Wilde World: Ernie Djohan

Kim Wilde’s first records were written and produced by her father and brother, Marty and Ricky. The three of them have had a great influence on the music world, as this regular series ‘Wilde World’ shows.

Ernie Djohan was born on April 6, 1951. She’s an Indonesian singer of Minangkabau descent. She was the daughter of the family M Djohan Bakhaharudin, a diplomat who once lived in The Hague (Netherlands) and Singapore. At age 11 she was singing for Radio Talentime 1962 in Singapore. In the same year Ernie Djohan became the first champion in All Singapore’s School Talentime. First recording in 1962 was performed at Phillips Recording Company in Singapore. Her most famous songs were ‘Teluk bayur’ and ‘Kau selalu hatiku’.

She recorded songs in English as well, as evidenced in her 1969 recording of ‘I’m a tiger’ below. That song was originally written by Marty Wilde for Lulu. The EP also featured cover versions of ‘Something’s gotten hold of my heart’, ‘Master Jack’ and ‘Love’s like a rainbow’. A 10″ album released in the same year featured four more original songs. After her singing career, Ernie Djohan starred in several Indonesian films during the Seventies.

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