Popular singer Chrisye delights fans with oldies hits
By Helly Minarti
JAKARTA (JP): Integrity still sells in pop music, surviving all the fads that come and go fast.
Popular singer Chrisye, now 48, has bundled 20 solo albums into his almost 30-year career, and a few other notable achievements, including the legendary soundtrack of Badai Pasti Berlalu (The Storm Will be Over) in the late 1970s.
In celebrating Fashion Cafe's first anniversary, Chrisye climbed up on stage again last Friday, retracing his golden years through his old hits and recent popular remakes.
Welcomed by a 15-minute dance show and grand sound effects trumpeting the cafe's audio facilities, Chrisye brought with him a solid troupe of musicians, a combination of the best seniors and the blossoming young talent in Indonesian pop music.
The top veterans were Erwin Gutawa (arranger, keyboard) and, of course, virtuoso Aminoto Kosin on other keyboard. Up-and- comers was represented by Tohpati on guitar, the bass player of Halmahera band, and Sa'Unine Quartet on the string section accompanied by drum, percussion, solo violist, brass section and the flute.
Chrisye lit up the night with some of his best hits from the 1970s, like Zamrud Khatulistiwa (The Equator's Emerald), a rhythmic Balinese pop tune, and the quintessential remake of Kala Sang Surya Tenggelam (When The Sun Goes Down), both composed by Guruh Soekarnopoetra, who was in the audience.
His first composition to climbed to the top of the charts, Sabda Alam (The Nature's Call), was also a must.
Next was the fresh Kala Cinta Menggoda (When the Love Flirts), promoted as the first hit from his new album, released Nov. 19.
"The album has no title, just Chrisye," the performer said backstage.
Also composed by Guruh, this song blends the traditional keroncong tunes into its groovy pop melody. Chrisye's singer- songwriter collaboration with Guruh has spanned nearly his entire career.
"I've known him since junior high school, Chrisye was a friend of friends," said Guruh.
He added that Chrisye's voice was best suited to his type of compositions.
Some more oldies folded well into the evening's program, like the melancholic soundtracks of Gita Cinta dari SMA (Love Tunes from High School) and Puspa Indah Taman Hati (The Beautiful Flower in The Heart), both from the early 1980s.
Chrisye also sang a new song composed for the younger generation, Tohpati, and played guitar to bridge the parade of old hits from his other period, Serasa (What a Feeling), and another soundtrack taken from Badai Pasti Berlalu, Angin Malam (Night Wind). Both were charged up by revised 1990s arrangements.
Like Badai Pasti Berlalu, which is still available in music stores, each of Chrisye's albums have sold between 100,000 and 500,000 copies. In the music industry, an Indonesian pop album which sells 100,000 is considered a success.
Dance tune
Last Friday's show was closed by the thumping dance tune Juwita, another old hit from the 1980s, plus an encore of two songs. It was a relief Chrisye skipped some banal hits, including Nona (Miss) and Lenny, from a short lost period in his musical life during the same decade.
He may be older but Chrisye has not changed much.
His voice remains solid and distinct, but he seems more at ease now in performing little jigs to songs like Zamrud Khatulistiwa and Serasa. He shook his knees and danced along the catwalk-cum-stage in time to the frisky beats.
"Chrisye is shy, that's why it's kind of hard for him to act on stage," said Guruh, who had nevertheless included his friend as one of the main singers in the flamboyant Swara Mahardika cabarets a decade ago.
His show plumbed not only his successful hits, but also his deep involvement with pivotal figures during the awakening of Indonesian pop in the 1970 and 1980s. He collaborated with prominent composers and musicians like Yockie Suryoprayogo and Eros Djarot from the famous Gang Pegangsaan, and also with almost every arranger of note afterward.
He chose Erwin Gutawa as the arranger on his latest album.
"It's the second time for me to do the job. The first one was for Chrisye Akustik (Chrisye Unplugged)," said Erwin, who perkily sang along to every familiar tune that night while simultaneously keeping his fingers maneuvering on the keyboard.
As the small crowd clapped Chrisye that night, Erwin deserved the applause, too, for his sweeping big band style arrangement.
At the end of a song, Chandra Darusman, once a prominent musician himself who now leads the royalty foundation for Indonesian artists, whispered to Guruh Soekarnopoetra, "it's like Erwin's own show, with Chrisye as the vocalist". It would not be wrong to say there were two stars on stage that night.