MORE THAN 2,300 VIEWS, 15 COMMENTS
In February 2015, John Leong (below), anchor for Singapore Tonight, introduced a special news piece on Channel News Asia where Dick Lee, Yiren Cai, Audie Ng and I were interviewed regarding 50 years of Singapore Music. The programme was in conjunction with this year's SG50 celebration.
What has been music to Singaporeans' ears? The show takes us down memory lane to see how the music has evolved through the years and where bands like Silver Strings, Black Dog Bone, Sweet Charity, Siglap Five and singers Anita Sarawak, Stefanie Sun, A-Do, JJ Lin, Mavis Hee and Shirley Nair were discussed. The song You're The Boy remains steadfast as a background anthem during our interview.
We had pretty and sophisticated CNA producer Syahidah Othman (below) to conduct the whole affair with much calm and decorum. The camera was positioned for appropriate angle shots; the white guitar was placed in a strategic position behind the interviewees (image above) and photographs were selected for the news documentary. Ms Syahidah was also the narrator on screen.
Video footage on right side-bar from Channel News Asia:
Excerpt below from:
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/swinging-to-50-years-of/1669930.html
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/video/50-years-of-singapore/1632746.html
Their biggest influence however, was a performance in 1961. "When Cliff and the Shadows came we saw them on stage, with three flashing red guitars,” said Andy Young of The Silver Strings. “And I said to myself that I want to be like Cliff Richard; I want to sing like him."
His fellow band member from The Silver Strings is fully supportive of the blog. “It will be good for the younger generation,” said Audie Ng. “At least they can go through his blog and learn about sixties music. And at the same time, they will get to know us; otherwise we will just fade away."
Behind The Scene
We had pretty and sophisticated CNA producer Syahidah Othman (below) to conduct the whole affair with much calm and decorum. The camera was positioned for appropriate angle shots; the white guitar was placed in a strategic position behind the interviewees (image above) and photographs were selected for the news documentary. Ms Syahidah was also the narrator on screen.
As it was usual, although the chat lasted for a few minutes on TV, shooting took some time. The interview was held on a lovely afternoon and we enjoyed ourselves throughout in the large, airy and air-conditioned hall.
Many thanks to Mr Malvin Chua (image below) who coordinated the afternoon's project with a quiet but experienced eye. Some snaps on my iPhone were taken by Malvin.
Excerpt below from:
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/swinging-to-50-years-of/1669930.html
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/video/50-years-of-singapore/1632746.html
“Even though some songs were so-called ‘imports’, the local bands still made it their own."
In fact, a home-grown 1960's pop band did just that. The Silver Strings stood out with their stylish silver suits and blue guitars. But it was not just their image that made headlines. The band also started the trend of playing alongside female singers like Shirley Nair and Anita Sarawak.
The Silver Strings played their biggest shows when they opened for the Rolling Stones at the Singapore Badminton Hall and in front of 20,000 spectators in a Malaysian stadium for the Miss Universe pageant.
But as the heady days of the 1960's came to an end, so did The Silver Strings. In recent years, Young, who was one of the band's pioneer members has begun keeping a blog about those memories. "It's so important that we all get together, gel and become one nation,” said Andy.
His fellow band member from The Silver Strings is fully supportive of the blog. “It will be good for the younger generation,” said Audie Ng. “At least they can go through his blog and learn about sixties music. And at the same time, they will get to know us; otherwise we will just fade away."
Images from Marcus Loh Collection and A Private Collection.
FROM THE TV NEWS PIECE:
ReplyDelete“Even though some songs were so-called ‘imports’, the local bands still made it their own."
In fact, a home-grown 1960's pop band did just that. The Silver Strings stood out with their stylish silver suits and blue guitars. But it was not just their image that made headlines. The band also started the trend of playing alongside female singers like Shirley Nair and Anita Sarawak.
Their biggest influence however, was a performance in 1961.
"When Cliff and the Shadows came we saw them on stage, with three flashing red guitars,” said Andy Young of The Silver Strings. “And I said to myself that I want to be like Cliff Richard; I want to sing like them."
The Silver Strings played their biggest shows when they opened for the Rolling Stones at the Singapore Badminton Hall and in front of 20,000 spectators in a Malaysian stadium for the Miss Universe pageant.
But as the heady days of the 1960's came to an end, so did The Silver Strings. In recent years, Andy, who was one of the band's pioneer members has begun keeping a blog about those memories. "It's so important that we all get together, gel and become one nation,” said Andy.
His fellow band member from The Silver Strings is fully supportive of the blog. “It will be good for the younger generation,” said Audie Ng. “At least they can go through his blogs and learn about sixties music. And at the same time, they will get to know us; otherwise we will just fade away."
(Edited)
Keep the blog going Andy.
ReplyDeleteSo proud of you, Sir!
ReplyDeleteThanks to AARON CHOO, CINDY PAU, MARCUS LOH, TIN LEONG LIM for FB support.
ReplyDeleteWow! Bravo! Andy,
ReplyDeleteYou are the man!
Forever young!
You're also my inspiration!
Keep blogging!
ReplyDelete(To read Ivan's blog, click his connection above).
Producer chantek
ReplyDeleteHi Andy
ReplyDeleteThis follow up with information regarding your interview was good as it gives us a proper account of what was actually going on otherwise nobody will know because the TV only shows a little part of it.
Yes it is good for the younger generation to get the feel of what is happening in the heydays.
Cheers
Hi Andy,
ReplyDeleteJust gotten this link from J..., whom I got to reconnect after some years.
He knew I liked music and thought he introduced your blog to me, not knowing that in fact I have been following your blog for quite sometimes already.
Have been exposed to those 45s at a very young age even though we stayed in ..... then.
Pleasantly surprised to learn that you are a member of The Silver Strings!
Thought I forwarded 2 of your songs to J... for his listening pleasure.
I loved the songs of the 60s, 70s and 80s (the collection of more than 3000 songs in my iphone can attest to that!)
I am glad to learn that your work and contribution is being recognised and appreciated during this special year of our nation.
So please keep writing!
Warmest regards
Thank you each and everyone for the warm response to this posting and the encouragement to carry on.
ReplyDeleteI am glad I have some regular readers like A.P. who has been reading the blog for some time. Glad you like 45s and surprised about the 3000 songs on your iPhone. Man, that's a lot of songs.
Andy if you recall... I said from the start such a blog will in time grow in awareness. Congrats.
ReplyDeleteWe had quite a musical community in Tiong Bahru with the likes of my old buddy Billy Martinez, Sonny Bala, and Edwin Dragon.
ReplyDeleteWow! My school classmates are impressed by your blog!
ReplyDeleteYou are also The Silver String member!
He likes the 2 hit songs by The Silver Strings:
1. Come Home to Me.
2. I'll Remember Today.
Again thanks to FB supporters who loved the new profile pic and posting; PHILIP CHEW, HERRY JUSUF, BELINDA POH, RANDY LEE, FREDDIE SIOW, ALBERT LOUIS, DICK YIP, ROY CHEW, ROBERT SURIYA, NINA CHEWY IRENE YAP, JIMMY PRESLEE, ADELINE PANG, TRACY TAY, RICHARD TOH, LAM CHUN SEE, PRISCILLA GEORGE.
ReplyDeleteHope I haven't left out anyone...
Hello Andy,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sending me all the links to your blog. It's quite the treat to get to know you in this way. :-) I had no idea.
I did have a good laugh over your reference to, "I'm so young and you're so old... " Have been singing Anka's "Diana" to myself ever since...