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.

Singapore 60s Music: Chatter Matters: A Letter From Abroad. Searching For A Long Lost Friend.

CHATTER MATTERS! 

Full letter extract from

the Blog's Comment pages.

The anonymous letter below has never been answered. If anyone is familiar with the circumstances and is known to the writer, do reply on this blog. Thank you.

Hi Andy,

"I’m so happy to see the picture of your band Velvetones, because in 1964 I have a pen friend called *Charles Tung, of Chinese dad and English mum; he and his friends formed a group called the Velvetones too and later changed to Cormorants. His friends are Wilson Ong, Sam and Sammy the drummer; the three off them are guitarists.

Then in 1978 when I was moving house I lost his photographs, address, as he had just moved too. I wonder if any of you know anything about these boys. We are now almost 80 years and as my family can to go for a holiday in Singapore, he had always liked to talk about how nice your country is and had always wanted us to go visit whenever we can. 

So I hope if any of you can help me please find my friend. He has a younger brother called *Walter, a younger sister called *Linda and for a long time they lived with their parents at 110 Dorset Road Singapore 8 . I would very much appreciate your help.

The sixties had the best music and songs. We are lucky to have passed through that era. Thank you so much in advance. I pray to get some good news."

Anonymous Writer/Country Unknown. 2.7.2023.

Elvis Presley: 'Return To Sender'

YouTube Video by: Reigh Phillip Clayton.

Andy Replies:

Hello,

If there is any response, your friends will write to me. I shall give them your email address if you send it to me. You must also provide me your full name, address and the country you are from.

I shall not publish your address, etc. on this blog. It will remain confidential.

3.7.23.

Lee Yee: (李逸) Part 2: Late Singer From Johore Malaysia: Tributes

Two letters honouring the late Lee Yee...

Forty three years after his death in a road accident, Lee Yee is still remembered by his family, neighbours, friends and fans. Here are two letters taken from his 2017 posting on this music blog, where two readers wrote in last year (2022) to pay their tribute. This singer is one of the most popular, truly...

    UP TO 300 VIEWS,  

12 COMMENTS, CHATS

Letter 1

李逸和婷婷的朋友， 苏先生 [28.06.2022] wrote:

Thank you for your very detailed write up on Lee Yee, the No: 1 Male Singer in the 70s. To be honest, not much had written about 李逸 in English; yours is probably the most detailed write up about him that I have read so far. 

I had known Lee Yee since about 1975, he and Ting Ting moved into their new house only meters from our house when they got married in mid 1975. Still remember clearly that it was soon after the release of the famous concert play, (唐伯虎点秋香) and his probably most famous and popular No: 3 album (唱首情歌给谁听)。

There are still thousands of fans following and listening to his music on YouTube, Facebook, etc. There are up to a dozen of his fan clubs on social media, some boasting more than 10,000 members。

Letter 2:

👍T.J. Magsakay [1.10.2022] wrote:

Lee Yee was a famous Malaysian Mandarin Singer during the 60s-70s decade. Ke Ai De Ma (Lovely Horse) was adapted from a Japanese Enka Ballad Tassha Dena (See You Soon) originally sung by Michiya Mihashi (1920-1996) a famous Enka singer from the 1940s-1950s era. 

Lee Yee was born Lee Kim Peow on January 10, 1942 in Pengerang, Johor, Malaysia. He started his career in the RTM Green Network Singing Contest in 1961. And Chang Shou Qing Ge Gei Shui Ting (Whom Can I Sing This Love Song) was released in 1964. He had lots of albums and concerts. 

Lee Yee died of a road rage accident in 1980 while the World Tour of Eric Clapton started in the Hall. He is a Henghwa with ancestral roots from Putian, Fujian, China. He is the son of a farmer and fisherfolk Lee was buried in Nirvana Memorial Park on April 30, 1980 after a wake was held on 27-29 of the same month which is before May of that year. 

He was a graduate of Tunku Abdul Rahman University, Chung Leng High School, St John's Insititute in Johor, Malaysia and worked in a ceramic company as a manager of the boss which happened to be Yee Hock Tong Trading Sendirian Berhad （余学堂留易股份有限公司）in Johor Bahru, Johor, near Pengerang his hometown; which was founded in the 1950s by Goh Tuk Heow （吴铁球 1903-1981) born in Sarawak and died in Las Vegas, Nevada of a heart attack and where he had migrated to because of overpopulation. 

Readers can read the original 2017 post by clicking the link below:

https://singapore60smusic.blogspot.com/2017/10/lee-yee-malaysian-hearthrob-not.html

It has up to 12,000 views.

[Please credit this blog if information is abstracted from this post.]

李逸 Lee Yee - 祝你順風 Zhu Ni Shun Feng 

(Official Video)

YouTube: Life Records Chinese

Like Coke Without The Bubbles? No! It's Passion n Consistency!

Hi Andy,

It is an achievement to be able to sustain the interest of even 2000 people a month on a regular basis on any given topic. What you have done could not be the result of a faint heart or a lame endeavour. It takes passion and consistency to incessantly create stories that your international readership can relate to and is stimulating enough to make them keep coming back to your blog for more. 

Your enthusiasm for your work makes the difference! Without it, there would be no zest! Like Coke without the bubbles! Flat! On behalf of all your readers, I wish to appeal to you to not even consider stopping your very fine work but to keep up with your enthusiasm for your unique blog. 

I am still hopeful that one day soon, the relevant authority in SG would officially recognize your work! It is strange but nonetheless true, no prophet will find acceptance in his own country! A case in point, recently the Australians conferred an award on Matthew Tan for his contributions to Country Music. 

I am of the view that it is SG that should have taken the initiative for such an award! Of course not only for Matthew but for other iconic local musicians as well, like Henry Chua and others!

Be that as it may, here's wishing you continued success in all your efforts to preserve our music heritage! God bless!

John Cher 

July 21st, 2016.

John was the drummer for 

'Silver Strings' from 2015.

Rolling Stones: Angry. "My Parents Went Ballistic. Clandestine Listening..." By Matsam.

The Rolling Stones: [Angry] Official Video. 

YouTube Video: The Rolling Stones.

 "And I saw the Stones on YouTube last week 

when they released their new album!" [Matsam]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mEC54eTuGw&t=79s

It's an anonymous letter from 'Matsam' but boy oh boy, one of the best written by anyone since this blog started. Just read on... But thanks Matsam for the vibrant words and phrases. You made my day.

"I was 9 years old and saw the report in the Straits Times Singapore, the next day. It was full of screaming crowds, hysterical girls fainting and carried away to ambulances and the cops joining the free fray. 

My parents went ballistic, said this wretched pop music and evil personified Rolling Stones who could send people mad was a sign of the end times. I was told not to listen to corrupting pop music ever! 

Rolling Stones In Singapore in the 60's.

Image: Alex Schumacher. 

https://singapore60smusic.blogspot.com/2018/03/rolling-stones-celebrate-chap-goh-meh.html

Well that sent me listening to all the pop I could clandestinely listen on the radio when my folks weren’t around. Nothing tastes better than stolen fruit. 

Cut to the present, I’m 67, and my wife literally dances with rage, when I turn on the music loud in the house everyday. And I saw the Stones on YouTube last week when they released their new album!"

Written by: MATSAM. 

Sep 15, 2023, 2:02 PM.

The Rolling Stones

https://wallpaperaccess.com/the-rolling-stones-band

'Angry' by: The Rolling Stones

Album 'Hackney Diamonds' [Label: Polydor]

Mick Jagger – lead and backing vocals, guitar

Keith Richards – guitar, bass guitar

Ronnie Wood – guitar

Additional musicians

Matt Clifford – piano

Steve Jordan – drums

Andrew Watt – production, backing vocals, percussion.

Disclaimer:

The new Rolling Stones video on this post is a reply to Matsam's letter when he personally mentioned the new song 'Angry' in his message. The YouTube video posted, which belongs to the Rolling Stones [Polydor], will be deleted immediately if it contravenes Copyright Laws. Thank you.

Leaving A Singapore Music Heritage: By Wilfred Lim

UP TO 600 VIEWS, 20 COMMENTS, CHATS

Dear Andy,

Many people have not heard of the expression, 'No man is an island'. They do not think of leaving a heritage. They only live for themselves. Unlike for example... like  what you are doing for others through your present MUSIC BLOG. It will be remembered for perpetuity that is when you are long gone... people outside your own family will remember you as the creator of this music blog.

Whereas in my case only my immediate family members will, hopefully, remember me from time to time... By comparison your music blog will go on as long as there is music. That's why I was glad you did not let a local organisation take over your music blog when they approached you some years ago. 

Well done my friend! This blog is your niche. No one can take it away. God Bless you my brother! Am proud of you! 

Wilfred Lim.

18.08.2023.

An old classmate from St. Andrew's Singapore, London-trained architect Wilfred Lim has always been honest and sincere with his words. We have been keeping in touch for many years even after his studies in London.  

Wilfred is not only a lawn tennis ace, he plays the guitar, teaches the ukulele and writes with distinction.

Thanks Wilfred for the encouraging words and for writing the letter independently. Like you said, we are octogenarians and have been a long time on Mother Earth, so no faking the media.

Keep that tennis racket swinging my brother. 

Below are two songs, favourites of Wilfred's.

Have I Told You Lately That I Love You: Patti Page

YouTube Video by: Mr. blindfreddy9999

How Great Thou Art: Elvis Presley

YouTube Video from: George Smith

LIVE FROM STATISTICS COUNTER:

Images: Google.

Singapore's Illustrious Solidarity: Soiree & De Rigueur: A Letter From Jean

UP TO 2,000 VIEWS

   15+ COMMENTS   

Actress, Singer: Jane Birkin 

Famous for her song: 'Je T'aime'.

and the Hermes Birkin bag, which is named after her.

https://www.nieuwsblad.be/cnt/dmf20170529_02902097

Jean Writes From The Past:

*Hello Andy, 

I know I'm a bit late with this post as I came across your blog while looking up Amber Mansion's Celestial Room. My late mother (who was a Eurasian from Katong in Singapore) often talked about the tea dances there and how jovial & classy they were. Everyone made an effort to dress smartly for a soirée back then. Elnett sprays for girls and Brylcreem or Tancho for the boys were de rigueur.

Thanks for the picture. It gave my search an added identity to my Mum's anecdotes about her teen years in her beloved Singapore in the 50/60s. She was so proud to have come from a rich multiracial society that was/is Singapore. Such solidarity is illustrious and unseen elsewhere in the world.

Cheers Andy!

Yesterday Yes A Day - Jane Birkin. 

YouTube Video by: Nikita Chen.

This song is for Jean, one of her favourites.

Hi Jean,

Thanks for the beautiful tale about your late mother. She must have been quite a 'cool cat' those years.

Glad to hear about Elnett, Brylcreem and Singapore's multi-racial face. You are right about solidarity being "unseen elsewhere in the world."

Appreciate your visit. I went to your profile but could not link to your blog...

Writer *Jeanne

*Hi Andy,

Excuse me for the late reply due to heavy workload.
I have no blog yet. I meant to seriously open one about my passion for Egyptian and Greek archeology but just never got round to it yet LOL. No time lah. One day soon I hope.

I go through your fabulous blog whenever I get the chance. Its a comfort zone for nostalgia buffs like me. Thank goodness for the Internet that's changed almost everyone's lives in creating a global village with communication at the touch of our fingers.

Cheers Andy!

Jean,

Thanks so much for your huge support. It's letters like yours that keep me going. If you're still reading this blog, please reply. Thirteen years is a long time.

[This note from Jean, written in May 2009, is a re-post.]

*Jean or Jeanne to the Francophiles. I'm trilingual and love my dog and cat, animals and their welfare, music, The Golden Girls, jogging, the ocean, Spain, weekends, sleeping, sweet desserts. I grew up in Asia and London before moving back home. Schooling was unconventional to say the least but I always got good grades anyway. My heroes are my parents, Mother Theresa of Calcutta and Aung San Suu Kyi.

Amber Mansion in the 60s. 

And where Dhoby Ghaut MRT is located today.

Singapore's Pop Music History For Tertiary Students - Interest

https://wallpaperaccess.com/study-girl

Hello Mr. Young,

I’m a student at a local university and I’m currently working with a team on a research project about local Singaporean music in the 1960s, specifically focused on the local pop genre. While we were researching, we came across your blog on Singapore music of the 60s, and read that you fronted a couple of bands back then - the Swallows being one of them. 

Would you be open to a short interview with us? 

We understand that we are still in the midst of the COVID-19 climate and we’re open to doing the interview online! In the event that you are open to being interviewed, we would also like to ask for your permission to record it and use it for a class presentation. This is a non-profit project only for educational purposes but the website is likely to be made public. 

We’d love to hear your insights on this topic! Do feel free to let me know if you have any enquiries. Thank you so much for your time, looking forward to your reply😊 

Best wishes,

Simone.

[This letter has been edited.]

History of Hawaiian Music & Dance In Singapore: Researcher: Dr. Eriko Ogihara-Schuck

Dear Andy

Thank you for creating this wonderful blog, "Singapore 60s: Andy's Pop
Music Influence."  As part of a book project on Singapore's creative
reception of American popular culture, I have frequently consulted and
benefited from this most extensive resource on the topic.

Your blog mentions that some of your Silver Strings band mates were pupils of
Singapore's Hawaiian guitarist Harry Martinez. Did you also know him?

Reading books about music, transcribed interviews with Martinez and
newspaper articles, I have learned that he was a pioneer of Hawaiian music
in Singapore, performing and teaching the Hawaiian guitar before World War
II. During the Japanese Occupation he formed a Hawaiian band after being
relocated to Bahau. In the post-war period, he performed Hawaiian music on
a weekly radio program and mesmerized the British Malayan audience.

With special interest in exploring the history of Hawaiian music and dance
in Singapore, my desire is to learn in depth about Martinez, his
work, and everything possible from people who knew him by direct contact
or were his fans. Additionally other Hawaiian guitarists like Barney
Morier, Anthony Danker, Jose Daroya and Benedict De Souza are of
interest. I would appreciate it if you and your readers are able to share
your memories of these musicians.

Dr Eriko Ogihara-Schuck
Lecturer of American Studies
TU Dortmund University, Germany
--

Thank you again for offering to help me out!

Sincerely,
Eriko  

If anyone can help Dr. Eriko with the information she needs, do write to her at 
email address: eriko.ogihara@tu-dortmund.de.

Otherwise, a direct note, with the necessary information under the Comment page, will be appreciated.

Christmas: For just one day my cares are washed away

                  Mary's Boy Child - Jose Marie Chan (Filipino Singer)

Christmas Letter One:
Here's a Christmas letter from a good friend who was my NZ university classmate. She has contributed much to this blog. Thanks Lin for your thoughts on Yuletide 2015.

Andy, 

I truly support your blog which does a great job in bringing together people of like-minded interests and also in passing down a legacy to the generations after the 60's.

It's the time of year again to be reminded of the reason for the season - to say a word of thanks for the gift of life.

Time also to look back to what's gone on before - had it been smooth sailing or had there been bumps along the way.

I look back at 2015 and know I had groused a lot at the inconsiderate crowds at public places/events; the careless treatment of the natural environment.

I need to be less irked about these issues.  Often I look to the local arts theatre to bring cheer to my soul.  The very talented and creative artistes in their song/verse regale me with their wit and humour on the latest goings-on in the country and I leave the shows with a lighter heart.

If for just one day in the year, my cares are washed away, then Christmas has played its part well with its widely known/sung songs - be they religious or secular - Silent Night, Holy Night; Santa Claus Is Coming To Town.

But there are 12 days to the season just as there are 15 days to Chinese New Year.

We sing the ever popular, "On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, a partridge on a pear tree..."

Now there is a Singapore or rather a *peranakan version by Alvin Oon, "On the first day of Christmas, my **sayang gave to me..."

#A main wayang music CD 
2 chinchalok 
3 kerongsang 
4 buah keluak 
5 box of cherki
6 gula melaka
7 sambal belachan
8 kasut manek
9 kain sarong
10 otah otah
11 sets of chongkak
12 ondeh ondeh. 
So I hope to laugh all the way to 2016. "And, Joy to the world..."

CYLin.
December 24th, 2015,
Singapore.

*    Peranakan = A Straits-born (Straits Settlement) Chinese.
**  Sayang = Love (noun/verb).
#   Perhaps another posting to explain?

Please read the first Christmas letter in the earlier posting below entitled: X'mas Greeting - Standing At The Gate Of The Year.

                   '12 Days of Baba Nyonya Christmas' by Alvin Oon.
Images: Google.
You Tube Video: Alvin Oon.      Read letter 2 below or click 'Home' :

X'mas Greeting - Standing At The Gate Of The Year

​                The Gate of the Year - Video by meganspark.

Christmas Letter Two:
William Meyer, a Singaporean friend of *Denyse Tessensohn, has been living in the UK for decades. He sends an early festive greeting below:

"B​ack in the mists of my childhood years (late 1950's), a pre-teen, I read a poem in my ACS School Annual that deeply moved me and quietly lodged in my now-fading memory throughout the long and winding 50+ years.

I remember cutting it out and sticking the piece of paper on my old bedroom cupboard door with Scotch tape (no blue tack until a few decades later).  As a kid I often used to ponder over the comforting words much like a morning prayer as I got ready for school, or had just a few minutes spare in the middle of my wild childhood days.  Now that my time is starting to draw-in, the fear of the mess I may leave for others to gather up and stick in a rubbish skip when I've gone has got me doing the odd bit of rummaging and chucking-out.  It's currently stuff that my mum and dad brought across the seas when they emigrated from Singapore to the UK that I'm still sifting through for the umpteenth time.

I was going through the contents of their old camphor-wood chest, and got the shock of my life... there was that exact piece of paper, yellowed with the passage of decades, but with words as comforting to me as the day I first read them in my old school annual.  My mum knew I loved these lines and when they uprooted from the old country she'd saved my scrap of paper, carefully removing the sticky tape, and stored it with all her memories and treasures, hoping that one day I would be able to read them again. This action encapsulates the loving​  support that she and my dad always had for whatever I held close to my heart.

Today was that day, and scanned-in on the left is that old piece of paper that I found after all those hidden years - it brought to me a melancholic nostalgia or 'saudade', not just due to the poem, but also the manner of its passage from my childhood room in our old Singapore house to my current flat in London.  Reading it again from the same source for the first time in fifty odd years brings a rather larger than normal lump to my throat from the realisation that all the intervening years have not even slightly dulled ​it's​ emotional charge,​ and I hope you too enjoy the message, and the wonderful serendipity now transformed into an Xmas greeting from us all.

Have a blessed Xmas and may the new year finally bring us the peace and love that all living creatures deserve."

(Thanks to William Meyer for sharing this post and to Denyse for making the request on my behalf.  *Denyse was a fellow lecturer at NIE when we were teaching together in the 2000's.)

God Knows

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: “Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”
And he replied:
“Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”
So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night. And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East.

So heart be still:
What need our little life
Our human life to know,
If God hath comprehension?
In all the dizzy strife
Of things both high and low,
God hideth His intention.

God knows. His will
Is best. The stretch of years
Which wind ahead, so dim
To our imperfect vision,Are clear to God. Our fears
Are premature; In Him,
All time hath full provision.

Then rest: until
God moves to lift the veil
From our impatient eyes,
When, as the sweeter features
Of Life’s stern face we hail,Fair beyond all surmise
God’s thought around His creatures
Our mind shall fill.

The Gate of the Year is the popular name given to the poem by Minnie Louise Haskins (1875-1957). The title given to it by the author was God Knows. She studied and then taught at the London School of Economics in the early twentieth century.

Image: Google.

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnie_Louise_Haskins

Copyrights Reserved.