(7) Chuck Berry, Bobby Darin, Frankie Avalon, Buddy Holly, Coasters - A Keg Of Dynamite

TOP TUNES INFLUENCE: 1959 - 60

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes - The Platters
Venus - Frankie Avalon
Lonely Boy - Paul Anka
A Big Hunk O'Love - Elvis Presley
*1. Mack The Knife, 2. Fever,
3. Splish Splash - Bobby Darin
Heartaches By The Number - Guy Mitchell
Why - Frankie Avalon
*1. Maybelline, 2. Roll Over Beethoven
3. Sweet Little Sixteen - Chuck Berry
1. Great Balls of Fire, 2. Whole Lotta
Shakin' Goin' On - Jerry Lee Lewis
1. Peggy Sue, 2. Oh Boy - Buddy Holly/Crickets
1. Ain't That a Shame, 2. Bluberry Hill - Fats Domino
1. Donna, 2. La Bamba - Ritchie Valens
Sixteen Candles - The Crests
Charlie Brown - The Coasters
Shake, Rattle & Roll - Big Joe Turner

The list shows some of the hits around 1959, the year before the big 60. Chuck Berry, an African/American, shook the world with his rockin' and rollin'; Bobby Darin, of Italian descent, fevered, knifed and splashed us with his jazz renditions (images).

These were the singers that many Singapore 60s music bands could relate to as they grew up with the classics. Many of our local bands covered the songs and many of our singers impersonated the top stars.

So in the last years of the fifties with its vital mix of Buddy Holly, Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis, Everly Brothers, The Coasters, Perez Prado, Les Baxter and Elvis Presley, our local boys and girls had the keg of dynamite they needed for the fuse and trigger - Cliff and his Shadows.

"Look out, old Macky's back..."

(This is the last posting in the series: Top Tunes Influence 50s.)

Images: http://www.dancetothesixties.nl/ &

http://www.earyago.com/

Original article: Andy Lim Collection.

(5) Radio Malaya Orchestra, Caldecott Hill, Andrew Road, Singapore - 1957

TOP TUNES INFLUENCE: 1957 - 1958

Arrival of Buddy Holly & Sam Cooke:
Too Much - Elvis Presley, Don't Forbid Me - Pat Boone, Young Love - Sonny James, Young Love - Tab Hunter, Party Doll - Buddy Knox, Round and Round - Perry Como, All Shook Up - Elvis Presley, Butterfly - Charlie Gracie, Love Letters In The Sand - Pat Boone.

Teddy Bear - Elvis Presley, Tammy - Debbie Reynolds, Diana - Paul Anka, Honeycomb - Jimmie Rodgers, That'll Be The Day - The Crickets Wake Up Little Susie - Everly Brothers, Jailhouse Rock - Elvis Presley, Chances Are - Johnny Mathis, You Send Me - Sam Cooke, April Love - Pat Boone

In the 50s Singapore had its big bands too. Because we were still a part of Malaya, the image shows the Radio Malaya Orchestra in 1957 at a studio situated in Caldecott Hill, Singapore. It comprised strings, brass, a guitar, a xylophone, a double bass and percussion.

The band members were usually full time professionals employed by Radio Malaya. Some expatriates who lived in Singapore also played for the orchestra. These musicians were also able to play local Chinese, Malay and Indian melodies. They played local songs way before Anneke Gronloh sang Burung Kakak Tua or Nina Bobo. When Malaya won independence in 1957, the radio service was split into Radio Malaya and Radio Singapore.

As we follow the Top Tunes, melodies like Lisbon Antigua by Nelson Riddle, The Poor People Of Paris and Unchained Melody by Les Baxter would be the usual fare. Instrumental versions of hits by Pat Boone, Debbie Reynolds and Tab Hunter would be played regularly too. Notice too that all the songs are still known today by many pop tune enthusiasts. And Paul Anka is still singing!

Do you know anyone who was in a big band in the 50s in Singapore?

Image: National Heritage Board Singapore/Singapore Press Holdings.

Original article: Andy Lim Collection.

(1) Sincerely Learning The Blues, Cherry Pink, Yellow Rose, Autumn Leaves, Let Me Go Lover

(1) TOP TUNES INFLUENCE: 1955/1956. First in this series of 8 postings:

It is important to realise that Postings 1 - 7 under Top Tunes Influence is written to explain that the songs featured on the music charts in the mid-50s have in many ways shaped Singapore 60s music. Surfers need to realise that Cliff Richard just didn't materialise from thin air and appeared at the Badminton Stadium with his Shadows.

My own ideas revealed:

Like most teenagers who love pop music, the mid-50s in Singapore was an exciting time for them especially if their home radio was tuned to English language broadcasts. In 1955, when the rock n roll era began, the following songs were heard often on the radio.

Let Me Go Lover - Joan Weber
Sincerely - McGuire Sisters
The Ballad Of Davy Crockett - Fess Parker
Cherry Pink & Apple Blossom White - Perez Prado/Orchestra
Unchained Melody - Les Baxter

Rock Around The Clock - Bill Haley & His Comets
Learnin' The Blues - Frank Sinatra
The Yellow Rose Of Texas - Mitch Miller & His Orchestra
Love Is A Many Splendoured Thing - Four Aces
Autumn Leaves - Nat King Cole (1956)
Sixteen Tons - Tennesse Ernie Ford

Autumn Leaves, Learning The Blues, Let Me Go Lover, Sincerely, Unchained Melody and A Many Splendoured Thing had English-educated women, swooning as they listened to these tunes from the kitchen. These songs were categorised under 'sentimental love songs'.

Splendoured Thing had patrons rushing to the cinemas to watch William Holden and Jennifer Jones hold hands and fall in love. Sighs and theme music mingled in the cinema halls as the images kissed (image). Cabarets at the amusement 'Worlds' were playing the same tunes to crowded dance floors.

Cherry Pink and Yellow Rose were being whistled all over the country as listeners fell in love with the Latin flavour of the first and the marching beat of the second.

Image: http://www.thewoundedbird.blogspot.com/

Original article: Andy Lim Collection.

(D) Jamaican Jive, Combo Band, Not Belafonte

The Mysterians only single on Cosdel with My Girl Les and *Forget The Time sold quite well even though there was not much airplay on Radio Singapore or Rediffusion. Even today people still remember Forget The Time. Singer Mike left the band after the record was released.

There were two more releases afterwards, a single, You've Got To Move On and Searching, and an EP, Forever, They Lied, Is Everything Alright and Down In The Valley. But this time around the band had Leroy Lindsay (image) from the U.K. fronting them. And Searching had shades of Jamaican jive and combo backing. I love the exceptional presence of the harmonica (mouth-organ) in Is Everything Alright?

There were also changes in the band line-up when Michael Gan and Charles Koh replaced Mike and Jeffrey Tan. From 1970 to 1979, James Choa (check previous postings) from The Flamingos Combo and Gaylads vocal group, joined the Mysterians. James Choa is one of the best keyboardist in Singapore.

With new members came a new policy and although they retained the group name, they identified themselves during their performances. They had nothing to hide. The third record (image) shows the very distinguished studious looking gentlemen with their glasses.

Image: from EBay. Original article: Andy Lim

90.5FM DJ Brian Richmond with Henry Suriya

Brian Richmond and Henry Suriya (image) are well known personalities in our local 60s music scene. Richmond hosts the 90.5 fm Gold Classic radio broadcast, Nites With Brian and Vintage Sundays on MediaCorp Station. He will one of the hosts for Eurasiana, a musical tribute, on 26/27 June, 2009 at the Esplanade Concert Hall.

Henry Suriya (check older posting), is a well-known crooner and has recorded many songs during the 60s with his brother Robert and The Boys. Two of his songs are included in The Definite Collection. Brian Richmond has a part in the promotion of this box set.

Image: Henry Suriya Collection.
(1st posting on MCs, comperes, radio personalities from 60s).

mp3 Player - Singapore 60s Radiogram Music

Grundig, Normende, Siemens, Philips? It was the centrepiece furniture in the living room in the grand old days. Before the television set peeked round the corner and engulfed the Singapore home with its *"one big-eye" and *"one long-horn," the ultimate entertainment machine was the radiogram.

It had a record player with two speeds, a smaller 45rpm Extended Play function and the larger, more popular 33rpm Long Play. Beside it, (image) in another compartment, was the radio, the source of inspiration for many people then, when Elvis, The Beatles and Connie Francis sang their lives out on Maisie Conceicao's, "Calling All Hospitals," at nine o'clock in the morning.

If you chose to spin your own selection instead, there was a spacious area below the player and radio where black vinyls were placed neatly, single file for storage. With about 12 songs per Long Play record and storing about 200 records or so, you would have about 2,400 songs on the playlist. Not too bad, considering the number you could store now on your mp3 player. It was the 60s and valves were the craze. Not chips.

"When I was young/I listened to the radio/Waiting for my favourite songs..." Comment anyone?

*Sheb Wooley's, "Purple People Eater (1958.)"

(Image courtesy of: http://www.radiograms.co.uk/)

The a - Infos Radio Project - DJ Carlito's Blog

Hi Andy,

Thanks so much for the reply, and thanks for checking out my blog! Ive definitely been listening to Singapore and Malaysian music for quite a while now...

If you ever get the chance, please check out the weekly radio show (image) that I do in Richmond, Virginia, U.S. via the podcasts that I post too. Here's a good one featuring some Singapore/Malay/and Indonesian pop with rock and Hindi film music: http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/program/32168

Regards,

DJCarlito

(Andy says: Please visit this radio station for Singapore, Malay, Indonesian and Hindi film and music. It's quality stuff!)

Jukebox Influence On Singapore60s Music

The jukebox above will astound because it is definitely one that spins vinyls. Conceptualised and invented in 1898, the actual jukebox came about in 1927 and became most popular from the 40s through the 60s. They become CD dispensers in later years.

'Juke' or 'jook' means 'dance' with a sexual connotation and is derived from African-American slang. The machine plays 78 rpm records, 33 1/3, 45s vinyls and CDs.

Its association with rock and roll music is well-known. Hank Williams Jr, established 50s country artiste, has a song, 'Lyin' Jukebox,' and on a more positive note, Alan Jackson's, 'Don't Rock The Jukebox.'

Singapore had them in restaurants, bars, billiard houses, lobbies of various hotels and private country clubs. Enthusiasts who could afford such luxury bought them for home use.

Teddy boys in Singapore with girls to impress would exhibit the coin-drop, then jive and rock for a few cents a song, empowered by a machine they could control.

My own recollection? Elvis Presley's tunes dominated the jukeboxes and there was always a selection where patrons could play Chinese melodies. Were local band vinyls included?

Image: http://www.webweaver.nu/clipart/music

The Transistors Triumphed Throughout...

So when the transistor radios were perfected and sold cheaply for about S$20.00 each in the early 60s, sales skyrocketed. While some listened to Rediffusion, others listened to the transistor radio.

Request programmes were also the craze and listening to your name being announced over the airwaves was exciting. It became an obsession to many people. So transistor radios & requests became synonymous. Portable, personal and a phenomenon!

And you thought there was nothing before MP3?

Image: www.flickr.com

Nancy, Sluggo, Transistor Radios, Change Alley, T-Dance In Singapore 60s

In reply to Lucy's note, Sluggo, Nancy's boyfriend, provided a warning shot:

"But then Lucy, I was with Nancy and if you see our personal snapshot (above) here she wouldn't have allowed any hanky panky so going to tea dances with you would've been a no-no."

I cannot remember the context of the above quote but found it somewhere during a read. 'Lucy' could have been the kay-poh (busy body) girl in the other strip series, Peanuts and with whom Charlie Brown had problems (left image). 

But then how the Lucy character could wander into Nancy's comic strip kept me wondering. She might give Nancy's transistor, A Heartbreak Radio. 

For me, the interest were the keywords, the combination of Nancy and Sluggo cartoon characters, tea dances and the transistor radio on the image. This formula, I thought, would make interesting music stories.

Nancy Comic Strip In Newspapers

Nancy and Sluggo became famous from about 1933 after the introduction of the Fritzi Ritz comic strip in 1922. Nancy soared in popularity up to the 70's and beyond, syndicated in nearly 900 newspapers all over the world.

This comic strip was part of the fun I had during the 1960's when transistor radios also became very popular. 

Transistor Radios

Meanwhile, as I grew up, patronising tea dances in the middle of the day at a cinema in Katong wasn't part of my schedule but it was interesting to know that such a past-time existed.

So one day, cycling all the way from my house in the East, I bought my first transistor radio in 1960, from a row of shop houses at North Bridge Road (image for illustration) but have lost this beauty somehow. National brand it was, popular and cheap.

This transistor invention and revolution relieved me of having to sit beside my father's PYE radio and my neighbour's Rediffusion set just to listen to pop music. I could just carry it around. Portability!

I still keep one transistor radio today (above) but this one has AC/DC attachment; so it is being used at home.  I bought it in the early 80's.

Change Alley

I remember too taking a bus all the way to Clifford Pier or was it Shenton Way to look for a more expensive and exclusive transistor radio. And they sold these pocket radios at a place called Change Alley. It was about opposite Clifford Pier, an alley with rows of shops on both sides, selling stuff from fountain pens, watches, tourist souvenirs, curios to clothes and toys. The alley penetrated through to the other end to a huge departmental store called Gian Singh.

Change Alley was actually a shopper's paradise and catered to most tourists wanting to experience an eastern shopping atmosphere. I remember going there because you could bargain for a cheaper price for whatever you wanted to purchase. To avoid the crowds I would go there either before lunch or the best bet was to visit it at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon. It was a very shady alley and reasonably cool because it was open-air.

Heartbreak Radio: Roy Orbison

YouTubeVideo from: hirosh58

Thank You.

Tea Dance

Tea Dances too were the in-thing those years when it started. You could go dancing on a week-end afternoon at some of the dance halls at cinemas like the Odeon-Katong and Palace in the East or the one called the Celestial Room where Dhoby Gaut MRT stands today. And a soft drink was like two Singapore dollars. Buy a glass and dance the whole evening to your hearts' content. Two bands were usually on stage to rock your souls out. One band would be the highlight of the evening and the other, the guest band.

So for the younger readers - how many new words have you learnt today? Transistor radio? Nancy and Sluggo? Change Alley? Tea Dance and, snapshot? Now that's a word I haven't heard in years.

A Tea Dance in Singapore 60s night spot. 

Crowds of teenagers sweat the evening away.

*PYE
https://singapore60smusic.blogspot.sg/2012/08/searching-for-my-favourite-chinese.html

Original article: Andy Lim.

Videos and Images from YouTube and Google.