| Description |
THE MOAB STRINGBAND of Raluana village Rabaul ENBP
MATOGO
GEORGE MAMUA TELEK lead vocals, guitar
WARGI APELIS bass
KENNY WARTIA guitar
KAUL WARTIA lead guitar
ELIPAS TIROVIN ukelele
PRODUCED BY DAVID BRIDIE
MIXED AND ASSEMBLED by Tim Cole at the Enormodome Feb-June 2007
Recorded by Byron Scullin at the Enormodome May 2006
Additional Telek vocals recorded by Stephen Schaeffer at Breathing Game studios.
Mastered by Tim Cole
Auspiced by the WANTOK MUSIK FOUNDATION www.wantokmusik.org
Dedicated to the wonderful memory of former Moab manager, Kenny Moab .Rest esi barata
1.DICKENS
2.HARRISON KIMBE
3. PASKA
4. TOLAGS
5. LANCY
6. APINPIDIK(KUNUNURKI)
7. NRAM(CHRISTINA)
8.ECHO
9. KIKISTAR
10. ABEBE
11.JENNY
12. GOGOL
ALL SONGS WRITTEN BY GEORGE TELEK AND THE MOAB STRINGBAND
WANTOK RECORDS
SOUNDVAULT
ORIGIN PUBLISHING
THANKYOU/BOINA TUNA –LAKMAN,DOPI,TOTI,PINIA,NA OLGETA MANNAMERI LONG PLES RALUANA KLOSTU KOKOPO ENBP,GLEN LOW AND ALL THE BARIKE LADS,OLGETA MUSICIANS LONG CHM NA PACIFIC GOLD PNG,OLGETA NARAPELA STRINGBANDS LONG ENBP ..JUNGLE JUICE BOYS,JUNIOR DEVILS,LANGA VIBRATIONS, AGOLGOL,REVANMATES,,BRIDGET,PUITA,GEORGE JNR,LULU,ALICE,CILLA,RONNY,RUBY,LULU,OL FAMILY LAIN BILONG WAGI,KAUL,ELOPAS,NA KENNY ,GREG SEETO,DIGBY HOLEONG,NA OL ENGINEERS LONG PACIFIC GOLD RABAUL,LYNNE,WINNIE ,STELLA,RACHEL CONNOR
GEORGE OFTEN TALKS ABOUT STRING BAND SONGS BEING LOVELETTERS.THAT A MAN WILL COME UP TO HIM IN THE VILLAGE AND ASK HIM TO WRITE A SONG LETTING THE WOMAN OF HIS FANCY KNOW THAT HE HAS FEELINGS FOR HER.ALMOST LIKE SONGS FOR HIRE.THE SONGS ARE VERY VILLAGE BASED .THIS ALBUM OF STRINGBAND TUNES DETAILS A WIDE VARIETY OF RELATIONSHIP SITUATIONS OF THE MOABS POROMEN (EQUAL MEN) . THIS ALBUM CENTRES AROUND RALUANA,CLOSE TO KOKOPO,NEAR RABAUL IN THE PNG PROVINCE OF EAST NEW BRITAIN.THE MOAB STRINGBAND ARE ONE OF THE MOST HIGHLY REGARDED STRING BANDS OF PNG.THIS HAS MUCH TO DO WITH THE FACT THAT THEIR LEAD SINGER,GEORGE TELEK IS A VERY WELL KNOWN PERFORMER IN HIS OWN RIGHT AS A ROCK SINGER IN THE BAND PAINIM WOK AND HIS SOLO RECORDS AS WELL AS HIS INTERNATIONAL RECORDINGS WHICH MIX TRADITIONAL WORLD MUSIC WITH ROCK AND STRINGBAND STYLES.the moab style is much pacier and rockier compared to other more lilting stringband styles.A centrepiece of the Moab style is the bass playing of Wargi Apelis who is held in high regard in both PNG and Australia.
WWW.TELEK.COM
THE LYRICS TO THESE SONGS ARE SUNG IN KUANUAN,THE TOK PLES OF THE TOLAIS PEOPLE OF RABAUL OR TOK PISIN,THE LINGUA FRANCA OF PNG.
1.DICKENS. This song is about a stalled romance between Dickens and a girl due to his parents' intervention and Dickens's final move from Rabaul to the Highlands.
2. HARRISON, KIMBE Harrison talks about a daughter's broken heart after learning her husband has left her for her mother:- (like son in law taking off with mother in law)!!KIMBE IS THE TOWN WHERE HARRISON IS FROM,ON THE WEST COAST NEW BRITAIN KLOSTU HOSKINS AND TALASEA
3. PASKA This song is about a girl by the name of Paska. Paska’s boyfriend’s parents didn’t think she was good enough for their son and were not afraid to say so.
4. TOLAGS This song is about idle gossip concerning Tolag's job as a seafarer on the passenger boat "STAR-DANCER" .the word was tolag nothing more than a labourer with no future, MAN I NOGAT PROMIS.however Tolags says he does not care.,HE NO WORI.
5. LANCY This song is about a boy by the name of Lancy who is working at the Lihir Gold mine,a big gold mine on lihir island off the north coast of new ireland immediately to the north of rabaul.many men and woman go and work at the mine and its related businesses and save up some money and then return back to the village.lancy has a romantic fling with a girl from Matupit Island.matupit village sits right next to the volacano tavurvur that destroyed rabaul town in 1994.
6. apinpidik(kununurki) Apinpidik is a generic traditional tolais singsing style.in this track,the moab stringband fuses the traditional and stringband styles together,resulting in this stringband style lament.
7.NRAM Nram is about A STRONG WOMAN WHO DECIDES HER HUSBAND IS A HUMBUG AND HAS HAD ENOUGH OF HIS DRINKING AND TEMPER .SHE HAS TAKEN HER CHILDREN WITH HER AND MOVED AWAY FROM THE FATHER TO LIVE DOWN THE NORTH COAST ROAD .THE NORTH COAST ROAD IS A PARTICLARLY scenic DRIVE
8. ECHO Echo talks about Echo and his partner working at the Higaturu Oil palm blocks in the Oro province,near Popondetta . However, when he took a holiday break, she went off with another man and echo was left to worry about his unfortunate situation.
9.kikistar Kikistar is about a broken romance between a school girl attending Kabaira vocational school and a young man from Vunakainalama.
10.Abebe.abebe is perhaps the most well known song of the moab stringband tunes.the lyrics TRANSLATE AS “two magic butterflies fly above my head ,I notice them an then they fade away,there they go they fly off in different directions,off they go,down to where the ocean meets the shore,they fly away swiftly,as fast as they can go,they fade away,they fade away”
11. jenny jenny is a well known moab song from the hammerhead shark cassette recorded at pacific gold studios rabaul back in 1985.jenny has broken her boyfriends heart by leaving him for someone new
12.GOGOL. LIKE APINPIDIK,GOGOL IS A FUSION OF A TRADITIONAL STYLE SINGSING WITH THE STRINGBAND STYLE.THE SONG SINGS OF MAGIC THE MAN BRING ON IN AN ATTEMPT TO ATTRACT WOMEN.A LOVE MAGIC OF SORTS
Abebe song in Tabaran.
Moab Stringband
film clip of the Song by the Moab Stringband and Not Drowning Waving off the Tabaran album. Footage of Rabaul town and harbour filmed by Stuart Miller. 1988..featuring George Telek, David Bridie, Wargi Apelis, Kaul Wartir, John Phillips, Rowan McKinnon, Russel Bradley, James Southall.
https://georgetelek.bandcamp.com/album/matogo
Source: Wantok Musik
(David Bridie & Steven Gagau, May 2025)
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