“Batten Batten Batten-Ten” is a
song sung by The Peanuts in 1960. It is a recomposition of a Japanese folk song
(min'yo)
titled “Otemoyan” from Kumamoto Prefecture.
The song of “Otemoyan” is about
Chimo, a young maiden in the Meiji period, who is in love with a man with smallpox scars on his face. They just
got married but she hesitates to hold an open wedding ceremony due to possible
comments made by the townspeople about her new husband's look. Anyhow, she is
still charmed by him regardless of his look.
The writer/composer was Ine
Nagata, a teacher of Shamisen and Japanese dances. This song made a debut made by Akasaka Koume in 1935. The
oldest reference of this song is in "5 Pairs of Shoes", a book published in 1907 by five prominent men of
letters, Tekkan Yosano, Mokutaro Kinoshita (pen-name of Masao Ōta), Kitahara Hakushu, Hirano Banri and Yoshii Isamu
who visited Kumamoto at that time.
The Peanuts were a Japanese vocal
group consisting of twin sisters Emi Itōand Yumi Itō.
The Peanuts in 1966
The twins were discovered while
performing at a club in Nagoya
in 1958 by pop impresario Sho Watanabe. He brought them to Tokyo and gave them the name The Peanuts.
They made their first recording “Kawaii Hana” (Pretty Blossoms) in 1959. In
their early years they sang Japanese covers of standards, foreign hits, and
Japanese folk songs. Then they began singing originals, written by their
producer, Hiroshi Miyagawa, and such songwriters as Koichi Sugiyama and Rei Nakanishi. “Batten Batten Batten-Ten” is
one of numbers listed in Kawaii Hana. Released in 1960 under label of King
Records Co. Ltd. Japan.
I make it as a music video displaying
some footage of Japanese women in 1930s. Two scenes of classic Japanese
animation from "Kobutori" 1929 and "Mura Matsuri" 1930 are also
displayed here. The video processing program used here is Sony Vegas Movie
Studio Platinum 9.0.
The
name of “Mandom” has been a benchmark for Tancho Corporation as a 1970s primary
manufacturer and distributor of hair care, skin care, perfumes, and deodorants
in Japan and Asia.
The
company was founded in 1927 by Shinpachiro Nishimura under the name Kintsuru
Perfume Corporation (金鶴香水株式会社) in Osaka,
Japan.
By
1959, following its success with a pomade product called “Tancho Stick”, the
corporation change its name to Tancho Corporation.
Tancho's
efforts with expanding outside Japan was further boosted in 1970 when the
company launched a new line of highly successful men's care products, called
Mandom, which took its name from a combination of the words "Human"
and "Freedom". An innovative advertising campaign featuring Charles Bronson became the first of a long series of Japanese ads to feature
top Hollywood
stars.
Cover of Mandom Soundtrack - Property of Mandom Corporation -
In
1970, Charles Bronson had become a big star in Japan through the film “Once Upon A
Time In The West” and was viewed as the quite essential “Western Man”. Bronson
agreed to star in a television ads for “Mandom”. For four days work Bronson
received $100,000, which was more than he had received for the iconic roles in “The
Magnificent Seven and The Great Escape” put together.
Poster of "Once Upon A Time In The West"
- Property of Paramount Pictures -
Charles Bronson in Mandom Poster - Property of Mandom Corporation -
The
ads theme was performed in English and Japanese version. The Japanese version
as the original version titled as "Otoko no Sekai" (男の世界,
lit. "The World of the Man") written by Hisao Tagi and Shuici Kurai.It was performed by Takahiro Saito, a Japanese
famous country singer.
Takahiro Saito in 1970s
The
English version titled as "The Lovers of the World" written by Howard Maurer and Mat Maurer. The
version was performed by Jerry Wallace, an American country and pop singer. The song had become his biggest selling single
that was released in Japan
only as marketing campaign of "Mandom".
Jerry Wallace in 1970s
Within
weeks of airing the ads “Mandom” had become the top selling male toiletry
products in the whole of Japan
and then expanded throughout Asia.
Following
with Mandom’s success, Tancho then changed its name again, to Mandom
Corporation, in 1971. The corporation had success to create and launch their
new flagship brand, “Gatsby” in 1976 as the continuity of Tancho’s legacy.
Mandom Corp Logo - Property of Mandom Corporation -
The Yell of "Merdeka" (Freedom) was a popular yell and often yielded by Indonesian youths since the Proclamation of Indonesia's Independence on 17 August 1945. The yell as a salute to freedom expression transformed as a national greeting for The Indonesians based on The Government of The Republic of Indonesia Decree of 31 August 1945. This national greeting officially prevailed on 1 September 1945.
The decree also explained about the customs and manners to deliver the national greeting as shown in the video above:
”The
right hand is up as high as the ear. Five fingers in a row. What does it mean?
Our Country has got the freedom. The voices are thundering delivering national
greeting…Merdeka”
The video is a type of communication film media well-known by Indonesians in early independence era of 1945. It was one of efforts done by the republicans to widely communicate The Indonesia's Independence throughout the whole country.
On 4 September 1945, President Soekarno, in Surabaya, explained the philosophy values behind that national greeting:
“The yell of “Merdeka”, my fellow brothers, is a union yell. And not just as a union yell, but as a spark of the ruler nation itself without any tie of imperialism or colonialism. So that my fellow brothers, especially in our revolutionary phase, our revolutionary phase has not finished yet, and don’t forget to the yell of “Merdeka”. Every time we meet with one another, yield that yell of “Merdeka”! In his 1965 autobiography written by Cindy Adams, President Soekarno explained the decision of the national greeting. “I decided so that every citizen of the Republic delivered greeting to others by raised their hands, opened wide their five fingers as the reflection of the five principles of the foundation of the Indonesia state and yielded “Merdeka”!
He
admitted that he was inspired by Prophet Muhammad. “As the Great Prophet
Muhammad, Peace Be Upon Him, introduced a greeting to unite his people, we also
created a one of national greeting for the Indonesian Nation”.
Radio Republik Indonesia (RRI) is the state owned radio network of Indonesia. The organization is a public broadcasting service. It is a national radio station that broadcasts all over Indonesia and abroad to serve all Indonesian citizens throughout nation and overseas. RRI also provides information about Indonesia to people around the world.(WIKIPEDIA)
In my opinion, RRI is also one of consciousness guide for Indonesians community through information and communication fields to sail the life ocean in order to keep exist as a nation of sovereign and prosperous.
I preferred September 29th, 1965 as the video time background. In 60s, Indonesia was a
great hope as the leader of the new emerging forces (NEFOS). NEFOS was the new
coalition of nations that aimed to be an alternative international organization
besides UN. Indonesia
had walked out from UN membership. Its military power was the strongest in Asia
even the People Republic
of China
might only got advantage in man power numbers, but not in primary weapons.
RRI is identical with its slogan of “In the Air Once and Forever” (in Indonesian as “Sekali di Udara Tetap di Udara”)
I made this depiction in appropriate
with 60’s style. I picked a chick James Bond film style from the Thunderball
trailer of 1965.
The slogan, actually
was created by Air Vice-Marshall, Prof. Dr. Abdul Rachman Saleh, one of the Indonesia
Air Force founders. The slogan creation was also coincided with the development
of “The sky spirit” (Semangat Dirgantara) for Indonesians along with the early
formation of the Indonesia Air Force. That’s why I chose an image of the
unique statue as an opening title. That was the image of "The Sky Spirit
Monument" (Monumen Semangat Dirgantara), located on Jalan Pancoran (Pancoran Street) in
Jakarta.
Broadcasting
was opened by a greeting from the radio broadcaster
Selamat Pagi, saudara pendengar di seluruh kepulauan Nusantara, bahkan di
manapun Saudara berada.
Good
Morning, fellow listeners on the entire Nusantara archipelago, even where ever
you are.
Inilah Radio Republik Indonesia, Studio Djakarta,
This
is Radio of The Republic of Indonesia, the Djakarta Studio,
Kembali di udara melalui gelombang‐gelombang 19, 25, 31 dan 49 meter.
On the
air again through frequency waves of nineteen, twenty five, thirty one and
forty nine meters.
Membawakan acara siarannya untuk pagi hari ini, hari Rabu tanggal 29
September tahun 1965.
Delivering
its morning broadcast programs on Wednesday, September 29th, 1965.
Saudara pendengar selamat mengikuti siaran kami, bersama saya Ananta Kusuma
Wibawa.
Fellow
listeners, enjoy our broadcast with me, Ananta Kusuma Wibawa.
Selamat mendengarkan dan tetap Merdeka !
Happy listening and Keeping Freedom!
The video backgrounds along the greeting depicted situation of Djakarta City along the morning. Usually,
people’s activities had been started since 4 o’clock in the early day, even
earlier. It was normal in a country with the largest Islamic community because
there was spiritual habit in doing sholats (prayers), started since 2 till 5
o’clock morning. Islamic people would do a night prayer between 2 or 3 o’clock
as a choosy (sunnah) prayer. Then they would do an obliged (wajib) morning prayer
between 4 till 5 o’clock.
I depicted morning situation in Djakarta (an old orthography of "Jakarta")
that reflected two kinds of life, between “the have” and “the poor”, between
modern metro landscapes and dirty part of city ghettos.
Starting activities in the
ghetto. Life was felt harder for the poor people, but they got to run their
daily life. We mention this area as “Kampung” inherited from The Dutch “Kampong”
or “Camp” in English. Till today, we still got many kampungs within every city.
Some of my family also lived in kampungs. I never live in kampung unless just
stay for a while, usually in my family’s houses or my friend’s.
Some part of the old city landscapes was build by
Dutch and wealthy Chinese people. The old houses were built in European style. We
can see some transportation vehicles were called “Becak”. A kind of vehicle
which was developed by the Japanese ruler in every country they ever occupied.
In China, Hongkong and Singapore there were Rickshaws, in Malaya (Malaysia) and
Birma, there were similar Becaks.
President Obama always reminded his experiences travelled
by becak when he still lived in Djakarta around
60’s.
This is the first modern hotel built in Djakarta named “Hotel Indonesia” (HI), located on Jalan M.H.
Thamrin (Muhammad Husni Thamrin is a name of a national hero). It was built
since 1962 near the ex. location of Des Indes Hotel, a luxury hotel of a
wealthy Dutch millionaire in the Netherlands East Indies (Indonesia). Occupying 25,082 m² of land, Hotel Indonesia was designed by an American architect, Abel Sorensen, and his wife, Wendy. The hotel was inaugurated on August 5, 1962 by the first President Soekarno in preparation for the 1962 Asian Games.
HI was built and operated by a state owned corporation
with the biggest share owned by the Indonesia Government. Nowadays it has been bought
by Kempinsky Group, a private owned international hotel group. I heard that
Indonesian Government still have its share but only small. The building got 3 functions as hotel, shopping
mall and office building. There was a large Shopping Mall named “Duta Merlin”
besides the first Shopping Mall in Djakarta
named “Sarinah”
This is called as “Welcome Monument”
with a large pool. It is located in the front of Hotel Indonesia. There should
be two large statues in the middle of the pool. In the video you can see that the
monument is still in finishing steps. The top statues weren’t put on the top.
This is an image of Monument Selamat Datang (Welcome Monument) in recent days. There are two statues on top, depict a couple of a man and a woman
and waving together as if greeting “Welcome” (Selamat datang) or…yet Goodbye.
Oh my …this is an Indonesian’s way. Imagine, Welcome can be a theme of a
monument. What a great hospitality.
Welcome! Hey, you know Jakarta is not for a single one. You must
have a partner when entering Jakarta.
The message from the monument is clear. Be a couple!
Now, besides
becak, some public transportations in Djakarta
are Buses and Bemos yeah your funny car is Bemo. The vehicle got only 3 wheels.
Its machine sounded as scooter’s machine. This one is also always reminded by President
Obama because this was also treated as City Taxy.
In
the larger image you may see inside the red sign, it was put "TAXY" mark on top of Bemo. President Obama has ever told, “I
still remember travelling by becak and bemo. We just went to Sarinah for shopping.”
Then he tried to speak in Indonesian, “Kami pergi ke Sarinah naik Becak atau
Bemo. (We went to Sarinah by Becak or Bemo).
He
also added, “l liked Sate and bought it from some street vendor. We lived in a
kampung in Menteng Dalem.” Yeah, President Obama used to be a kampung boy from
Menteng Djakarta.
At the next segment of the video you might found some typical support delivered to the members of the Armed Forces in order to raise their spirit in revolution situation. In 1965 a confrontation between Indonesia and Malaysia has been grown as open war.
Broadcasting continued with the messages:
Para pendengar sekalian, persembahan
perdana pada pagi hari kami tujukan bagi para anggota Angkatan Bersenjata
Republik Indonesia yang
sedang melaksanakan Dwikora dalam rangka konfrontasi Malaysia.
Fellow listeners, the first presentation today we
deliver to all members of The Indonesia’s Armed Forces who are carrying out duty of Dwikora in
order to confront Malaysia.
Note : Dwikora is abbreviation of Dwi Komando
Rakyat meant Dwi = Two, Komando = Command, Rakyat = People. So it is Two People’s
Commands delivered by President Soekarno on July 27th,
1963 as the war order against Malaysia.
Dwikora consists of 1. Fail the formation of Federation of Malaysia 2.Volunteers
mobilization. The popular theme of campaign is “Ganyang Malaysia” (Crush Malaysia).
The next texts of broadcast are:
Satu nomor special dari Ernie Djohan “Terunaku”
khusus dipersembahkan bagi para prajurit kita yang sedang menghadapi Nekolim.
A special number from Ernie Djohan “Terunaku (My
Cadet)” special presented to our soldiers who are facing Nekolim.
Note: Nekolim is abbreviation of Neo Kolonialisme
(New Colonialism) pointing out on US, British and their allies, including
Federation of Malaysia.
Ernie Djohan was one of popular artists who
always support the campaign. She was 19, that time and widely known as pretty, warm
and very kind to anybody. She was from Solok, West Sumatra.
She still exists until now as a senior artist and respected by our people.
The next video backgrounds depicted some our
military activities related to the confrontation. Most of our primary weapons
made in Russia.
Yeah, The Soviet Union was our prime ally. Premiere Nikita Khruschev was
President Soekarno’s comrade in arms.
