Jimmy Appudurai-Chua: A Tribute From Ronald Ho [Meltones]

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TRIBUTE to JIMMY APPUDURAI-CHUA 

It was supposed to be a sunny day but the news early this morning that Jimmy Appudurai-Chua, my very good friend, my Meltones bandmate, my classmate from 1955 at St Patrick’s passed away in hospital in England at 8.30pm 29, August 2023 made my sun set. His 76th birthday is 31, August – just two days away.

Jimmy spent most of his adult life in the world of music playing his guitar gleefully and wonderfully. He was happiest with a guitar in his hands. From the Meltones in the 60s to the Straydogs in the 70s and many gigs, he left for England and continued playing music with many bands including the UK Meltones.

Jimmy is one of the nicest people to have walked this earth. He was always cheerful and positive, never had an unkind word and always encouraging others. He lived simply, loved his char-siew, always loyal to his friends and a kampong boy at heart.

From the sandy road of Jalan Sempadan to the green fields of St Patrick’s, Jimmy grew up playfully and happily with his close friends.  From the music stages in Singapore to the music stages in the UK, Jimmy entertained with his guitar skills and in synch with his band-mates. And for his undying love for Mary, the mother of Jesus, he now walks into her arms in heaven. 

Ronald Ho. 

30 August 2023. 10.27 am.

Image: FB Copyrights Reserved

Thanks to Ronald for keeping in touch and writing this piece within an hour, when he confirmed Jimmy had passed away. 

Jimmy Appudurai-Chua with The Meltones. 

Ronald Ho sings: The Young Ones.

Esplanade Theatre: 10 March 2017

YouTube Video: Fabian Foo.

If you take information from this article for your own use, 

at least credit the blog and me because copying is stealing.

Andy.

Connecting to other Jimmy A's posts: 

1. his life story.

2. with Meltones and

3. a student fan, Straydogs, Andy.

https://singapore60smusic.blogspot.com/2020/06/jimmy-appudurai-chua-singapore-born.html

https://singapore60smusic.blogspot.com/2020/08/the-meltones-as-related-by-ronald-ho.html

https://singapore60smusic.blogspot.com/2019/08/straydogs-freedom-played-lecture.html

Jimmy Appudurai with Straydogs: Esplanade 2015.

YouTube Video: Steve Ferzacca.

Straydogs 'Freedom' Played @ Lecture: Student Likes Blog

Some words from a tertiary student who likes this creative blog. Thank you Anon.

"Hi Andy,

I am an undergraduate student majoring in music teaching, and in the course of my studies, I was introduced to and became interested in Singapore's popular music scene in the 60's.

Incidentally, "Freedom", was one of the songs played to us during our lesson. I feel really lucky that I am able to read the stories of the people who wrote this song, and no less from the lead singer himself. I must thank both Byrt Mallanyk for writing about his experience and yourself for creating this blog.

Photo is an illustration depicting a student studying. The enclosed letter is genuine.

Sadly, as a Singaporean youth, I too share the sentiments that the valuable experiences and personal histories of the past are under-appreciated today. In fact, it had never occurred to me that Singapore actually had a popular music scene in the 60's before I learned about them in school. I really appreciate your blog as I enjoy the stories of Singapore's music scene that would have been otherwise left undocumented. 

To me, the lack of awareness of Singapore's popular culture in the past is a very pertinent issue today. I have so many questions that I would like to ask you, and I'd appreciate it if I could discuss them with you via e-mail.

Thank You! 

The Straydogs - 'Freedom' (covered by Reverie ft. Jimmy Appudurai)

Jimmy Appudurai with Andy Young on the train 

in Singapore 2019, after lunch at Marina Bay Sands.

"Your blog is fair and unbiased," says Jimmy when he wrote on his Facebook post in 2020. Thank you Jimmy. You are always mighty kind.

Blog Statistics On Singapore Music Stories

Repent by Straydogs: Singapore 60s's Video by Sg Rebel. Thank you.


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CLICK THE CONNECTION BELOW AND IT WILL TAKE YOU THROUGH OUR LOCAL MUSIC SCENE WITH PERSONALITIES, BANDS AND VENUES FROM THE 60'S AND 70'S. HAVE FUN.

http://singapore60smusic.blogspot.sg/search/label/Singapore%2060s%20Music

**********

One of the stories you will encounter on this blog, The Trekkers, whose lead guitarist is today a successful stock broker in California, USA.

                              Home Recording In 1963. Great Stuff !

A video story of four boys from the East Coast in Singapore aged 13- 15 years from Singapore who started a band in 1961 and played music for fun. They participated in many Talentime (talent quests) and charity shows. 

The guitars they carried were as big as their youngest members. The new style Fender guitars and amplifiers were not available in Singapore in the early 60's. 

The Trekkers members were George Wang ( Drums ), Charles Ng ( Rhythm Guitar ), William Tan ( Bass Guitar ) and Henry Gan ( Lead Guitar ). They played Ventures and Shadows music, Duane Eddy and music from the late Arthur Smith. 

Shindig was one of their favorite Shadows number. This recording was from a jam session at home in 1963.

Connect:
http://singapore60smusic.blogspot.sg/search/label/Singapore%2060s%20Music

Jimi Hendrix Come Alive: Singapore's Ray Anthony

Mr Ray Anthony passed away today on 27th July, 2023. RIP Ray. Condolences to his family...

When Mr. Michael Bangar, who plays rhythm guitar for Singapore pop bands that included The Silver Strings, informed me that he was attending the *Ray Anthony / Jimmy Appudurai gig I asked him if he could cover it for this blog. As usual, he agreed. Mike's knowledge of the genre speaks for itself. 

Thanks Mike for your story.

Hood's Bar n Cafe: Bugis Street, Victoria Street, Singapore: 19/3/2017:

Doors opened at one pm. My buddy Shaikh and myself paid our entrance fee of $20 each, which includes a drink and took up position at the back with a clear view of the goings-on stage wise.

Ray Anthony with his red Fender guitar, son Ryan Marshall on keyboard and original Fried Ice member Gerry (Gerard Bheem) on drums and Felly Chitran on bass guitar. As we watched them do their sound check, we were listening to Steppenwolf's Born To Be Wild.

Their first set started at 2 pm. They opened with a Gary Moore song (unfamiliar). After that songs included Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here, The Doobie Brothers' Long Train Running, Dylan's All Along The Watch Tower, Purple Haze, Stone Free - all Jimi Hendrix Experience numbers (when Hendrix had Noel Redding on bass and Mitch Mitchell on drums).

As in the tradition of the 70's Guitar Hero era, long solos followed between Dad and Son. It was their moment !  After all these years brother Ray Anthony is still as versatile and great as he was.

They ended the set with a Chuck Berry tribute, Johnny B. Goode. And as Ray put it, "Ladies and Gentlemen, we want to pay tribute to a guy who just left us for the big gig up there, Mr. Chuck Berry."

This first set ended at 3.40 pm.

The second set featured a mixed band of two locals and two expatriate members. The band called themselves, Blues 77 and featured Lim Kiang. There was a Chinese gentleman on a guitar, a Caucasian on drums. They all did about half a dozen of their original songs, which were not familiar to many in the audience and myself.

Then *Jimmy Appadurai from The Meltones, Stray Dogs, took over lead guitar and performed Stormy Monday, a blues classic and Fleetwood Mac's My Baby's Good To Me. He was as great as ever and played just like he had done in the late 1960's.

Ray and Company took to the stage again for their third set at 4.35pm. Pink Floyd's Another Brick In The Wall. More of Jimi Hendrix' music followed. There was Hey Joe (when he formed The Band Of Gypsies with Billy Cox and Buddy Miles before his passing), Cry For Love and Them Changes.

Free's, Alright Now, Deep Purple's Smoke on the Water, some more Doobie Brothers and a few more rock classics followed. This set also included drum solos and bass guitar solos towards the end.

The two of us, including John Cher left by 5.45 pm. We did not stay for the jam session gazetted up to 7.00 pm.

Thanks Andy.

Ray Anthony lives in Taiwan while Jimmy A. lives in Cornwall, England.

Click below to read more about Ray Anthony:

https://singapore60smusic.blogspot.com/2017/03/jimi-hendrix-tribute-artiste-ray.html

Images from: Michael Bangar.
Article and images are Copyrighted. 

Jimi Hendrix Of Singapore: Ray Anthony & Fried Ice

LIVE BY WHAT'S APP NOW:

Hood's Bar n Cafe: Bugis/Victoria Street, Singapore: 19/3/2017 @ 2pm:

Here they are folks, guitarist, writer and today's photographer,  Michael Bangar and Silver Strings rhythmist with Ray Anthony, who is also known as Singapore's Jimi Hendrix. He is a south-paw, like a boxer i.e., a left handed guitarist.

It's a scoop. The group Fried Ice who accompanies Ray, is still playing at a venue in Victoria Street now. Gerry Bheem is on the drums and Felly Chitran on bass. 

And the audience in the afternoon at two when they gathered at this place in Victoria Street. Lim Kiang, Jimmy Appadurai and John Cher, the man who's everywhere.

Images: Michael Bangar and John Cher Copyrights Reserved.

Barry Walker Says Local 60s Bands Of Exceptional Standard Part Two



1. RnB with The Figures and vocalist Barry Walker.

Here's Part Two of soldier boy and band boy Barry Walker's Singapore memories when he was here in the 60's and his involvement with local musicians, faces and places. Barry comes to Singapore time and again. We met for lunch when he was here. 

Dear Andy,

There used to be a brilliant little record shop in Koek Road near the Orchard Road market where we could obtain almost anything pop, rock, blues or middle-of-the -road. The Beatles and The Bee Gees were probably the most popular at the time.

2. Cliff Richard @ a record shop Singapore 60s.

All the bands in Singapore were very friendly; some evenings when we had finished playing we would inevitably end up where another band was playing and finally jam with them, which was fantastic.  If we were playing late other singers/ and musicians would jam with us.  

The music played was very diverse; The Straydogs – Rhythm & Blues; The Trailers – Cliff & The Shadows; of course The Quests who were very original at the time; The Dukes –  almost all of the current hit parade favourites, as did The Shades of Blue. 

Heather and The Thunderbirds played originals and songs of the day, The X-Periment and Fried Ice were also great and us, The Figures / The In-Sect who played a lot of blues and soul music.

3. Fu Manchu? No, they are Pietro and The Warlocks

When all was finished we would head for an old converted house called The Fireplace.   From memory, I think it was a private club of some sort where a couple of Danish hippies, so the story goes, painted the whole house in the most amazing colours and together with the lighting really made it look fantastic! I dread to think what might have been going on in there but what a place. The music played was also brilliant and certainly went with the ambience.



One other place to frequent was The Pub in the basement of the Hotel Malaysia at Tanglin Circus. It was probably the original IN place. 

I recall a guy with a bald head and a really long pony tail who dressed in old Chinese style although he was European.  They were called Pietro and The Warlocks; towards the end of their last set, he would swing his ponytail around like an aeroplane propeller - quite a showman he was.

4. Barry meets popular lead guitarist Derek Fitzgerald from Thunderbirds recently.

The standard of musicianship among the local bands was exceptional and when I think back, some of the instruments and amplification were not good but could the local guys play and get good sounds from them.

Horace Wee

The top musicians of the day as I recall was a guitarist named Horace Wee (left) and a bass player named Winston Filmer.  They and the band they were in were always on local television backing someone or other. 

Derek Fitzgerald of The Thunderbirds (above with Barry Walker) was a very good guitarist as was the guy from Fried Ice whose name I cannot remember.

Sugiman Jahuri

There was also a programme called Talentime.  Who can forget Johnny Tan or Sugiman Johari (right) the Johnny Mathis of Singapore?  

Also, there was Jenakarama where all the top Singaporean talent got to appear, a little like England’s Top of the Pops but the artistes chose what they performed or sang.

The local music paper of the day was Radio Weekly which always had one or two interviews with local bands and singers.

In early 1970 I returned to London where I finished my army career returning to Singapore six months later. I was amazed at the changes in around six months.

The T-Set the band I was with played at The Pub on a six months contract which included occasionally playing in other areas of the hotel, sometimes the roof garden or the ball room depending on what was happening. 

Does anyone remember the residency of Maurice Woodruff the world famous star reading man who apparently could tell your fortune?  One evening he was on stage and had a heart attack and died. Very unfortunate... (check Comment page below about Woodruff).

5. It Figures; Barry Walker's @ microphone.

By this time, most of the local bands had added brass to their line-ups and were playing Chicago, Earth Wind and Fire and Blood Sweat and Tears material besides a lot of Motown stuff. They were brilliant at it. One band, that played in the Pub was Faith whom I thought were exceptional although I don’t know where they were from, possibly Australia?



6. The T-Sets from England @ The Pub Penthouse Disco, Hotel Malaysia.

There was also  a local band playing at the Roof Top of the Oberoi Imperial Hotel called Log Stock and Barrel who were really good Nik Mohamed (ex Siglap 5 and The Dukes ) was their bass player and a guy by the name of 'Kupeh' was their drummer but also played really good guitar and was a very good vocalist. The whole band were really good.

Barry still remembers how great The Blackjacks and other bands were.

Does anybody remember any of the following bands? The New Faces, Family Robinson, The Pakaloloes, The Blackjacks, The Bee-Jays, The Tribes, The Weather and Thunderstorm, Unlimited Stock who I believe became Frustration 5 to name but a few.


Check below Heritage Fest posting for Comments by readers about Barry Walker.

Images numbered 1, 4, 5, 6 are from Barry Walker (Copyrights Reserved).

Barry Walker: Off-Beat, Multi-Racial Diverse Music Part One

Barry Walker came twice to Singapore recently but because of circumstances we never met. He wrote to me and has been kind enough to share his stories on this blog. Here is episode one of his pop music experience on our little island during the mid 60s:


Barry Walker today

"I first visited Singapore in 1957 as a young boy on my way to Kuala Lumpur with my father who was with the British Intelligence Corps.

I used to listen to as much music as I possibly could via a little speaker on our wall which I believe was called Rediffusion which transmitted one or two hours a day and a station from Australia very early in the morning, on an old valve radio. I was really smitten by The Everly Brothers, Elvis, Ricky Nelson and The Ventures among others.

I lived in Kuala Lumpur, Malaya for four years and returned to the U.K. in 1961.  On my return I finished my schooling and joined the army as a Boy Soldier progressing to Senior Military in 1964, still retaining my musical interests.

Barry Walker and In-Sect at RAF Changi Mess

In 1966 I was posted to Singapore where a friend of mine John Reeves introduced me to The Figures. The original line up was Eugene Kwok - Keyboards, Victor Yeo – Rhythm Guitar, Patrick – Lead Guitar, Albert – Drums and Anthony Ho – Bass Guitar joined by me (image left). We hit it off and started practising really hard in a little government flat where all the local people would come to watch and listen. We cut our first record and started playing all over the island. *Charlie Charles had arrived in Singapore on his first military posting and took over from Albert on drums.

Eventually the hard work paid off as we started playing at most of the Army, Navy and RAF clubs in Singapore regularly before ending with the final line-up. The man responsible for getting our bookings was Fernando Young. The Dukes was a group that I sang with occasionally because when their singer couldn’t make it I would take over.  When they completed their residency at the Princes Garni Hotel, The Figures / In-Sect took over and played for more than a year.  This venue was where tea dances were held on Sundays.



Can play off-beat la?

There used to be a guest band every Sunday so two bands would play from about 2.30/3.00 to 6.00/6.30. The standard of musicianship was always very good and the place used to be packed. The strange thing was, most of the audience always used to ask ,“Can you play off beat lah?"

We never did find out what this meant. Fernando also managed this location. We also played at The Golden Venus with The Straydogs and various other local bands.


On Wednesday evenings there used to be a thing called Vespa Malam in Orchard Road which coincided with Pasar Malam (night market) so many people would stop and watch the various bands playing. We also played at The National Theatre and at The Capitol (the legend of local cinemas) on Sunday mornings. 





There were maybe 10 to 15 different artistes appearing all of whom were totally different. It used to start at 9.00am on the dot so we had to be there at some unearthly hour to set up and were then told roughly what time we would be on.



 Musical Express @ The Capitol Cinema.



All this was after always having played on Saturday evening, finishing around 1.00am, packing up all the equipment, driving back, unloading the equipment and trying to snatch maybe an hour's sleep before starting all over again for The Capitol and when that was finished, clear out and off to the Princes Garni for the Sunday tea dance. I don’t think many of today’s bands could have coped with that.  We must have been mad!

We had a guy, Colin Burnett whom I believe was the original roadie in Singapore who ensured all the equipment got from A to B and also helped us to set up. Some of the amplifers and PA systems were very heavy, especially on some of the stairs we had to negotiate to get to where we were playing. It was tough but very rewarding especially musically. By the way, we also had very demanding day jobs.

Calling for The Straydogs.

I don’t really recall an invasion of Western music. It was fantastic being part of a band that was always very multi-racial without realising, and also the diverse kinds of music each band member liked. I had records that I had bought over from the U.K. but Singapore was a great place to obtain any music you wanted really with a few exceptions."

*Formed in 1977 to promote Ian Dury's album New Boots and Panties on the first Stiff Records tour of the U.K., Charlie Charles was a member of  Ian Dury & The Blockheads. Charles passed on in September, 1990 and Barry was one of his pall-bearers.

For more articles about Barry Walker, his band members and his correspondence click his name under Labels below. Similarly with Eugene Kwok and The Straydogs.

Images and Article: Barry Walker (Copyrights Reserved). No parts to be extracted for use in any publication.

(Excuse the poor paragraphing. Blogger has no control with the template. BlogSpot still hasn't remedied this problem.)

70s Singapore Band Boy Writes From Australia

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A regular reader of this blog and practicing business and trade adviser from Sydney, Australia, Byrt Mallanyk wrote in to tell me about his young and active evenings in Singapore 70s as a pop singer with the Sundowners.  Here is his edited letter:

 YouTube Video by The Straydogs, Freedom (1971).

Hi Andy,

Its great to hear from you – thank you for writing. 

A bit of history:  

My last two performing contracts in Singapore with the Sundowners were at the Hilton (our contract was extended 4 times – so it becomes like home for the band - our band manager then was Alphonso Soosay, and then from the Hilton we went to the Cockpit in the Victoria Lounge/Bar – not sure what it's called now. 

We also did the Holiday Inn for 2 years, Hyatt, and Mandarin also. I have played in other places around the Orchard Road vicinity, including Equatorial and Orchid Inn in my earlier days – my first semi proband was in ‘68 during my National Service days and then I went pro-full-time end of ‘69 after I finished my military bout – glad I did it but never again.   I was in the very first batch of NS  in 1967.

Ray Anthony

The Sundowners were one of the earlier pioneers of the Lounge Music craze that hit Singapore during the late sixties, an era that spawned a legitimate industry for musicians back then – it was huge – we made a lot of money – and we spent big too haha. 

The usual names during that 70s era were Adam and Ben, Tradewinds, Tania, Matthew, and the Mandarins, and us, the Sundowners – I was the lead singer – many more band names I have forgotten. 


My earlier heroes were Joe Chandran and the Experiments, Pest Infested, Stray Dogs, and even earlier; Benny and the Trailers and Vernon and Quests – there were so many more – I can’t remember for now. I caught up with Ray Anthony (lead guitarist for Heritage and Fried Ice) a few years back as he was on his way to Taiwan. I know him and his brother Leslie well.

Your Blog:

Everything you wrote and every place or movie you mentioned, and every star you talked about in your blog were part of my precious memories – so thank you VERY much. Many of the cinemas and clubs you mentioned are held fondly in my memories because I have crossed your path during my school days and also during my adult days as a musician. Nowadays its so hard to find similar era people to talk to or relate with – they are either not in the music business to relate with or too old or not around to talk to where I live.

Coming from a musical family, I found my music roots in soul and RnB which still influences my style till today. My sister (in an even earlier era) played piano and drums and was the lead singer for many bands that played the RAF bases. Her era had heroes like Harry Belafonte, Johnny Mathis, Connie Francis etc. I grew up discovering the wonderful music of the 50s while in school and was influenced by artists like Bill Haley and the Comets, Rick Nelson, Paul Anka, and others.  

Most of the Singaporeans here in Sydney (I meet only very few) are just too young to remember the early days of Singapore, even before street lights came on our main streets, or before TV came (I was there at Victoria Theatre in ‘63 when TV was first shown in Singapore. I don’t think they even believe that Singapore was once very wild in landscape, bushy, and naturally green – I caught many fighting spiders in those bush lands to attest to that. Oh so much to share.

I wrote to you because you have a fascinating insight and collection on a past I hold so passionately. So few today can relate to that era. Its us guys who must preserve it. In the last 4 years the urge to retrace my music roots in Singapore began to emerge and began to grow stronger each year – I must begin to blog on it soon. What you have in formation and memories far exceed what I can do.

My Homes:

Jalan Bahagia was my last address in Singapore before moving to Australia. My first gig ever was at a private party in Toa Payoh (while it was still only partly developed) - I played bass then but had no idea what I was doing – my band then was Hard Timers Hail and then I was invited to do lead vocals for a great band called Crude Stuff – we had a fabulous lead guitarist by the name of Bala – not sure where he is now – the last time I heard he got drafted - ah those raw days. 

What I would like to plan for the future is to gather these people in the era we are chatting about in one place for a conference on the 70's Music. I have some thoughts and strategy on it. I may be coming to Singapore sometime late August or September this year (if my schedule allows) – would be nice to catch up then. I hope to connect with as many of my peers as possible – just the guys I played with - a reminiscing time, you could say.

 

Byrt Mallanyk.

Trusted Mentor to Business Owners
National Winner of the Australian Tourism Award for Excellence
SIKU Fashion Group Australia – Co-Founder.

A part of my resource goes into reversing poverty by helping build urban micro enterprises.

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Original article: Copyrights Reserved.

Reunion StrayDogs, Pest Infested: Esplanade

HEADLINES TODAY: October 31st, 2009.

They will recreate the Singapore weekends with their R&B and blues numbers, some of which were very much in demand with tea dance enthusiasts back in the late 60s and early 70s.

The original hits in this concert will include songs like Born in Chicago, All Along The Watch Tower, Walking the Dog, It’s All Over Now, Cold Morning, NSU and Freedom among other tea-dance session favourites.

Straydogs Present Line-up:
Kiang: Bassist, Terry Tan: Vocals/keyboard/harmonica, Anthony Toh: guitarist, Lim Thian Soon: Guitarist, Hensen Beng: Drums

Pest Infested Present Line-up
Ernie Koh: vocals/guitar/ harmonica, Loo Zhen Hoong: drums, Chris Ong: lead guitars,Tony Cheong: guitarist, David Ng: bassist.

Reference: Esplanade Website: http://www.esplanade.com/

Image/Pest Infested/Original: http://www.kiwi-us.com/

Straydogs Are Here. Where Are Cells Unlimited?

HEADLINES TODAY from The Straits Times, Singapore - October 30th, 2009

Look out, they're all back on the prowl. And you can hunt them down at the Esplanade Recital Studio, Singapore, on November 6th at 7.30pm. Straydogs (image) will be there with Pest Infested performing their blues on parade. The only missing group in this particular genre are the Cells Unlimited. Cells Unlimited where are you?

These Singapore bands that specialise in R&B, inspired by The Rolling Stones, are making a comeback. Both groups, one with a new line-up, will play a one-off gig at the Esplanade.

So if you wanna watch Singapore 60s to 70s music renditions of John Mayall n The Bluesbreakers, The Who and Jimi Hendrix, come on over.

Reference: Eddino Abdul Hadi - Music Reporter.
Life!Music Section.

Image: Original/Straydogs: Times Edition/Singapore Press Holdings.