Do Lyrics Matter? - Simon & Garfunkel 1966

**Simon and Garfunkel's: 7'oclock News, Silent Night (1966).

This song is set to various covers of TIME magazine. Thanks to 2005 Dave for pointing out that the announcer in this was Charlie O'Donnell who has done work for Dick Clark, American Bandstand, Monty Hall, Merv Griffin, Wheel of Fortune etc. So listen and follow the words:

"Silent night/Holy night/All is calm/All is bright/Round yon virgin mother and child/Holy infant so tender and mild/Sleep in heavenly peace, sleep in heavenly peace...

This is the early evening edition of the news. The recent fight in the House of Representatives was over the open housing section of the Civil Rights Bill. Brought traditional enemies together but it left the defenders of the measure without the votes of their strongest supporters.

President Johnson originally proposed an outright ban covering discrimination by everyone for every type of housing but it had no chance from the start and everyone in Congress knew it. A compromise was painfully worked out in the House Judiciary Committee.

In Los Angeles today comedian Lenny Bruce died of what was believed to be an overdoes of narcotics. Bruce was 42 years old.

Dr. Martin Luther King says he does not intend to cancel plans for an open housing march Sunday into the Chicago suburb of Cicero. Cook County Sheriff Richard Ogleby asked King to call off the march and the police in Cicero said they would ask the National Guard to be called out if it is held. King, now in Atlanta, Georgia, plans to return to Chicago Tuesday.

In Chicago Richard Speck, accused murderer of nine student nurses, was brought before a grand jury today for indictment. The nurses were found stabbed an strangled in their Chicago apartment.

In Washington the atmosphere was tense today as a special sub-committee of the House Committee on Un-American activities continued its probe into anti-Viet nam war protests. Demonstrators were forcibly evicted from the hearings when they began chanting anti-war slogans.

Former Vice-President Richard Nixon says that unless there is a substantial increase in the present war effort in Vietnam, the U.S. should look forward to five more years of war. In a speech before the Convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in New York, Nixon also said opposition to the war in this country is the greatest single weapon working against the U.S.

That's the 7 o'clock edition of the news. Goodnight."

INFORMATION:

Images/YouTube: From: rsensorat3, Dec. 07/2007. Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel (1966). Lyrics/Music: Josef Mohr, Franz Gruber. (Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme Album).

'The Who', 'Tommy' And Rock Operas - 70s

It was reported in the news media, Pete Townshend may have to quit the legendary band if his hearing gets worse.

Yes, the news item started me thinking about The Who, the rock group that sends the adrenalin pumping and ears exploding when I spin the turntable to play their hits. And Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend are no ordinary musicians, with the group literally bringing the stage to a 'destructive' end with their music and instruments.

"This fantastic group has sold about 100 million records and have charted 27 top forty singles in the United Kingdom and United States with 17 top ten albums, including 18 Gold, 12 Platinum and 5 Multi-Platinum album awards in the United States alone (Wikipedia)."

Frankly I got to know The Who a little bit after my acquaintance with Deep Purple's music and heard them only when they covered Johnny Kidd and the Pirates' Shakin' All Over in their Live At Leeds album in 1970. Not too late as I was a bit more matured to appreciate the music.

Of course there was also the rock opera Tommy that came in 1969 and others in the genre like Godspell, Hair, (with protest songs) and Jesus Christ Superstar (saw the stage musical in Australia, in November 1973). Pinball Wizard, Good Morning Starshine, Aquarius, I Don't Know How To Love Him, Prepare Ye The Way Of The Lord, *Day By Day are some of the songs that not only entertained but excited listeners.

After Note:
If I remember correctly, Neil Diamond had a story to tell when he was interviewed by, Behind The Music. He was next to appear at a show that had The Who on stage. That evening the group smashed guitars to smithereens during performance and caused so much physical and emotional upheaval that the crowd had to be calmed and everyone reassured.  There was chaos and calamity. Quietly Diamond appeared on stage with his songs.  The people stayed to watch...

*Covered by The Blackjacks, Singapore 60s band.

Original article: Andy Lim Collection

Image: rockanthology69.blogspot.com/2007_04_01_archi...

The Stylers Revived: From Rhythmist Randy Lee

IMAGE 1: EARLY 1960s (posted Sunday, January 4th, 2009)

IMAGE 2: 1970

Coincidences can really mystify. When I was taking out a vinyl of The Stylers today and checking my blog for Comments, I saw Randy Lee's note on a Stylers posting (image 1) dated Sunday, January 04, 2009. It read, "Hi Andy, Members of the Stylers from left to right of the image: Randy Lee (rhythm guitarist), Frankie Abdullah (bass), Osman (drums) and John Teo (lead guitarist). Regard Randy. February 24, 2010 12:26pm.

Thanks Randy for writing. And as I blog on this particular post, I have another line-up of The Stylers (image 2) taken from one of their numerous Top Hits EP (1970) featuring, Knock Three Times, Who'll Stop The Rain (vocalist John Teo), Have You Ever Seen The Rain? (vocalist John Teo, Douglas Tan) and 500 Miles (vocalist Robert Song).

So from the left, there's Douglas Tan (bass ), Alvin Wong (drummer), John Teo (lead and anchor man), Robert Song (percussionist) and Rann Lee (rhythm). Depending on the dates of recordings The Stylers, personally, are as versatile as the music they play. And line-ups do change too.

Do you still remember The Stylers? Do write in to comment about their music!

Image: Back sleeve HREP/7005, Hoover Records Trading Company, Singapore.

Original article: Andy Lim Collection.

The Fabulous Falcons Fly At The Federal Hotel Cameron Highlands, Malaya 60s (Part III)

PART III: THE FABULOUS FALCONS, IPOH, MALAYA (60s).

Michael Ho, a school mate and I decided to form a band. We knew a guy called Christopher Choong. He played the drums really well and together with Thomas Ham, we formed a band. Forming the group was easy but we didn’t have funds to purchase expensive instruments.

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We cracked our heads wondering what we should do and our prayers were answered in our schoolmate Robert Ng whose father was a tin miner. As he came from a wealthy family he agreed to be our manager and would purchase all the necessary instruments. Cool!

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In those days, it was really something to have a manager in the band but we didn’t see the necessity to give it a name. We would gather at Robert’s house, a bungalow in Greentown, for practices everyday.

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We worked really hard and played even harder then. The hard work paid off when we got an offer to play in Federal Hotel in Cameron Highlands. We were really excited at finally getting a chance to perform especially on Christmas Eve. But what do we call the band? We can’t just go on and perform without a name.

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So we all sat down and picked our brains as to what name to give. We noticed that Robert’s dad had some stuffed and beautiful eagle-like birds, so as we took one. Robert mentioned that it was a falcon. We unanimously agreed that very minute our group would be named after the powerful, beautiful bird and thus The Falcons as a band was born.

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It was a great experience for us that night in Cameron Highlands playing till way past midnight and seeing people enjoying our music. After our first gig at The Federal Hotel in Cameron Highlands, our spirits were lifted and our confidence as a band grew. We were to play for many more gigs all over Ipoh and we continued to practice to increase our repertoire.

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Image/Original article (edited): Joseph Chin.