A musician who deserves to stand alongside the likes of Coxsone Dodd, Ryoichi Hattori, Phil Spector, and Teo Macero, Surin is nicknamed the "King of International Song" — a title earned from the body of work he produced in luk thung, the Thai national music introduced here. Luk thung is a genre where the subject matter, i.e. the lyrics, is what counts; as long as that's taken care of, the music can honestly be anything at all. In short, if it's fun, it works! It has a voracious, omnivorous appetite, and the man who pushed hardest at its cutting edge was Surin Phaksiri.