Singapore 1966 Artistes In Kuching Sarawak Show

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This newspaper advertisement was published by Sarawak Press, Kuching.

The Welcome Party

JUDY LEE

Kuching is a small town in Sarawak, Malaysia, so when a pop show that featured Singapore singers and bands made their way there, the population went wild. Nearly every young person in the area wanted to see them. 

According to Audie Ng who was the leader of the Silver Strings, everyone in the group was treated like international stars. They were all invited to the Governor's house for lunch, with reporters tailing them. After the interviews, they went to their hotel to unpack.

Audie remembered an incident when they heard a knocking at their hotel door. Thinking it was the housekeeper coming to check the room, one of the band boys sauntered to the door with a cold drink in his hand and casually opened it. The shock he experienced lasted to this day.

The Odeon and Capitol Cinemas in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia in the 1960's.

Imagine his surprise and embarrassment when a group of teenage girls rushed in screaming with autograph books in their hands. They refused to leave until every member of the entourage signed them. 

Apparently, some of the boys had to hide under the blankets because they were still in their briefs. It was a hilarious situation, one where the Silver Strings could remember forever.

The Talent Shows

The show featured Bryan Neale the bouncing boy from England, Judy Lee TV and radio nightingale, Catherine Chong top a-go-go dancer, Shirley Nair Singapore Singing Sexation (as advertised).  K.V. John was the compere for the evening and Robert Chua was the executive producer.

CATHERINE CHONG

There were two top bands in attendance then, The Silver Strings and The Jets. The line-up then for both bands were Audie Ng, Merlin Lim, Danny Boy and Dickie Tan. I provided the tag-line, "the big beat band with the big bang beat" when I was with them for one and a half years.  Mike and Herb, Beatles of Malaysia, were the highlight of the show.  

The other band The Jets, had lead guitar Edward Tan, bassist Alan Poh, Harold on rhythm and Robert on drums. He was known as Singapore's dancing drummer. I remember they had one of the best instruments in the business, using solid Fender guitars on stage. Thomas Ang was their singer then. 

BRYAN NEALE

There were two shows each evening at 6.45 pm and another at 9.15 p.m. and staged at the Odeon Theatre in Kuching.

A Good Deed Not Forgotten

When the top Kuching pop band was invited to perform on stage, Audie Ng was shocked to see the lead guitarist carry an amplifier as small as a Rediffusion set with six batteries inside. Seeing it might not be able to amplify the guitar sound in the large cinema hall, Audie offered the group to use the Silver Strings Fender amplifiers. 

AUDIE NG

He remembered very well that they played the instrumental Tabu with pomp, polish, and pride. The band leader was ever grateful for the favor and kept in touch with Audie and the band. 

"Twenty-five years later he came to Singapore looking for the Silver Strings and repaid his favor by allowing me to service all his four nightclubs in Malaysia," explained Audie who provides bands for entertainment places.

Shirley Nair & The Silver Strings - 

You're the boy (Lyrics)

YouTube Video by: herecomeshariss

The Show Producer

Robert Chua said: "In 1966, I produced and staged pop shows in Singapore and Malaysia and was the manager of The Jets. I wonder how many of my friends in Singapore remember these pop stars?

KV JOHN (MC)  SHIRLEY NAIR

Can you imagine tickets were S$1, S$2 and S$3 (then S$1 was HK$2)? This was before I secured a job with Singapore television when they rejected me as they considered me too young."

Robert Chua was one of the youngest producers in S.E. Asia when he started.

"But when I got the job I worked about 7 months and produced more TV shows than any of their producers. After that, I resigned to join TVB and the rest is history!"

According to Mr. Chua, he was one of the youngest show producers in the 1960's. He was only 19.

ROBERT CHUA

From Merlin Lim
[Rhythmist Silver Strings]
18th February, 2024:

While we were there playing on stage, dear Shirley Nair told me after the show. "That song, 'What Now My Love' brought tears to a member of the audience. It's a nice song and probably brought back memories to that person."

To bring tears to someone listening, while performing for them, is  a dream, a very sweet dream come true.

Thanks for the memories. Let there be peace, love and compassion in this troubled world. Love transcends all boundaries. PEACE and BLISS to all.

Love: Merlin.

Images from Mr. Robert Chua's Poster on Facebook; A Personal Collection and Google.

YouTube: Terry Snyder And The All Stars - Tabu. (1959).

This article is Copyrights Reserved.

When Phones Were In Booths, Not Pockets: Part 1

So here's the big deal now. We used to walk to make our phone call. Now we walk with our phone call.

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Fun Time, Quiz Time

As the world progresses technologically, I don't know if it does in an emotionally matured way, many things around us become obsolete. Here's my take:

Not too long ago when telephone booths were in vogue and when people had no phones in their pockets, let alone video clips, photographs or the latest news items, these special structures usually found at street corners, were the only way you could get or relay an urgent message, if you were on the go.

In London, England and surrounding counties, these booths were red in colour. When I first saw them in London in the 70's I thought they look like big *ang pows or red packets.

But there were other ones of different colours, shapes and sizes. And these booths were very popular some years ago.

In later years, when phones became portable, they had other uses for the telephone booths e.g. as mini-libraries, tiny street bars, etc. and props as shown in these pictures. Here are some booths with their music superstars. 

Can you guess who the stars are?

Here are some great songs where telephones are mentioned in the lyrics.The artistes in the images have no connection with the song titles:

Chantilly Lace - Big Bopper (1958)

Beachwood 45789 - The Marvellettes (1962)

634-5789 Soulsville USA - Wilson Pickett (1964)

Party Line - The Kinks (1966)
Happy Together - Turtles (1967)

Syvia's Mother - Dr Hook and The Medicine Show (1972)

That's Not The Way It Feels - Jim Croce (1972)

Long Distance Operator - Bob Dylan (1975)

Telephone Line - ELO (1976)

Hanging On The Telephone - The Nerves (1976)

Love On The Telephone - Foreigner (1979)

Call Me - Blondie (1980)

I Just Called To Say I Love You - Stevie Wonder (1981)

Here's an American version of phone booths from Bob Dylan's perspective.

There are thousands in the phone booth
Thousands at the gate
There are thousands in the phone booth
Thousands at the gate
Everybody wants to make a long distance call
But you know, they're just gonna have to wait

Just a phone call to a girl-friend but tone stems anger, unhappiness. Dylan's songs spell other meanings. But the venue was a phone booth.

You Tube Video: Off The Hook  from Rolling Stones

Video by creekmorebanks' channel 

This picture above with five gentlemen in phone booths can only be answered  by Singaporean readers. Name this group and where these booths were?

This last image by American comic book artist, Michael Allred is a little tougher. So clues coming right out. They are British Rock music stars of the 60's and 70's. You can find JH, The W., BJ, MJ, MF in her Girl on a Motorcycle leathers. Then comes DB (Ziggy Stardust). Anyone else?

All celebrating on Carnaby Street, with an obtrusive, larger than life, telephone booth. It's 2017 now so these artistes look younger in the picture.

Good luck and have fun.

NB
Singapore Phone Booths:

Having booths in Singapore will be useless. The weather's too hot. Singapore coin phones long ago were open-air ones.

*An ang pow is a red packet with money inside given away during Chinese New Year.

Images: Google (telephone booths).

Wilson David With Bassist Alan Poh's Songs

One of the more well- known singers in the sixties Wilson David was a name to contend with. Together with other local pop singers Mr David drew crowds to the shows they performed in. They had fans from all over Singapore and from our neighboring countries like Malaya, Indonesia, the Philippines, Brunei and even Thailand.

Pop concert sponsors and those interested in promoting our talents introduced these young and budding artistes to recording companies. Philips, RCA, Cosdel, EMI and a few other well-known ones took the opportunity to contract them for vinyl releases.

The singers were paired off with local guitar groups and papers were signed and sealed. One of the most respected recording companies, Philips, used the studio at Kinetex Singapore and had David with his backing group The Jets to accompany him singing four songs.

Two of them were covers from the fifties; "Jezebel" by Frankie Laine and "Yours" by Vera Lynn. The other two, originals by Alan Poh (image: 2nd from right) and bassist with the Jets were, "I'll Never Be Mad At You" and "I Love To Be By Your Side." It was necessary by then to have original songs in the repertoire for local releases.

The fact that David was also Singapore's answer to Elvis Presley made the recording and advanced publicity all the more important for its success. Below is the write up on the back sleeve cover of "Wilson David accompanied by The Jets."

Some Sleeves Speak:

"Born on October 4th, 1940, Wilson David started his singing career when he was only sixteen.  Slowly but surely he managed to build himself up to such an extent that for the last three years he has been able to maintain his position as the beat king all over Malaysia. Yes Wilson is undoubtedly the teenage solo singing craze nowadays, for every time he makes a public appearance, it is only with great difficulty that he tears himself away from his screaming, clapping audience.

Wilson's greatest assets are a good mellow voice with an equally good range and style, and a terrific sense of rhythm and showmanship. Wilson is a perfectionist by nature and is never satisfied with his own performance regardless of how well he is received.  He always feels he should have done better since his one aim is to satisfy his listener to the fullest.

From the muscle wrenching glory of the athletic track to the limelight in rhythm and blues to the torrid tempos of the bongos, that's the life of Wilson David, who is currently the undisputed idol of the local teenage pop fans..."

How come today's Singapore boys and girls are not screaming for our own home grown artistes?

Images: Personal Collection.
Article: Original and Back Sleeve Cover Write-up.
You can read more about these artistes by clicking on Labels below.

"The Jets" Instrumental Group From Singapore

(Image from left: Rhythm guitar: Herald Chiang, Bass guitar: Alan Poh. Drums: Richard Tan and Lead Guitar: Edward Tan. (Philips ME-0127-JE recorded in May, 1965).

This posting is not about the Qantas A380 in Singapore that was supposed to have "engine failure", nor is it about any Boeing or Rolls Royce mechanical problem. The Jets is a Singapore band.

Since the term denotes speed and power, it was not surprising to find half a dozen other instrumental groups using this name. The four boys, who were active on this island state and the Asian region, formed in October 1963.

A telephone call to one of these boys, an old friend, resulted in an interesting chat that revealed much, but bassist Alan Poh, being the busy businessman that he is, was not able to take time off for more discussion regarding his versatile and popular 60s guitar group.

Alan, who is still running a successful family insurance business today, promised that we should meet when he had more time, as it had been more than 40 years since this group of Jets disbanded in December 1966.

                You Tube Video by Malaysiaboleh: Singapore The JETS 1960's guitar group

So once again I am quoting the information from the back sleeve-cover of the Extended Play record (image).

Some Sleeves Speak (Edited):
"For an instrumental group formed only a year ago, THE JETS have established quite a spectacular popularity and - true to their name - with remarkable speed too.

However, success has not been that easy for THE JETS because of the keen competition that prevails nowdays in the world of pop instrumentalists. It has been a matter of 'Triumph Through Trials' indeed, for much perseverane, tolerance and above all sincere keenness were demanded of each of the boys before their efforts could be rewarded with a recording contract.

Vital to their success as an established group of pop guitarists - in great demand for TV performances and for the entertainment world - is the driving force behind them - Robert Lim, whose dynamic skill as a true leader has proved and is proving a great stimulus to the group.

In this EP album THE JETS present to you such scintillating numbers of their own composition as Aurora and The Meteor by Edward Tan. Fantasy and Escapee were composed jointly by Alan Poh and Edward Tan."

The group had also recorded four more guitar instrumentals: Blues Away, Express Train, The Big Beat Beat and Alice In Dreamland on Philips ME- 0130-JE in July 1965 (below).

In a third Philips EP, they accompanied Wilson David (popularly known as 'Singapore's Elvis Presley') with I'll Never Be Mad At You, Yours I Love To Be By Your Side and Jezebel. Again two of the songs are Singapore originals and composed by Alan Poh.

When 3 fresh members joined Edward Tan to form the new Jets in 1967, they recorded an EP on the Blue Star label cutting: Five Hundred Miles, Unchained Melody, When I Was Young, Fever.

But that is another story and posting.

Do you know the rest of the boys?

Image and You Tube Video: Universal Music Singapore and Malaysiaboleh.

Article/Image: Andy Lim Collection.