Below is a combined effort of a such a write-up by two young ladies who are students studying for their degree/diploma at a local university/polytechnic. They interviewed me at my usual haunt and came out with this piece for HYPE Magazine #41 (August - January 2016):
CHRISTA CHOO (left) and SAMANTHA CHOONG go in search of musicians from the 60s, to learn more about why many still call it the heyday of Singapore music:When we think about the music from the 60's, Singapore bands would not usually come to mind. But put aside Marvin Gaye and The Beatles and step into the world of The Quests. The 60's was essentially the heyday for local music. A number of bands gained record deals with the help of radios lauding the music they produced.
Rewinding back to the past, there was indeed a whole lot more support for local music then.
Mr. Andrew Lim, better known by his stage name Andy Young, who runs singapore60smusic.blogspot.com won the Paul Anka competition in 1959, and led Silver Strings shortly after. His music career only took flight for all of two years, when he decided it would clash with his teaching career. He says that he "had some time free in between, because teaching then was half a day.""Silver Strings started in the band leader's house and from there we got contracts to play in night clubs," says Mr. Lim. "We only played for a few miserable dollars. It was more for the fun of it."
Mr Lim recalls how parents would warn their daughters to stay away from band boys. "Musicians today are backed up by society, it wasn't so then," he explains. "Today's musicians are accepted, in a sense, because now we have so much backing by the authorities, the government."Mr Lim adds: "You can go for a full music course or degree at Berklee College of Music. At that time, there was no such thing. If you were a musician, you were on your own. Those were the days."
You can read the full article by clicking on the connection below:
http://nptribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/HYPE-41-SG50.pdf
Image and Article:
1) A Personal Collection
2) Google
3) HYPE Magazine
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