In the 1960s, a group of young urban Indonesian musicians redefined the sound, style, and meaning of Western rock music in consonance with their own dreams, desires, and aspirations. They, along with music critics and fans, insisted that Western popular culture, as well as other popular cultures, enriched rather than detracted from local musical cultures. In these transnational contact zones of culture, where multiple forms of music intersected, what choices did musicians make about what to adopt and what to discard, and what were the reasons, ethics, and effects of those choices? What kind of a world did rock music enable young Indonesians of the 1960s to imagine? In the 1960s, no rock band was more “global” than the Beatles. Although the Beatles never performed in Indonesia, the band was, somewhat remarkably, central to Indonesian cultural politics of the 1960s. President Soekarno even banned bands from playing Beatles music in 1965, arguing that the music of the Beatles would destabilise the hard-fought revolution for independence, encourage decadence among Indonesian youth, and weaken Indonesian national identity. However, a close listening to the music shows that Indonesian musicians re-sounded and re-signified the music of the Beatles in remarkably creative, heterogeneous, and transformative ways. My analysis demonstrates how musical forms, tempos, harmonies, melodies, and rhythms tell a story about the nature and meanings of these cultural intersections. By tracing various musical techniques embedded in covers, arrangements, and new Beatles-inspired compositions, I show how local interpretations of global pop have given Indonesians a way to hear themselves as active creators of new spaces, cultures, and histories from the 1960s to the present.
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The Beatles recorded together for a little over seven years. Between October 1962 and May 1970, they released thirteen albums and a number of tracks issued on standalone singles. The catalogue created in that short period has sold more than that of any other group in history and its commercial success continues - the world’s best selling album during the first decade of the 21st century was a collection of The Beatles’ chart-topping singles called 1. But the group’s significance stems not just from huge sales figures. Their music has inspired generation upon generation of musicians, songwriters and producers.
The Beatles recorded together for a little over seven years. Between October 1962 and May 1970, they released thirteen albums and a number of tracks issued on standalone singles. The catalogue created in that short period has sold more than that of any other group in history and its commercial success continues - the world’s best selling album during the first decade of the 21st century was a collection of The Beatles’ chart-topping singles called 1. But the group’s significance stems not just from huge sales figures. Their music has inspired generation upon generation of musicians, songwriters and producers.
President Sukarno’s Anniversary Day speeches are usually something to behold. His head bobbing furiously, a finger jabbing at the sky, he loves wild histrionics that send crowds into chanting, clapping frenzies. But last week as 60,000 gathered before the canopied platform at Merdeka Palace, Indonesia’s ruler put on a strangely muted, flat and unspirited show. He called his speech “Reach for the Stars,” but it did not get off the ground.
Perhaps it was because he had noth ing new to say. He spoke grandly of attacking the “imperialists” with a “Djakarta-Pnompenh-Hanoi, Peking-Pyongyang axis,” which sounds like an airline route but is nothing more than a dream that he has often toyed with in the past. The speech confirmed continuance of Sukarno’s far leftward drift. With Red China’s Foreign Minister Chen Yi sitting near by as an honored guest, Sukarno predictably ripped into the U.S., pledged “active support” to the Viet Cong guerrillas in South Viet Nam and threatened to nationalize U.S. oil and rubber interests that are already undergovernment control. U.S. Ambassador Marshall Green heard him out in stony silence.
The Reminder. Sukarno also referred to the recent military coup in Algeria, and he may well have been worried by the obvious parallels. “The fall of Ben Bella,” he cried, “should serve as a reminder to every leader that the moment a leader puts a distance between himself and the interests of his people he will certainly topple.”
Wistfully, Sukarno regretted that he could not live for a thousand years, but “I pray that my concepts, my teachings, will live for another thousand years.” Such incantations drew applause all right, but the crowd of 60,000 was the smallest and the most apathetic in Anniversary Day history. Perhaps by now skeptical of the ludicrous claim that Indonesia is developing an atomic bomb, the throng responded with dead silence when Sukarno threatened nuclear retaliation against his foes.
Though he looked fit and healthy in his fresh white uniform, gold-topped swagger stick and black Moslem cap, Sukarno had fallen ill twice during August, probably because of his chronic kidney trouble. During his recent trip to Europe, Viennese specialists urged an operation, but Sukarno is said to fear the scalpel, since his horoscope predicts that he will die by steel.
Rocky Robes. If Sukarno is ailing, he is certainly in no worse shape than his country. Food prices continue to soar. An egg that cost 2 rupiahs in Djakarta in 1961 now costs 170 rupiahs. In the past four months, prices have risen 50%. Sukarno is still grabbing for instant cures. When he was in North Korea recently, he was told that the Communists were making cloth from stones, and he has ordered his own experts to turn Indonesian rocks into textiles.
Sukarno’s one alleged triumph−that he has united Indonesia’s 103 million people−was deflated last week by news from South Celebes, where rightist Darul Islam rebels are fighting against the army. In Sukarno’s newest acquisition, West Irian, Papuan tribesmen have also launched an insurrection.
Yet his followers are generally quick to do the Bung’s bidding. In his Anniversary Day speech, Sukarno urged Indonesians to “wage a campaign against Beatle music, cheap literature and crazy dances.” In response, a crowd gathered before Djakarta’s police headquarters and made a small bonfire of Beatle records, comic books and U.S. westerns.
The Beatles recorded together for a little over seven years. Between October 1962 and May 1970, they released thirteen albums and a number of tracks issued on standalone singles. The catalogue created in that short period has sold more than that of any other group in history and its commercial success continues - the world’s best selling album during the first decade of the 21st century was a collection of The Beatles’ chart-topping singles called 1. But the group’s significance stems not just from huge sales figures. Their music has inspired generation upon generation of musicians, songwriters and producers.
he Beatles may have broken up more than five decades ago, but their legacy has lived on among their devout fans, some of whom take to the stage to perform fervently in tribute to the iconic British band.
John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, nicknamed the Fab Four, enchanted the world throughout the 60s, revolutionizing every aspect of the music industry, with their unique pop rock style stamping their reputation as most influential band of all time.
In Liverpool, the birthplace of the Beatles, the International Beatlesweek Festival is held annually every August, featuring dozens of tribute bands from around the world. Indonesia’s G-Pluck has been lucky enough to participate twice, although because of the pandemic, this year’s event was reduced to a stream of the participants’ pre-recorded performances.
“We sent our video. The organizers seemed impressed with our performance,” Awan Garnida, the band leader, told The Jakarta Post.
G-Pluck will return to the festival next year, with Awan saying the band was honored to be among the select few tribute bands invited to Beatlesmania.
“Almost certainly we are coming back next year. Of course, it means a lot for us and Beatles fans because it is the most celebrated international tribute band event,” said Awan, who performs as Paul McCartney.
The other band members are Sigit Adnan (John Lennon), Wawan Hidayat (George Harrison) and Beni (Ringo Starr).
During the band’s first performance at the 2008 festival, which reportedly featured 150 tribute bands from 20 countries, they performed on nine stages and got the chance to visit the childhood homes of John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
The two music icons are the creative geniuses behind much of the Beatles’ repertoire, having composed most of the Fab Four’s tracks. After embarking on a successful solo career, Lennon was tragically shot dead in New York in 1980, while McCartney went on to form his own band, Wings, after the Beatles broke up. Hooks and Harmony lists on its website, hooksandharmony.com, 25 reasons why the Beatles are the greatest band of all time. One key reason is their compositional talent. “One may not like songs such as ‘Yesterday’ and ‘Hey Jude’, but they are unrivaled in their popularity, and the melodies are unforgettable,” it states.
In the time that has passed since the Beatles broke up, thousands of tribute bands have emerged. It all started in 1977, when the musical Beatlemania, advertised as a “rockumentary”, premiered at the Colonial Theater in Boston in the United States.
The show soon headed to Broadway, before being taken across the country, with the producers casting two teams of musicians to perform as the Beatles in different cities.
After watching a film version of the musical in the early 1990s, Awan said he was amazed by the performances of the tribute band and felt inspired to form his own. He gathered his friends, held auditions and founded G-Pluck in 1997.
The name is pronounced the same as jiplak, the Indonesian word for “impersonate”. But Awan elaborated further on the meaning behind the name.
“G stands for genuine and pluck means gut, grit. Despite all our shortcomings, we use all our grit to perform as the Beatles as authentically as possible,” he said.
Unlike cover bands, which perform popular songs by many different artists, tribute bands usually study the work of a specific group or performer and take to the stage to give a performance that as closely as possible imitates the artists, including the vocals, the instrumentation and the performance style as a whole.
For that reason, Awan, who plays guitar right-handed, had to follow a strict practice regime for many months to be able to play left-handed like McCartney.
He also has a collection of bass guitars similar to those played by McCartney. Even the guitar straps are selected with meticulous attention to detail.
“I bought a guitar in London and the straps in Canada,” he said about his hunt for “genuine” items.
There are five basic looks adopted by Beatles tribute bands: Cavern Club, Sullivan Show, Shea Stadium, Sergeant Pepper and Abbey Road.
In their Cavern Club look, the band wore black vests and black trousers, with John playing his unpainted Rickenbacker 325C58, George his Gretsch duo jet, Paul his old Hofner 500-1 and Ringo a Ludwig Black Oyster Pearl ‘Super Classic’.
“We have the most complete collection of all tribute bands in Southeast Asia,” Awan said, adding that he had ordered all the costumes from abroad.
G-Pluck’s authenticity has won it the status of the “Asian Beatles”.
Apart from Beatlesmania in England, the band has been invited to perform in Europe, including the Netherlands and Belgium in 2017.
“Beatles songs are still loved by people of all walks of life and from generation to generation. This will help G-Pluck continue to play and receive invitations to perform at home and abroad,” Djati Wibowo, a Beatles diehard, said.
Meanwhile, Arief, a photographer, who has adored the Beatles since he was a schoolboy, has gathered an impressive collection of cassettes and paraphernalia and also formed the tribute band the Beaters with his friends as a teenager.
The Beaters may have only lasted four years, but his passion for the Beatles has never faded, with Arief uploading his solo covers of Beatles hits to YouTube.
“I love the music of the Beatles,” the photo journalist said.
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - G-Pluck Beatles is an Indonesian band that pays tribute to the iconic British band, The Beatles. After a successful tour in Europe and Belgium in the past few years and a performance at the Beatles Week Festival, the veteran band from Bandung, West Java, formed in 1997, is preparing for a music concert tour in Indonesia.
The band consists of Awan Garnida on bass, Gilang Pramudya and Fery Gustian on guitar and vocals, Beni Pratama on drums, and Aufa Kantadiredja on keyboards and vocals.
“Soon, we will tour with Indonesian fans of The Beatles after a successful gig in Liverpool,” Awan said when met after the gig at Tempo's anniversary event on Wednesday, March 6, 2024.
After 25 years in the music world, G-Pluck tried to cure the longing of Beatles fans by touring Indonesia and presenting the same vibe as John Lennon and friends.
“We 'plagiarized' everything about The Beatles, except that we are Indonesians,” Awan added.
The band claimed to have collected rare trinkets, just like The Beatles. They hired a tailor in England to make the costume exactly the same and collected guitars produced like those used by the legendary band for shows.
“We present almost the same [as The Beatles]. One of them is the clothes and shoes that we wear today, the same ones that the Beatles wore on stage. And the guitars too. On a normal tour, we usually bring 12 guitars, that are exactly the same as our favorite band,” Awan said.
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