SINGAPORE 60's: ANDY's POP MUSIC INFLUENCE IS A PERSONAL MUSIC, MEMORY TRAIL. BLOGGER DOES NOT OWN THE RIGHTS TO VIDEOS, AUDIO TRACKS AND IMAGES. THEY ARE UPLOADED FOR FUN, EDUCATIONAL, ILLUSTRATIVE PURPOSES AND HAVE BEEN CREDITED. BLOG IS NOT SPONSORED NOR ADVERTORIAL IN ANY WAY WHATSOEVER. INFORM BLOGGER OF COPYRIGHT ISSUES AND POST WILL BE DELETED IMMEDIATELY. DO NOT COPY THE POSTS; GET PERMISSION N CREDIT ME IF YOU DO. ANDY LIM LA (NOVEMBER, 2008) -
(新加坡六十年代安迪的流行音乐影响力), SUDI MAMPIR !
Through my own blogging experience I found that some local musicians are not familiar with the Indo/Dutch invasion in the 60s. It's simply what it means... We had the familiar Blue Diamonds [two brothers], pretty Anneke Gronloh and the well-known Shadows group from Holland, Johnny Lion and the Jumping Jewels visit us in Singapore. [This article has been updated: 5.06.2024 from 1.07.2009]
The song titles are familiar and the band names are fantastic. The titles are from an album, The Very Best Of Indo-Rock:
1 Pretend / The Dakotas 2 Let's Have a Party / Black Dynamites 3 Once / Hurricane Rollers 4 Mama Papa Twist / Crazy Rockers 5 Smokey Mountain Boogie / Ricky & The Rhythm Strings
6 I'll Never Let You Cross My Mind / The Hot Jumpers 7 Ajoen Ajoen /Willy and His Giants 8 Any Time / Rockin' Shadows 9 Should I / Electric Johnny & His Skyrockets 10 Ole Sio / The Entertainers
11 Twist in the Mood / The Black Dynamites 12 I Go Ape / The Hot Jumpers 13 Carioca / Fender Rollers 14 Rosalie / Tony Light 15 It Keeps Right On Hurting/ Boy & His Rollin' Kids*
Ajoen Ajoen /Willy and His Giants
Youtube Video from: Sam Sam Music
16 Memories / Emeralds 17 Raindrops / Explosion Rockers 18 Mukwai Hula / Tielman Brothers 19 Bumble Boogie Woogie/ The Desmounts 20 Slippin' and Slidin'/ The Fire Devils
21 Ling Ting Tong / The Javelins 22 You Win Again / The White Waves 23 Sweet Malaya / The Rollers 24 What'd I Say / Rock of Ages 25 Little Bird / Sebastian
*In memory of Boy Jansen (1935-2006), composer/lead guitarist of Boy & His Rollin' Kids. They are an Indonesian/Dutch pop group from Zaandam, Holland. Their instrumental, Midnight InMalaya (318 869PF), was released in Singapore and Malaysia and became a hit. The flipside, China Rock, was also written by Jansen.
I am not too sure here but noted the big drum sound in the accompaniment. Could it be the big gendang used by Asian musicians. If you are familiar...?
NB:
Images below show some of the most popular Indonesian Dutch bands that had their days in the 60s carrying songs with rock n roll Western beats, mostly following Cliff and the Shadows tradition...
JK Lim's collection of memorabilia that includes show
tickets, posters, photographs, signatures and others.
If you check carefully, you can read
the names of the musicians and singers
who signed JK Lim's memorabilia.
UP TO 500 VIEWS
6 CHATS, COMMENTS
When I asked JK if he could do a write-up like his contemporary HH Chew about the pop concerts he attended he agreed. It took a while but here they are my dear readers, so many you would not believe. But how could he do it?
I’m like *HH Chew [connection below], chasing concerts and bands and singers! It's mainly due to my home, a building beside the Odeon Cinema in North Bridge Road, opposite Jubilee Theatre near the Capitol Cinema and walking distance to Cathay Cinema. The amusement centres in Singapore 60s were close to each other in this part of town where I lived.
And coincidentally, the girls-only school, the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus [CHIJ] was right smack in the middle of these movie theatres. And the young ladies would come out after school, at about one in the afternoon, in their white and hue blue pinafores.
The Odeon Cinema at North Bridge Road, Singapore
in the 60s. JK Lim lives in the same neighbourhood.
The school is also in the same neighbourhood at Victoria Street.
During the late 1950s and the early 1960s whenever they launched a show there's a hue and cry publicity where the actors and actresses involved, will come and sing a song or two before the show and super stars like Grace Chang [Ge Lan] 葛蘭 - 說不出的快活 電影《野玫瑰之戀 of Ja Jambo fame would have an autograph session at Level 4 [called the Hollywood Room] at the Odeon building. She would have come all the way from Hong Kong. Imagine the crowds that evening with North Bridge Road jam packed like the cinema itself!
On the other hand we had pop singers like, Johnny Lion and the Jumping Jewels from Holland performing at the Odeon. Remember them? He sang 'Let's Make a Habit of This', 'Judy', 'I Like It' and a host of other hits.
The late Johnny Lion and the neat,
smooth and velvety Jumping Jewels.
They came from Holland.
This cinema and others were all under the Cathay Organisation and the movie stars Hayley Mills and her father, John Mills came and appeared on stage before the shows. And they still keep coming today, the big stars like the Rolling Stones, Cpldplay, Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift.
Then across the road at Jubilee Cinema, which screened mostly Chinese shows had the Canto [Cantonese] stars appearing, with the likes of Fong Po Po and Chan Poh Choo. Today it's the National Stadium, where groups like Black Pink, top K-Pop groups from South Korea come bob bob bopping along.
The Jubilee Cinema, across the road from
the Odeon, showing mostly Chinese movies.
Further down the road towards Shenton Way and opposite the St. Andrew's Cathedral stands the Shaw Brother's cinema group irreplaceable, Capitol Theatre. The great Bai Kwang, Old Shanghai diva performed on stage too. I managed to attend. Chinese, English stars! I love them all.
And over at the Cathay, a short distance away, Frank Sinatra, one of the best US 60s crooners, was there. He was truly my favourite and I managed to catch him in his room at the Cathay Hotel above the cinema and got his autograph too after school. I was studying nearby at St. Joseph's Institution.
Crossing to the East side of Singapore, at Guillemard Road. It was concerts galore when Cliff Richard and the original Shadows came. This group included Hank Marvin, Bruce Welch, Tony Meehan and Jet Harris.
There was Pat Boone and Debbie Boone. It was a wonderment with tickets costing Fifty Cents to One Dollar for hard step-like concrete seats at the Badminton Hall and at the Happy World Stadium.
Yes, yes!
"Those were the days my friend,
We thought it'd never end..."
Manfred Mann: Do Wah Diddy.
REMASTERED VIDEO TRUE 1964
STEREO HiQ Hybrid JARichardsFilm
YouTube video from: jarichards99utube
Fung Poh Poh Hanky Panky
YouTube Video from: kraftwerk2012
But it did. Now in Singapore concerts cost so much more. A coming one will cost pop music enthusiasts more than a thousand dollars per ticket!
The best deal I experienced was a three-in-one concert for one dollar at the Badminton Hall where I witnessed the Rolling Stones, Manfred Mann and The Kinks. Now that was a record breaker indeed [pun intended].
And I managed to get all their autographs!
Many stars do a transit stop in Singapore here before heading Down Under in Kangaroo county, Australia. These pop stars included: Helen Shapiro, Millie Small, Blue Diamonds, Anneke Gronloh, The 3 Degrees, Stylistics, Manhattan Transfer, Herman’s Hermit and Gilbert O'Sullivan.
Written by: JK Lim.
Author: JK Lim
With his recollection and
memorabilia from the 1960s.
Images: Google and The National Archives, Singapore.
Musicians From The West Who Practise Buddhism Based on internet findings here are some singers and music makers who practise the Buddhist faith. In the U.S., the U.K. and other western communities, film stars, musicians and other top names promote the message of Buddhism in their movies, music and lifestyles. Here they are: Alanis Morissette Annie Lennox Belinda Carlisle Cher Courtney Love David Bowie Gene Vincent (?) Herbie Hancock Jennifer Lopez KD Lang Leonard Cohen Patti Smith Sandie Shaw Sting - Gordon Sumner Tina Turner Information: from Relevant Websites and may not be accurate.
Annie Lennox, Cher, Courtney Love, Jennifer Lopez.
David Bowie, Herbie Hancock, Leonard Cohen, Sting (Gordon Sumner).
Songs
I am no expert on Buddhism and have tried without much success to compile a list of '60s to 80's western pops that has a Buddhist theme. A search on the net hasn't revealed much but below is a rather shaky list which will suffice for the moment. Everyone is helpful, everyone is kind On the road to Shambala Everyone is lucky, everyone is so kind On the road to Shambala
Shambala: Three Dog Night.
YouTube Video from: BOMBAYBOB1
Although some of the songs have reasonable lyrics they do not deal much with the topic beyond the titles. A few of them show familiarity with Buddhist teachings. There is no intention to misinform, so please write in if otherwise:
1. Karma Man: David Bowie: 1968. 2. Instant Karma: John Lennon: 1970. 3. Sold To The Highest Buddha: Gong: 1973. 4. Bodhisattva: Steely Dan: 1973. 5. Shambala: Daniel Moore: Three Dog Night: 1973. 6. Dust In The Wind: Kansas: 1977. 7. Refuge Of The Road: Joni Mitchell: 1976. 8. Kharma Chameleon: Boy George: 1983. 9. Within You Without You: Beatles: 1967. 10. Tomorrow Never Knows: Beatles: 1966. 11. Oh Very Young: Cat Stevens: 1974.
If you have more information regarding the list above, please contribute. Click below for more information:
Robert Gay writes with soul when he uses 50s songs and movies as milestones for his teenage journey. Detailed and heartfelt... Thanks Robert for taking time off to pen this very touching story of yours.
Becoming a Teenager:
It was no coincidence that the music of the fifties and sixties targeted the teenage market! This was the period when the post war babies became teenagers! The social culture was teenage based and created a huge unprecedented market! There were dozens of songs centered on age sixteen!
Sixteen Candles, the Platters and the Crests,
Only Sixteen, Craig Douglas,
Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen, Neil Sedaka,
You’re Sixteen, Johnny Burnette,
Sweet Little Sixteen, Chuck Berry etc.
One of my favourite songs by Lonnie Donegan starts, “Sweet sixteen goes to church just to see the boys... Putting on the Style!"Teenagers were falling in and out of love! Moodiness, loneliness, violence, recklessness were all part of the makeup of a teenager! The film Rebel Without a Cause said it all! James Dean became a superstar and, “Chicken“ became a dangerous game on the roads!
Cliff Richard, Pat Boon, Elvis, Ricky Nelson and many others were conferred the title! Several of the new Artistes were teenagers! Paul Anka sang Diana which was one of the biggest hits ever! Ricky Nelson sang, Poor Little Fool and My Rifle, Pony and Me with Dean Martin in, “Rio Bravo." We identified with them and learnt to sing these songs with guitar accompaniment!
I was thirteen in 1957!
Author, Traveller: Robert Gay in the Galapagos.
A Teenage Crush:
I was still catching spiders, fighting fish and flying kites and fishing! Girls never featured in my activities! I was mystified by a couple of our group who raved about this girl and that girl! Then one day the inevitable happened, I was returning from fishing in the sea off Siglap when a girl on a bicycle stopped by me, smiled at me and said “How many fish did you catch Robert?”. I was kind of speechless and just held up the string of fish that I was bringing home. She smiled again and said, “That’s a good catch “ and cycled off!
I stood there just stunned ! It didn’t help that she was just prettiest girl I had ever seen and I’d never seen her before! I thought she might have been one of my sisters’ friends! But they didn’t know her. However, a couple of the guys knew instantly who she was and even where she lived! Next day, I persuaded my new classmate Lesley from ACS to come with me to see where she lived. Somewhere in Dunbar walk!
What a Borgward 60s looks like. Usually chauffeur
driven and owned by the rich in Singapore 50s/60s.
We were just outside her house when a chauffeur driven Borgward stopped at her gate! And out she came. She saw us and came to us asking what we were doing! I had cunningly dropped a few coins on the grass verge and we were pretending to look for them. “Let me help you” she said and proceeded to look around with us! We collected my coins then she kindly invited us in for a drink (orange juice)! She got us our drinks and had one for herself.
We chatted for a while and then she said, “ Excuse me I have to do my homework, just wait for me.”
She got out her homework and we just sat and listened to Guy Mitchell, “Singing the Blues” on the LP she had put on for us!
I noticed after a while that she looked perturbed about her homework so I walked over to see what she was trying to do, She had CV Durell's, “General Mathematics Vol. 4” in front of her. I had only just finished Vol. 4 at Presbyterian Boys' School. However, I looked at the problem she was trying to solve and surprisingly saw how to do it immediately! So I showed her how it was done and I got another of those beautiful smiles. Homework was done in no time and we got to chat and got to know each other better.
Singapore students use this text book
for Mathematics practice in the 1950's.
Teenage Socials:
This became a kind of usual pattern and a few of us used to gather regularly at her place. We brought our guitars and sang the hits by Pat Boon, Elvis, Harry Belafonte, Ricky Nelson, Fats Domino and others.
She taught us how to dance; the cha cha, jive and the waltz! We also went out as a group to the places like the Botanical Gardens for a picnic where she packed a lunch. The highlight of our get-togethers was a trip to Johore Bahru one day where again she packed a lunch and drinks for us! Our main group consisted of Philip and Dennis (our Everly Brothers Champions), myself and Leslie. All this was good innocent fun and it was happy days for me.
Surprisingly she usually went to school by bus! She would walk all the way from Dunbar walk, through Frankel Avenue to the bus stop on Geylang Road where she took a bus to Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus, passing my house on the way! I used to wait to wave to her and have a few words.
I remember those mornings where I would have a Billy Vaughan LP on while waiting. “A Summer Place” and “Sail along Silvery Moon” were my favourite songs on this LP. The twin saxophones blended so beautifully! However. As all good things this would not last forever.! We were always mindful that she was a little older than us. She was fifteen and we were about thirteen.
'Singing The Blues' Guy Mitchell.
YouTube Video from: The Ed Sullivan Show.
[Song is usually sung on stage by Blogger Andy.]
“I’m so young and your so old”, Paul Anka's, Diana was about two years older than Paul too. We had over a year of this wonderful companionship but we always new she had older male friends who had more serious intentions.
Teenage Blush:
One day we visited as usual but she had gone. We came again the next day and were met by her older cousin waving a large screwdriver.
“Don’t come here again!” he said, in a most unfriendly manner.
We left quite shocked and we never saw her again till many years later!
“One day she left without a word she took away the sun...” Lemon Tree, Peter Paul and Mary.
So this is how I got initiated into the teenage world! All the songs we sang were becoming true!
I had just joined Larry Lai's 'Music Lovers' chat group created on WhatsApp. After introducing me to the group I thanked him and the group with this reply:
Hello all,
Thank you Larry for the welcoming introduction and for letting me taste a bit of group chatting. Never been in one before... I'm no musician, only a bystander and would love to learn the intricacies and designs of social musicianship.
Cheers.
[2] What is 'social musicianship'?
I wasn't sure myself if I had used the right phrase, 'social musicianship' so I decided to ask my mentor Meta AI on WhatsApp. Here's my question and the reply I received:
What is 'social musicianship'?
Meta AI's reply:
What a fascinating question! Yes, there is such a term as 'social musicianship'. Social musicianship refers to the social and interpersonal aspects of music-making, emphasizing the importance of collaboration, communication, and community in musical performance and learning.
It encompasses skills like:
` Ensemble playing
` Improvisation
` Active listening
` Empathy
` Nonverbal communication
` Conflict resolution
Social musicianship recognises that music is often a collective and social activity, and that developing these social skills is essential for successful music-making.
I hope that helps! Let me know if you have any further questions.
Thank you Meta AI.
And thank you folks for reading the explanation.
"Who can live without it, I ask in all honesty. What would life be, Without a song or dance, what are we? So I say thank you for the music, For giving it to me. [Abba.]"
Comments are welcome.
Andy with Larry Lai and young MediaCorp producer
HH Tang, while discussing a television project
we were supposed to participate in some years ago.
