Latest: New mail from Henri Gann, California U.S.A. Donald Trump won the Presidential Election on 9.11.(2016).
**********
UP TO 1,500 VIEWS, 15+ COMMENTS
Since I started this blog in 2008, I have had many comments from readers (more than 7,000 emails) and 99.9% of them are positive ones coming from everywhere.
I thought it best if I showcase some of them for their interesting and varied topics. Here are samplings from these kind people who took time and trouble to write:
Hi Andy,
It is an honor to be on your website. Thanks for the nice write-up and history. It is wild to think that our two bands were playing thousands of miles apart at the same time. The Quests is a unique name and my creation for us in 1965; maybe there was some strange teleportation of creativity half way around the globe.
We are proud to share it with The Quests (Singapore) and wish them all the best. Yes, I'll have to get with you when I'm visiting my son in what has become one my favorite places in the world.Dr. Bob Fritzen: The Quests (USA)
http://questsrock.com
Letter 2:
I met Shirley Nair in 1967 at the R&R hotel I was staying at in Singapore. Shirley was singing with "The Silver Strings" and they were playing at the hotel at that time. She was a very nice person can you tell me what happened to her.
My reply to John was that Shirley Nair had passed on.
Thanks for the info even though it wasn't what I wanted to hear. I was hoping to contact Shirley just to say thank you and to let her know she was still remembered and appreciated after all these years. Would you happen to know when and how she died?
God bless Shirley and God bless you too.
John Hendrickson
Fort Worth, Texas
Letter 3:January, 23rd, 2009.
Rita Chao already retired from singing and btw she is a distant relative of my late dad. Sad to know that I last heard she was helping or working in a church in Yishun. Rita will be about in her late 50's.
In the late 60's she did a performance in Penang, Malaysia together with Sakura. My late Ah Kor "took" care of them while during their short stint of stay. Not sure if I can still find that old photo taken in Penang.
Cheers.
Jane,
Penang, Malaysia.
Letter 4:
In Bahasa Melayu
Cherita2 tuan membawa kenangan2 dari zaman dulu yg saya sangat menghargai dan mengingatkan. Tempat ini ia-lah favourite untok teman2 dan saya untok minum teh tarek dan makan curry puffs. Walau pun saya dah berumor 70 saya seringkali-nya melawat tempat yg indah ini.
(Your stories carry memories from the past that I cherish. The place you wrote about is a favourite for my friends and I where we drink tea and eat curry puffs. Although I am now 70 I still visit frequently this beautiful place.)
Daripada,
From,
Yatim.
Singapore
Letter 5:
Hey pallie Andy,
Thanks for showin' so much Dinolove for our Dino and for the ilovedinomartin Dinoblog...really 'preciate the shoutout and helpin' spread the Dinomessage by sharin' the ilovedinomartin Dinoblog here at your cool blog..it is likes so Dinofab to know that there are others who are likes totally Dinodevoted and Dinodesirous of makin' Dinoknown wherever they are in on the Dinoglobe... there is a Dinorevolution of cool that has started and it takes pallies like you man to fuel those Dinofires hotter and hotter until all the world knows and loves our great man... hopes to talks with you likes real real Dinosoon!
Dino Martin Peters
USA.
http://ilovedinomartin.blogspot
Letter 6:I was just introduced by a friend to your blog.
I live in San Francisco and I collect 60's Singaporean/SE Asian pop records. I agree that Singapore had its share of world class talent in the 1960's, but the world never got to see it. And to add to the obscurity, most of the locals simply forgot about the music as time went on.
Singaporeans in general don't seem to cherish their musical heritage like people in other parts of the world do. My Singaporean wife will attest to this, as will her parents.
As the owner of a popular Myspace page ( www.myspace.com/singaporesixties ), I have discovered that the under-25 set in SE Asia is yearning to know about this forgotten era. They can't get the information from their parents, so they've taken to the internet. Sites such as ours provide such a valuable service. And I especially love finding sites like yours, because I love to learn first-hand information about the old scene.
I look forward to reading your future posts.
Regards,
David Greenfield (San Francisco)
http://myspace.com/singaporesixties
I'm 13 and I would rather listen to this music any day than today's music. I love it... I mean my favorite song is 'San Francisco'... really!!
Images: Google.
If you have comments or replies please write in. Thank you.
Hey pallie, likes Andy, words can't fully describe the appreciato we have for you once 'gain liftin' up the name of our Dino at your beautiful blog and for swankly shoutin' out the name of our Dino-blog ilovedinomartin. We have marvelous memories of your various postin's over the years that speaks of your powerful passion for our most beloved Dino and we offer tender thanks for this offerin'. Soon we will be highlightin' this blog postin' at our humble little Dino-pad.
ReplyDeleteWe remain,
Yours in Dino,
Dino Martin Peters
Hi DMP,
ReplyDeleteGoodness! 8 years is a long time, but it whizzed by so swiftly. And you're still at it. I hope more and more readers will learn Dino-Lingo (my term?) and love your blog.
Thank you for being a good friend. Many fans of Dino in Singapore. You know that.
All the way from the U.S of A.
Wow, thank you Andy. You have brought nostalgia to the present again. Great job.
ReplyDeleteHi Andy and all fans of Sakura and Rita,
ReplyDeleteSakura and Rita Chao were indeed homegrown household names in the 60's.
My siblings and I looked forward to the duo performing on TV. (We were in primary school then.) Their voices synchronised perfectly. As a solo singer, Sakura has more powerful vocals and she could hand songs ranging from very low to high key and from sentimental to pop.
She dresses and dances well too and was a fashion trendsetter during her hey days. Some of her memorable hits are: PUPPET ON A STRING, SAD MOVIES, DELILAH, ONE DAY, CANDIDA, to name but a few. She sang in Chinese, Japanese, Malay and English.
My family and I would be glued to the telly as we watched her perform on the weekly Chinese variety show.
Sakura is still alive and kicking today and still performs periodically.
Thanks so much Mark for your detailed comment and time you took to write it. I'm glad you're in the loop now because I know you have a lot of stories to tell about our local music scene.
ReplyDeleteHope you will contribute some to this blog to keep it going as comments about our music is few and far between.
Hi Andy,
ReplyDeleteI agree with Mr David Greenfield. About the current generation not being bothered about Singapore's musical past. One day the people in charge here will suddenly realise they had let it all fade into oblivion. We talented, amazing and colourful folks, musicians who played to and for the masses during our pre-independent era like BARNEY MAURIER, ERNESTO DAROYA his brother JOSE, RAMDAS ANAMALAY, BABY LOW, GEORGE HENDRIX, THE GAYLADS, THE BAMBINOS are now forgotten. The list just goes on.
And of course the pop music boom of the 60's. With The Quests, The Silver Strings, Trailers, Thunderbirds, I think a huge part of the blame is the advent of Karaoke. Every Tom, Dick and Harry who belts out a tune on a microphone today think they are singers. Most karaoke system in the music outlets are of good quality. So it gives them the idea that they can sing well and has reduced tremendously the value of local musicianship. Bands that are around nowadays find it difficult to duplicate.
Hi Mike,
ReplyDeleteYour comment speaks volumes and you made relevant points regarding the Singapore music industry of today and yesterday.
I started this blog 8 years ago because I could not find information about our local musicians when I keyed in their names into the new Google Search during Google's infancy.
Once again, many many thanks for your contribution.
U.S.A. Donald Trump won the Presidential Election on 9.11.(2016).
ReplyDeleteCongrats Andy, a really wonderful and deserving achievement for your effort in sharing Singapore's pop scene history.
ReplyDeleteVery inteesting letters from your blog readers far and wide.
Thanks again.
Dear Andy,
ReplyDeleteYou have my respect for the passion in writing about our local music scene in this blog. I hope that more young people will get to know in depth about the local music era and realize how life as a musician would have been in the 60's.
Likewise I try to keep record of those musicians who are still performing periodically and share the videos to the public. Hopefully we keep the motion spinning and put memories of our yesteryears in archive and to share it.
Thumbs up for the great effort.
Best regards.
Fabian
I still remember the Pests Infested from our time with the British Army. We used to go to gigs with them . Still remember Johnnie Ali and the boys with great affection
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI was a student of MR Charles lazaroo from 1959 to 1962 at Siglap Secondary School.
Im now in Vancouver Canada.
Hi Ghazali,
ReplyDeleteYours is the kind of letter that makes me jump in my seat. I'm so glad to connect.
Thanks for the response and visit. I started this blog, if you can believe me, because when I looked up Google 7 years ago I could not find anything about him when I searched CHARLIE LAZAROO.
Glad to know you. If you read this blog there's a man called HAPPY TAY who writes frequently to contribute. He lives in Vancouver too and we connected through this blog.
Write in anytime, and if you have stories to tell about our music scene, please contribute.
Hi Andy,
ReplyDeleteThis is Mike of Mike and Herb. I sent you a write-up yesterday but I am not sure if you got it. I have a bit of news from my internet.
EMAIL ADDRESS SENT MIKE.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your text. Nice hearing from you. I wrote a little bit about our early days and I will send it to your very successful Singapore 60's blog.
ReplyDeleteReally nice hearing from you.