And this is the said gem!
Mellyana Manuhutu sealed a record deal with Wave Records in Japan in 1990 to record "modernized" Indonesian folk songs, when she was only 15 years old. The self-titled album was distributed in Japan only (or largely in Japan), but over the next ten years Melly, as she was to be better known later, carved a successful career out of singing, modelling, acting and TV presenting on the home turf.
Several songs from the album "Mellyana" have been uploaded on YouTube, and so far Yamko Rambe Yamko is my favorite. This Papuan folk song sounds to me like a blueprint for Utada Hikaru hits to come many years later. The other songs, simply said, probably shouldn't have been recorded with '90s Japanese youngsters in mind. For one, Melly's "black" vocal doesn't fit Aceh folk song Bungong Jeumpa and Sundanese Tokecang. Despite that, however, one must admit "Mellyana" was far ahead of its time. In the early '90s, Indonesian youth weren't as proud as Batik and other local products as we are now. Teenagers would've been embarrassed if their friends had learned they listened to Sundari Soekotjo or Waljinah instead of Tommy Page and Debbie Gibson. Makoto Kubota took actions by making a few famous Indonesian folk songs world music and signed the talented Ambonese teenager to sing them.
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