Andy 60s Music: Sippin' Soda, Singing The Blues, Heartaches... 50's Guy Mitchell

Singapore scene in the 50's.

A 'Milk Bar' Or 'Restaurant' in town.

Singaporeans call them 'cold drinks'.

In the US they are 'sodas'.

Th3ee songs by a guy called, Guy Mitchell, that combine to create a neat love theme.

In 1950's Singapore, when there were well-known drink shops selling cold, sweet, fizzy beverage and coffee, tea and ice-cream like A&W, Magnolia Snack Bars and Ice Cream Parlours, the U.S. had what they called, soda shops selling the same.

A song, weaving around these items, became an instant hit when teens those years heard it. Sippin' Soda, simple and sophisticated topped the charts with Guy Mitchell describing his instance with:

The prettiest girl I ever saw

Was sippin' soda through a straw

I asked her what she sat there for

Just sippin' soda through a straw

So they became friends and he described the happy ending with the young lady:

I held her hand and she held mine

We sipped and sipped and sipped some more

This is the end, there is no more

Of sippin' soda through a straw.

We knew the chorus well.

Sippin' Soda by Guy Mitchell. 

YouTube Video by Gray Eyes123

So you win some or lose some. After a few dates you say your goodbyes and stay...

 

Guy Mitchell

...at home listening to the radio.

Remembering those years in the mid-fifties, when I was only a teen and listening on my dad's radio, a song kept me glued to the loudspeaker. What else was there to do? 😆 

Fascinated, I faintly heard the title, but it was one of the first few songs that I loved and kept singing it all these years. Yes, a swinging song but it did keep my blues away...

Guy Mitchell: "Singing The Blues" 

on The Ed Sullivan Show. 

YouTube from: The Ed Sullivan Show. 

So, if you had a girlfriend then and she left you later, there is also a song to get you by:

Guy Mitchell: Heartaches By The Number.

YouTube Video By: John1948FiveE

That's how teens and those in their 20s, 30s and 40s pass some of their free time in the 1950's and beyond folks. No mobile phones though.

This building had a Milk Bar called, Wonderland and was situated next to the now non-existent Roxy Cinema at East Coast Road. On the ground floor was the DBS Bank. Many young ones spent their day having meals and drinks at the Wonderland.

[Updated Posting]

China's National Anthem: (中国国歌) Edwin Goh Remembers!

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I have asked this friend, a Historian and also a former director at RELC Singapore, to tell me why he loves the national anthem of China. He explains that it is only the music, lyrics and vitality of the song that he appreciates.

As a child, he used to live in the central area of Singapore and would be listening to it every day, five days a week. You know how a melody affects the listener when it is played repeatedly. It just sticks in the mind. He knows it as Qilai (起来) or 'rise up'. This story goes back to 1945 and he was about 7 years young.

              Anthem of China - 中国国歌 - Video: balancedaustralia

"Here's my story of my first encounter with what became China's National Anthem. It was the end of the Japanese Occupation in Singapore. I was barely five when the Chinese school on a hill above my attap and timber house would end the day with the Qi Lai song blaring from a loudspeaker. 

Not long after, the song was no more: it was banned by the British colonial government. But it lingered on in my memory over many years. 

Today thanks to the internet I can sing the whole song as a tribute to a people who have risen to great heights of achievement from the depths of imperialism, disunity and poverty."

An Original Post: Edwin Goh.

Pinyin:
Qilai! Buyuan zuo nuli de ren men, 
Ba women de xuerou zhucheng women xin de chang cheng. 
Zhonghua ! Minzu dao liao zui weixian de shihou, 
Meigeren beipo zhe fachu zuihou de housheng. 
Qilai! Qilai! Qilai!
Women wanzhong yixin, 
Mao zhe diren de paohuo, 
Qianjin! 
Mao zhe diren de paohuo, 
Qianjin! Qianjin! Qianjin! Jin! 

English:
Arise, ye who refuse to be slaves; 
With our very flesh and blood 
Let us build our new Great Wall! 
The peoples of China are in the most critical time, 
Everybody with one mind, 
Brave the enemy's gunfire, 
March on! 
Brave the enemy's gun must roar his defiance. 
Arise! Arise! Arise! Millions of hearts ire, 
March on! 
March on! 
March on, on! 

Copyright: 
Lyrics © Original Writer and Publisher.

Disclaimer:

The writer recalls a song he appreciates. There is no political agenda to this posting; peace is the key to a better world.

Source: 
https://www.lyricsondemand.com/n/nationalanthemlyrics/chinanationalanthemlyrics.html

Images: Google.
YouTube Video from balancedaustralia.

''Play It Again, Sam.'' Singapore 60's Music Living Legend

Sam Gan Pianist - A Singapore Music Living Legend 

It was a new year surprise when Sam Gan wrote all the way from Perth with a lovely letter about his music beginnings. 

Thanks Sam and a great 2022 to you. Have a safe and pleasant year.

A New Year Letter from the Ole Vic.

Hi Andy,

I did my First performance at the VMH in 1951 as the winner of the Junior Section of the Singapore Chinese YMCA Piano Competition and played the winning pieces with the Governor of Singapore Sir Franklin Gimson and Lady Gimson presenting the trophy to the winners of the competition. I was 11 years old then and my music teacher was Mr. Benjamin Khoo. 

The next year, 1952, I won the Radio Malaya Series 3 Talentime, again performing at the Victoria Memorial Hall with Kingsley Morando as the compere and the Radio Orchestra conducted by Corr Reif... the numbers I did was a medley of the top songs of the month that included, "In the cool, cool, cool of the evening, Cuddle up a little closer, Jealous Heart and the piece de resistance a Boogie Woogie number composed by Winifred Atwell. The prize money was $25. 

My music teacher for Pops was Mr. Cecil Wilson who was at that time, the bandleader of the Great World Cabaret Orchestra.  After winning the Talentime I was dubbed as the Boogie Woogie Wonder Boy and began doing a lot of performing at different events... all for free... my late father was the one who wanted me to be famous doing all these performances when all I wanted to do as a young boy was to play football, table tennis and other things young boys do... but he was the motivator and I'm eternally grateful for his wisdom and foresight.

Sam Gan, Perth, Australia. 1.1.2022.

🤔😄

Come on my reading friends, let's write in and comment about Sam. He's in his 80's now. Play it again, Sam.*

Sam Gan plays, "I love you for sentimental reasons."

*"Play it again Sam." 

No one really said these words in the movie, 'Casablanca' [1942]. The actual words were, "Play it Sam," spoken by actress Ingrid Bergman to piano player Sam  [Dooley Wilson].

Sam Gan with Michael Bangar behind him in dark glasses. 

According to Mr. Bangar, they all had the pleasure and thrill of jamming with the Maestro at a gig when he was in Singapore on holiday about five years ago. Extreme left was Horace Wee [red guitar], keboardist Hans Solo behind and Francis Danam on bass guitar. Jerry Murad is hidden by the music stand and the late Andrew Soh was on drums. 

[Comment/Photo by courtesy of Mr. Michael Bangar.]

Cyril Terrence de Souza RIP - A Horace Wee Tribute - Andy 60s Music

Terrence de Souza

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He leaves to dance with the flowers and butterflies. To jam with his pals again in heaven.  

Cyril Terrence de Souza was another unsung hero of the Singapore music industry.

He was a warm, kind and generous person and never had a harsh word and always had a calm pleasant disposition. Known by many in the musical circles, he was never one to push himself to the forefront, preferring to diligently play his designated role as a pianist accompanying many of the industry stalwarts.

Over the many years that I’ve known him, playing together in the radio orchestra or meeting him somewhere when  he was playing a solo piano gig or with a small group, it was always - hi, haven’t seen you for ages, how are you and a grin. A quiet man of few words, I never actually engaged in a long conversation with him. When I tried, he always responded in a sentence, probably followed with an agreeable nod or a yes. Very sparing in his words. He did move about with his residences, and I would often ask where he stayed or generally what he was up to. At one time he was staying across the road from me at a house in Gerald Drive.

He was already a working pianist from the 60s but worked in the library of Radio Singapore for many years. It was like he was a pianist-in-waiting for the radio orchestra. The day finally came when he secured the position of pianist. I guess he was really biding his time and jumped at the opportunity.

I would not categorize him as a jazz pianist though he could play in that vein. He could be described as an all round pianist, that could function in any music environment, group or as a solo lounge pianist. There were times I would get up to jam with him if I happened upon one of his gigs. He’d just ask for the tune I wanted to play, nod his head and proceed to play an introduction.

Besides gigging in his later years, he also gave piano lessons. I had heard he was living in Australia these years, and it was a surprise when I found he had returned to Singapore. That was only a few months ago, when his cousin Boni de Souza mentioned visiting him. From the photos, he had aged appreciably and was wheelchair bound.  One never knows the day when life ends and for Terry it was just a few months later. I’m still happy to have recalled some of the times in this quiet man’s company.

Condolences to the family.

Rest In Peace Cyril Terrence de Souza.

16th September 2021.

Written by Horace Wee [Copyrights Reserved].

Image from Val Ortega.

Love our SG musicians, do leave a comment...

Tribute To Billy Yap: Sings Like Perry Como & Tony Bennett

Good friend, Billy Yap passed away on the 31st December 2018.

Below is a tribute and a poem by Lim Kuan Min, former school principal. 

Billy was a lover of jazz standards and sings them just as well.

Billy Yap: Singapore's Answer To Tony Bennett
Written on September 9th in 2013

A few years ago I went with a friend to a recording studio where he recorded some popular standards like Strangers in the Night, Too Young, It's Impossible to name a few (check below image for list).  

There was no trial run before his recording, no notes he found too high and no mistakes made in his lyrics. His rendition of the songs he selected was perfectly pitched, clearly defined and peppered with the touch and feel of a professional.

Billy Yap who is 82 this year (2013), sings like Tony Bennett with a voice so smooth ladies swoon when he sings at house parties, wedding dinners, and karaoke sessions.  To me, Billy Yap is Singapore's, Tony Bennett. 

"I need no big band accompaniment," he says proudly, "Just give me a good pianist who can feel my song. The other alternative is a quality, karaoke backing..."

Perry Como And I Love You So 

A retired teacher, table-tennis super league player and great-grandfather Billy says he practices during Karaoke sessions with friends and family. He has been singing for the past 70s years and his musical ability stems from his mother who used to play the piano and sing after the family dinner. 

Billy sings everywhere; in the house, in the car and during our kopi sessions at Thompson Plaza. He tells me he even sings in the bathroom and before he goes to bed. During a group journey overseas, Billy sang using the microphone on the tourist bus. It was a trip heading to Beijing, China.  Most of the tourists in the bus loved Chinese pops so when he sang, I left my heart in San Francisco, I thought he would be in deep trouble. Instead, the 35-strong group cheered and asked for more.  

When I asked Billy what he thought of today's pop scene he remarked, "Singers do not sing the evergreens like they should be sung.  Nowadays current singers interpret the composition in their own way and it becomes a totally new song. It's a personal opinion." Well, Billy, I have heard his duets with some of today's pop stars.  They sound great actually.

He attended the Andy and Silver Strings Concert at the Esplanade in 2009 with Kuan Min. It would have been a privilege to invite him on stage but Billy was most comfortable with karaoke or just a piano to accompany him.

He only printed about 10 copies of his CDs that come with the package. He has given them away except the one for himself. We cannot afford Tony Bennett to sing at our home parties but Billy is available if you need someone to croon evergreens. No charge actually. Just drive him to the venue and back. He would love to sing for you.

"Strangers in the night, Exchanging trousers, Love at first sight, What are the chances?" One of Billy's jokes!

BILLY
(written when Billy was ill in hospital)

by: Lim Kuan Min

Not a cheery morn for me,

When I learned
Billy again warded.
Now in mid 80s
Lost his usual vigour
And humour,
A hand in perpetual tremor.
Can't recognise me
Oftentimes when I call.
Our friendship
Born in the '70s
When I was 20s
And Billy 30s
A decade plus separating.
Both Aries we click
Like an older bruh to me, he is.
A charmer with dimpled smile
That must have won the hearts
Of fair ladies aplenty with his wit
Humour, gentlemanliness.
Always a kind soul
With a generous spirit,
But an easy target for cheats,
He sees only goodness in people

Billy Yap with Lim Kuan Min and Stephen Han in front at the Esplanade Concert in 2009

Together with SS Andy
We travelled and bonded
Through Land of Smiles
Land of Dragons.
Once, he zoomed in from Melbourne,
Met us at Changi,
Without skipping a beat,
Off we winged to Beijing.
Wife lost thru illness,
Fire ravaged his home,
Billy survives loneliness
Material loss stoically

With warmth of family, friends, laughter.
Sings like Perry Como

Even recorded an album*,
A treasured gift in my possession.
Time flies, our friendship lasts
Into our twilight moment,
Meeting, bantering, reminiscing
Of times spent in bygone days
About people, places, happenings.
Moved into a 3-roomer
His pure white Samoyed by his side,

Billy often seen at Bishan Park strolling.

Health failing, more and more

In solitude, he seeks solace.
Meetings less frequent
As aging cruelly saps his vigour
And Vitality.
Billy,
With heavy heart I pray that Heaven is kind
Whatever your illness.
Hopefully, waiting the day of your Homecoming.
🙏

Images: Google and Andy Lim Collection.

Blog Statistics: Chinese New Year Dog Zodiac 2018

Singapore Had Great Music Before Cliff Richard came:

A big thank you for reading my music blog. It has reached about 60,000 monthly readers (20 February 2018) and beyond 70,000 views on 3 March 2018. I am glad to have interested some of you in our local music and its influence from around the world.

The 60's was huge for Singapore's music boys and girls. But please don't forget that we really didn't start from there. Way before that we had a lot of imported influence internationally. People from all over the globe visited our port to trade and bring in goods, services and of course, music. 

Many of us had radios that we listened to every day and night because we had neither television nor computers or even Rediffusion to entertain us. A few had 78 rpm records to play on their gramophone grinding machines. And the most famous dog of all famous dogs was listening to His Master's Voice on this machine.

The most famous music dog of all, HMV or His Master's Voice which started in England.

The three entertainment Worlds, The Great World at Kim Seng Road, The New World at Kitchener Road and The Happy World at Geylang Road brought in international entertainment that most Singaporeans in the 50's could enjoy. 

There were singers and musicians at these Worlds. The Happy and Great World cabarets had Chinese artistes, the Happy (Gay) World stadium had Xavier Cugat with Abbe Lane and Pasir Panjang's West Point had Filipino musicians. 

Xavier Cugat with wife Abbe Lane was in Singapore in the 50's.

The Flamingos combo band and the first vocal group ever to have cut a vinyl, The Crescendos, were already singing their lungs out. Singapore music came way back when, before Cliff Richard and The Shadows hit our trail. 

On the other hand, the vibrant music scene in some of our hotels, like the Raffles and Goodwood, the nightclubs, divas from our surrounding countries were already engaged at the microphones and stages to provide live entertainment, backed by some of the finest professional musicians around.

And so on.

 You can read these stories from this blog. Bits and pieces but all in place. 

Check the CONTENT bar on the right column of this page or just hit your mouse or finger on the MOST POPULAR to start (images above).

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Article: A nostalgia trip.

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