Waldjinah

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Waldjinah is an Indonesian singer, born in 1945 in Surakarta, also called Solo, in Central Java. She was the tenth child in her family. Her mother sold food at the market and her father worked as a painter in a batik factory, where she heard the traditional Javanese songs that inspired her. At secondary school she became interested in kroncong. In 1958 she won a singing competition held by the radio station Radio Republik Indonesia in Surakarta. That was the start of her career as a professional singer. In 1960, at a national competition in Jakarta, she was named the singer with the most potential.

Music and breakthrough

Her best-known song is Walang Kekek from 1968, which made Javanese kroncong known throughout Indonesia. Her backing band was called Orkes Keroncong Bintang Surakarta, and her son Ary Mulyono, himself an instrumentalist, now leads that band. She is said to have recorded 200 albums and more than 1,500 songs and worked with Gesang Martohartono and Ismail Marzuki.

Influence

Kroncong is an Indonesian style of music with ukulele-like strings, violin and flute, a soft, swaying accompaniment and melodious singing. Waldjinah showed that the Javanese variant, the langgam Jawa, could reach a large audience. She is one of the best-known and best-loved traditional singers in the country.

Listening

• 
  Walang Kekek · Waldjinah, 1968
  Apple Music ↗

Discography

Studio albums

• 1968Ngelam‐Lami
• 1968Walang Kekek
• 1986Langgam Jawa _ Terpopuler + Gamelan
• 1997Album Langgam Jawa Anoman Obong

See also

• Krontjong