(2) Canadian Influence: Local Vocal Groups

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Remembering the late 50s and 60s, James Choa (check his posting earlier) recalled the good old days of radio and his own vocal quartet, The Gaylads who played to full houses in the nightspots in Singapore with their band, The Flamingos.

They sang songs by The Diamonds, like, Little Darlin', etc. Now there are hardly any pop quartets that have survived in Singapore. But we have cappella groups though.

In fact in the late 50s and early 60s another vocal group called The Three Bambinos were just as popular. Then came The Crescendos and The Sundowners who were able to cut records with international labels.

Incidentally, most of the Singapore vocal groups discussed came from the Katong area in the East Coast. I wonder why?

Image: Universal Music Singapore.

Original article: Andy Lim

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(4) Singapore Cowboy/Cowgirls: Matthew, Mandarins/Crescendos/Naomi/Henry Suriya And The Boys/Sakura/The Dukes

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

When our Singapore dudes and dames started singing their cowboy songs, most of the songs were imported from the Wild Wild West. They were simply covers and these included, Have I Told You Lately That I Love You (Naomi & The Boys), Silver Threads And Golden Needles (The Crescendos), Lonesome Town (Bobby Lambert & The Dukes), Love Is A Golden Ring (Henry Suriya & The Boys). Sakura Teng too recorded, I Don't Care If Tomorrow Never Comes and The Surfers with, By The Time I Get To Phoenix.

But one dude who covered many cowboy songs is Matthew Tan with his group The Mandarins. Matthew wrote two songs, Singapore Cowboy and Let's Put The Sing In Singapore. He is the only Country singer from Singapore who recorded at Nashville, Tennessee.

They used to play at the Hotel Negara, Singapore and were popular during the 80s oil boom, when many American oil riggers were stationed on the island. They were also at the Peacock Lounge, Shangrilla Hotel. Today they seem an almost forgotten local talent, except to country music fans.

Lately, they have been performing at a Singapore private club. In hand, there are two albums of popular country and western songs on the EMI Singapore label titled, Matthew and The Mandarins, I and II. Having heard them on record and having seen them perform at the hotels, there is no doubt that they are a talented country and western group.

Image: http://image56.webshots.com/

Original article: Andy Lim

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1st National Day 1966 And Singapore 60s Pops

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Singapore celebrated its first National Day (image) in 1966, one year after Singapore's independence from Malaysia on 9 August 1965. The venue of the parade was usually at the historical grounds of the Padang, where the declaration of Singapore's independence was held.

(Songs by our local artistes heard on Rediffusion and Radio Singapore that year included, It's All Over; I Know; Happy Birthday, Baby; Making Believe by Naomi & The Boys, Silver Threads And Golden Needles by The Crescendos, Push, Push, by Keith Locke & The Quests and Mark Yun's, Never Die.) A recording of Naomi and The Boys was played over the loudspeaker during the lst National Day Parade.

Since the first parade in 1966 and up to 1975, the venue was located in this central area. The idea was to bring the parade closer to the people. In 1976, the parade was held for the first time at the newly completed National Stadium, where the much larger area of the stadium allowed for more people to view the parade live.

The National Day Parades are organised by the Singapore Armed Forces, with the extreme involvement of a multitude of public and private organisations.

The 1968 parade was the first parade to be held in the rain. By a strange coincidence the theme for that year was, "Building A Rugged Society".

Princess Alexandra of the British Royal Family, carrying out royal duties for the Queen, was the special guest at the 1969 parade, which not only celebrated Singapore's 4th birthday, but also celebrated the 150th anniversary of the founding of Singapore.

(International popular hits included, Love Letters, by Elvis; Wind Me Up, Visions, by Cliff Richard, These Boots Are Made For Walking by Nancy Sinatra, The Sounds of Silence by Simon & Garfunkel, Svensk-A-Flicka with Johnny Lion & The Jumping Jewels, 19th Nervous Breakdown; As Tears Go By by The Rolling Stones and Michelle by The Beatles.)

If readers have contributions on Singapore 60s music and National Day, please do so on the 'comments' page.

Reference: Wikipedia

Image: National Heritage Board

Original articles within parentheses: Andy Lim

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Crescendos - Singapore 60s Music Heritage

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

New dances like the Twist made way for pop music that had different beat variation. It also provided opportunities for local groups like The Crescendos to record. They were the first group in Singapore to acquire a recording contract with Philips, an international label. The song was Mr Twister, a Chubby Checker hit.

This first song, with Frankie on the flip (image), sold over 10, 000 copies in Malaysia and placed it in the Philips World Top Ten. Connie Francis didn't have much of a chance in Singapore with Susan Lim's rendition. Air time was important then, so the few radio stations and Rediffusion broadcast made it a top pop.

They became the talk of the town and scored with another, In The Good Old Summertime, and an original song, The Boy Next Door. Both songs sold over 10,000 copies each.

But ironically, the real twist came when the group, at their peak, decided to take a break because of personal commitment and recordings stopped by 1966. Worse, Susan Lim disappeared in a Malaysian east coast incident which left the band devoid of a talented singer.

The Crescendos started with John Chee, Leslie Chia and Raymond Ho in 1961. They were placed second in a Radio Singapore Talentime contest and took part in various shows for charity.

They are part of Singapore's 6os music heritage as they opened doors for other local groups to record with international labels. Eight of their hits have been released again recently, together with other 60s recording artistes.

Image/Original Article: Andy Lim Collection.

The Crescendos group is under Universal Music Singapore.

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The Crescendos - 50s Songs By Our Groups

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

• Apparently many songs from the 50s have been recorded by our artistes in the 60s and the influence is strong. The following are some songs that have been pressed on vinyl:
• 1. Naomi and The Boys recorded 'Have I Told You Lately That I Love You' (Philips),
• 2. The Crescendos recorded 'Everybody Loves A Lover' and 'Silver Threads And Golden Needles' (Philips),
• 3. The Surfers recorded 'Answer Me' (EMI),
• 4. The Blue Diamonds (from Holland) recorded 'Pretty Blue Eyes' and 'Ramona' (Fontana)
• 5. The Tidbits recorded 'I Believe' (RCA).
• The list goes on so please provide one to add to the numbers.

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