Wilson David With Bassist Alan Poh's Songs

One of the more well- known singers in the sixties Wilson David was a name to contend with. Together with other local pop singers Mr David drew crowds to the shows they performed in. They had fans from all over Singapore and from our neighboring countries like Malaya, Indonesia, the Philippines, Brunei and even Thailand.

Pop concert sponsors and those interested in promoting our talents introduced these young and budding artistes to recording companies. Philips, RCA, Cosdel, EMI and a few other well-known ones took the opportunity to contract them for vinyl releases.

The singers were paired off with local guitar groups and papers were signed and sealed. One of the most respected recording companies, Philips, used the studio at Kinetex Singapore and had David with his backing group The Jets to accompany him singing four songs.

Two of them were covers from the fifties; "Jezebel" by Frankie Laine and "Yours" by Vera Lynn. The other two, originals by Alan Poh (image: 2nd from right) and bassist with the Jets were, "I'll Never Be Mad At You" and "I Love To Be By Your Side." It was necessary by then to have original songs in the repertoire for local releases.

The fact that David was also Singapore's answer to Elvis Presley made the recording and advanced publicity all the more important for its success. Below is the write up on the back sleeve cover of "Wilson David accompanied by The Jets."

Some Sleeves Speak:

"Born on October 4th, 1940, Wilson David started his singing career when he was only sixteen.  Slowly but surely he managed to build himself up to such an extent that for the last three years he has been able to maintain his position as the beat king all over Malaysia. Yes Wilson is undoubtedly the teenage solo singing craze nowadays, for every time he makes a public appearance, it is only with great difficulty that he tears himself away from his screaming, clapping audience.

Wilson's greatest assets are a good mellow voice with an equally good range and style, and a terrific sense of rhythm and showmanship. Wilson is a perfectionist by nature and is never satisfied with his own performance regardless of how well he is received.  He always feels he should have done better since his one aim is to satisfy his listener to the fullest.

From the muscle wrenching glory of the athletic track to the limelight in rhythm and blues to the torrid tempos of the bongos, that's the life of Wilson David, who is currently the undisputed idol of the local teenage pop fans..."

How come today's Singapore boys and girls are not screaming for our own home grown artistes?

Images: Personal Collection.
Article: Original and Back Sleeve Cover Write-up.
You can read more about these artistes by clicking on Labels below.