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At a Glimpse: The return of C’mon Lennon
C’mon Lennon: (Courtesy of Agung Hartamurti)One hit wonder indie pop outfit C’mon Lennon has been given a new lease of life with the release of their only album, Ketika La La La (Once La La La), on vinyl
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C’mon Lennon: (Courtesy of Agung Hartamurti)
One hit wonder indie pop outfit C’mon Lennon has been given a new lease of life with the release of their only album, Ketika La La La (Once La La La), on vinyl.
The short-lived band, which was part of Jakarta’s music scene sometime around 2003 and 2004, was initially set up as a side project — all of its six members were originally busy with their main bands.
Vocalist Bin Harlan Boer and guitarist Andi Hans were members of Upstairs, Angga Joni on guitar belonged to Blossom Diary, while Pugar Restu Julian on drums played with Planet Bumi and a few other bands.
Bass player Sulung Koesuma was also a member of Sugarstar, while keyboardist Iwan Malam was listed as member of Equipment Junkie.
They were stars of the music scene with nonstop gigs, which brought them to many places in and around the city to play their own compositions.
When the band released Ketika La La La, it was a massive album — getting on MTV and good airplay in radios, and staying on the charts at record stores.
But then, separation was unavoidable.
First, Bin Harlan Boer left the band for an undisclosed reason. The rest of the band tried hard to set a new direction for C’mon Lennon, but they couldn’t survive.
Ricky Surya Virgana from Kaimana Records, a new record company responsible for the vinyl release, is a massive fan of the band.
He still shows his big love to the album and the band – the reason why after years of hiatus, he revived tits memory with the reissue of Ketika La La La in a limited 300-copy run.
“I grew up in the Poster-Cafe era in the late 90s. I knew what the scene looked like back then, but after that time, Jakarta’s local scene was sinking,” Ricky says.
“I felt quite envious with what Bandung had back in the days, with lots of good band appearing on the national music scene.”
When the indie music scene revived, so did he.
“C’mon Lennon was part of the scene that I was really up to. I love the record and I want to make it eternal by releasing it in vinyl. You can have CDs or cassettes but none of them can survive long. Vinyl is the answer. And that’s what I’m going to do at Kaimana Records — releasing music I like in vinyl,” he said.
Ketika La La La is available at a few selected stores (twitter.com/kaimanarecords).
The party to celebrate the album’s release was held in the Borneo Beer House in Jakarta last Sunday by inviting the band’s original members as well as a tribute band, the Floyd Lennon.
Bin Harlan Boer, Pugar Restu Julian, Noor Ikhwan and Andi Hans showed up. “This is absurd, I never thought of this,” said Bin Harlan Boer, surprised that many people came to celebrate the band’s short story.
Not long after, he was asked to join the tribute band on stage together with Andi Hans and Pugar Restu Julian.
That night, the band’s three original members played together once again for the very first time, performing their biggest hits, “Aku Cinta J.A.K.A.R.T.A”. (I Love J.A.K.A.R.T.A.) and “Detektif Flamboyan” (Flamboyant Detective) . It was definitely a night to remember.
—Felix Dass
*) At a Glimpse is all about the local music scene. Give us a shout at sundayglimpse@gmail.com. Also, become our friend at www.facebook.com/sundayglimpse or follow us at twitter.com/sundayglimpse.
