Wednesday, September 09, 2009

(B) Mysterians Singapore 60s - Truth Revealed

Many people have heard of the Mysterians but do not know much about them. Now the truth is revealed as masks are taken off and each bandmate reveals his identity to the public.

Early Days: 

Image shows from left, Tony Kwek who is on lead, Bernard Chin or 'Mike' sings, Victor Lam drums, Jeffrey Tan is on rhythm, Patrick Khong is on bass and William Toh (seated) is the keyboardist. 


Victor, the original drummer of the Thunderbirds, joined the Mysterians when his group wanted to pursue music full time. They had another guitarist, Richard Yeo who had since passed away in a road accident on June, 19th, 1965.
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Why is the group wearing masks? Four members of the group, including their manager, were in the civil service and since moonlighting was not allowed, they decided to play music incognito and for pleasure.
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The Mysterians were never interested to be pop stars and juggling shift duties was a problem. The band ended up playing occasionally, gigs were turned down and they did not appear in many of the pop shows. They were so mysterious that even other pop bands members did not know who they were! But they were 'exposed' in their recordings with Leroy Lindsay. Why?
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(This article is Part Two of an essay by a former band member who wishes to remain anonymous. The first posting (A) is on September, 2nd 2009.)
  Mike and the Mysterians Forget the Time Video by  sam1888ful3

https://singapore60smusic.blogspot.com/2011/03/note-from-leroy-lindsay-from-2009.html

7 comments:

Teoh said...

Ha Ha! An unique group with an interesting reason for wearing masks.

Did their employer discover their moonlighting stint eventually?

ANDY: Pop Music Not Pills. © said...

It is a good question. Yes, but by then the line-up changed and the new Mysterians cut two records with the third record cover showing the new faces.

Nan @ Nan Tsab said...

Wow!..
terus mengingatkan saya watak Green Hornet didalam komik dan kugiran The Lost Straighjacket dari Mexico..

ANDY: Pop Music Not Pills. © said...

Terima kaseh Nan. You made me do two things, (1) visit your blog and I think it's great, (2) write about The Lost Straightjackets.
Cheers.

Anonymous said...

It has been a long time since I have seen something written about my old friends and backing group, The Mysterians. I have returned to Singapore a few times since 2000, but have been unable to meet up with any of the boys. The Mysterians was a group ahead of its time, with a group of tremendous musicians. We would have sold more records if we had decided to record the kind of music that was in demand at the time in Singapore, but we decided to record the songs that we liked. Our "T" dances were always well attended on Sundays though.
It was a pleasure to work with the Mysterians, and I am happy that their contribution to 60's music in Singapore is being discussed.
Nice work,
Leroy Lindsay

ANDY: Pop Music Not Pills. © said...

Apologies Leroy, I have just posted your note today. Very sorry. It's been a long, long time. If you read this please write again.

Cheers.

facebook chats said...

Hi Andy,
Heard of them in the 60's but didn't and still don't know much about them. The only member I know is Tony whom I first met when in I think 1991 when we performed at the Charity Gala at the Meridian, along side Lawrence, Veronica, the late Sally and James. John, Joe, Peter if I remember correctly. I was just the sound man. Cheerio


Andy Young
Hi Mike. Thanks for your informative and detailed comment. Yes I am in touch with Victor Lam who plays the drums. He's another 'Mysterian' and active as ever.