Singapore have their share of pop stars during the time of the 60's. While some of them are just flash in the pan, no doubt influenced by emergence of
The Beatles, and to make a quick buck, there are, however some that are seriously good. Below are some of the
Singapore bands that have done their share of giving us some good old memories.
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THE COMPLETE CRESCENDOS : In the early sixties, most if not all of these bands were formed due to the influence of
The Beatles and out of these came
The Crescendos. During those times, bands were in the infant stage so originality was not the order of the day.
The Crescendos were popular due to their fine interpretations of outstanding songs. I find this CD quite enjoyable 'cos it brings back fond memories during a time when things were not so complicated. I first heard of
The Crescendos when some cousins of mine bought along an EP of theirs to our house comprising of
'Walk On By' ( not the
Dionne Warwick's song ), ‘
Are You Getting Tired Of Your Little Toy?'. 'Lemon Tree' and
'A Lover's Concerto', the first time ever I've heard the last two tracks. Elsewhere, there are three Malay tracks,
'Waktu Fajar', Lenggang Kangkong' and the evergreen
'Bungawan Solo' but with English lyrics. For me their most outstanding interpretations were their version of
'Besame Mucho'. I've heard this version before somewhere in time but I always presume that it was by a western band and I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered that it was
The Crescendos. Whatever plans they may have diminished when their lead singer,
Susan Lim was drowned in a freak accident during a holiday in Kuantan in the year 1970. All the music recorded under the name of
The Crescendos are included here except for a few solo recordings by
Susan Lim towards the end of her career.
DOP : 17th December 1994.
REMEMBERING NAOMI & THE BOYS WITH HENRY SURIYA: My recollections of
Naomi & The Boys were through an EP which my father bought with the songs
'I'm The Loser', 'As Tears Go By', ' I'd Like To Know' and
'I Need You', the last one not on this CD. Being only 7 years old at that time, I only listened when my father played the record but somehow the melody stuck in my mind. The original songs
'I'm The Loser' and
'I'd Like To Know' were considerably good, composed by
Robert Suriya, brother of Naomi and also the leader of the band. Naomi's interpretation of
'Happy, Happy Birthday Baby' was definitely better than the original. I've heard this song on the radio way back and it have stuck with me ever since and I dare say that if not for Naomi's version of this song, it would not be as well known. Elsewhere there's another jewel here in
'I Know', again composed by
Robert Suriya. It shared the same theme as
'Happy, Happy Birthday Baby' and it was recorded by
Rita Chao, then a popular singer from
Hong Kong. Still, a double CD is a tab too much to digest. Half of this CD are from Naomi and the other half from
Henry Suriya, brother of Robert. A fine singer he may be but a whole CD of singing in the same style and the same theme......well, that's just not for me, I'll stick to what's still in my memories.
DOP : Unknown.
IN QUEST OF...THE QUEST : During the sixties, if there were a battle of the bands,
The Quests would definitely win hand down. There were one of the first bands who wrote their own materials, knocked out more established international artists in the charts and replaced them with their own songs. They were also one of the first bands to conquered
Hong Kong and have their own fan base there. Their version of
'Don't Play That Song ( You Lied )' were unique and awesome. Listening to the song today still conjured up images of my brothers imitating them and recording their version on the tap recorder. This CD of 13 songs, however failed to represent them at their peak. They played and recorded Mandarin and Malay songs while this CD have only English songs. And most agonising of all, the songs here are new versions and their version of
'Don't Play That Song ( You Lied )' lack the punch and power of their original version. Still, new version or not, one of their original by
Henry Chua 'Shanty' rocks. An instrumental, you would be forgiven if you thought it was The Shadows playing. Anyway, my quest for
The Quests have not ended. I will get their original CD in the near future.
DOP : 21st August 1994.
THE STORY CONTINUES OCTOBER CHERRIES GREATEST HITS : This CD is a disgrace and a great injustice. A criminal act in the musical sense. It does not even begin to scratch the surface of the music force that was
The October Cherries. It need a box set or at least three CD to fully represent the music of
The October Cherries. Started out during the sixties as The Surfers, they metamorphosed to
The October Cherries and then shorten their name to
The Cherries. Somewhere in between they have hits as Jade and Pepper and finally have their last hit as
The Giggles with
Paul McCartney's
Mrs. Vanderbilt renamed as '
Hey Ho' which unfortunately is not on this CD. During the seventies, they recorded three albums of cover versions of the latest hits of the day and most of them were arguably better than the originals.The songs that I enjoyed here are '
Something I Like About You and
'Coffee Toffee Squares' recorded under
Jade and Pepper.
'Don't Tell It To Jane', Far Away Now', 'Cu Cu Cu Cu Choo' , the touching
''All Things Work Together For Good To Them That Love God' and
'This Is A Love Song'. Their cover of
'Butterfly' is as beautiful as it could be..I am still waiting with bated breath for the re release of their threes cover version hit albums on CD. Highly innovative, they were somewhat killed off by piracy in the early eighties. A damn pity.
DOP : 15th August 1996.
100 GREATEST. SINGAPORE 60S. THE DEFINITIVE COLLECTION : Got this for a little over RM 30 at the fleas market. An earlier seller wanted to sell it to me for RM 100 but luckily I scouted around and found this, or else I'll be tearing my hair out in esperation. The songs here just do not justified this box set. It's dead boring and not a CD that I would play anytime soon. There are 5 CD here but the songs I really like can't really fill up a single CD. The one main reason why I got this was
The Thunderbirds' 'My Lonely Heart'. A song that brings back sweet memories of my sister recording this song at the insistence of my father with my brothers playing the guitar. This song alone is worth one CD but five...? At least for my money's worth, I have a better recording of
Naomi & The Boys'
I Know' which was not so well recorded on her collection. And then there was 'I Need You' not on her CD. Also included is a better recording of
The Crescendos'
A Lover's Concerto'. Afraid that's just about it. 5 CD 's worth of musical sleeping pills that may just do the tricks if you've insomnia.
WESTERN UNION BAND : I first got this on album and now I have it on CD. I like it then and I like it now. Of the 14 songs here, only three didn't work for me.
'Wise Man', 'Stand By Me' and
'Come Together'. The rest are simply a joy to listen to. High marks goes to their version of
'Howzat',
'Did You Boogie', their rather fast
'First Cut Is The Deepest' and the moving
'Slipping Away'. Of their two originals, '
Paper Roses, Paper Dreams' is sweet but it was
'Sausolito' that they will forever be remembered for.
WUB were good when they first started. There were the first Singapore band that didn't sound local and I am still looking for a CD of their hits.
.jpg)
THE COMPLETE CRESCENDOS : In the early sixties, most if not all of these bands were formed due to the influence of The Beatles and out of these came The Crescendos. During those times, bands were in the infant stage so originality was not the order of the day. The Crescendos were popular due to their fine interpretations of outstanding songs. I find this CD quite enjoyable 'cos it brings back fond memories during a time when things were not so complicated. I first heard of The Crescendos when some cousins of mine bought along an EP of theirs to our house comprising of 'Walk On By' ( not the Dionne Warwick's song ), ‘Are You Getting Tired Of Your Little Toy?'. 'Lemon Tree' and 'A Lover's Concerto', the first time ever I've heard the last two tracks. Elsewhere, there are three Malay tracks, 'Waktu Fajar', Lenggang Kangkong' and the evergreen 'Bungawan Solo' but with English lyrics. For me their most outstanding interpretations were their version of 'Besame Mucho'. I've heard this version before somewhere in time but I always presume that it was by a western band and I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered that it was The Crescendos. Whatever plans they may have diminished when their lead singer, Susan Lim was drowned in a freak accident during a holiday in Kuantan in the year 1970. All the music recorded under the name of The Crescendos are included here except for a few solo recordings by Susan Lim towards the end of her career. DOP : 17th December 1994.
REMEMBERING NAOMI & THE BOYS WITH HENRY SURIYA: My recollections of Naomi & The Boys were through an EP which my father bought with the songs 'I'm The Loser', 'As Tears Go By', ' I'd Like To Know' and 'I Need You', the last one not on this CD. Being only 7 years old at that time, I only listened when my father played the record but somehow the melody stuck in my mind. The original songs 'I'm The Loser' and 'I'd Like To Know' were considerably good, composed by Robert Suriya, brother of Naomi and also the leader of the band. Naomi's interpretation of 'Happy, Happy Birthday Baby' was definitely better than the original. I've heard this song on the radio way back and it have stuck with me ever since and I dare say that if not for Naomi's version of this song, it would not be as well known. Elsewhere there's another jewel here in 'I Know', again composed by Robert Suriya. It shared the same theme as 'Happy, Happy Birthday Baby' and it was recorded by Rita Chao, then a popular singer from Hong Kong. Still, a double CD is a tab too much to digest. Half of this CD are from Naomi and the other half from Henry Suriya, brother of Robert. A fine singer he may be but a whole CD of singing in the same style and the same theme......well, that's just not for me, I'll stick to what's still in my memories. DOP : Unknown.
IN QUEST OF...THE QUEST : During the sixties, if there were a battle of the bands, The Quests would definitely win hand down. There were one of the first bands who wrote their own materials, knocked out more established international artists in the charts and replaced them with their own songs. They were also one of the first bands to conquered Hong Kong and have their own fan base there. Their version of 'Don't Play That Song ( You Lied )' were unique and awesome. Listening to the song today still conjured up images of my brothers imitating them and recording their version on the tap recorder. This CD of 13 songs, however failed to represent them at their peak. They played and recorded Mandarin and Malay songs while this CD have only English songs. And most agonising of all, the songs here are new versions and their version of 'Don't Play That Song ( You Lied )' lack the punch and power of their original version. Still, new version or not, one of their original by Henry Chua 'Shanty' rocks. An instrumental, you would be forgiven if you thought it was The Shadows playing. Anyway, my quest for The Quests have not ended. I will get their original CD in the near future. DOP : 21st August 1994.
THE STORY CONTINUES OCTOBER CHERRIES GREATEST HITS : This CD is a disgrace and a great injustice. A criminal act in the musical sense. It does not even begin to scratch the surface of the music force that was The October Cherries. It need a box set or at least three CD to fully represent the music of The October Cherries. Started out during the sixties as The Surfers, they metamorphosed to The October Cherries and then shorten their name to The Cherries. Somewhere in between they have hits as Jade and Pepper and finally have their last hit as The Giggles with Paul McCartney's Mrs. Vanderbilt renamed as 'Hey Ho' which unfortunately is not on this CD. During the seventies, they recorded three albums of cover versions of the latest hits of the day and most of them were arguably better than the originals.The songs that I enjoyed here are ' Something I Like About You and 'Coffee Toffee Squares' recorded under Jade and Pepper. 'Don't Tell It To Jane', Far Away Now', 'Cu Cu Cu Cu Choo' , the touching ''All Things Work Together For Good To Them That Love God' and 'This Is A Love Song'. Their cover of 'Butterfly' is as beautiful as it could be..I am still waiting with bated breath for the re release of their threes cover version hit albums on CD. Highly innovative, they were somewhat killed off by piracy in the early eighties. A damn pity. DOP : 15th August 1996.
100 GREATEST. SINGAPORE 60S. THE DEFINITIVE COLLECTION : Got this for a little over RM 30 at the fleas market. An earlier seller wanted to sell it to me for RM 100 but luckily I scouted around and found this, or else I'll be tearing my hair out in esperation. The songs here just do not justified this box set. It's dead boring and not a CD that I would play anytime soon. There are 5 CD here but the songs I really like can't really fill up a single CD. The one main reason why I got this was The Thunderbirds' 'My Lonely Heart'. A song that brings back sweet memories of my sister recording this song at the insistence of my father with my brothers playing the guitar. This song alone is worth one CD but five...? At least for my money's worth, I have a better recording of Naomi & The Boys' I Know' which was not so well recorded on her collection. And then there was 'I Need You' not on her CD. Also included is a better recording of The Crescendos' A Lover's Concerto'. Afraid that's just about it. 5 CD 's worth of musical sleeping pills that may just do the tricks if you've insomnia.
WESTERN UNION BAND : I first got this on album and now I have it on CD. I like it then and I like it now. Of the 14 songs here, only three didn't work for me. 'Wise Man', 'Stand By Me' and 'Come Together'. The rest are simply a joy to listen to. High marks goes to their version of 'Howzat', 'Did You Boogie', their rather fast 'First Cut Is The Deepest' and the moving 'Slipping Away'. Of their two originals, 'Paper Roses, Paper Dreams' is sweet but it was 'Sausolito' that they will forever be remembered for. WUB were good when they first started. There were the first Singapore band that didn't sound local and I am still looking for a CD of their hits.
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