The Brothers Hawk - Funny, Funny (A Go Go) (track)

The instrumental compilation Teen Dance Music from China and Malaysia has been floating around the web now for more than a dozen years. Incredibly this album is now being marketed by iTunes, though it's obviously taken from a vinyl LP, given that the originating company's name is is Thrift Score Records.

This vinyl compilation probably surfaced in the late 1960s or early '70s and included several tracks by the Brothers Hawk, who played and recorded throughout Malaysia and Singapore. According to the Radiodiffusion International Annexe blog bands like the Brothers Hawk played in a style known as Hala Hala or A Go Go. This added elements of traditional dance rhythms like the rumba, fox trot and quick step to the sort-of surf style twangy guitar that was popular in China at the time.

The Brothers Hawk and similar groups released mainly instrumental material under their own names while also serving as backing bands for pop singers. So here's a sample of the Brothers Hawk.

Funny, Funny (A Go Go)



Before shelling out the going rate for Teen Dance Music from China and Malaysia (providing you like this kind of thing, of course) take a look at YouTube. Many of the tracks from the LP are available there, including this outstanding contribution from The Stylers -- a medley of four James Bond themes.