can tell I am going to hate writing this week’s posts due to Dutch spellings.

Heintje Simons, born in Bleiejrheide in 1955 is a Dutch singer and actor.  After singing with the jukebox in his family’s cafe, he got his big break at age 11 after winning a singing contest.  He scored a big hit in 1967 with “Mama” which went gold.  He still sings today and is popular in German speaking areas.  According to Wikipedia, he has sold over 40 million records.

 

Webpage

This album was released in 1970.  The lyrics sung in English.  It is ok.  I am not sure what I was expecting.  The kid has talent for sure but the songs are pretty watered down for my taste. 

For a sample, I went with the title track.

Meh.  Not my bag.  However, German music lovers can not be wrong so I guess it is just me on this one.

Fred Panopio- ST

DSCN2304Someone with a large Filipino record collection recently unloaded a collection of albums at the Half Price in Sugar Land.   This was one of the Filipino records that I bought.  It was $1.

Fred Panopio, born in 1939 in Nueva Ecija, was a famous Filipino singer. He rose to fame in the 60’s and 70’s, popularizing his yodeling-style of singing in the Philippines.  He also started in various movies and television shows in his home country.  Reaching a local legend status, he would die of a heart attack in Manila in 2010 at the age of 71.

I could not find a whole lot of info on Fred and at this point in the month, I am less inclined to dig thru foreign web pages.  This album is pretty decent but I know little else about it.  The songs are somewhat diverse.  Songs like “Ingkong”  have a disco beat while songs like “Bakit Ba, Bakit Ba”  have a more traditional Pacific sound.  Fred has a good voice and performs the songs well.  The diversity of songs make the album pretty listenable.

 

DSCN2305I was at first leaning towards one of the two songs listed above for a sample, but I caved and decided to go for an easier route.  “Bohemyo” is Fred’s take on Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”.  Likewise “Kawawang Cowboy” is his take on “Rhinestone Cowboy”.  Both songs are pretty good interpretations.  Ok.  I will cave and also post the funky “Ingkong” (King Kong) in a vain attempt to snag some of the funk listeners out there.

Satisfactory record.