US Troops From Vietnam Play Motown On Jukebox

It has been a while since Allan Thompson wrote his tales of intrigue and suspense. Below is another, more thrilling than ever, as he takes us on his own trip down memory lane to investigate the juke-box joints in *decadent Singapore. We're back in the 60's now as we join him hunting down military establishments with his ang-moh kakis.

It is an exciting trip and what you're about to read is true. Thanks again Allan. 

Dear Andy,  

I seem to recall that juke boxes were not permitted in bars of other public places in Singapore during the 1960's.  I was told at the time that this was because of protection rackets over the supply of the machines and records.  (This was part of the plot of the Jayne Mansfield film, The Girl Can't Help It).  

Maybe you have *more information on this?  However, military establishments were allowed to have juke boxes, and I know they were installed in the NAAFI, the Chalet Club, and the Malcolm Club at RAF Changi.  

The Chalet Club also had a Scopitone film juke box which cost 50 cents for each play, which was more expensive than the normal record juke box.  There was also a delay between songs because the films apparently had to rewind after each number.  

The favourite selections on the Chalet Club machine were Robot by The Tornados, who were filmed in woodland wearing cheaply made helmets and dancing with girls while miming to the record;  Francoise Hardy on a swingboat, miming to one of her songs while her skirt blew up every time the swingboat swung;  and I've Got The World On A String which featured voluptuous bikini-clad American girls dancing on a beach while the lucky cameraman took some interesting and provocative overhead cleavage shots! 

Because of the juke box ban, many Singapore bars played music on record-players, tape recorders or the radio.  I remember one occasion when some friends and I went into a bar near Raffles Place and were met with the sound of loud Motown music on the record-player while six tall black American sailors in their white uniforms danced in a line in the middle of the room in the style of the Four Tops (image below).  

It was an unforgettable sight.  In those days many American servicemen used to visit Singapore while on leave from Vietnam, that terrible, pointless war which devastated that beautiful country and maimed and killed so many innocent people.   

If only the United States had let 'Uncle' Ho Chi Min run the country for the benefit of the Vietnamese people instead of flexing their muscles and causing so much destruction.  I think it says a lot for the dignity of the Vietnamese that they are so forgiving of those who oppressed them for so many years.  There ends my sermon for today!

Good wishes, 

Allan. 

NB:

(1) On 8th June, 1959, the newly elected PAP government launched a campaign against yellow culture (Chinese: huangse wenhua = decadent behaviour). Although there were attempts to eradicate it earlier, the campaign was a sustained and extensive enterprise, easing only in the 1980's. 

Spear-headed by the Culture Ministry, the authorities launched a nationwide clamp-down on Western culture seen as promoting anti-social life. So pornographic publications and films, strip shows, jukebox dens, pin-table saloons, rock music as well as long hair on men were banned. It promoted instead healthy cultural activities that focused on forging a common Malayan culture. 

From: HistorySG, an online resource guide.

                  'I've Got The World On A String' - A Scopitone Film Juke-Box

(2) Scopitone was a 1960's type of jukebox featuring a 16 mm film component. Scopitone films were a forerunner of modern music videos. The first Scopitones were made in France. 

*written tongue-in-cheek.

Images and Videos from Google and You Tube.

Kick-start words:
Vietnam War, Rest and Recreation, US soldiers, army