"60s Music Stars From US, UK, Europe, HK Were At My Doorsteps," Says JK Lim.

                                                   

JK Lim's collection of memorabilia that includes show 

  tickets, posters, photographs, signatures and others. 

If you check carefully, you can read 

the names of the musicians and singers 

who signed JK Lim's memorabilia. 

  UP TO 500 VIEWS   

6 CHATS, COMMENTS

When I asked JK if he could do a write-up like his contemporary HH Chew about the pop concerts he attended he agreed. It took a while but here they are my dear readers, so many you would not believe. But how could he do it? 

I’m like *HH Chew [connection below], chasing concerts and bands and singers! It's mainly due to my home, a building beside the Odeon Cinema in North Bridge Road, opposite Jubilee Theatre near the Capitol Cinema and walking distance to Cathay Cinema. The amusement centres in Singapore 60s were close to each other in this part of town where I lived.

And coincidentally, the girls-only school, the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus [CHIJ] was right smack in the middle of these movie theatres. And the young ladies would come out after school, at about one in the afternoon, in their white and hue blue pinafores.

The Odeon Cinema at North Bridge Road, Singapore

in the 60s. JK Lim lives in the same neighbourhood.

The school is also in the same neighbourhood at Victoria Street.

During the late 1950s and the early 1960s whenever they launched a show there's a hue and cry publicity where the actors and actresses involved, will come and sing a song or two before the show and super stars like Grace Chang [Ge Lan] 葛蘭 - 說不出的快活 電影《野玫瑰之戀 of Ja Jambo fame would have an autograph session at Level 4 [called the Hollywood Room] at the Odeon building. She would have come all the way from Hong Kong. Imagine the crowds that evening with North Bridge Road jam packed like the cinema itself!

On the other hand we had pop singers like, Johnny Lion and the Jumping Jewels from Holland performing at the Odeon. Remember them? He sang 'Let's Make a Habit of This', 'Judy', 'I Like It' and a host of other hits. 

The late Johnny Lion and the neat, 

smooth and velvety Jumping Jewels.

They came from Holland.

This cinema and others were all under the Cathay Organisation and the movie stars Hayley Mills and her father, John Mills came and appeared on stage before the shows. And they still keep coming today, the big stars like the Rolling Stones, Cpldplay, Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift.

Then across the road at Jubilee Cinema, which screened mostly Chinese shows had the Canto [Cantonese] stars appearing, with the likes of Fong Po Po and Chan Poh Choo. Today it's the National Stadium, where groups like Black Pink, top K-Pop groups from South Korea come bob bob bopping along.

The Jubilee Cinema, across the road from 

the Odeon, showing mostly Chinese movies.

Further down the road towards Shenton Way and opposite the St. Andrew's Cathedral stands the Shaw Brother's cinema group irreplaceable, Capitol Theatre. The great Bai Kwang, Old Shanghai diva performed on stage too. I managed to attend. Chinese, English stars! I love them all.

And over at the Cathay, a short distance away, Frank Sinatra, one of the best US 60s crooners, was there. He was truly my favourite and I managed to catch him in his room at the Cathay Hotel above the cinema and got his autograph too after school. I was studying nearby at St. Joseph's Institution. 

Frank Sinatra surrounded by a crowd in his car 

when he came to Singapore in the 1961.

https://www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/photographs/record-details/8a5b9995-1162-11e3-83d5-0050568939ad

Crossing to the East side of Singapore, at Guillemard Road. It was concerts galore when Cliff Richard and the original Shadows came. This group included Hank Marvin, Bruce Welch, Tony Meehan and Jet Harris. 

There was Pat Boone and Debbie Boone. It was a wonderment with tickets costing Fifty Cents to One Dollar for hard step-like concrete seats at the Badminton Hall and at the Happy World Stadium.

Yes, yes! 

"Those were the days my friend, 

We thought it'd never end..."

Manfred Mann: Do Wah Diddy.

REMASTERED VIDEO TRUE 1964 

STEREO HiQ Hybrid JARichardsFilm

YouTube video from: jarichards99utube

Fung Poh Poh Hanky Panky 

YouTube Video from: kraftwerk2012

But it did. Now in Singapore concerts cost so much more. A coming one will cost pop music enthusiasts more than a thousand dollars per ticket!

The best deal I experienced was a three-in-one concert for one dollar at the Badminton Hall where I witnessed the Rolling Stones, Manfred Mann and The Kinks. Now that was a record breaker indeed [pun intended].

And I managed to get all their autographs!

Many stars do a transit stop in Singapore here before heading Down Under in Kangaroo county, Australia. These pop stars included: Helen Shapiro, Millie Small, Blue Diamonds, Anneke Gronloh, The 3 Degrees, Stylistics, Manhattan Transfer, Herman’s Hermit and Gilbert O'Sullivan.

Written by: JK Lim. 

Author: JK Lim

With his recollection and

memorabilia from the 1960s.

Images: Google and The National Archives, Singapore.

*HH Chew's story about meeting Skeeter Davis:

https://singapore60smusic.blogspot.com/2024/02/skeeter-davis-was-friend-unassuming-hh.html

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