Western Pop Songs With Food Titles: Part III

All this discussion about ikan belado (chilly fried fish) and murtabak (Indian meat pancake) reminds me of songs that have been lingering in my mind for a while. Food, Glorious Food is the opening number from the musical Oliver! Written by Lional Bart, it is sung during a sequence when the orphan boys from the 60s musical are fantasizing about food while going to collect their bowl of porridge - gruel to be exact.

"Food glorious food/We're anxious to try it/Three banquets a day/Our favourite diet /Just picture a great big steak/Fried, roasted or chewed/For food marvellous food/Wonderful food, magical food/Fabulous food, beautiful food..."

There are many, many western pop titles with food words in them but this list is limited to songs familiar and popular around the 60s. It is a short list and some lyrics do not discuss food at all. Here goes:

1 All That Meat And No Potatoes Louis Armstrong 2 American Pie Don McLean 3 Banana Boat Song Harry Belafonte 4 Blueberry Hill Fats Domino 5 Brown Sugar Rolling Stones 6 Catfish Bob Dylan

6 Cigarettes and Coffee Otis Redding 7 Country Pie Bob Dylan 8 Goober Peas Kingstone Trio 9 Gravy (For My Mashed Potatoes) Dee Dee Sharp 10 I Got A Lovely Bunch Of Coconuts Merv Griffin .

11 Lemon Tree Peter Paul & Mary 12 Lollipop Chordettes 13 Porcupine Pie Neil Diamond 14 Strawberry Fields Forever 15 Sweet Potato Pie James Taylor 16 Tutti Frutti Little Richard 17 Watermelon Man Herbie Hancock.

I have been trying to think of Singapore pop songs that have food themes. Doesn't matter in whatever local language they are in. If you remember one, please contribute.

For a long list: http://www.squidoo.com/songs-about-food
Image: The Wynners Long Play/Andy Lim Collection.

(B) Silly Love Songs, Never My Love, Wynners

They were The Losers before becoming The Wynners. Perhaps they wanted to be 'foot-loose'. It could also have been a mis-spelling but they are definitely not 'losers' now, having won the coverted Golden Needle Award from RTHK for its Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs prize in 88. Took a while but they made it.

As Philips recording artistes, they cut a special Thanks A Million album for their fans with songs from their TV hits in 1975 and 1976.

Image shows the back cover and in celebration, a toast to their followers and prize-winning songs that include, Wynners Theme Song 1977, If, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Una Paloma Blanca, Silly Love Songs and Never My Love.

They have made appearances both in Singapore and Malaysia. Their recent performance was at the Hong Kong Coliseum for 13 nights from February 18 to March 2, 2007 for their 33rd anniversary concert. Evergreen.

(LP Philips: 6380 008. Marketed by Phonogram).
Image/original article: Andy Lim Collection.

(A) Wynners Always: HongKong 70s Teen Idols

Their versatility shows in the music they produce and perform. They have a repertoire of pops in English, Mandarin and Cantonese with a large fan base in Hong Kong and most of South East Asia.

The Wynners are a Hong Kong vocal and instrumental quintet formed in 1973. The line-up included Alan Tam and Kenny Bee (vocals), Bennett Pang (guitar), Danny Yip (bass guitar) and Anthony Chan (drums).

The group sang exclusively in English when they first started and recorded mainly covers of popular songs from the West. In 1975, they collaborated with James Wong, a songwriter, lyricist, director and released a movie, Let's Rock with original Cantonese songs for the soundtrack. It was early Cantopop with simple, light-hearted lyrics in colloquial style.

Before their success in the movie, the group was already one of the most popular teen idol groups in H.K. Their first studio album, Listen to the Wynners, released in 1974, was a commercial success. It led on to shows with TVB , the Wynners Specials in 1975 and two more films, Gonna Get You in 1976 and Making It in 1977.

The Wynners disbanded in 1978, with Alan Tam and Kenny Bee embarking on successful solo careers, but they never officially broke up and reunited periodically even till today.

Wynners: Sha la la la la.

YouTube Video: Peepol Candy

Reference: Wynners Websites by fans.

Image/original article: Andy Lim.