Andy's 60's Music International Mail From UK, Canada, India, Malaysia, Singapore: "It's You Who've Rekindled My Feelings!"

"Didn’t we all break out and join in the final giggles and laughs with the singer? I’m chuckling to myself already!" says reader Sonny from Canada.

7 Letters From UK, Canada, India, Malaysia, Singapore:

1. Hi Andy and everyone,

I was looking for this song and decided to Google. Listened to it as a child and stayed in my memory till now. Since dad gave away all his records and record player, never heard it again. 

Thanks, Andy, for posting. Rekindled memories. No one knew how much I had missed listening to this song.

Fauziah

2. Dear Andy,

I make innumerable attempts - all in vain - to desist from getting tender-hearted and teary-eyed, whenever I play this glorious song. I end up listening to it on a loop and brimming with climaxing emotions.
Thank you very much, Andy, this time it's you who've rekindled my feelings!

Muradi.

3. Hello Andy,

Wow. I just happened to look for this song when reminiscing of my childhood years spent in Singapore. What a coincidence to find this uploaded by a sixties kid from right there!! Thank you very much Andy for the shared memories.

As a toddler, this song would play on a continuous loop and was the sweetest memory that I cherish to this day. Didn't we all break out and join in the final giggles and laugh with the singer!! I'm chuckling to myself already!! 

Sonny (Canada) 

Papa and mama dance the Cha Cha .

4. Rohit D'Almeida says:

When I was like 4 years old, I heard this song for the first time. (I'm 35 now). Coming from a family of singers, at that time, I thought this was sung by my uncle, Uncle James, and my cousin Lara. 

We live in the suburbs of Mumbai, India. The audio cassette was brought by my uncle from the gulf. And so was the audio cassette recorder/player. We sang and recorded several songs back then. 

It brings back such good memories. The lyrics are so beautiful. I'd love to go back in time and just dwell in that time in a loop forever. I guess heaven must be like that and much more! 

Thanks Andy.

5. Fiona says:

I was brought up in Singapore, and this song was the first I remember my parents playing - there was a 'B' side, but I am not sure what it was. We moved back to UK in the early Sixties, and I have never found anyone else who remembers it. The fact you have placed it as Singapore 60's make sense to me - I have now downloaded it and it brings back happy memories of childhood. Thank you <3

6. Vineet Gupta says:

Thank you for posting this song. I've grown up on this, and God knows since when i was looking for it. It is a wonderful song to be played to kids. I play it for my son now. Thank you once again. 

7. M.B. Salke says:

I live in Pune, Maharashtra, India. I grew up with this song. It is a very beautiful song which I always remembered. I was very happy to find it and hear it after so many years, nearly 40 years. This song brings fond memories of my childhood. Thank you so much. 

And the song?

'Papa He Loves Mama': 

Donald Peers and Janet Osborne. 

YouTube Video by:

The little boy and girl who love to see their grand papa and mama! Singapore 60s teenagers used to cha, cha, cha to this song when it was played during T-Dances.

Images: Google and AI generated.

Comments are welcome.

Andy 60's Music First Time Favourites Since The 50's

COWBOY SONGS

they were once called. Now it's

COUNTRY AND WESTERN

'San Antonio Rose' - Lou Baldino 

(Featuring House of Hamill and Ken Nelson) 

YouTube Video by: House of Hamill.

Here's a video on Lou Baldino's 'San Antonio Rose'. My kinda music I could listen to all day...

When I sent this song around among my WhatsApp connections, they replied with all the support and agreed with my selection of what music was like those years when we were younger. 

Here are some reactions and replies from viewers:

Eddy Eng:

This is music!

Richard Rajoo:

Yes, I really love San Antonio Rose too, because I started learning to play the guitar with an elderly neighbor of Bukit Merah. He plays with the Clan Association in Chinatown. So I sing at all their events, mainly Hank Williams and others at the music sessions. It was a real experience for me to sing to mostly vernacular speaking audiences.

Rickie Chng:

Simply nice and relaxing.

Tan Soo Khoon:

Very enjoyable. Thank you for sharing.

Vincent Tan:

Thanks for sharing.

👍👍👍👏👏👏

Merlin Lim:

Reminds me of the late, great Chet Atkins. Beautiful way of playing; all the fingers and thumb are alive. Played chords instead of single notes; makes the sound whole, complete and rich. Would have loved to learn that style of picking and playing. Had the intention to learn but lacked the motivation. Thanks Andy.

Johnny Yeo:

Nice! Nowadays I also like erhu since I have been attending weekly classes for the past two years. I love the old spaghetti Italian cowboy movies and their soundtracks.

Horace Wee:

Good to know your endorphins are working well.

Not dolphins 😅

Ronald Ho:

Thanks Andy. I listened with my bass headphones. They are excellent musicians. Yes, my kind of music too. I grew up on country music. Thanks.

Cedric Collars [Perth/Aust.]

I remember that song played by Chet Atkins and sung by Willie Nelson. Ah yes, we did enjoy them but nowadays they don’t play that style of music artistry. It has been put in the annals of music history. Sadly, it is we people who lament on their passing.

Richard Tham:

Andy, I love country music. It makes one wanna get up and dance! Thanks for sharing.

Chet Atkins, Willie Nelson.

When Music Hits You, You Feel No Pain.

Jimmy Chng:

Yup, it's all pleasure to our ears! Good morning, Andy.

Wilfred Lim:

Yes, music lingers on momentarily... then it's whisk off like a puff of smoke...  Such is our life span... we're here today... gone tomorrow! Unless our lifetime is recorded in stone or digitally... we sail into oblivion. Cheers.

Merlin Lim:

Music gives you the highs, lows and flats. Without the cravings and withdrawals...

Anonymous: 

I remember calling them cowboy songs, like Have I Told You Lately That I Love You, and China Doll. Later on, we know them as Country and Western songs. Again, lyrics today would be understood differently, "I'm tired of crying, and all your lying. That's why I'm buying a China doll. Her eyes are bluer; her faults are fewer..." Not today's China dolls! Ha! Ha!

More comments are welcome!

Slim Whitman: 'China Doll' [1952].

(Country Music Greats) HQ

YouTube: FromTheBasement.

Images: Google.

Letter To Andy 60s Music: Singer @ Ambassador Hotel Tells Laura In Mandarin He Loves Her.

"No one knows what happened that day

How his car overturned in flames

But as they pulled him from the twisted wreck

With his dying breath, they heard him say..."

I receive many anonymous letters in the mail, and they usually write positive reviews about the blog. Here's one short note written on 27th August 2023. Thank you, my friend, whoever you are...

Hi Andy, 

Glad to have stumbled onto your post and reading yours and others’ wonderful stories reminiscing of the old times!

I love songs from the sixties. When traveling in North American cities, I would still look for old diners with booth tables and some wall jukeboxes.

Booth tables and old diners in America during the 60's.

'Tell Laura I Love Her' in Mandarin.

Sung by: Liu Wen-Cheng.

YouTube Video by Liu Wen-Cheng - Topic

In late sixties of Singapore, I occasionally hung out with a group of Mandarin and Hainanese speaking friends at the Ambassador Hotel roof top nightclub. They called the club manager ‘Boon’. I was told that the nightclub owner was a lady, probably one of those experienced entertainers from Shanghai.

The Ambassador Hotel opposite a popular 

60's playground called Katong Park near Meyer Road.

The roof-garden of this hotel gathers local pop music bands

and crowds fill it up on Saturday nights especially.

Frequently we encountered a ‘guest-singer’. He usually sang popular English songs with Mandarin lyrics. He did Ray Peterson’s ‘Tell Laura I love Her’. I don’t remember the whole lyrics, only this part:

“… 日日我在想念, 夜夜我在想念… [Every day I miss you, every night I miss you...] "Tell Laura not to cry…”

27/08/23.

Comments are always welcome.

"And in the chapel where Laura prays

For Tommy who passed away 

It was just for Laura he lived and died

Alone in the chapel she can hear him cry..."

Juke boxes from the 60's that play vinyl records

automatically when you slot a coin into the machine.

Images: 

[1] Google, 

[2] Self-created from WhatsApp/Meta AI.

Singapore 60s Music Comments About Our Own Veterans. From Clarence Chung.

Clockwise: Ravi Coopusamy, Chris Rodrigo, 

Victor Pillay, Ivor Lesslar, Nik Osman

UP TO 1,200 VIEWS,

     11 COMMENTS.    

I've had a blast working with these really battle-hardened veteran musicians. Truly an honor for a young man like me.

Chris Rodrigo, the supporter of local music and truly unbridled facial hair, stands tall and was the manager of the band for the day. Thanks Chris!

Ivor Lesslar is a tall Eurasian man who is much kinder than he looks. I swear he belongs to an ancient and rare breed of electric guitar players who is able to wield a Fender Stratocaster and coax beautiful and musical tones out of it. The other person whom I know belongs to this breed is of course Mr. Latiff Jalil with his fat Strat! 

Nick Osman plays a mean drum groove and its truly amazing how such loud and accurate tones can come out of such a small man. Standing in front of his drumkit, I felt my cranium almost explode from the tremendous volume of his kick drum. He's also the only drummer I know who walks around 24/7 with a metronome and headset and I am curious to know if he's also keeping time when having a conversation with people. 

A hardcore music/jazz lover and representative of the Indian ethnic group in the band, Ravi Coopusamy seems to be the baby of the band even when I am around. His childlike demeanor means that he is instantly forgiven on the occasion he tinkles the wrong notes on the ivories.

Maestro Victor Pillay calls himself an Indian Peranakan. I am completely blown away by his splendid piano technique, restraint and easygoing character. A gem in Singapore and hands down the best piano player I've personally worked with. 

Newer is not better. Different, yes. The old school cats are incredible team players in a band and they definitely have much to pass on.

Written by: Clarence Chung

18th January 2013.

Thanks so much Clarence. Hope you still remember this article you wrote some years ago. If you are still out there and reading this post, do write in again.

Andy.

22nd August, 2025.

When The Twist Dance And Movies Were Banned

                  **Crescendos n Susan Lim sings Mr Twister & Frankie Video: eosyeo

UP TO 3,600 VIEWS

     30 COMMENTS    

This previous post [2012] has been updated for content:

Hey, you may not know this. Not only were songs banned in Singapore in 1959 but a dance too. In the early years of Independence, saw the banning of The Twist, a dance fad from Western pop culture. As explained in an another *posting the Helen Shapiro/Billy Fury movie Play It Cool was banned because of its 'undesirable song and dance sequences'.

18 MILLION VIEWERS cannot be wrong.

Mr. Chubby Checker with 'The Twist'

YouTube Official Music Video from

Chubby Checker.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CCgDvUM4TM&t=96s

According to Wiki, The Twist's original inspiration came from the African American plantation dance called 'wringin' and twistin,' tracing back to the 1890s. However, its original aesthetic origins, using pelvic movement and the shuffling foot movement, could be traced to West Africa. Throughout the 20th Century, the dance evolved until it emerged to a mass audience in the 1960s.

So in Singapore, three other films which featured the dance were not allowed screenings. These movies were, Hey, Let's Twist, Twist Around The Clock and The Teenage Millionaire (images 1,2). This was a cinema clean-up because there was a policy that where books or films were detrimental to morals, they would be banned. Even juke boxes and pin-ball machines (image 3) were not allowed in Singapore. So what songs did we miss from all these movies?

As an example, the first movie Hey Let's Twist had a group called Joey Dee and The Starliters perform, Shake Me Baby, Hey Let's Twist, Peppermint Twist, Round and Round, Roly Poly, Let Me Teach You How to Twist, Shout. Also another two songs: Let's Twist by Mama and Shake Me Baby by Jo Ann Campbell were on the sound track. Just wondering if any of them reached our hit parade charts?

Apparently not only were Western movies banned, even Mandarin and Japanese movies were taken off the list as part of the authorities' campaign against yellow culture which had caused the 'moral degeneration of our young'. Censorship by the Culture Ministry was significant between June 1959 and June 1960.

But don't forget dear readers, that this was a season when The Shadows/Ventures were just around the corner and the saxaphone, double-bass, piano and f-hole guitars were still in vogue. It was a season of change. And change we did, when common sense prevailed.

The ban did not last long as Chubby Checker's famous stance and dance movie posters (image 1) crowded the scene afterwards. Tables turned in February 1963 as Singapore's first recording stars **The Crescendos released Mr. Twister fronted by power voice Susan Lim. The group was such a hit that even Singapore's Minister for Culture, Mr. S. Rajaratnam accompanied them on their Malaysian tour a few months later. All's well that ends well.

Do you have similar stories to tell about Singapore's sixties music scene? Write in.

Images: Google.

*Play It Cool Movie: 

http://singapore60smusic.blogspot.com/2011/04/play-it-cool-movie-banned-in-our-local.html

**Crescendos: 

http://singapore60smusic.blogspot.com/2009/06/new-dances-like-twist-made-way-for-pop.html

URGENCY FOR GLOBAL CLIMATE ACTION: Pop Song Lyrics From The 60's

Newspaper Headlines From The Past:

More Floods In  Cities Today, Wildfire Spread Fast In Forest Area,  Illegal Timber Trade, December Monsoon Rain Kills Many, Massive Landslide In Hill Resort, Poisonous Chemical In Rivers Uncontrollable, Acid Rain All Over Countryside, Polluted Beaches...

'Don't Go Near The Water': Beach Boys. 

YouTube Video by: Angela de Lara.

This article has been re-posted from 10th August 2012, twelve years ago. Comments my dear readers? 

One Observation At Shopping Malls:

I have no quarrel with people who are paid by others to distribute flyers to pedestrians and passers-by.  But if we are truly going green this distribution of paper advertisements has to be curbed because the practice is growing worse by the day.

People who accept these flyers, possibly out of curiosity or otherwise, throw them away at the next bin they pass. Some even do so without reading the flyers.  And in our letter-box?  It's filled with the same junk. Tons of paper rammed down the throats of mail-boxes.  Meantime trees are destroyed.

Statistics:

"Paper is the most common type of waste in Singapore and about 1.26 million tonnes of paper waste was generated in 2008. The recycling rate of paper is 48% in 2008, and most of this paper waste is sorted, baled and exported overseas for recycling as there are no paper recycling mills in Singapore (zerowastesg.com)." And paper wastage is only one problem...

Sixties Song Lyrics:

[1] In the final verse of his song, Tapestry (1970), 60s music composer and singer Don McLean (American Pie, Starry, Starry Night) reminds his listeners about the destructive nature of man:

And every fish that swims silent, every bird that fly freely
Every doe that steps softly,
Every crisp leaf that falls, all the flowers that grow,
On this colorful tapestry, somehow they know
That if man is allowed to destroy all we need
He will soon have to pay with his life for his greed.

[2] The Beach Boys have the same message with Don't Go Near The Water (1970) warns the public:

Don't go near the water
Don't you think it's sad
What's happened to the water
Our water's going bad
Oceans, rivers, lakes and streams
Have all been touched by man
The poison floating out to sea
Now threatens life on land

Toothpaste and soap will make our oceans a bubble bath
So let's avoid an ecological aftermath
Beginning with me
Beginning with you...

[3] And one by Cat Stevens (Yusof Islam) asks his audience Where Do The Children Play (1970)?

Well I think it's fine, building jumbo planes
Or taking a ride on a cosmic train
Switch on summer from a slot machine
Yes, get what you want to if you want, 'cause you can get anything

I know we've come a long way
We're changing day to day
But tell me, where do the children play?

Well you've cracked the sky, scrapers fill the air
But will you keep on building higher till there's no more room up there
Will you make us laugh, will you make us cry?
Will you tell us when to live, will you tell us when to die?

Wastage:

I have noticed a slight change now. Tissue paper is not offered free in fast food restaurants and coffee houses.  You gotta ask for it! And that's good. But we got a long way to go.

Paper, water, electricity, food. What else are we wasting everyday? There are other songwriters who write about warning green. Remember any?

Just a reminder. Have we improved much since 2012. If we have, it's really great, so do write in... [4/12/2024]

Lyrics: from Lyrics Websites.
Images: from Google.

Quote from: http://www.zerowastesg.com/2008/12/08/paper-recycling/

Happy Father's Day: My Quiet n Wonderful Dad

UP TO  2,300  VIEWS, 

40 CHATS, COMMENTS

I remember my father, a quiet gentleman who seldom reprimanded me. But I had always respected him, listened to him and loved him in my own way. Strange, he had never laid hands on me even when I was at my naughtiest. I wish I had been just as nice with my own children and to this day regretted that I had been so fierce with them.

I called him, Pa, and he used to read his newspaper every afternoon sitting on a wooden chair beside the shophouse pillar outside our home. It was either the Keng Po or Sin Po an Indonesian and Dutch daily (image/magazine version) that he had subscribed to. Even today the image of him sitting by the pillar is still in my mind's eye.

Indonesian Newspaper:
http://djimat.com/historia/2017/02/sejarah-surat-kabar-indonesia/

Gambang Semarang - Tuti Trisedya.

YouTube Video from: jesiccameijer2

Thank You.

A lover of Dutch and Indonesian melodies, I remember his favourite songs from old Dutch artistes in the 40s, 50s hits, and 60s diva, Anneke Gronloh. He loved the keroncong like, Sapu Tangan, Keroncong Mourisko and Jembatan Merah. And a one all favourite, Gambang Semarang. 

He would listen to them from the valve PYE radio we had at home. He loved Chinese instrumentals too and appreciated music coming from the Chinese flute, zither, harp, etc. And listening to mother's favourite Shanghai songstress Zhou Xian was soothing to his ears. 

Watching boxing and wrestling matches at the Happy World Stadium was his favourite past time. I would always accompany him, just as excited and awed as he was when we watched King Kong (image: below right) thumped and pinned Dara Singh to the ring floor. But when Dara Singh won the match father went to the moon. He was elated and to see the joy on his face made me just as happy.

The Capitol Cinema was his favourite haunt when, with my mother, we would watch The Tales Of Hoffman, Great Caruso and Eddie Duchin Story. Once a magician called the Great Sorcar performed at the same venue but father was unimpressed.

Every evening he would play Chinese Checkers with mother and I would just be around learning how to type asdf;lkj and trying to master the home keys on the noisy Remington. 

I've kept this last. What made him happiest was his camera which he kept preciously. It was an Ensign, Ful-Vue and made in England. He was happiest taking pictures of everyone, everywhere, and many of the b/w photographs are still in my pssession.

Those years, the late 40s and 50s, were quiet ones and one song usually comes to mind when I think of my father. It was popular then and an evergreen today.  Oh, My Papa was sung by the late Eddie Fisher.

I hope you will be cheerful and keep happy even if your children don't celebrate it with you as they may be away or even busy with their work and family.  Do you remember your dad and a song that you associate him with?

A Happy Father's Day to all dads.

[Because of a radio interview there has been a misconception that I was born in Indonesia. I was born in Singapore.]

My dad loved both classical music and pops. The magician Sorcar didn't impress him.

Oh My Papa - Eddie Fisher

Oh, my pa-pa, to me he was so wonderful
Oh, my pa-pa, to me he was so good
No one could be, so gentle and so lovable
Oh, my papa, he always understood.

Gone are the days when he could take me on his knee
And with a smile, he'd change my tears to laughter

Oh, my papa, so funny, so adorable
Always the clown so funny in his way
Oh, my pa-pa, to me he was so wonderful
Deep in my heart, I miss him so today.

                                  Video by: Scrambled Eggs 1969

O mein Papa is a German song, as related by a young woman remembering her beloved, once-famous clown father. It was written by Swiss composer Paul Burkhard in 1939 for the musical Der Schwarze Hecht (The Black Pike), reproduced in 1950 as Feuerwerk (Fireworks). Under the original German title, an instrumental version by trumpeter Eddie Calvert topped the UK Singles Chart in 1954 and also a top hit in the US charts.

The song has been performed and recorded by numerous artists since its debut, including Alan Breeze, Billy Cotton, Billy Vaughn, The Everly Brothers, Harry James, Guy Mitchell, Ray Anthony & his Orchestra, Russ Morgan & his Orchestra, The Beverley Sisters, Björk and many others." 

But below is a bigger deal:

CONNECT TO

https://singapore60smusic.blogspot.com/2013/06/a-happy-fathers-day-if-you-still.html

https://singapore60smusic.blogspot.com/2020/06/a-happy-fathers-day-2020-because-you.html

This article is a repeat but it's an improved posting from 06.06.2019.

An Original Article.

Image: Google
Video of Eddie Fisher singing Oh My Papa.