Pair of blond Europeans become Thai music superstars

[mikem55]

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Two blond Europeans have turned their backs on boy bands

and girl groups and instead become superstars in Thailand, singing hypnotic traditional

folk songs and wowing audiences countrywide.

Jonas Anderson, a 29-year-old from Sweden, grew up alongside Christy Gibson in

Thailand's northeast and these most modest of stars regularly get crowds of up to 30,000.

Full story: http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20011007/re/entertainment_thailand_dc_1.html

[ October 08, 2001: Message edited by: mikem ]

[Long Gun]

Ehmmmm

Jonas is a boy, albeit a rather pretty one.

LG

[mikem55]

Long gun:

Thanks for the correction. I edited my headline.

[Straycat]

But is it really that they've "turned their backs"? I mean, the Jonas guy has lived almost all his life in Thailand....

And Luk Thung & Mor Lam don't seem to sell an awful lot in Sweden

[Guest]

These two are very popular with Isaan people. A lot of taxi drivers play their cassettes in their cars. The other day, one of them told be he just "loved" Christy Gibson. He had a major problem pronouncing her name, but he said he even had a poster of hers and was happy that he once shook her hand after a concert at Sanam Luang. I personally don't like Luuk Thung, or any other type of folk music for that matter, but that woman has an excellent voice.

[thai3]

Yes she has quite a nice voice, but it's like listening to some middle class white girl singing the blues or a Japanese guy doing Elvis, just not the same. IMO Ms Gibson does not sing with any feeling at all, it sounds cold and dull, she murders most of the songs. Jonas one the other hand I think is a far better singer ,even though his vioce might not be as good. I would certainly want to see Jonas sing live but I would not go out of my way to see Christy. I don't know why TAT do not promote thai music, it's worth flying over just to experience it live.-peter

QUOTE]Originally posted by Scum_Baggio:

These two are very popular with Isaan people. A lot of taxi drivers play their cassettes in their cars. The other day, one of them told be he just "loved" Christy Gibson. He had a major problem pronouncing her name, but he said he even had a poster of hers and was happy that he once shook her hand after a concert at Sanam Luang. I personally don't like Luuk Thung, or any other type of folk music for that matter, but that woman has an excellent voice.

[Guest]

Rarely do I see it mentioned that both Jonas and Christy grew up here because their families were members of The Children of God, the fundamentalist Christian sex cult that later renamed itself "The Family" to try to distance itself from the free-sex-with-children teachings of its founder, David Berg.

Remember these guys? They have been thrown out of many countries worldwide, and there have been exposes on television (60 Minutes?). The women of the cult were at one time trained at "Flirty Fishing" -- using sex to induce lonely men into the fold.

Check out this 1993 article from the Washington Post:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/cult/children_of_god/main.htm

 

There's also an exhaustive history of the cult at:

http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/Family.html

[ October 09, 2001: Message edited by: PvtDick ]

[ October 09, 2001: Message edited by: PvtDick ]

[Guest]

Originally posted by PvtDick:

"Rarely do I see it mentioned that both Jonas and Christy grew up here because their families were members of The Children of God, the fundamentalist Christian sex cult ..."

That's right, but they didn't choose the families they grew up in, did they.

[ October 09, 2001: Message edited by: Scum_Baggio ]

[Guest]

Of course not. I just mentioned this as a matter of interest concerning their backgrounds.

That said, I think both are still active in "The Family". Let's just say that I won't be letting my kids attend one of their "sleepover parties"...

[Guest]

I haven't heard the swedes doing thai folk music but I did notice something odd about pop music in asia. It seems to be a haven for has beens and not quites from the west. There are many performers from the west that still have careers in asia long after they entered the where are they now file back home. There are many more of mediocre talent that didn't take them too far but all of a sudden when they go asian they find themselves with a career. That alongside the usual dreck of asian pop makes for pretty sad ears. I'm not trying to be a hater but I see them like a boxer who always gets clobbered in the ring deciding to go to an elementary schoolyard so he can pick a fight he can win. I agree withthe post likening westerners doing thai folk music to white college girls singing the blues. Isn't folk music usually describing an indigineous experience. After my first trip to Thailand it left me with a short saying to surmise the experience. Thailand is heaven if you like great food and beautiful women but it's hell if you're a music or animal lover.