Pretty good song: The 1910 Fruitgum Company's "Indian Giver"

"Together Alone" by Crowded House. Sincere, not silly and rather touching actually.

Speaking of underground radio, this was a biggie back in the day -- Brewer and Shipley's Witchi-tai-to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkVjd1fJMME

"Hai-sai-oji-san" by the aforementioned French, Frith, Kaiser, Thompson.

"Cherokee People" by The Raiders.

"Bungle in the Jungle" by Jethro Tull

"Half Breed" sung by Cher Bono.

You guys are surprising me, not that I'm surprised. "Together Alone" was the first beautiful use of aboriginal touches that I had in mind. Nice call, Oats! I sense there are a good dozen more songs out there that we'll easily nail. I can think of a number of artists who I'm pretty sire ised aboriginal touches, but I'm not familiar enough with their specific songs to give you titles. I will offer another Native American song, "Apache"!

"Gypsies Tramps and Thieves" by Cher

"Jungle Love" by the Time

"Feast Of the Mau-Mau" by Screamin' Jay Hawkins

"In Zaire" by Johnny Wakelin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbYwBy7BbXE

I don't know any actual songs titles by Adam & the Ants that supposedly used Burundi drumming, so I'll sat Bow Wow Wow's See Jungle! See Jungle! etc.

I just thought of that Dr. Demento perennial, "Please Mr. Custer" by Larry Verne, which certainly fits the "silly" requirement.

Also, "Witchi-ti-to" was also done by Legs Larry Smith of the Bonzos & it can be found as a bonus track in the latest CD reissue of Keynsham.

Yes, BigSteve, that was my problem with Adam & the Ants. Same goes for the song titles of Aussie bands that use the didgeradoo. Diskojoe is currently Last Man Standing...

Elton John's "Island Girl."

First off..I meant to say "Indian Reservation" by The Raiders.

Can I toss in a country track?
And a dramatically goofy one at that..

George Leroy Chickashea by Porter Wagoner.

I had to find the lyrics to back up the nomination...

The mixture of the blood that flowed through his veins
It killed his conscience and filled him with shame
He was part white part black part red
That's how he'd got the name George Lorey Chickashea
He had no respect or feeling for anyone including himself
He resented every man in his soul there was no salvation
And he hated the sight of cotton fields and his thoughts of planned nations
The bitterness set his soul afire when he'd think of Indians and reservations
He had the coldest grey eyes I've ever saw on a man
He could look clear through you and back again
And they'd look like the pieces of stone when he'd stare
There was a mixture in the texture of his hair
That hung low around his chinbones never high above his chin
I saw him kill a man with his own bare hands never showin' no mercy on him
He carried a pistol and a switchblade and a tomahawk with him night and day
The meanest man that ever lived George Lorey Chickashea
Yeah he had the quickness of lightning and could run like an antilope
He feared no man no gun or rope
I saw him watch a rattlesnake bite him on the leg he never batted an eye
Then he said get a taste of that blood crawl out there and die
They locked him in the security cell in Baton Rouge he stayed in one day
Iron bars couldn't hold George Lorey Chickashea
At last he gave himself up and said he was tired of runnin' away
So they spread the news that day they'd hang George Lorey Chickashea
He walked up the thirteen steps to the trapdoor
And stood on it with no expression in his eyes
And when the minister asked him if he wanted to pray
He looked toward the skies and said
God inside my veins flows blood of red all mixed with black and white
I have no race or creed I pray to die George Lorey Chickashea

"Island Girl" does have that slack-key guitar hook. Does it also have steel drums? It's been so long since I heard that final song I could like even a little bit by Elton John. Good one.

To clarify, as we move along, by "touches" I am thinking of production and instrumentation that incorporates or mimics a "native" sound. So a straight heavy metal song, for instance, that references a native culture ("My Woman from Tokyo" is a weak example that comes to mind) does not count if the music doesn't have anything to do with the native culture being referred to in the lyrics.

Now, to get back to the competition: The Kinks, "Holiday in Waikiki" (sp?).

Although a little too late to be the current LMS, Hrrundi, your suggestion may be an example of what I was trying to describe as a song that does NOT include aboriginal "touches." If you had to consult the lyrics of this country song, are you saying that Wagoner did not bother throwing in some Native American war whoops or drums? Is there even a wooden flute with a feather tied to the end in the song? My apologies if the song has these key musical elements and I was reading too much into your posting of the lyrics.

Are the touches in Island Girl really aboriginal? I wouldn't call reggae aboriginal, and if it was we'd be here all day listing rock songs with a faux reggae beat.

No one has mentioned Hank Williams' Kaw-Liga, which is especially silly, since it's a love song about a wooden indian statue.

Another silly one is Randy Newman's Yellow Man, which uses parallel fourths to evoke what he calls "real inside Chinese music" on the live album.

Here's an obvious one: "Turning Japanese."

Well, BigSteve, I wasn't counting the faux reggae beat as aboriginal - and PLEASE, Townsfolk, don't think you can nominate "Kokomo" for this contest - but the slide guitar part. It doesn't matter now, because you're Last Man Standing as I type. Are the parallel fourths you refer to also what's going on in the very reverential hook of "Turning Japanese"? If so, I'M presently LMS!

SHOOT, Oats beat me to it. He's Last Man Standing. This is what I get for turning a request for clarification into a mini-lecture!

Hey, Mr. Mod. I have not heard the Porter song in awhile per it's not very good and I kind of avoid it. So, I can't recall if he touched it up with musical touches. I'm guessing it does but it clearly falls out of the competition.

But surely the traditional Native American tribal chant of "Hooked on a Feeling" must count? Ouga Chaka Ouga Chaka...
:)
OK, not sure what the hell that was...

ELO's "Jungle" on Out Of The Blue features the band trying to make jungle animal noises, 'authentic' percussion add-ins and goofy "Witch Doctor" style nonsense lyrics. Every bit as embarrassing as it sounds.

underthefloat, your "Hooked..." chant was a fine contribution. I really enjoyed your time a top the heap. Hope to see you back up there shortly! Alexmagic, I'm going to have to allow "Jungle." Congrats. Enjoy the ride while it lasts.

Kyu Sakamoto's "Sukiyaki" was a big international hit in 1963, though I don't know enough about Japanese music to know if it's really 'aboriginal' or just a pop song.

Speaking of jungle kitsch, there's Stranded in the Jungle by the Cadets, also covered by the NY Dolls.

Remember, any foreign touches must be native to that land, whether Asian or elsewhere. I'm glad your taking this into account, BigSteve. For this reason alone reggae touches do not count. Reggae is an almagamation of sounds brought to the island of Jamaica. Native American war whoops, stereotypical jungle sounds, and the Asian parallel fourths of Hong Kong Phooey cartoons have a rich history that predates the sort of easy mixing of cultures and peoples that have characterized the last 300 years.

I have to head out to the Denver convention center, so I won't be LMS long, but the chants of the Mardi Gras Indian tribes like Wild Tchoupitoulas are supposed to have some connection to the local Indian tribes like the Choctaws who sheltered runaway slaves. That's the legend anyway. Mighty-kootee-fiyo!

Jungle Boogie - Kool & The Gang

I know someone's sitting on a mound of Adam & the Ants, Midnight Oil, and underground Aussie song titles that will apply here. Didn't Celibate Rifles "go native" now and then?

The Midnight Oil song "Helps Me Helps You" starts with a digiredoo, if that counts.

In "Together Alone" there is a moment where a woman shouts out something, in a somewhat plaintive tone. I always imagine she is saying, "You got your chocolate in my peanut butter!".

has anyone mentioned "China Girl?" The bowie version is especially applicable.

I love the steel drums on Randy Newman's "Falling in love". Does that count?

I love the steel drums on Randy Newman's "Falling in love". Does that count?

Almost certainly not.

I like that song, though. Sounds like Newman's version of a Wild Honey-era Beach Boys song, but produced by Jeff Lynne. Are you dying of curiosity yet, Mr. Mod?

Kung Fu Fighting by Carl Douglas.

The Stones recorded Steel Wheels' Continental Drift in Morocco with the Master Musicians of Jajouka.

My Wild Love - The Doors

It's hard to determine conclusively what aboriginal group My Wild Love might mimic, though, isn't it? I mean, it could be a chain gang, not aboriginal at all.

remember when we were in africa?

"Tarzan Boy" by Baltimora!

TB

Another Crowded House tune - Don't Dream It's Over - starts with something called the Maori Strum. You can hear examples of it here:

http://www.kiwiukulele.co.nz/strums.html

Though honestly, it just sounds like pretty simple strumming to me...

If you want to nominate a Randy Newman song, how about "yellow man"?

I already said Yellow Man.

Can I say the entire "Graceland" album?

"Rhythm of the Heat" - Peter Gabriel

The question is not 'music influenced by other cultures.' Township jive, the main influence on Graceland, is urban electric pop music, isn't it? So I'd say it's about as aboriginal as reggae.

Correct, BigSteve! I'm not aware of that Gabriel song. Does it count as aboriginal? If so, eh is presently last man standing. If not, I think we may have to go back to TB. I'm not sure if use of a slightly aboriginal mandolin on that Crowded House song is acceptable. What do you think, judges (ie, all of you)?

The Gabriel song is the first cut on "Security," but as I was thinking shortly after posting, it could be just proggo thunderclap urban electronic pop music. The whole album lacks cymbals, so that fact in itself may just disqualify its rockishness out of hand. Which is to say it could be considered about as ROCK as "Biko."

Furthermore, I'm guessing that a heaping helping of Cyrkle sitar is as out of bounds as Ornette chennai skronk.

Hate to go pince-nez on you, BigSteve, but Ladysmith Black Mambazo was one of the super-trad vocal bands back in the day. They used to play the local soccer "stadium" (really about as big as your local high school football field) in Swaziland. Back then, the LBM thing was considered music for hicks and old people, at least among us idiot youngsters.

I know you're an mbaqanga guy, so you know the difference between the vocal harmony/gumboot stomp thing and the more urbanized groove of, say, the Soul Brothers. I'd say it's about as aboriginal as South African music gets, at least in recorded form. It's certainly more "abbo" than "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves"! Now, what Paul Simon did with it wasn't very traditional -- but that's not the point of the Last Man Standing, is it? We need a ruling!

Meanwhile, I'll one-up myself by saying "Scatterlings Of Africa" by Juluka. The breakdown in that song is fairly pure gumboot/vocal stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnAxhQk4drM

Sorry, that was meant to be:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hj7paXrhOdY

I believe this would qualify me for the aboriginal No-Prize had this been a "Battle Royale."

A ton of Ryiuchi Sakamoto stuff, like "Tibetan Dance" from the Illustrated Musical Encyclopedia album.

I don't see how you can pince nez me on the Maori strum. That is most certainly what that is, it is taken from the culture of the writer's homeland. Perhaps the issue is that it isn't brazen, ironic or making any kind of statement in the same way that a tune like "El Condor Pasa" does, like, "Look at me, I'm so international".

Oh yeah, and El Condor Pasa.

It's true that I was thinking more of mbaqanga. Ladysmith Black Mambazo's roots go back much farther. So I guess I'll limit my quibbling to your suggestion of "the entire Graceland album." Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes yes.

I always thought Johnny Clegg was lame, but that video certainly shows a white guy trying to go native. The horror, the horror!

Here's another silly one -- Warren Smith's Sun rockabilly classic Ubangi Stomp.

Cher, you're right: my Pince Nez was in need of being Pince Nezed. Your suggestion stands and, for that time, the record will show you were Last Man Standing!

Here's the interesting thing about Clegg: that thing he did, which looks so cheeseball to us (if not outright blackface-y) was truly revolutionary -- in fact, literally so -- back in the early 80s. Black folks (and hipster whiteys) found nothing cheesey about it at all.

Johnny and Sipho performed at my school, which was sort of the unofficial "magnet" school for ANC big-wig families and their white sympathizers, and were honored for their contribution to "the struggle." I remember thinking it must take a lot of guts to be so committed to the cause of cultural integration, and didn't pause for a moment to wrinkle my nose at the "schtick."

Years later, I happened to be in Durban, South Africa, for Clegg's first performance since he had been "unbanned" by the government and returned from exile in the UK. It was one of the first mixed-race performances to be allowed by the crumbling apartheid regime, and the atmosphere was charged with enthusiasm and cautious celebration. Mandela was still years away from release, but you could tell the end of the madness was inevitable.

This gets us to an interesting larger point: who should we trust when it comes to judgements about ethnic "authenticity"? We recoil from -- or laugh out loud at -- that Juluka video, but the folks it was written about and for loved it. We go to a Mexican restaurant, and the owners dutifully populate the walls with faux Aztec knick-knacks, knowing we crave a Mexican flavor to the ambience -- even though restaurants *in* Mexico basically look like themeless greasy spoons here.

Food for thought.

Actually a lot of what hvb is saying was going through my mind but not making it into any of my posts. I think one of the problems is that earnestness doesn't really sit well with pop music. Whatever good Clegg might have done is called into question when he was marketed to the rest of the world as a pop star, which he definitely was, though this may or may not have been his own doing.

I think pop music works more indirectly to influence society. Going at social issues head-on almost always ends up feeling smarmy. So something totally goofy and from today's perspective politically incorrect like Warren Smith's Ubangi Stomp makes a sharper point about the African roots of rock&roll than any kind of song rooted in liberal do-goodism.

BigSteve and Hrrundi, no joke: I'm checking in for a quick peek at today's activities and, as always, I'm psyched to see people take even the silliest ideas posted here to thoughtful levels. Thanks! Now back to mixing...

Oh, shit! Mod, I owe you thoughts on those files you directed me towards. I coulda done it today, but spaced. Definitely Monday.

Sorry!

HVB

I (had to) work on this:
http://www.eaglethunder.com/release/9

That's an admission, not a submission, btw.

Just heard one - Booker T and the MG's - "Chinese Checkers" has a bunch of parallel 4th riffing.

"your move".

That's right, months later I remember this thread whilst listening to... Siouxisie and the Banshees - Hong Kong Garden.