During the 50s or earlier:
FL, who comments frequently on my blog, tells of teenagers buying exercise books to copy popular lyrics. There were no computers nor lyric websites to download from. So they bought notebooks to copy their favourite songs.
Remember the trademark? It had a Light House Brand and produced by a firm called Goy Liang Book-Making Company. Remember the back cover with its set of multiplication tables? I think these notebooks still exist today. Or do they?
Usually, the enthusiastic pop song collector would listen to a particular song from the record, radio or Rediffusion and copy the lyrics onto a sheet of paper. The trick is to copy the salient words and rewrite the whole song later. Like a stenographer (what's this?), but writing in words rather than using shorthand.
Most times enthusiasts bought exercise books with hard covers to document their precious lyrics but these books cost more than the ordinary ones which cost 20 cents a copy. I managed to find two copies from my cupboard (image 1).
The more enthusiastic followers would cut images from newspapers and magazines and paste them on the pages of their treasure trove and be showing off their collection. Those with money to spare would buy glossy black and white photographs to paste.
Later years:
Songbooks were printed and sold with guitar chords. Images 2 and 3 illustrate the smaller version. You can still find them in the shops today but the thicker ones that contain 400+ songs may cost as much as S$60 each.
There are still adults today who collect pictures, photographs and newspaper cuttings of their favourite pop bands and singers? Do you have any recollection of copying songs using scraps and pencils? Sketching pictures of your favourite stars perhaps? Tell us.
Images/original articles: Andy Lim Collection.
