Dara Puspita formed in their hometown of Surabaya in 1964. After relocating to Jakarta, the group began to create quite a stir with their wild stage shows. Their local performances were attended by teenagers grooving to the band’s raw garage rock sound. The first all-female Indonesian pop group that could play their instruments and sing, Dara Puspita also attracted the attention of Indonesian president Sukarno who labeled Western rock music “a form of mental disease”. In 1965 (an eventful and critical year for the group), the girls endured a month long interrogation by the government for performing “outlawed” rock and roll music, became the house band in a Bangkok nightclub for three months, and were introduced to Dick Tamimi of Mesra records, the man who would launch their recording career. The tracks featured in this compilation were recorded at the height of Dara Puspita’s popularity during the immediate post-communist era of General Suharto’s new order; a time when Indonesia’s musicians and artists were finally capable of launching their own creative renaissance.
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