Sunglasses Turn To Moonglasses In Singapore

Marlon Brando, the bravado with 

his shades and the big bike.

Shades On Stage

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Sunglasses:

Sunglasses have been fashion accessory since the 1940's but others believe that these spectacles with dark coloured lenses have existed since the 1920's. 

Some people thought they were invented because film stars needed them to protect their eyes from the extremely powerful arc lights on movie sets; others felt that sun glasses were invented for the beach.

Dark Dark Sunglasses by The Kittens. 

Video: shinsuke oldiesjuke.

Simply, it's just a pair of dark glasses to protect your eyes from the glare of the blinding sun. Then came the UV ray and computer professional theories and later the LASIK operation which hyped the wearing of this fashion trend. 

Sunglasses has a history in itself. A long time ago, in the US, they were commonly known as shades and Marlon Brando (image on bike) had them for his 1954 movie On The Waterfront and Elvis Presley (right) wore them while jamming in a scene for his 1970 bio movie, That's The Way It Is. These dark-lens spectacles were known to have dated way back when into Roman times and 12th Century China.

Pop stars known to wear sunglasses included, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Freddie Mercury, John Lennon, Mick Jagger, Boy George, James Dean, Bob Marley, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. An endless list?

Except for Yoko Ono and a few other lady singers, most female stars do not put on dark glasses for obvious reasons.

Call them what you may, sunglasses were identified differently in various countries. Known as glares in India; speckies in Australia; sunnies in Africa, UK and NZ. The Scots called them glecks and the Middle East, cooling glasses.

In Singapore they were ordinarily known as sun glasses, shades, black specs, sun specs or simply dark glasses. 

Our Singapore band boys wore them constantly. And featured images were our own pop stars from The Quests, The Jets and The Stylers. Know them?

There were different types too; Aviator, Oversized, Shutter Shades, Tea Shades, Wayfarer and Wrap Around. The more starry-eyed youngsters in the 1960's, to show off their expensive taste, called them Ray Ban.

Cursing first, "Damn sun." Then, "Alamak, I left my Ray Ban Aviator at home!" 

Moonglasses

What surprised me was in the early 1960's when everyone was rock n rollin' on the ballroom floor at Paya Lebar Airport night club I saw a dancing couple wearing a pair of sunglasses. No difference actually because they were ordinary shades worn at night. 

It could have started because of Roy Orbison's (left) iconic glasses. There was a cult following when our Only The Lonely pop star made night sunglasses a cool habit among singers. 

Because of his own experience with prescription glasses in 1963, he ended on stage one evening wearing a pair. The idea must have caught on. And they called them, moonglasses?

There were singers who needed to wear them permanently, even at night. They were: Jose Feliciano, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Ronny Milsap and Roy Orbison.

Like cats we copied, and soon the band boys were wearing moonglasses on stage at night. Their excuse was simple; the glare of the stage lights were blinding. So moonglasses were in vogue for a while during Singapore's 60's music craze (images below show *Malay singer Ismail Haron and *Chinese guitar group The Bees). 

Walking the evening streets in Singapore in the 1960's it was easily noticeable that the trend had caught on like wildfire. As the Pokemon phenomenon is today, just imagine a whole lot of youngsters walking around in the middle of the night, with dark glasses on their faces, shading themselves from the moon glare?

I remember one evening when a group of us, some with moonglasses, had to walk to a makeshift carpark (not many beautiful carparks like they have today). It was after a performance at a Changi beach club.

There was a loud thud and we saw our drummer boy fall on the sandy shore. He had bumped into a coconut tree in the dark of night. His pair of moonglasses was still dangling on one ear when we went to 'rescue' him.

Are moonglasses still popular today? Of course but not so spectacular as it was yesterday. You can still see Silver Strings Michael Bangar wearing them during performance, day and night.

Do you have stories to tell about your shades?

*Singers and bands are versatile. Ismail Haron, who had passed on, was a Malay and The Bees was basically a Chinese guitar group but they sang and played western music as well.

Images from: A Personal Collection and Google.

Article is original and some information from Wikipedia and Internet sites.

Roy Orbison and Moonglasses. 

Click below to read:

http://singapore60smusic.blogspot.sg/2009/03/roy-orbison-pretty-woman-moonglasses.html

                                         Ooh, here's a nasty one!

'Sunglasses' - Sandy Posey. 

Video from YouTube by BladeSteve2007. 

as suggested by stephen han.

images: from google.

Horseshoes: Freakish Fashion Footwear 60s Teens

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"Me and my friend came walking down the avenue/Just like the girls we had nothing to do/So we both whistled but they wouldn't look back/And four little heels went clickety-clack... 'Four Little Heels' (Brian Hyland)".

I remember in the 60s when Beatle boots were in fashion. Nearly every Singapore band boy was buying a pair to show his worth. 

Some of these boots even had cleats (left image) which were metal on the sole, supposedly to provide secure footing.  They made a clickety-clack sound to announce the arrival of the proud user who would display his footwear either on the streets or the dance floors.

The heel has a horseshoe and 

the upper sole has 3 studs.

Then came the extraordinary.  Some of these boots and common leather sneakers or loafers were fitted with horseshoes, yes, horseshoes.  Youth of yesteryear had genuine horseshoes on soles to prance and gallop around with.

"See the way he walks down the street/Watch the way he shuffles his feet/My, he holds his head up high/When he goes walking by, he's my guy/When he holds my hand, I'm so proud/'Cause he's not just one of the crowd... 'He's A Rebel' (Gene Pitney)."

This freakish fashion footwear was the ultimate in the 1960s as teenagers would cock their fancy studs, some with cowboy Stetson hats and flowery patterned garb to boot!  Like the younger guys today, 60s kids wanted to be different. Like James Dean -  a rebel without a cause.


Horseshoe on sneakers or loafers.

I bought a pair of horseshoes myself and had them nailed to my boots for a while.  They were shiny when new and rusty when used and had holes for the iron nails to fit into.  Some boys had the horseshoes nailed loosely on the leather heels to accentuate the sound. In fact, the owner could tighten or loosen the nails until they were comfortable. They went chink, chink, chink as the owner strutted around.  Exciting it was! 


Brian Hyland - Clickety, Clack. 

Video from YouTUBE by Oz Malo.

I don't remember where I bought my pair of horseshoes but they were available at the cobblers on the streets, in shoe-shops and at some hardware places but when my father saw me one evening clickety-clacking in the middle of the night on the cement floor of our home he literary put his foot down.  I had to get rid of them sooner than I thought.

"Do anything that you want to do, but uh-uh,/Honey, lay off of my shoes/Blue, blue/'Blue Suede Shoes'... (Carl Perkins)."

"The boots look good but the chink, chink, chink sound is annoying!" remarked my father glancing at my shoes while reading his favourite Indonesian newspaper.

Rusty horseshoes and large cleats on boots.

Of course, I didn't get rid of them but hid them in my cupboard and would only put them on when I was out of the house. So with slick, greasy hair, a pair of moon-glasses, a yellow shirt, tight drainpipe blue jeans and leather boots I thought I had it made. But it didn't go that way for me. Ah, but it was fun while it lasted.

"Now I’m stepping out this old brown shoe/Baby I’m in love with you/I’m so glad you came here/It won’t be the same now,/I’m telling you... 'Old Brown Shoes'. (The Beatles)."

#With the latest dance craze where Gangnam Style takes the world by storm and Korean singer Psy leading the pack of galloping horses followed by nearly one billion YouTube viewers, I am just wondering how effective the movements will be if he wears a pair of boots with cleats and horseshoes intact. 

These gadgets are made for the speedy trots. But there will be more noise I suppose. Someone could offer him a pair of these shoes when he comes to Singapore 's Marina Bay Sands (MBS) on Saturday, l December 2012. Perhaps you could do it? 

24.7.2023.

Jimmy Chng [percussionist says]: 

"My brother had these fitted onto his shoes. When he pillioned me on his motorcycle at night, he would take his feet off the foot-rests and let the heels of his shoes make contact with the tarmac.

This resulted in twin streams of bright sparks - like what you would see when metal comes into contact with a spinning grindstone. What a sight it was!"

Studs, for his Beatle Boots, 

as donated by Ivor Lesslar,

lead guitarist from 'Limited Edition'.

Images from http://tapgrrl.wordpress.com

Gangnam: http://www.alldayjokes.com/2012/09/oppan-gangnam-style-cartoon-gif.html

Original Article: Andy Lim.

He's A Rebel - The Crystals. 

You Tube Video by: numbersnesongs111.