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Today is another day, 'when the music died.' Bobby Vee has joined his other friends in that long lost goldmine in the sky. Together with Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper, Bobby Vee will be another loss from the 60's Golden Age of Music era.
His good friend Bob Dylan called him a beautiful person on stage and said that Bobby Vee had a voice like a musical bell.
He had 38 hot hundred hits and known for his song, More Than I Can Say in Singapore. He recorded, Rubber Ball, Young Love, The Night Has A Thousand Eyes, Run To Him and Take Good Care of My Baby.
Bobby was one of 50's teenage idols, clean-cut with a curry puff front hair-style, usually blonde, long-sleeved sweater and a reasonably pleasant voice that kept his teenage fans screaming. Think Fabian, Bobby Rydell, Frankie Avalon.
There are lots of websites describing his passing away. Here on this blog, we remember him as a pop singer whose vinyl sold well in the market and whose glossy pictures on sleeve covers are still kept by his many Singapore fans.
Our local band boys, when they sing, More Than I Can Say, would provide a back-up refrain after, Woh-woh yeah, yeah with, Char siew pow, char siew pow, panas, panas. Or goreng pisang, goreng pisang panas panas.
He was certainly well received here and was leader of the hit parade making radio presenters like Larry Lai and Tan Swee Leong from Rediffusion busy those years, since there were many requests for his songs.
Have a party up there. R.I.P. Bobby Vee.
Images: Google.
Video: NANCY FLORESSANTOS.
A shocking blow to all his music fans the world over. A great singer with his wonderful and everlasting classics; nothing is forever.
ReplyDeleteHis version of MORE THAN I CAN SAY is still the best!
I heard the singing but nothing about the illness. did he have Alzheimer's ?
ReplyDeleteHis music will live on. RIP.
ReplyDeleteThis is the best version.There is also a sweet Chinese girl version, believe it or not, by Kong Ling!
ReplyDeleteAccording to Wikipedia, this version was released in 1961. It was covered by Leo Sayer in 1980, but that version pales into insignificance against this.
ReplyDeleteI find it annoying that Sayer (who was a very good performer by the way) does not sing all of the original verses but repeats one.
My friend Bobby Vee sure could impersonate Buddy Holly, & he took Buddy's place the night of the plane crash. What a talent he had so young. This song may have been meant for his future wife who I hope got her lung transplant. Why does alzheimer's disease hit such a good man like Bobby? Christmases are not the same without his kids included Christmas show. Not an e-mail in 2 years, so I suppose he has forgotten me already. Miss you Bobby & God Bless. Great a Song as they come. Thanks Brent441.
ReplyDeleteThey were well dressed & decent looking white male teenage idols whom every teenage girl wanted to bring home to mother. There were plenty of such look alike idols in the late 50s & early 60s. Others I remember were Rick[y] Nelson, Pat Boone,Everly Bros, Neil Sedaka & Paul Anka. We even have our local ones like the Suriya bros. It was fun being an American teen of that era as shown in the movie American Graffitti with their souped up cars, drive in hamburgers joints with roller skated waitresses, drive in movies etc. I remembered yearning to have this kind of lifestyle here. There is another Bobby V around & he is Bobby Vinton who is very old now. Sometimes I mix up these 2 because of the same genre of songs they sing.
ReplyDelete"RIP Bobby Vee! Him and his kind - Brian Hyland, Frankie Avalon, Fabian Forte, Bobby Rydell, Bobby Vinton and were made pop stars by the American music makers. They were groomed to look clean cut.
ReplyDeleteThe US establishment was concerned about the influence off early rock and roll for being too wild. Meantime, The King, Elvis Presley was drafted, Jerry Lee Lewis married his 13 year old cousin. Chuck Berry was jailed for income-tax evasion and Little Richard became a minister.
Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper perished in an air crash. Only Ricky Nelson plodded along. So these teenage idols became clean cut pop stars. But he too died at an early age of 45 in 1985.
The big bosses in the US were unaware that there was a huge musical storm brewing on the other side of he Atlantic. Then in 1964 it suddenly hit them. The British Invasion. All their music stars took a back seat for a few years.
When all these happened and all these clean cut teen idols came along the the first generation rock and rollers got sidelined, Jerry Lee Lewis later when interviewed quoted as saying, 'Suddenly there was a lotta Bobbys.'
Ha, ha. I love that quote."
Hey guys, thanks for all your valuable comments. The death of Booby Vee has brought out all these stories about the teenage idols of the 60's and I am appreciative.
ReplyDeleteYes, as Bird Dog said they were all look alike idols. And Michael Bangar remembers what happened to some pop star.
Thanks also to Linda, EGO and Rickie for memories and comments.