Letter To Andy 60s Music: Singer @ Ambassador Hotel Tells Laura In Mandarin He Loves Her.

"No one knows what happened that day

How his car overturned in flames

But as they pulled him from the twisted wreck

With his dying breath, they heard him say..."

I receive many anonymous letters in the mail, and they usually write positive reviews about the blog. Here's one short note written on 27th August 2023. Thank you, my friend, whoever you are...

Hi Andy, 

Glad to have stumbled onto your post and reading yours and others’ wonderful stories reminiscing of the old times!

I love songs from the sixties. When traveling in North American cities, I would still look for old diners with booth tables and some wall jukeboxes.

Booth tables and old diners in America during the 60's.

'Tell Laura I Love Her' in Mandarin.

Sung by: Liu Wen-Cheng.

YouTube Video by Liu Wen-Cheng - Topic

In late sixties of Singapore, I occasionally hung out with a group of Mandarin and Hainanese speaking friends at the Ambassador Hotel roof top nightclub. They called the club manager ‘Boon’. I was told that the nightclub owner was a lady, probably one of those experienced entertainers from Shanghai.

The Ambassador Hotel opposite a popular 

60's playground called Katong Park near Meyer Road.

The roof-garden of this hotel gathers local pop music bands

and crowds fill it up on Saturday nights especially.

Frequently we encountered a ‘guest-singer’. He usually sang popular English songs with Mandarin lyrics. He did Ray Peterson’s ‘Tell Laura I love Her’. I don’t remember the whole lyrics, only this part:

“… 日日我在想念, 夜夜我在想念… [Every day I miss you, every night I miss you...] "Tell Laura not to cry…”

27/08/23.

Comments are always welcome.

"And in the chapel where Laura prays

For Tommy who passed away 

It was just for Laura he lived and died

Alone in the chapel she can hear him cry..."

Juke boxes from the 60's that play vinyl records

automatically when you slot a coin into the machine.

Images: 

[1] Google, 

[2] Self-created from WhatsApp/Meta AI.

Singapore 60s Music Girl Vocal Groups Sang @ St. Andrew's Cathedral

The Friday Girls

After more than 20 years, these ladies still cannot 

be contacted. Let's hope some readers can help.

Check them out below because they sang 

along the aisles at St Andrew's Cathedral:

https://singapore60smusic.blogspot.com/2012/06/tracing-sidaislers-or-friday-girls-from.html

The Reyes Sisters

It's a similar tale with The Reyes Sisters. 

Anyone out there in touch with them? Do write in.

Click below to read about the sisters, 

Katong Park and Wonderland Milkbar above DBSBank.

https://singapore60smusic.blogspot.com/2012/05/fresh-durians-ice-kacang-raf-changi.html

Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri To Muslim Surfers

The Kampongs:

As I lived in the Geylang neighbourhood in the 50's, I first learnt this song from my many Malay friends who were in the area. I used to frequent Kampong Wak Tanjong at the vicinity of the Paya Lebar Fire Station and walk across the road from my home to Kampong Melaka where the Lion City Hotel and Shopping Mall now stand at Tanjong Katong Road.

The Wak Tanjong mosque is still there but the kampong has vanished. Some of the residents who lived along Sims Avenue and Lorong 39 near the kampong were Lim Yew Hock and his family. He was once the Chief Minister of Singapore. These residences were huge bungalows. Abdul Wahab, a merchant, lived across Lorong 39 from him and financed the band I used to sing with, The Velvetones. 

Saloma with Selamat Hari Raya. Video from: kcselambe.

Kampong Melaka was across the road where City Plaza stands today. The roads nearby are Guillemard Road, Sandy Lane, Lim Ah Woo Road with a Catholic Church nearby. And Kampong Melaka was situated right in the middle, surrounded by these roads.

The Song:

The Hari Raya song above was sung by Saloma and composed by Ahmad Ja'afar with its original lyrics by Shariff  Rachman.  This song was featured in a 1955 Malay movie by Cathay Kris Film Production with the same theme,  Selamat Hari Raya.

The words, Dam, dam, dum, Bunyi mercun (Dam, dam, dum, sounds of fire-crackers) have not been left out in the above version.  Since fire-crackers had been banned because of fire hazards in tiny Singapore these words had been replaced after newer versions of the song had been recorded.

Enjoy a cool and peaceful Aidil Fitri to one and all. Andy.

Video from You Tube: http://keselambe.blogspot.com

My Tormented Heart: Tribute To A Lady Pianist

Image is for illustration only

DEAR MARY [MARLENE] LIM HAD PASSED AWAY TODAY

WEDNESDAY, 26TH JUNE, 2024. 

RIP MARLENE: CONDOLENCES TO HER FAMILY N FRIENDS

A Mike Bangar Music Story:

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Hi Andy, 

Just to share another interesting episode for your blog. This true story that happened more than 40 years ago came to mind.

Michael Bangar

For those who lived, played or hung around the East Coast Road (Katong) area during that time will remember this lady everyone knew as Water Mary (we never got to know her real name) reason being, that whenever she was anywhere near large amounts of water, she would just immerse herself in it and get soaking wet. She loved it when it rained.

She used to live in one of the terraced houses in Katong and her regular hang-out was at the church which was across the road from her home. Most of the time when she walked out of the church, her clothes would be wet.

Terraced homes in Singapore. A familiar scene in the 1960's

She was a very friendly person and most people who knew her treated her well, including me. For a while in the mid-70's, after I had a family, we lived with my brother-in-law in the same area. He owned a Lawry organ and an upright Yamaha piano. One afternoon while all of us were at home and my brother-in-law was tinkling on his piano, we heard a lady's voice calling out loudly at the gate. It was this lady.

She asked if she could come in and join the fun. Mind you she spoke good English. When he invited her in, he asked if she could play any one of the two instruments available.

Liberace plays 'Chopsticks' YouTube Video from pianoplaylist.

"Yes," she replied without hesitation and proceeded straight towards the piano. And when she started to hit those ivories, we all went, "Oh my goodness!" 

She was all at ease on the keyboard as her fingers flew, playing in the style of Winifred Atwell.  All the popular piano tunes of the day came to her mind. And by heart too!

A few of the songs that she played included, My Tormented Heart (Toselli Serenade), Chopsticks and other piano hits by Atwell and Liberace. There were many more numbers that were played that afternoon. 

But I can't recall all at the moment. Her solo performance went on for more than an hour and our home was filled with her selection of melodies.

After that, she left just as abruptly as when she came in but thanked us gratefully. Even our neighbours, who had gathered to watch her performance, were mesmerized and dumbfounded by her talent. 

No one knew she could play so well. I still remember her in her sarong kebaya. She could have been in her late 40's or early 50's. We have never heard or seen any lady play the piano like she did, ever. 

Winifred Atwell (1914-1983) n Liberace (1919-1987)

I hope this story keeps her memory alive. My family and I will remember her always. 

Thank you, Andy.

Copyright Article by Michael Bangar.

The images and gif are for illustrations only.
Images: Google.
My Tormented Heart: Winifred Atwell.

        (Try to play this song as you read Mike Bangar's story...)

My tormented heart
Cries out I still love you
Though I know you're gone
Your love lives on
To haunt my memory.
(1st verse).

Late Roger Moore: Saintly Bonding With Singapore

Image: Singapore Press Holdings: National Archives of Singapore (28/05/1969)

The James Bond Story with the late Roger Moore as an example:

Roger Moore is gone. He died on May 23 this year (2017).

He was a superstar. He was handsome, suave, sexy, an Englishman and a ladies man. He died at 89 years. And very popular in Singapore when he acted as a secret agent in The Saint and James Bond movies series.

On the popularity poll, Roger Moore had won the hearts of many of his fans on our little island. I only learnt about him in the early 60's when The Saint hit our Singapore black and white TV screen. Oh, and he was my late mom's favourite screen star. 

She used to exclaim that he was, "So handsome. Better than Clark Gable..."

But the series appeared much later than when it first started in 1962. There were 118 episodes altogether up to 1969.  We never had television until 1963. In fact, I remember The Man from UNCLE better than The Saint. 

So like Bonanza and *Have Gun Will Travel where living room audiences learnt about cowboys from the gun-toting West, they absorbed secret agent culture with the likes of Simon Templar and Mr Napoleon Solo.

Leslie Charteris, born in Singapore, creator of The Saint. With Roger Moore.

The match-stick man logo of The Saint could be found scrawled on some Singapore walls, on sheets of paper and classroom desks. (Drawing graffiti is strict here, even today, so woe-betide.)

There was a big hoo-ha when Roger Moore came to Singapore in 1969.  He came with his Italian wife Luisa.  He was quite a buzz and was interviewed by the media. 

In fact, any pop star who came to Singapore became an attraction. Especially Roger Moore with his blue eyes. Some Singapore girls adore Caucasian men with blue eyes and worship them like gods.

His James Bond persona was in my mind more than his role as Simon Templar. According to the statistics, he acted in seven James Bond (007) movies. These films, with the group or singers names below, were:

A Singapore 1968 recording. Lisa Pattis. From Steven Farram's research. 

Live And Let Die - 1973 - Wings
The Man With The Golden Gun - 1974 - Lulu
The Spy Who Loved Me - 1977 - Carly Simon
Moonraker - 1979 -Shirley Bassey
For Your Eyes Only - 1981 - Sheena Easton
Octopussy (All Time High) - 1983 - Rita Coolidge
A View To A Kill - 1985 - Duran Duran

Most of the James Bond movies were shown at Shaw Brothers' theatres like the Lido Cinema at Orchard Road or at the Capitol during earlier times. In later months they films were distributed to smaller suburban cinemas like the Roxy in Tanjong Katong (East Coast).

BIOL BAND - SPY COVER FROM MAT BOND FILM SONG @ MAT SENTUL Video by akustong1

Going off track a little, Bond movies were so popular that Chinese, Malay and Indian pop singers and bands recorded many James Bond themes or related songs. Spin-offs made profits too those years.

Then there were spoofs, like Mat Sentul's Malay version above and a popular funny man who called himself Hamid Bond. He made waves in Singapore with his comedic capers.

            Connie Chan Po Chu Hong Kong James Bond Pathe Vinyl Cover

The vinyl covers featured guns, sexy ladies with machine guns and super cars. This commercialised secret agent went wild from the 60's onwards and the Singapore fans loved it. Cinemas were full when Bond movies were screened.

Roger Moore's seven Bond movies had earned for the producers more than a billion dollars. Hope Mr Moore got more for his share too.

One of his movies, *For Your Eyes Only, was promoted by a prominent eye-wear company, in Singapore and Sheena Easton sang at the National Theatre that year in 1981. She was a hit and so was the movie. 

                    The Stylers - Themes from James Bond. Video by Abdul Trelles

Strange, but I can remember the theme tunes of most of the Bond films, including these ones that Roger Moore starred in. James Bond title songs have always been hits. 

In fact, in the 60's, Singapore guitar group, The Trailers recorded two of them, Thunderball and You Only Live Twice. Sales were good for the two vinyl.

Once asked if he did his own stunts, he replied with the usual Englishman quip, "Of course I do my own stunts. And I also do my own lying."

You're the spy we all love. Rest In Peace Roger Moore. 

NB:

*No 'saintly bonding'. Just a play on words with 'Saint' and 'Bond'. 😊

*Have Gun Will Travel Connection:
https://singapore60smusic.blogspot.sg/2012/07/when-knights-rule-day-with-guns-ablazing.html

*Sheena Easton: For Your Eyes Only in Singapore Concert:
https://singapore60smusic.blogspot.sg/2013/05/a-scottish-pop-star-sang-at-national.html

Roger Moore signing autographs at Television Singapura on 28 May 1969.

Images: Google and National Archives of Singapore.

NB:

Latest News

5 August 2017.

"Espionage is a reality of life," explains MP Vikram Nair, who chairs the Government Parliamentary Committee for Defence and Foreign Affairs in Singapore. 

He was commenting on the NUS suspension of an academic who, "had worked with intelligence organisations and agents from a foreign country to influence Singapore's foreign policy and public opinion."

Extract from The Straits Times Press, Singapore. Page: A8 Top of the News.

Singapore 60's Favorite Drink With Music: Rum And Coca...

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The Dance:

In Singapore 60's, Saturday nights were called golden nights because it was the time when pop bands were playing at most of the night spots in Singapore. My friends and I would meet and proceed to one and since we lived on the East Coast, it was usually the Paya Lebar Airport nightclub with its tiny dance floor or the Ambassador at Meyer Road. The latter had a choice of two dance venues. We would go to listen to the latest songs, to dance and to buy a drink or two. 

There was also a joke running around those years, that boys and girls were hugging each other tightly on the floor rather than dance because the waltz and slow foxtrot were an excuse to do so. Instead of dancing the couples were actually lam-sing (translated lam in a Chinese dialect is to hold or hug). 

So during quieter moments when the band played sentimental melodies the dance floor would be packed. All the more for a squeeze. Cliff Richard's, When The Girl In Your Arms and The Shadows, Midnight would be the favourites. Soft slow, caressing music...

But there was the rhumba, samba, mambo or the cha-cha. Except for the cha-cha and the off-beat version, the other dance-steps didn't make a difference to many of us. 

The Drink:

The ladies would usually have a lemonade or an orange juice with ice. For the men, it's mostly beer or an alcoholic mix.  It was always Bacardi Coke for me. I've heard of Tequila but never touched it. In fact, it was so popular, that like Rum and Coca-Cola, there was a song dedicated to the strong and crazy drink, Tequila by a group called the Champs.

A teetotaller my whole life, I have always stuck to drinking only Barcadi Coke because it was the only drink I knew. Never had a chance to drink other mixes like Gin and lime or Soda and Whisky. Always loved my drink sweet and I was told I could get diabetes if I drank too much Rum n Coke.

I knew the taste so well that there were times when the bartender gave me an adulterated mix of the cheapest rum. But I had always asked for another glass, with the real thing and true brown that is dark rum. But without the slice of lemon.

Invented at the beginning of the 20th Century, this drink became so famous that it is only known as Rum and Coke in the US, UK, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, India and Singapore. In other parts of the world, it's Cuba Libre - not Canta Libre, which is a Neil Diamond song.

Rum and Coca Cola. The Andrew Sisters. 

YouTube Video by: Scrambled Eggs 1969.

The Song:

The drink was so well received by the public in Singapore and the world, that almost every nightclub carried the concoction. In fact, there is even a song by a well-known vocal group called The Andrew Sisters. 

Drinkin' Rum and Coca Cola
Go down Point Koomahnah
Both mother and daughter
Workin' for the Yankee dollar
Oh, beat it, man, beat it...*

It is a very old song with a Calypso beat and composed in 1945 but became popular through the years as the drink would have. Singers like Chubby Checker, Julio Iglesias and Wanda Jackson had recorded it. The original version by the Andrew Sisters had been recorded three times on three different labels, Decca, Capitol and DOT.

And Andy [blogger] compered one evening with 

the Velvetones playing Shadows and Cliff numbers.

At another hotel, dancing and drinking Rum n Coke:

https://singapore60smusic.blogspot.com/2009/01/ballroom-of-adelphi-hotel-on-9th-may.html

This article is an Original Composition.

The Ambassador Hotel at Tanjong Katong by the East Coast beach. 

It has since been demolished.

*Songwriters

AL STILLMAN, JERI SULLAVAN, MOREY AMSTERDAM, PAUL BARON

Published by

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Song Discussions is protected by U.S. Patent 9401941. Other patents pending.
Video from: Kevin Allen.

When The Girl In Your Arms Is The Girl In Your Heart. 

Cliff Richard Video by: Kevin Allen.

Aubrey Miles From The Bambinos RIP

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Condolences to the family of the late Mr Aubrey Miles

Aubrey Miles from the vocal trio, The 3 Bambinos, has passed away on 30th April 2017, according to the Straits Times obituary announcement. He was not only a school teacher, Mr Miles was also a well-known singer and entertainer on Singapore radio and television.

Together with good friend Malcolm Hyder and Thomas Paul, The Bambinos were a very entertaining act when they performed on stage in the late 50's and on the b/w TV screen in the mid 60's. 

There had been changes with the third member, so there were M. A. Gani and Herbert Chan to replace when Thomas Paul was absent.

But they were always The 3 Bambinos and had appeared way before TV came to Singapore i.e. on Radio Singapore, and was a well-known vocal group that sang jazz standards and 50's hits at dinner and dance parties and other social functions in Singapore. They made the most number of appearances in the original, Rolling Good Times. Yes, four times !

Aubrey Miles, May Your Soul Rest In Peace. 

The 3 Bambinos with Aubrey Miles (centre), Malcolm Hyder and Herbert Chan.

Image from Straits Times Press.
(This posting was slotted later after the newspaper obituary.)

Mr Aubrey Miles by Michael Bangar:

Just to mention that I was a student of his, in Secondary One to be exact. The year was 1962 and I was in Tanjong Katong Technical Secondary School. He was my teacher for two subjects, English and English Literature. I was also a member of the school National Cadet Corps that year and he was our National Cadet Corps Master. I moved on to St Patrick's School.

On the subject of The Bambinos. Their first line up was himself, Mr Malcolm Hyder and one Mr Thomas Paul. From time to time when one of them could not make it to a gig they took on stand-ins. 

NB
05/05/2017:

Just A Thought:

It is a sad thing indeed. Aubrey Miles was a pop music celebrity during the mid 50's up to the 60's but his name was not mentioned in the newspapers these last few days. If a news piece about him has appeared then I missed it.

Fresh Durians, Ice Kacang, Old Marine Parade, Wonderland

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I Don't Care If Tomorrow Never Come:

This nostalgia trip by Allan Thompson will certainly be one he can share with many Singaporeans.  Allan's "spreading the newspaper on the grass" experience is only too common with young Singaporeans who went courting in the 60s.  

Allan explains that he is "raking through the embers of my Singapore past and stirring up a few sparks which make me smile."  He has written many poems when he was in RAF Changi. "Perhaps it was the scent of frangipani on the balmy evening air or, more likely, the searing stench of a freshly sliced durian! I am keeping an interested eye on your marvellous blog."

So if you enjoyed his last 6 episodes about RAF Changi in the 60s and his stint with a guitar group then read on about his social life in Singapore:

"Does the Capitol (image right) still have those sliding seats? I remember my first-ever visit when I leaned back in my seat and thought I was about to be launched over the balcony.  I loved Singapore cinemas: the Capitol, the Lido, the Roxy and so many others, including the Astra at RAF Changi.  I never went to the cinema in Changi village but one of my friends did and he told me he got soaked because it started to rain and the cinema had no roof.  I don't know if that was really true, but I like to think so. 

I also remember the #Wonderland bar and restaurant on the East Coast Road  (image below) which was on the ground floor of a tall building called the Tay Ban Guan.  It was air-conditioned and very dark when you first went inside so that you bumped into tables.  Good fun!  

The old Marine Parade (image below left) was just behind it and I used to take my second girl-friend there for a walk in the dark and buy her an iced kachang (red beans) from one of the vendors.  

The local newsagent used to look very impressed when I bought a Chinese newspaper because he must have thought I could read the language.  But I actually bought the paper so that she and I could sit on it on the grass near the Katong Convent school (image below right) and watch the lights of ships in the distance. What a fraud I was." 

So as The Platters', Twilight Time, Cliff Richard's When The Girl In Your Arms Is The Girl In Your Heart and the Reyes Sisters', I Don't Care If Tomorrow Never Comes (image record sleeve above left) were playing from a nearby seaside bungalow, Allan started to count the twinkling lights and stars. And that took a long time...

Do you have stories and songs you wish to share when you took that Tanjong Katong stroll with your girlfriend? 

# which became Fancyland later.

Image: 
Record Cover from Andy Lim Collection and Google.

Original article: 
Allan Thompson.  With naughty add-ons by Andy Lim. 
Copyright Reserved.

The Reyes Sisters: I Don't Care If Tomorrow... YouTube Video by Malaysiaboleh

Philips Record: 
EP The Reyes Sisters: A Ring For My Darling (by Tisana/W.King), I Don't Care If Tomorrow Never Come; Valley Of Dreams (SG original by Terry Marsden), You Don't Have To Be A Baby To Cry.

Peranakans In Katong Charmed By Hawaiian Guitar

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When I wrote to Cynthia, asking to reproduce her article and a photograph to highlight her story, she generously replied:

Hi Andy,

Kudos for your website on bands in Singapore in the 60s. Please find here a photo of Mickey Oliveiro and his band (he is at the center). Note the original Hawaiian ukelele which was given by his widow to my sister.

Best regards,

Cynthia.

(10.7.2011)


Mickey Oliveiro on Hawaiian Guitar.

Hi Cynthia,

Thank you for the photograph and write-up about Mr. Oliveiro. I wish more people like you would share their pictures and memories for everyone to appreciate.

Regards,



Where's the Hawaiian guitar

Andy.

Cynthia Wee-Hoefer reminisced on growing up in the peranakan heartland in Katong (on the eastern coast of Singapore) during the 50s and 60s. Her charming, vivid description of the area and the activities and colourful neighbours struck a note in me. What interested me most was her story about one particular family, "whose life we witnessed by looking over the common wall into their verandah and living room." To her the Oliveiros were "outstanding" and inspirational, especially one member:

"Mickey Oliveiro was the leading Hawaiian guitar-player of the 50s and 60s. He was part of a band of part-time musicians who played in cabarets and clubs like the one in Seaview Hotel on weekends and festivities. And that meant rehearsals on Sundays with his buddies. So my young life was filled with the tunes of Blue Hawaii and other hip-swaying melodies. 

Meanwhile, our family gramophone belted out Bill Haley, Elvis, Chuck Berry, The Shadows and so on. By the time I reached the awakening of my own hit parade of the Beatles and Stones, I found the melodious pull and twang of the electric Hawaiian guitar to be punishing. 

Mickey collapsed from a heart attack and took away the sound with him completely before I came to hear the familiar strains once again when I befriended a Peranakan girl living in Queenstown whose father loved his Hawaiian guitar."

Tanjong Katong in the 1920s

(The above extract was taken from The Peranakan Association Singapore Website.)To read the full article please click the link below:

Images from:
Cynthia Wee-Hoefer,
 steelc6th.com,
rememberingsingapore.wordpress.com

Do you still remember Mickey Oliveiro? Please write in if you do?