Monday, September 19, 2016

@ Silver Arts: 'Silver Strings' And 'Dukes' Deliver

Dear Andy,
Thank you for embracing the arts. Here's wishing you a great year ahead!  
Warmest regards,
NAC Arts & Communities Team (20/12/2016)



Thank you all for the beautiful turnout and wonderful support!

The Plaza at the National Library wasn't a very large venue but most seats were filled when The Silver Strings and The Dukes performed on Sunday, 18th September.

There were many silver haired ladies and gentlemen since it was  a special occasion for them organised by the National Arts Council under the banner Silver Arts, Celebrating Seniors and the Arts. But there were the young ones too as many came to learn about sixties music. 

As promised fans, friends and family turned out in full force for the one hour performance by both bands. Starting sharp at 3pm, The Dukes provided an entertaining start with a lively repertoire of songs, including a Hokkien pop discussing how one could be a millionaire. Multi-talented and multi-linguist Jerry Murad belted out hit after hit sitting at his drums. 

The songs we heard: Woolly Bully, I Love A Rainy Night, Over The Rainbow, Move It, You Lied, Jipa Ban.

His group had his brother Zainal Abidin or Captain Z playing bass, with Peter Chua lead and Paul Shankar rhythm. They were good as the crowd shouted for more after only a 20 minute sprint.



Then the Silver Strings appeared with Andy Singing The Blues, followed by the Indonesian hit, Impian Semalam. Michael Bangar rocked the crowd with Hippy Hippy Shake. The international handclapping hit, Beautiful Sunday by Michael brought the house down as  the audience asked for more.

Nick Stravens with his powerful vocals pleased the crowd with CCR's Lodi and the Cliff Richard anthem, Young OnesRickie Chng was cool as ever belting out 60's favourites accompanying the singers.  No one in the crowd was left untouched by the music of both bands. 
"Wonderful show," said pretty Carrie, a member of the audience. "Each song brings back memories for us. Thank you very much. Hope to see more of these shows."

Like most members of the band, programme carrying ladies and gents met the boys requesting for autographs. It was fun time as we discussed pop  60's music, both local and from abroad.
Drummer and socialite John Cher was mobbed by a group of ladies and men clamouring for his autograph. Audie Ng carried the youngest fan in his arms. The child was only 4 years.

More news ahead. And more pictures as we reveal the people behind the scene.
                   Video guy Robert Lim. Many of his shoots on You Tube.





           Living legend Horace Wee, the man for guitar solos, with Andy and John.
                      Photographer Richard Toh and drummer boy John Cher.
Audie Ng and his fan base - all ladies.

Personal pictures with friends who witnessed the performances.
Mr and Mrs Mun Chor Seng. A TV News cameraman, he accompanied LKY and entourage on regional government trips.
A colleague from the 1970's said, "The Silver Arts performances are indeed a great platform for oldies to get together to relive the evergreen music n songs of the good old days n also for them to renew contacts.  It also serves to create awareness among the younger audiences.

Due credit should also be given to Pioneer contributors to our music scene. Kudos to all involved especially organisers for initiating and implementing the event."

Younger readers of this music blog.  
Joycelyn and Yen Chow, students of mine from the 1990's
Melissa, the lady behind the scene, from National Arts Council.

A note from John Cher. Thanks John.

Hi Andy, 

Thank you for the dairy of events on Sunday, 18th September 2016. I am quite amazed that you could take note of the details of the entire proceedings while you were performing yourself.

Leading to the event, I was warned about the potential bad accoustics of the Plaza at the National LIbrary. However when The Dukes commenced their sound checks, my fears were laid to rest. I was delighted to observe that it was in fact good. Especially for an open air show. Due credit must be accorded to the sound engineers. In fact a few of the people I spoke with are of the view that the sound is better than that of the quaterly Pek Kio shows!

On behalf of The Silver Strings I wish to thank and congratulate the organizers of this programme. It clearly brought a lot of joy and good cheer to everyone who attended. The one major complaint; It was far far too short!

One of the young soundmen I spoke to said he really enjoyed listening to all the old songs that his parents love, performed "live". I am of the view that the event had indeed achieved its intended goal of "CELEBRATING SENIORS & THE ARTS". It was very much YESTERDAY ONCE MORE for the audience. It is not only the music and the bands. It is also about meeting up with old friends from the golden era of SG music and sharing the stories of the personalities that emerged from the scene. What a blast!

On a personal note, thanks to Andy Lim for opening the avenue for the Silver Strings to participate in this Silver Arts Celebrations 2016. And also to Audie Ng for seeing it through to its fruition.

Andy's slogan to "pop music and not pills" is proven beyond any doubts. Natural "highs" come from music, not pills!

What a pleasure and privilege to share the beautiful Sunday afternoon with all who came to support the show! Thank you each and everyone!

Cheers everyone!

John Cher

Michael Bangar with The Silver Strings 18 Sept 2016
The Dukes @ Silver Arts Festival 18th Sept 2016

Thanks to:

Richard Toh for most of the photographs on this page.
Robert Lim and Fabian Foo (right) for the video shoots that are already on You Tube.

NAC for inviting The Silver Strings and The Dukes.
All friends, fans and family who attended the show.

18 comments:

MARK said...

Hi Andy,

I was indeed delighted to see u after all these years n u look well-maintained. This is the 1st time I heard u sing n my, u can still hit the high notes!

JOHN CHER said...

Had a few thumbs up for our gigs yesterday. Thkfully the sound was good.

MUN CHOR SENG said...

Happy to be able to meet up with you and attend your live performance. A memorial experience indeed.

YEN CHOW said...

Glad to come along and enjoy the music.

Anonymous said...

Congratulation on such a successful Silver performance for all the Silver Gen. The visuals are a testimony to its success. The Oldies are always the Goodies. KM

Unknown said...

Brilliant write-up on a fantastic performance by both the Silver Strings and the Dukes, Andy.

And I agree with John that the concert was much too short. With two bands performing, it could have been two hours of wonderful music and precious memories!

Perhaps the Esplanade should get the Silver Strings and the Dukes to do some concerts there.

Thank you, guys!

James Lee

CYLIN (BLOG CONTRIBUTING WRITER) said...

Andy,

It was my first time listening to the two bands. Must say the pieces played truly brought back 'yesterday once more'. Tried to sing along, but like any natural silver-haired, could manage only the choruses. It was fun.

Wished there was a longer repertoire.

ANDY: Pop Music Not Pills. © said...

Thank you all for coming to the show and for writing to provide some feedback.

Combining a blog with band and audience gathering could be some work and time taken up. But with great team effort and trust in one another are all worthwhile when the result makes for a pleasant and fruitful event.

B said...

I would love to meet and interview you to learn more and recover the music scene in Singapore during the 1960's. I understand that album sleeves are a niche topic, nevertheless, the historical context you are familiar with is very helpful to me to remap how the production of local music and the socio-cultural atmosphere of that time.

Thank you for being willing to take a look at my questions, please take your time I understand that you are busy with your personal engagements!

RICKY CHNG (LEAD GUITARIST FOR: THE ESQUIRES AND SILVER STRINGS said...

A nice write-up that includes all the fine details, thanks.

MARK II said...

Many thanks for the link which I enjoyed reading. The write-up of the event with accompanying pix were comprehensive n layout professionally done. I like the montage esp the ones featuring Anneke G, Blue Diamonds ( I think) n Sakura n Rita as they evoke much nostalgia of music of the swinging 60's.

JERRY FERNANDEZ (FRONTS THE NEU FACES) said...

Sure it all went well by the Grace of God for The Silverstrings and The Dukes.

FACEBOOK said...

Thanks for LIKES of SILVER STRINGS POSTCARD on JOHN CHER'S FB:

Mary Ho
Penny Koh
Merlin Lim
Tin Leong Lim
Randy Lee Keng
Jon Goh
Robert Suriya
Nyonya Jenny Yeo
Audie Ng
Martin Ong
Mine Vinc
Richard Danker
Bajot Abdelbaset
Hanche Presley
Melissa Fntn
Connie Serrano
Nestor Caranto Macaranas Jr.
Benjamin Yap
Ma Roselle Ducay
Anita Gu Ibrow
Steve Goh
Patrick Chia
ชาญณรงค์ วงศ์อ่อน
Kum Wong
Anna Yap
Leslie Wilson Joseph
George Wong
Rosz K. Ng
Andre Wijaya
Vincent Siew
Miles Barnuevo

FL said...

Hi, Andy, wow ! You guys had a wonderful time. Such gathering or concert adds value to life, whether young or old. It shows that talent is not wasted and it can be shared with many people for enjoyment. Need I say more ? Anyway, a big thank you to all of you performing on stage. Best regards !

Victor said...

Missed this concert but managed to catch up with some of past performances on YouTube. Good show.

Anonymous said...

If only the performance lasted more than an hour and had a dance floor. We couldnt get enough of the songs and music. When is the next performance?

ANDY: Pop Music Not Pills. © said...

Thank you for support Sir or M'am.

Regarding your question. It depends when the Arts Council, Heritage Board, Museums, NLB and other Arts Groups call us.

Perhaps you could write to them and request for the Silver Strings.

That will help :-)

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