Tuesday, September 19, 2017

Singapore 1966 Artistes In Kuching Sarawak Show

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This newspaper advertisement was published by Sarawak Press, Kuching.

The Welcome Party
JUDY LEE

Kuching is a small town in Sarawak, Malaysia, so when a pop show that featured Singapore singers and bands made their way there, the population went wild. Nearly every young person in the area wanted to see them. 

According to Audie Ng who was the leader of the Silver Strings, everyone in the group was treated like international stars. They were all invited to the Governor's house for lunch, with reporters tailing them. After the interviews, they went to their hotel to unpack.

Audie remembered an incident when they heard a knocking at their hotel door. Thinking it was the housekeeper coming to check the room, one of the band boys sauntered to the door with a cold drink in his hand and casually opened it. The shock he experienced lasted to this day.
The Odeon and Capitol Cinemas in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia in the 1960's.

Imagine his surprise and embarrassment when a group of teenage girls rushed in screaming with autograph books in their hands. They refused to leave until every member of the entourage signed them. 

Apparently, some of the boys had to hide under the blankets because they were still in their briefs. It was a hilarious situation, one where the Silver Strings could remember forever.

The Talent Shows


The show featured Bryan Neale the bouncing boy from England, Judy Lee TV and radio nightingale, Catherine Chong top a-go-go dancer, Shirley Nair Singapore Singing Sexation (as advertised).  K.V. John was the compere for the evening and Robert Chua was the executive producer.
CATHERINE CHONG

There were two top bands in attendance then, The Silver Strings and The Jets. The line-up then for both bands were Audie Ng, Merlin Lim, Danny Boy and Dickie Tan. I provided the tag-line, "the big beat band with the big bang beat" when I was with them for one and a half years.  Mike and Herb, Beatles of Malaysia, were the highlight of the show.  

The other band The Jets, had lead guitar Edward Tan, bassist Alan Poh, Harold on rhythm and Robert on drums. He was known as Singapore's dancing drummer. I remember they had one of the best instruments in the business, using solid Fender guitars on stage. Thomas Ang was their singer then. 
BRYAN NEALE

There were two shows each evening at 6.45 pm and another at 9.15 p.m. and staged at the Odeon Theatre in Kuching.

A Good Deed Not Forgotten

When the top Kuching pop band was invited to perform on stage, Audie Ng was shocked to see the lead guitarist carry an amplifier as small as a Rediffusion set with six batteries inside. Seeing it might not be able to amplify the guitar sound in the large cinema hall, Audie offered the group to use the Silver Strings Fender amplifiers. 

AUDIE NG

He remembered very well that they played the instrumental Tabu with pomp, polish, and pride. The band leader was ever grateful for the favor and kept in touch with Audie and the band. 

"Twenty-five years later he came to Singapore looking for the Silver Strings and repaid his favor by allowing me to service all his four nightclubs in Malaysia," explained Audie who provides bands for entertainment places.

Shirley Nair & The Silver Strings - 
You're the boy (Lyrics)
YouTube Video by: herecomeshariss

The Show Producer

Robert Chua said: "In 1966, I produced and staged pop shows in Singapore and Malaysia and was the manager of The Jets. I wonder how many of my friends in Singapore remember these pop stars?
KV JOHN (MC)  SHIRLEY NAIR

Can you imagine tickets were S$1, S$2 and S$3 (then S$1 was HK$2)? This was before I secured a job with Singapore television when they rejected me as they considered me too young."

Robert Chua was one of the youngest producers in S.E. Asia when he started.

"But when I got the job I worked about 7 months and produced more TV shows than any of their producers. After that, I resigned to join TVB and the rest is history!"

According to Mr. Chua, he was one of the youngest show producers in the 1960's. He was only 19.
ROBERT CHUA

From Merlin Lim
[Rhythmist Silver Strings]
18th February, 2024:

While we were there playing on stage, dear Shirley Nair told me after the show. "That song, 'What Now My Love' brought tears to a member of the audience. It's a nice song and probably brought back memories to that person."

To bring tears to someone listening, while performing for them, is  a dream, a very sweet dream come true.

Thanks for the memories. Let there be peace, love and compassion in this troubled world. Love transcends all boundaries. PEACE and BLISS to all.
Love: Merlin.

Images from Mr. Robert Chua's Poster on Facebook; A Personal Collection and Google.

YouTube: Terry Snyder And The All Stars - Tabu. (1959).

This article is Copyrights Reserved.

14 comments:

MERLIN LIM (SILVER STRINGS, ORIGINAL RHYTHM GUITARIST) said...

I Must Admit, I Don't Remember Every Thing but It Sure Is Great To Be Brought Back To Those Days Of INNOCENCE. Thanks Guys For Those Wonderful n Beautiful Memories. Much Appreciated. CHEERS !!!

ANDY: Pop Music Not Pills. © said...

Thanks, Merlin. Now, this reply is something special. Because Merlin was one of the band boys who were on the scene.

Merlin was the rhythm guitarist then.

JIMMY LIM TINO said...

Thanks for sharing. ..it is really down memory lane.

ANDY: Pop Music Not Pills. © said...

Thank you for the quick response to post everyone. Hope you enjoy reading about how the Sarawak girls chased our band boys. :-) for their autographs. All in good fun.

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Andy.

Another great story.

Regards

Steve

FACEBOOK said...

Thanking the following for liking this post:
Stephen Han
Tin Leong Lim
Althea Lim
Ann Rowena Lim
Davychandavy Chan
Jimmy Appudurai-chua
Irene Yap
Monica Gwendoline Pestana Ho
Koh Sui Pang
Bert Fern
Rose Khoo
John Cher
Nyonya Jenny Yeo
Charlie Yap Locomotion
Roop Singh

MERLIN LIM (SILVER STRINGS, ORIGINAL RHYTHM GUITARIST) said...

If My Memory Serves me Right. We Were Invited for Lunch or Dinner. At the Meal, Ice Cold Desert Was Served. It Was Good n Tasty n Ppl Were Rushing For More. Than Some Clown Took Out His Denture and Drop It In The Bowl Of Desert. Oh Lord, Mama Mia, Silence, Shock n In Utter Disbelieve, No One Dare To Take That Nice, Cold Desert Except That Denture Clown. Hahaha. FUNNY, Mischievous n YOUNG !!

MIKE of MIKE and HERB: BEATLES OF MALAYSIA said...

Hi Andy,
Nice hearing from you, and yes I read your latest blog about the Sarawak show. When I saw the promotion flyer, it brought back memories of the great times we had and I really miss those good old days. Those were happy days with everyone having a good time going to shows and seeing all the top bands perform each weekend. I wish we could roll back those years as those days have gone way too fast. We also miss seeing all you guys and let’s hope late next year we can visit Singapore again and catch up with the good old days.

MIKE of MIKE and HERB: BEATLES OF MALAYSIA said...

Herb wants to tell you a ghost story that happened to all of us ( the Falcons, Rocky Teoh and the whole cast) during our Beatles of Malaysia tour. It happened in a small town called Jelabu in the state of Negri Sembilan. It was the scariest event that happened in our lives but I will leave it to Herb to tell the story.

Anonymous said...

Congrats Boss Audie Ng my boss since 1997 when I performed in Singapore Malaysia n China

CHIT CHAT said...

Irene Yap
I met Judy Lee somewhere in the late 70s. She was a good friend of a good friend. She had by than married and lived in the US. Can't remember which state in the US. She is probably decade older than I am. I was at the time singing in Cappuccino Lounge, and she and this couple (Daniel and Doris used to drop by with her). She even jammed with us.

Andy Young
Irene Yap thank you!!! It's so wonderful to have music friends like you sharing your memories with our readers. I am also glad you are still singing currently. Cheers.

CHIT CHAT said...

Irene Yap
Andy Young I have retired for many years. I only sing for charity and some shows when my old friends in show biz are involved it's always great fun to be reunited again for nostalgia! Cheers

Andy Young
Irene Yap yes I am aware. Always good to give back to society... and all for free. Cheers.

CHIT CHAT said...

Alphonso Soosay
Buddy Andy Young.
Many Thanks to You for keeping Singapore’s 60’s Music Alive 🎶.

Andy Young
Alphonso Soosay thanks so much.
It's always great to get comments from everyone, especially music legends like you.

Anonymous said...

Nothing like d good old days of d 60s espe ially when we were young n good looking n d girls go crazy over us the Bandboys whom were treated like International Stars n I believe those who lives in d 60s era will definitely remember us. when they were teenagers.