Fris Sranang – Gie Mie, Mie Lobie/Sabana

Here’s one of my all time favorite 45’s from my collection, and probably the only cracked record I keep in the collection. It’s a Surinam single, pressed in Holland in 1978. The band name Fri Sranang is a combination of the Surinam creole language Sranang Tongo and Fri, which, I’m guessing, must mean free. Fri Sranang was apparently a popular Kaseko band. Everybody who has ever attempted a Surinam party knows how important the slow numbers are, so there are quite some soul songs produced in the country. Gie Mie, Mie Lobie (Give me, my love) is among the greatest of those with its raw emotional power. Sranang Tongo is a mix of Dutch, English and West African languages and this song is a nice way to test what you can make of it. This 45 is very hard to find in good condition, but as you hardly hear the crack, I don’t mind it so much as the song is hardly a monument for perfection.

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