Rhoma Irama
| Rhoma Irama | |
|---|---|
Rhoma Irama in 2010
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Raden Irama |
| Born |
December 11, 1946 West Java, Indonesia |
| Genres | Dangdut |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter, actor |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar |
| Years active | 1967–present |
| Associated acts | Soneta Group, Ridho Rhoma |
| Website | rajadangdut |
Raden Haji Oma Irama (born December 11, 1946, in West Java), known as Rhoma Irama, is an Indonesian dangdut musician and singer. During the height of his stardom in the 1970s, he was dubbed Raja Dangdut (the King of Dangdut) with his group Soneta.
Prior to his pilgrimage to Mecca, he was known as Oma Irama. He is a member of aristocrat class of Sundanese from both his father, Raden Burdah Anggawirya, and mother, R.Hj. Tuti Juariah. Rhoma Irama is also known as "Raja Dangdut" or in English: "King of Dangdut" in Indonesia.
Oma Irama's first bands were known as Tornado and Gayhand, and covered Western rock and roll music of Paul Anka, Andy Williams, and The Beatles.
In the late 1960s Oma Irama, sang orkes Melayu and also some pop Indonesia. In 1968 he joined the group Orkes Melayu Purnama in 1968. This group pioneered elements of the dangdut style within orkes Melayu music – the drum was changed to double drum, the electric guitar's role was expanded, and the suling, or bamboo flute, adopted a style reminiscent of Bollywood music. He also recorded pop Indonesia music during this period with the Zaenal Combo and Galaksi, while the album 'Ingkar Janji' was recorded in 1969 with Orkes Melayu Chandraleka.
Once Oma broke from recording with the Purnama Group, he formed Orkes Melayu Soneta (taken from English word sonnet), which became the first dangdut group in 1970. The subtitle, 'the sound of Moslems' was added in 1973.
The group featured Oma Irama and Elvy Sukaesih as singers, both solo, and duets. Their first album, 'Volume 01', 'Begadang' ('Stay up all night'), released in 1973, featured four songs by Oma Irama, three by Elvy, and three duets. The song featured a topless Oma Irama wearing tight trousers and holding an electric guitar. His choice of pose showed the influence on his music of Western hard rock bands, influences which also found their way into his music – orkes Melayu was in his opinion was too soft, too acoustic, too polite, and unable to compete against the power and energy of rock music, and so the music was electrified, with keyboard, two electric guitars, electric bass, as well as the traditional suling and gendang. He has stated that he took his guitar style from Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple. In addition to Western and Malay influences, Hindi composers were credited for some of the band's songs.
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