Singapore 60's Music Rediffusion: Top Tunes Of The Week By Stephen Han.

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Written by Stephen Han, this article is one of his many contributions for the blog. I cannot thank you enough my friend. Click his name below under 'Labels' after this story and read more...

During my schooldays, I was very fond of hot songs and music. I practically glued myself to my friend’s Rediffusion  box [image] and listened to the the wonderful programs on the Silver Network. 

The ones that I love are, “So You Want To Be An Announcer”, ”From Your House” and “Top Tunes Of The Week “. ”From Your House” was then hosted by Noreen Sales in which a family can have their favourite songs played. ”You could be an announcer and had your songs dedicated and played in, “So You Want To Be An Announcer”. I managed to win a $100 prize in guessing the top tunes according to their order. 

One programme I like best was the “Martin Block And His Make Belief Ballroom.” [image]. This show not only played the current top songs but also gave good account of every song just like that of the ones by Casey Kasem.

I used to attend the variety concerts with my friends and two lovely sisters, Maggie and Molly Phua and their neighbor, Janet Tay. I got a chance to hear band from nightclubs like Benny Klieman Trio, from Prince Garni Hotel and Joseph Goh and his skiffle group. When Mike Ellery called for volunteers for a play, my friends, Albert Sim and Peter Mun literally dragged me up on stage.

Then came Steven Lee, Larry Lai and Theresa Khoo. These three persons were given major roles. They 'read their lines so cleverly and never missed a cue,' just like the Hollywood actors. I did not fare badly. The story was then broadcast to the enjoyment of Rediffusion listeners a couple of weeks later.

You soon noticed that Steven Lee became a well known radio news reader while Larry Lai became a famous radio and TV personality. Theresa Khoo did some recording with her voice in, “Unspoken Words” and played the piano with some Canto Pops groups.

Sometimes famous singers and bands were invited to perform and I had the chance to watch the live performance of the pretty, Haley Mills through the courtesy of Lorna Sales, [image: the girl with the hula hoop]. Haley sang her hit song from her movie, “The Parent Trap” the lively song “Let’s Get Together”. After that she did an autograph session with her dad, namely, John Mills.

The tiny Rediffusion box had provided me lots of joy and happiness and I ‘m sure the pioneer generation had great times with it.

Written by: Stephen Han [Copyrights Reserved.]

John Mills and daughter Haley Mills

who were interviewed on stage at

the Odeon Cinema in conjunction with

the movie, 'The Parent Trap'.

The Parent Trap: Let's Get Together.

With Haley Mills [Split Screen Technology 1961]

YouTube Video: TheDISNEYcollection.

Writer, Mr Stephen Han [in pink]

With Andy.

Stephen's Stories About Singapore 60s Music:

https://singapore60smusic.blogspot.com/search/label/Stephen%20Han

Images: Google.

Image details will be inserted soon.

Colour Me 60's: Larry Lai & Swee Leong Beaten By Stephen Han

When I messaged Stephen to ask if I could post his interesting story from Facebook he immediately relented. He's been a regular feature on this blog.

Mr and Mrs Stephen Han.

"Keep posting your blogs cause without them 

it’s a little boring during the lockdown."

Thanks again Stephen for your cute little anecdote which many seniors from the 60's could have experienced i.e., the antics of Tan Swee Leong and Larry Lai when they were forever on stage at the Odeon Cinema in town, giving off their best with their comedic chats and flawless spoken English. 

Forward the clock and read what happened in 2002. 

A different venue though.

Stephen Han on stage carried by Vernon and Jay during the show "Colour Me 60's".

The National Heritage Board organized the “Colour Me 60's Show“ at Raffles City Singapore in 2002. This act featured local singers, Jay Shotam  and Vernon Cornelius, radio and TV personalities, Tan Swee Leong and Larry Lai and one half of the famous Blue Diamonds, Riem de Wolfe. Brian Richmond was there too and while he was interviewing Tan Swee Leong, the subject of the “Yes/No contest was brought up.

Five volunteers were called up on stage to try and beat the master, Swee Leong by refraining in a little game to say, “Yes and No” when he posed some questions. 

I happened to be the last one. The first person was floored when he said, “Yes”to the first question posed. The next three contestants did not fare well too.

When it was my turn , I felt excited and a little nervous. I had to psyche myself not to use the forbidden “Yes/No” answer . I did well by not mentioning the banned words for sometime.

As the game carried on after a long while, I was caught saying, “Yes “when Swee Leong asked whether I like my sons. I thought I had lost, but Larry Lai came up and said I had beaten (exceeded) the five-minute mark. I was elated and happy and was able to defeat the master of this “Yes /No “ game😊.

Article and Images: Stephen Han (Copyrights reserved).

Larry Lai (left) and Tan Swee Leong when they were at Rediffusion Singapore in the 1960's as Disc Jockeys and compering shows all over the island. Swee Leong (right) passed away a few years ago.  He was also a very good pianist and a generous friend. 

You can check them out almost everywhere on this blog. Cheers.

The late Riem de Wolfe, young brother of two, The Blue Diamonds, a singing duo from Indonesia and Holland who captured the hearts of Singaporeans with their singing and harmony. Elder brother, Ruud had also passed away.

Connect:
https://singapore60smusic.blogspot.com/2017/09/riem-de-wolff-blue-diamonds-rip-1943.html

Pretty Blue Eyes, one of my favourites and I performed it on stage a few times with Michael Bangar doing 2nd voice. 

Blast From The Past: Pop 50's Unfamiliar Today

           Natalie Cole - Almost Like Being In Love - Video: Vadim Shinnick.

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Songs I Love

Before Cliff Richard:

This article came about when I was searching for Natalie Cole's songs on You Tube.  She had passed away on the last day of 2015 and I chanced upon her singing, Almost Like Being In Love, a personal favourite. 

It is a 1947 song and a lovely one at that. What with Tan Swee Leong's [a famous Singapore DJ] death on the 18th December, just days before hers, I thought of our vulnerability and how fragile we mortals are. These professionals reminded me too of the unique heritage they have left behind as entertainers. 

Almost Like Being In Love is not well-known to many young people here (pardon if I'm wrong) and even to some 60's music enthusiasts.  So if you're keen to know what some of us listened to a long time ago before Cliff Richard and The Shadows came to Singapore's Badminton Hall, read on.

Not the usual Top Hit List, as many of the titles are unheard of these days and the songs are presented as they come to my head. But some are not that obsolete since they were popular during the 1950's but came a little before The Young Ones.  A couple of singers are still around. Twenty songs should be sufficient but it is my own compilation and personal favourites.

Bobby Darin: Baby Face: YouTube

Video from Bobby Darin - Topic

Pop Songs Unfamiliar Today: Sung by 50's Legends

Almost Like Being In Love - Frank Sinatra - 1947
Chee Chee Ooh Chee - Dean Martin - 1955
Money Burns A Hole In My Pocket - Dean Martin - 1954
Lay Down Your Arms - Anne Shelton - 1956
Where Will The Dimple Be? - Rosemary Clooney - 1955

Green Door - Jim Lowe - 1956
Hana Ko San - Miyoshi Umeki - 1940's to 1950's
I'm Hans Christian Andersen - Danny Kaye - 1952
Thumbelina - Danny Kaye or Dean Martin - 1952*
Around The Corner - Jo Stafford - 1952

              Baby Let's House - Elvis Presley - Video: Adem Presley

Baby Face - Bobby Darin - 1926
'A' You're Adorable - Perry Como - 1948**
Ivory Tower - Gale Storm - 1956
Dark Moon - Gale Storm - 1957
Fire Down Below - Jeri Southern - 1957
              
Baby Let's House - Elvis Presley - 1955***
Any Place Is Paradise - Elvis Presley - 1956
Majorca Isle of Love - Petula Clark - 1955
Imitation of Life - Earl Grant - 1959
The Girl Can't Help It - Little Richard - 1956

None of these songs have been covered and recorded by our local vocal or band groups.  Are they still being played on Singapore's English radio today?

Do you have some songs to add to the list?

*A song I teach my grandchildren.

**Tan Swee Leong usually sings this song to entertain. It was one I heard from him when we were gathered at house parties.

*Lost the precious 78rpm piece which would cost some today. The mumbling Elvis and echo plays are killers! 

Part 2 will come on soon. That's when I document songs recorded by our own local bands but unheard of today.

Images: Anne Shelton, Bobby Darin, Little Richard (horizontal); Petula Clark, Miyoshi Umeki, Perry Como (vertical).

You Tube Videos.

This article is copyrighted.

Tracking The Trekkers: 60's Music Trail: Part Two

Hey, it's a Leap Year 29th February today.

Continuing the Story of The Trekkers:

Performing

We played in many contests like the Great World Cabaret and charity shows at the YMCA and schools such as St Patrick's and the Presbyterian Schools. In the Town Convent Girls’ School and the University of Singapore. Charles's sisters were often there to watch us perform. They were our biggest fans.

Our first win in a talent show was actually at the Great World Cabaret in the Battle of the Combo Band. We won a prize even though we were competing against some very accomplished jazz musicians. We gave them the new Duane Eddy sound, and they liked it. Charles was also a favorite of the voting dance hostesses. We also played in Swee Leong friend's club, the Rosi D'or at the old Lido Theater a couple of times. Performing at the old Britannia Club on Beach Road was another favorite because they had a lively crowd of British service personnel.

We experimented with adding vocals to the group. The Jaywalkers, comprised of Charles, his sister Ng Pau Yin, and the late Susan Lim, joined one of our practice sessions. They won a trophy at Rediffusion and were only twelve and thirteen years old at that time. Another singer (Aniz ?) also sang in our group. He had a voice for Buddy Holly and Cliff Richard hits, and the Britannia Club crowd loved him.

In our last year together, we accomplished resident group status in the Rediffusion Discovery Series together with Cynthia Hay. She had a voice like Connie Francis'. The shows were hosted by Larry Lai and Joseph Goh and pre-recorded at the old Odeon Theatre. When the show ended we remained in contact with the late Tan Swee Leong and were guests in several of his Rediffusion shows.

Finally Tan Hock Lye had us play his Make Mine Music program on the radio, and Steven Lee invited us to play the opening and closing number for the first live broadcast on Singapore Television. That was our last performance.

Disbanding

Unlike many bands in Singapore The Trekkers never cut a record. It simply was not an option in the period pre-1963. We had an offer from the old Rank Organization in UK while playing at the Britannia Club, but we were disbanding. First George left to join his siblings in the UK, and I left Singapore next to go to college in the United States. Charles studied law at the local university. Only William continued his musical career, going on to play with the Stray Dogs. We accomplished plenty in the short time we were together and had fun doing it. 

The only recording that remains of that special time is a tape of our last jam session. William’s cousin Ah Siong recorded it with his new sound recorder, and my brother Johnny saved the tape for us all those years. The tape resurfaced in 1980, and we took it to Swee Leong for an interview on Rediffusion. Later, we submitted the tape together with The Trekkers old photographs to a contest by the Singapore National Archives. We won a consolation prize thus sealing our legacy as part of the Singapore pop scene of the 1960's.

In Perspective

When I arrived in Los Angeles, I was surprised to find that the 4-piece guitar band was an international phenomenon of that time and not just in Singapore. Playing Ventures and Shadows music was popular everywhere. The Ventures are still popular in Japan today among the Baby Boomers.

YouTube currently has a lot of guitarists playing Ventures and Shadows music using a Line 6 type device and Apple Garage band software. Ramon "RJ" Jacinto of the Philippines who started playing Ventures in the 60's is about the only one who is still playing in a band. 

The Memories

When George, Charles, William, my brother Johnny and I are together, we always talk about The Trekkers and the good times we had playing music. We talk about the music scene in Singapore and listen to our favorite tracks from those days. When we disbanded, we were at the crossroads of our lives. I'm happy with my decision to go to college in the US even though it meant never recording an album with my friends. We accomplished plenty in the relatively short times we were together.

Like many guitar groups, we had our own unique sound. For The Trekkers that sound was a presentation by four musicians who played to complement rather than compete with each other. In The Trekkers rendition of the old hits by Ramon "RJ" Jacinto, Mashi Mashi, you can clearly hear the distinctive rhythm of Charles, the bass of William and the drum beat of George; all synchronizing and complementing the lead guitar. Thus I believe we had fulfilled our aspiration (and my demands) to play the best music together. We now still talk excitingly of our music and share one of the most wonderful memories of our moments in The Trekkers.

With this I end my memories of being a Trekker with the first lines of Don McLean's American Pie:

A long, long time ago
I can still remember how that music used to make me smile
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And maybe they'd be happy for a while...

Thank you for reading.

A special thanks to my daughter Carolyn for editing this short history.

Article, Images, You Tube Videos: 
Copyrights Reserved by Henry Gan.

Tracking 'The Trekkers' 60's Music Trail: Part One

A Chap Goh Meh CNY Posting:

This article is a Chap Goh Meh (15th Night Chinese New Year Celebration) treat for readers and friends who have been regular patrons of this blog. 

The Trekkers' leader has written a short article about the history of the band. Henri Gann, who lives in Los Angeles (USA) since he left Singapore in 1964, frequents this blog and wrote to me when Mr. Tan, owner of TMA Music, passed away recently. 

I asked if he could do an article of the guitar group and he obliged.  Although the group has never recorded on vinyl, Henri has managed to salvage some music tapes. You can listen to them on his You Tube connection.

Thank you very much Henry for your detailed, informative write-up, the video tribute to my blog (above) and the lively tea-time chat we had in Singapore.

Remembering The Trekkers 1960-1963

by Henry Gan

Background

In those days, we were the Katong boys who played music for fun and walked along Marine Parade to feel the ocean breeze. We were entertained by Rediffusion, got the latest hits at the local town record store, and saw Elvis’ movies at the Roxy Theater. Guitars were affordable and to some extent drums were, too, so a lot of kids got together to play music. 

Many bands formed in Katong at that time, including the Muskrats and the Tornados. We had no musical training and played by ear. We measured our progress by participating in talent shows. We didn’t dream about becoming recording artists. There wasn’t even a recording studio in Singapore at that time. 

The Band

We called our band The Trekkers. We met in the Presbyterian Boys' School where we all attended. Drummer George Wang still had baby fat at the age of fourteen, but he also had a full set of Premier Drums. Charles Ng, thirteen, played an acoustic guitar that was as big as he was. He was a gifted musician who could detect the slightest wrong tune on a guitar and played very expressive chords. My favorite was his rendition of Stardust. 

Our bass player William Tan was the oldest at sixteen and another gifted musician. He had never seen a bass guitar when he joined The Trekkers and learned to play the instrument proficiently in a very short time. I was fifteen and the tallest in the group. I demanded perfection for our music and encouraged the others to practice. My older brother Johnny Gan was our unofficial manager and toughest critic; he inspired us with his extensive record collection. 

The Equipment

The late Mr. Tan of TMA was our best friend. He always had a solution to our equipment problems, and there were a lot of them. It was hard to find the musical equipment we needed to make the sound we craved.

Solid body guitars were rare in Singapore in the early 60s and when we found them, chances were some of the frets were positioned out of tune. There was also frequent feedback from the guitar pickups, which caused the amplifier to hum embarrassingly on stage. The amplifiers we could get were usually compact and designed for roving jazz players, and we would be lucky to find ones with multiple inputs for our guitars. And to make the popular reverb sound, we relied on vibrating the tremolo arm to prolong the sound of the guitar. Still, we loved to play our music.

The Music

We played Duane Eddy first and tried to replicate his deep base note and reverb by playing at the back of the guitar and using the tremolo arm. This was especially true when we played Rebel Rouser.

                               With Compere Tan Hock Lye's Voice

We liked The Ventures because we had to go through a learning curve for each track. By the time we learned all the songs on their first few LPs, we could play almost any new guitar hit simply by listening to it. We went through these Ventures tracks: Night Train, Caravan, Hawaiian War Chant, Gandy Dancer, Poison Ivy, Sleep Walk, Morgan, Ginchy, Guitar Twist, Bumble Bee Twist, No Trespassing, Detour, Moon Over Manakoora, Home, Torquay, Mexico, Harlem Nocturne, Blue Tango, Torquay, Josie, Ghost Riders in the Sky, Cherry Pink, Red Top, White Silver Sands, Yellow Jacket, Honky Tonk, Lullaby of the Leaves, Walk Don't Run, and many more.

We played the Shadows, too, and were good at it even though we were unable to reproduce their unique Vox sound and delayed reverb with the equipment we had. However we could never get ourselves to do the band's distinctive walk or kicks as we were four shy lads on stage. That cost us a trophy in a Shadows contest. We were better off playing the music of groups that did not require stage choreography. 

Our favorite Shadows songs were Apache, Quarter Master Store, Midnight, Blue Star, Gonzales, Find Me a Golden Street, Frightened City, FBI, Savage, Mustang, Shane, 36-24-36, Nivram, Shindig, Man of Mystery, Shadoogie, Kon Tiki, Back Home, Atlantis, Geronimo, Guitar Tango, Peace Pipe, Dance On, Foot Tapper, Theme for Young Lovers, and The Stranger.

We had many great jam sessions playing music of surfin' guitar groups such as The Astronauts, Chantays, Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs, Dick Dale, The Bellaire, Surfari and The Marketts. The amplifiers built by Mr Tan and our new Fender guitars reproduced the surfing sound well. The tracks we played were Let's Go, Baja, Movin', Pipeline, Vaquero, Bulldog, Misirlou, Hava Nagila, Mr Moto, Wipeout, Penetration, Out-of-Limits and Let's Go.

We all had our favorite songs to play. George’s favorites were Duane Eddy's Lonely One where he could play his bongo drums; the Ventures Walk Don’t Run and Perfidia because he’d perfected the rim shot on the drums; and the Surfaris' Wipeout where he did his long roll on the drums. 

Charles liked the Ventures’ McCoy because he could play lead in part of the song; the Ventures' Guitar Twist and The Shadows' Frightened City where he demonstrated his rhythm skills. William liked all the Ventures and Shadows because their bass was fun to play. 

I enjoyed playing Arthur Smith's music namely Guitar Boogie because it was so long and elaborate on the guitar; Boomerang because it was fast on the beat; and I H Boogie because it had a good rhythm to it.

Part Two will appear in another posting.

A Happy Chap Goh May everyone!

Henri Gann (with shades) is still trekking today.

Images and You Tube Videos: The Trekkers from Henri Gann (Copyrights Reserved.)

You Tube Connection:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCC-aLb_WHd52RntpVPppXcg

Fabian's Music Milestones In Rock n Roll Singapore

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Fabian Foo supports this blog for its cause and has commented on the postings about our local music in the 1960's. He is also an avid photographer and a movie-maker having recorded many videos on You Tube showing performances by our local 60's music boys and girls.

When I asked him if he could write an article about his experiences as a young man enjoying his rock and roll years, he responded immediately and positively.  As he starts the engine of his vintage beauty, let's ride with him and enjoy his music milestones.

Thank you very much Fabian for this nostalgic piece.


Dear Andy,

Music lover of the 60's

From my young days of a 10 year old, I have been listening to music when my paternal uncle would play his singles vinyls both in English and Chinese. I remember that he liked Rita Chao and Sakura songs both in Chinese and English. As a young teenager at 14, my parents subscribed to Rediffusion and I started to listen to programmes like Top Tunes of The Week, To Each His Own etc. 

Mike Ellery, Larry Lai, Joseph Goh and many others were answering requests on radio and Rediffusion throughout the weekend. On some occasions I also made requests on radio sending greetings to friends and classmates. Also I participated in some programmes sponsored by Hacks and Hudson sweets guessing the top 5 songs of the week ( in the order of merit) and managed to win token sums on some occasions.

However in the year before PSLE examination, there is a red mark in one of my result slips, my parents immediately took away the Rediffusion subscription. I brushed up and assured my parents that I would get into and be within the top 5 students in the class. My efforts paid off and in the next semester I was honoured to be in the top position in class. It was a great Rock n Roll feeling in those early years of 1962 to 1965 when we had the Beatlemania craze, Rolling Stones, Herman Hermits, Yardbirds, Peter & Gordon, Lulu, Petula Clarke, Cilla Black, Gerry & The Pacemakers, Tom Jones, Engelbert Humperdinck and many others. 

Those years in secondary education (1966 to 1968 ) were also exciting for me. I remember that a group of us ( cheeky boys ) will sit on the last row in class. We had pocket size transistor radios and when the subjects were not interesting, we listened to music and songs on the quiet. Also a few of us saved our pocket money (skip recess) and hit for Kwang Sia Record in Hill Street to buy our singles and EP. 

Those were the good old days when we saved and built up our vinyl record library and kept ourselves occupied by cleaning them every few months. The biggest regret is that the whole set of LPs ,EP's and singles were thrown away when we started our journey into married life and there is no space in our new home to store away those precious vinyls. What a pity as they are now worth every ounce. 

During the late 80's my passion for music continued and visiting Tower Records ( Pacific Plaza ) and other record shops had been a good pastime. I began to buy and keep some compact discs of the 60's music. The good time I had is knowing so many of the 60's musicians in the late 80's. We were then active members of the Lions Club movement and the club had some of the best 60's music makers in the local scene. Names like Veronica Young, Henry Chua, James Choa, Tony Kwek, Lawrence Lee, John Cher, Victor Lam and others. 


After each monthly meeting on Friday evening, the group of musicians would start to jam and we all enjoyed our fellowship and fun. The club did a great show for charity in September 1989 known as “Thanks for the Memories” and all the local bands performed to a full capacity audience at then The Neptune Theatre. We contributed our time and effort to help the needy but same time we enjoyed good music and long lasting friendship. That is the power and influence of music …

Fabian Foo 
Copyrights Reserved

               The Silver Strings Perform: Video by Fabian Foo December 2014

            Fabian Foo Videos on You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jffoo289

These items below that were mentioned by Fabian Foo are still around and we can find them if we look hard enough but they are hardly used today. The mint sweet was popular with school children then.

If you have a story to tell about your experiences in the past please write in and it will be published.

Images: A Personal Collection; Google.

80s Stellar TV Show With Much Cash Give-Away

           


Janet Basco: Carnegie Hall, New York City.

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Money To Be Made:

Whenever the opportunity arises and if it's worthwhile news I would include local pop music items from the 80s and feature television shows that were well received. One possibly successful series that attracted Singapore sitting room audiences had cash vouchers given away to lucky winners which included a top prize of $150,000.  That was a lot of money, and still is today! In one year alone the production gave away about $1.8 million.  This newspiece was reported in a local magazine in 1981. 

Yeah, the 1970s ABBA song, Money, Money, Money on TV Show.

Both Local and International Artistes:

The shows were telecast 'live' and included an array of stars that were household names those years. They included Singapore's Kartina Dahari, Ali Ahmad, Paul Cheong, Tony Castillo, Jacintha and The SBC Dancers. There were guest artistes from overseas and it included Jennifer Yen from Malaysia, Janet Basco and the WEA Dancers from the Philippines, Linda Lou Allen from London and The Wright Brothers from the US.

Jennifer Yen RTM Talentime Winner 80s.

Yes, and these stars were at the peak of their career during the 70s and 80s. The host for this particular show was, Mr Versatile himself, Tan Swee Leong who has been featured on this blog a couple of times. (Check Labels below).

Paul Cheong: when he was at his best. With SBC Dancers.

Tan Swee Leong Show Compere

Carnegie Hall, Malaysian Talentime:

Janet Basco is a Filipino singer. She is known for her hits, You Made Me Live Again, Minsan Pa, and My Girl, My Woman, My Friend  where she sang with heartthrob and countryman Jose Marie Chan, two of the few Filipino entertainers to have ever performed in Carnegie Hall in New York.

She represented Philippines in the 10th Tokyo Music Festival in 1980 and in the Asean Song Festival in Indonesia. She has appeared in numerous concert halls internationally. (Listen to her on Right Bar of this blog).

Jennifer Yen, who was known as Malaysia's singing sweetheart and a winner of the RTM or Radio Talivishen Malaysia Talentime Competition sang selected songs from her two English albums. She was poised and captivating with a pleasantly charming voice that is still recognised today.


Kartina Dahari was honoured in a show @ Esplanade in 2013.

They had been together for many years and appeared on Filipino television regularly in the 80s, sometimes accompanying singers as background dancers but usually highlighted as group performers on stage.  Like Singapore's Sunny Low Dancers during the 60s, The WEA Dancers were just as well-known in the 80s. They proved their talent when they appeared on this show with the SBC Dancers.

Tony Castillo helped to build the music scene in Singapore.

Honoured By Esplanade, Boy Wonder, London, Broadway Jazz,

Our own recording artistes Tina Dahari and Ali Ahmad need no introduction since both were regulars on the small screen (19 inches only remember?) over both the English and Malay radio stations. Kartina was featured recently at the Esplanade in 2013 where artistes of yore sang her hits from the 70s.

Broadway Hits from Linda Lou Allen

Tony Castillo was of course the jazz musician and singer whom Louis Armstrong called Boy Satchmo and arranged to have him perform at the Ed Sullivan in the US.  He had a big-band group, The Castillians that played in Europe and the United States.  Boy Wonder Castillo died at 64 in 2010. 

Paul Cheong was a home-grown talent and according to the magazine, "proves that he is capable of much more than cutting albums and spinning discs."  Another artiste in the series, Jacintha is a Singaporean singer and actress, well-known in parts of Asia-Pacific since the '80s.

Linda Lou Allen, based in London in the 80s, sang romantic ballads and Broadway jazz hits during the show. She was known for her versatility, energy and hot numbers.


80s WEA Dancers. They are on You Tube.

So what's the name of this show? Anybody still remember? Let me know. No prizes for the correct answer but it's so easy with clues everywhere. Which show can ever give away so much money?

Information and Images: Radio and TV Times 1981 and Google.
Thanks to Mun Chor Seng.

Swee Leong: Crooner, Cook, Cat Lover, Candid!

"TAN SWEE LEONG passed away on 18th December 2015. This article was written when we met at a social gathering in 2012.  Leong died of rectal cancer." Andy.     

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What do Singapore Sixties pop DJ's do when they retire? To Tan Swee Leong retirement is not a word he uses to describe his time since he left the recording studios at Rediffusion. He's still the businessperson, show promoter, singer, piano player and cat lover (he's got eight cats at home in Holland Village). 

When we met at a party recently, he entertained us with some 50's favorite's singing, A You're Adorable, Chattanooga Choo Choo and Alfie. Just as versatile, his fingers danced on the ivories as he played both Chinese and English hit tunes. Like old friend Jimmy Chan, he could have been successful recording some of his music.  

Leong's been keeping himself busy these days both with his work and socially. Friends who know him well are aware that he is also a Mee Siam and Leg of Lamb culinary expert. Many of his kakis and colleagues, including some well-known personalities, have tasted his especially delicious mee-siam. 

"Hey, Swee Leong, time you opened a restaurant to let others taste this popular Asian dish," I told him one day.  

"Wait till you taste my leg of lamb," he replied, "Then you'll want me to open a Deli..."

We all remember Tan Swee Leong, the man who had interviewed Marlon Brando, Cliff Richard and  The Beatles when he was still at the only cable network from the 60's

From his school website, Old Victorians' Association, he's been described as the legendary radio/tv compere and DJ "listed in the Who's Who in Singapore and Malaysia, a publication on prominent personalities."  

The writer added that, "Singaporeans of the older generation would remember with fondness the great voice and witty presentation of Swee Leong, first on Redifusion and later with RTS and TCS."  Remember Swee Leong.

5C's he's got: Crooner, Cook, Cat Lover, Candid, and... Compere.

We'd like to hear from you!

https://singapore60smusic.blogspot.com/2015/12/tan-swee-leong-capitol-cinema-by-ronnie.html

https://singapore60smusic.blogspot.com/2012/06/mary-music-mee-siam-merry-mayhem.html

https://singapore60smusic.blogspot.com/2011/06/what-terrible-twins-larry-lai-and-tan.html

https://singapore60smusic.blogspot.com/2020/06/colour-me-60s-larry-lai-swee-leong.html

18th December, 2015.
Click Comments page below to read condolence messages.

The Tan Swee Leong mee-siam party held 

at Grandma Mary's home, a lavish dinner indeed.

Blogger Andy in yellow with Larry Lai behind, and Mary (extreme left) 

seated next to Swee Leong and Jimmy Chan behind.

Images and Article: Andy Lim Collection.
Image: Swee Leong n Cat Ouzo by courtesy of Peter Boudewyn
Rejuvenated Post on 18th December, 2015 because of TSL's passing away.