National Artist and luk thung icon Phloen Phromdaen passed away on Aug 3, aged 85. He was one of the titans of the luk thung world, garnering the nickname Raja Phleng Phut (King of the Talking Song) for the spoken passages in the middle of his songs.
Born Somsuan Promsawang in Prachin Buri in 1939, unlike the first wave of luk thung singers he was not from central provinces like Suphan Buri nor from the second wave that came from Isan. That said, like the first luk thung superstar Suraphon Sombatchareon and later Waipot Petchsuphan, both from Suphan Buri, he had Lao ancestry and that explains why some Thai commentators regard him as a "Lao-style" singer.
He began his career singing at a New Year festival in 1961 and then entered talent competitions. Eventually, he joined several bands before forming the Phloen Phromdaen band in the mid-60s (his first recording was Thung Rang Nang Leum). Then in 1972, songwriter Songroh Samatthapapong wrote a number for Phloen, Khao Sod Sod, which made him a huge star.
He began to talk in the middle of the song, often chatting about contemporary events with another singer or comedian, who would often use Isan Lao. He practised with presenters of radio dramas to add effects to his delivery, and later on he would use the same technique to "talk" about dhamma and well-known monks.
The use of talking in the middle of a song is heard in many other genres of music. Think of Japan's enka (a genre similar to luk thung) Misora Hibari and her iconic Kanashi Sake which features a heartbreaking spoken interlude about the singer's battle with the bottle, or US soul singer Shirley Brown's spoken lyrics in her hit Woman To Woman.
The creation of a new sub-genre within luk thung -- the talking song -- is not the only innovation Phloen brought. He married lifelong partner Sukuntala, who was a key player in developing the amazing costumes and all-action pageantry of typical luk thung shows. She found shows at that time (around 1971) boring as chorus lines (hang krueang in Thai), so she talked with Phloen about creating more attractive costumes and better dance moves. She had seen the Moulin Rouge dancers of Paris in magazines and watched ballet shows at AUA auditorium on Ratchadamri Road in Bangkok. She also introduced the term nak ten for her dancers.
In an interview in 2018, Sukuntala said she wanted to develop a show no one else had. She placed advertisements on the radio and interviewed potential chorus line dancers and then created specific moves for each of Phloen's songs.
These musical and performance innovations propelled Phloen to fame and he joined other big names with their own bands like Waipot Petchsuphan in a period, the mid-60s to 70s, that is often referred to as the "golden era of luk thung music".
Like many celebrities during the 1970s, Phloen starred in movies -- Fon Tai, Fon Nuea and Kaen Ai Phloen. He was known for including references to the so-called psychedelic era in his songs, and recently one of his numbers -- Klua Duang -- was "remixed" by the Butthole Surfers in their single Kuntz.
Phloen was also a prolific composer, writing songs for his own shows as well as others, and it was for his performances and songs such as Wasana Yajok, Chom Krung, Mon Rak Ban Rai, Kham Man Sanya and Don't Forget Thailand, plus many more, that he was awarded National Artist status in 2012. In his later years, he also penned songs about Buddhist themes.
The first golden era of luk thung music featured what I would call "The Big Four" (National Artists Waipot Petchsupan, Chaichana Boonachote, Kwanjit Sriprachan and Chai Muang Singh), all of whom were from Suphan Buri and the Central Region and could sing in all local styles, from ramwong to likay to central folk music like phleng Isao and lamtad to phleng laa. Although he wasn't from the same region as The Big Four, Phloen was as influential as they were, and he and his partner decisively changed how the genre was presented.
There are plenty of great Phloen songs available on YouTube and excellent compilations on the Bangkok Cassette label, easy to find here in Bangkok.
RIP Phloen Phromdaen.
John Clewley can be contacted at clewley.john@gmail.com.
