The Staying Power of Dara Puspita

Good pop music never goes out of style. Dara Puspita, Indonesia's first girl group, are still winning converts more than a half-century later. An HD version of the band's hit song "Surabaya," recently resurfaced online, introducing a new generation to their sweet, melody-heavy brand of garage rock.

"Surabaya" is a bit heavier on the laid-back beach vibes than the the straightforward garage rock of songs like "A Go Go" and "Hallo, Kawan." The sisters don military-style uniforms in this jangly tribute to their hometown, Indonesia's "City of Heroes."

It's easy to forget that the band, with their easy melodies, and clean guitars, were pretty controversial for their time. Dara Puspita's contemporaries Koes Bersaudara were arrested by Soekarno's government only one year before this song's release. Soekarno hated rock`n roll, calling the music of popular Western imports like The Beatles "a form of mental disease."

So Dara Puspita took to playing concerts abroad, returning to Indonesia after Soekarno's fall to release Jang Pertama—an Indonesian garage rock classic that featured the first recording of this song.