(7) Peter Chan's Love Story With 70s Music

Saturday, February 6, 2010

(Image: Peter Chan at the Club Elite, 5th floor Supreme House Building, which is now Parkmall. Club Elite was a Japanese lounge which was part of Okoh Restaurant, owned by a Mr. Sato from Japan. Mr. Sato also ran the Orchid Inn Hotel at Dunearn Road in the 1970s.)

Dear Andy,

Raymond G. Rees-Oliviere (Lance Raymond as featured in previous postings), a friend of mine was with the British Army. He got involved with the music scene in Singapore and Malaya in the late 1950s. He knew some local musicians like the Solianos; they played cha-cha-cha and latin music.

Ray has written an article with many photographs. Golden Venus, where Ray used to play, was at the former Orchard Hotel and it still goes by the same name, situated at the corner of Orchard Road and Orange Grove Road.

When I took up music at Foorman's Music School, many of the teachers were Pinoys (Phillipinos) since there were many of these musicians from the 30s through the 60s. By associating with the Pinoy musicians I was introduced to contemporary music.

Thanks to my late father who gave me a start in music at an early age, I was able to find a safety net after National Service. I soon became a lounge pianist, not with a disco band this time because the government closed down many discos from 1974 onwards.

With the closure there were few opportunities for pop bands. The government's actions were in response to the hippie sub-culture and growing prevalence of drug addiction.

By the way, my own repertoire then was influenced by the Dragons, the Solianos and big band sounds like Glen Miller. When it comes to Chinese pop, it was more like the 40s and 50s because I used to spin records from Poon Sow Keng (Pan Xiu Qiong), Love Without End type of music and Bobby Darin, etc.

Cheers!

Peter.

PS: Ray made a reference to a jazz pub down at Boat Quay. It was after reading an article last month that I found where the place was. It's just after North Bridge Road going towards South Bridge Road after the bridge at the first building on the left.

7th in the series under 'UK/US Bands in Singapore'. Click under 'Labels' below to read series.

Image/Original Article: P.C. Collection.

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(5) Classical Influence: "Blue Danube Waltz."

Sunday, January 24, 2010

PETER CHAN'S JOURNEY:

"Photo 3: My early beginnings in the world of Performing Arts. I am at the keyboard, my cousin on the violin and my other cousin the conductor. I think we played the **Blue Danube Waltz (image/1964).

It is not true that Flower Drum Song was the only item for the evening. The students put up many items to demonstrate their musical abilities across different musical instruments. This must have made their parents very proud."

Peter Chan who wrote the 3 articles in this series, became a part-time pop musician playing the Orchard Road circuit and SEAsia in the 70s. This article is the last.

**(Blogger's Note: Classical music has influenced pop music through the years. Click on, 'Classical Music Influence' under 'Labels' below to read articles on Mantovani and G.I. Blues.)

Original image/ article: Peter Chan.

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(4) Who Wears Short Shorts... At A Wake???

Monday, January 18, 2010

WHO WEARS SHORT SHORTS AND SHORT BLOUSES?

"Photo 2: Alfred Choo, the future international lounge pianist is at the keyboard. **Didn’t know the girls were already in hot pants back in the early 1960s. Back then we boys were curious whether the girls wore anything below that short chinese blouse.

The stage was the former Cultural Centre Center at Fort Canning, now demolished and replaced by the one presently at the rear of the National Museum (circa 1962).

Funny thing though, my late grandmother was roped in to cut and sew the costumes. Where’s the connection? She came from Toi Shan County, China to marry my grandfather in the 1910s.

Lucky for us, she brought with her to Singapore plenty of chinese culture; she knew everything about the clothes and style of yesteryears, intricate Chinese buttons, pretty samfoo and unique pig-tails. She also knew the feminine art of using a hand fan. If you look at the photos, you find the boys and girls dressed up in various Chinese outfits.

Alfred Choo, the senior student of Foorman’s was the Music Director. Choo later became a top-notch hotel pianist in Hong Kong’s Peninsular Hotel and at the Marco Polo Hotel in Singapore."

Original article/image: Peter Chan.

Note from Blogger: They were wearing hot pants since the 50s, Peter!

**Short Shorts (1958) by The Royal Teens [Spoken:] Ooh man, dig that crazy chick/Who wears short shorts/We wear short shorts/They're such short shorts/We like short shorts/Who wears short shorts/We wear short shorts. [Repeat 2x]

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(3) "Flower Drum Song" - Musical At Fort Canning Drama Centre Singapore In 1962

Sunday, January 17, 2010

FLOWER DRUM SONG IN SINGAPORE:

"Photo 1: When I look at this 1962 photograph, the first thing that strikes me are the stage props. Don’t they remind you of those seen at a Chinese wake? Or do they look more like the 1950 anti- government street demonstration with all those banners?

Remember the musicals I was discussing in the previous posting? Well this time I am not in the audience but as a performer. And in one of the biggest and most popular musicals in the 60s, Flower Drum Song. How did it happen? It was in 1962 when Foorman’s School of Music - the place I attended my piano lessons - gave a public concert at the former Fort Canning Cultural Center, Singapore.

Flower Drum Song is a musical comedy set in San Francisco's Chinatown concerning old-fashioned Chinese and modern Chinese-Americans clashing over tradition and trying to find romance. That’s all I knew except for the big names like the darling Nancy Kwan and handsome James Shigata. The concert finale was set to the music of Grant Avenue, one of many songs taken from the musical."

Article/Image: Peter Chan Collection.

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(2) Experiencing London's 60s Musical "Oliver!"

Saturday, January 16, 2010

MUSICALS AND PETER CHAN:

"I do say I don’t enjoy or know very much about stage plays or musicals until I was in one myself (Flower Drum Song). My introduction to the theaters was when a friend got me some free tickets to watch his son perform in Oliver! at the London Palladium (image). Soon, I learnt there was a way to buy more economical tickets if you bought on the afternoons just one or two days before the actual performance.

I must admit I thoroughly enjoyed the performance and in the next few weeks, while on a business trip in London, my family sat through Jesus Christ Superstar, Miss Saigon, Les Miserables, Martin Guerre, and Phantom of the Opera, well before they hit Singapore shores."

Image: from e-bay.

(Original Article: was contributed by Peter Chan who was a Singapore 70s pop musician but now a successful business person.)

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