Filed under: Singapore
The band Hell Angels – no relation to the Hells Angles – only recorded two singles. This one backing M. Huzdin and another backing Norhaini Hashim. But other than that, I have not been able to find anything about this band.
If you have any further information about this artist or anything else about this recording, please leave it in the comment section below.
Catalog number MEP 405 on TNA Record of Singapore. Released 1968.
Filed under: Singapore
Kamaliah Latiff & The Teepees were from Singapore. Kamaliah Latiff recorded three the singles – two with Band Pancarama and one with Mustakim Orchestra – plus an album for KissMe Cosmetics of Japan. The Teepees only released one other single – which includes a version of the song “Rindu”.
If you have any further information about this artist or anything else about this recording, please leave it in the comment section below.
Catalog number RYY 101 on Ray Records of Singapore, released 1973.
Filed under: Singapore
I first became aware of The Siglap Five on Grey Past‘s “Steam Kodok” compilation.
The band formed in the Siglap neighborhood of Singapore in 1963. They were only together for five years before the members had to serve in the National Service. In 1998, they reformed to record some songs with Raden Jeffrydin Raden Imbromsoekaman – AKA Jeffrydin – who the band had backed up on their first four singles.
Of the 13 singles they recorded, this is the only one that did not feature a guest vocalist.
Catalog number 437827 PE on Philips of Singapore, released 1967.
Filed under: Singapore
As far as I know, this was the only single by The Atoms.
If this sort of thing tickles your eardrums, I highly recommend tracking down Grey Past‘s “Steam Kodok” and Sublime Frequencies‘ “Singapore A Go Go“. The former of those two compilations opening track is Ali San by The Trailers – which sounds somewhat similar to this song.
If you have any further information about this artist or anything else about this recording, please leave it in the comment section below.
Catalog number TK-1024 on Eagle Record of Singapore. Released 1967.
Filed under: Brazil, Chile, Guyana, Hong Kong, Nicaragua, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Trinidad & Tobago
I thought I’d start the new year off with something a little different. First, this post has ten songs by nine different artists. Second, the only thing that connects them is that they covered music by Ennio Morricone from one of the three Sergio Leone‘s Spaghetti Western films: A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly – a.k.a. “The Man with No Name” trilogy. Third, this post is the first to include music from South and Central America, as well as the Caribbean Islands. Originally, this blog focused only on Africa, The Middle East, India and Asia. But in the almost 14 years since this blog started, I’ve become increasingly interested in the music from South and Central America and the Caribbean.
♬ Titoli
I was first introduced to Hong Kong‘s Man Chau Po Orchestra [seen above] on Thrift Score Records’ sole release: Teen Dance Music from China and Malaysia. which had just about all of the tracks from this single. Also, Thailand’s Suang Santi‘s “Phu Ying Yai” sampled this version of the opening song from A Fistful of Dollars – not the original Morricone track.
Catalog number MEP. 5 on Man Chi Records Co. of Hong Kong, released 1966.
Chile‘s Los Sonny’s are the only other group that I was able to find to cover the theme from the first film of the trilogy. This track is from their second album which consisted entirely of songs from Spaghetti Westerns – including Stelvio Cipriani‘s theme to The Bounty Killer.
Catalog number CML-2638-X on RCA Victor of Chile, released 1968.
Bumble & The Saints were from Guyana. Aubrey Cummings was the leader of the band before leaving to become the lead singer for The Rhythmnaires. The flipside of this single is a cover of “Theme from Django”.
Catalog number I-28 on Ideal. No country of origin or date listed.
The Bad Boys – also seen as Los Bad Boys – were from Managua, Nicaragua. The band consisted of Humberto Hernández “El Gordo Beto” (vocals), Freddy Sequeira (bass, vocals), Francisco “Chico” Alvear (also known as Frank Alvir, guitar, vocals), Roman Cerpas (drums). They recorded 10 other singles for the Discosa label.
Catalog number 62 on Discosa of Nicaragua. No release date listed.
The Spitfires were from Columbo, Sri Lanka. I had been looking for their other single on Decca for ages. I only recently stumbled on this record. The line up for the band as listed on the back cover: Manager: Marcy Perara, Leader: Chinti Perara, Lead Guitar: Ronald Boustead, Rhythm Guitar: Donald Seneviratne, Bass Guitar: Felix Fernando, Electronic Organ: Claude Fernando, Drums: Chinti Perara, Vocals: Budrin Musafer, Sohan Pieris, Desmond se Silva.
Catalog number JVPC 1028 on Philips. No release date listed.
The Cassanovas – also seen as The Guinness Cassanovas – were from Trinidad & Tobago. They released nine other singles and an album. The rendition borrows heavily from Dominic Frontiere‘s “Hang ‘Em High“.
Catalog number ATM-57 on Atman Records of Trinidad & Tobago, released 1968.
Hélcio Milito was a Brazilian jazz samba/bossa nova drummer and producer who worked with musicians like Luiz Bonfá, João Gilberto, Astrud Gilberto and Luíz Eça. He has also helped make film scores for several Brazilian movies.
Catalog number 37.600 on CBS of Brazil, released 1969.
♬ The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
Relly Coloma is from the Philippines, but – according to his website – currently lives in Los Angeles. Although his bio says “over 70 albums”, Discogs only lists 23 – plus 7 singles.
Catalog number MLS 5186 on Villar Records of the Philippines, released 1970.
Here’s another one by Los Sonny’s with the title track to the album posted above.
♬ The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
Happy Melodians were from Singapore. This was most likely Maurice Patton & The Melodians. This song was included on Finders Keepers‘ compilation B-Music – Drive In, Turn On, Freak Out. Many other bands from Singapore covered these songs: Charlie & His Orchestra, D’Starlights, The Quests, The Stylers and The Vigilantes.
Catalog number JS 1001 on Jazzson Records of Singapore, released 1968.
This is by no means a definitive list. I was unable to find anything from the African continent and the only thing I was able to find from the Middle East was Selçuk Alagöz’s “Ringo” – which I have previously posted. There is a version of “A Few Dollars More” by The Tremolos from India. Whereas Discogs has a listing for a band called The Motion from Thailand who’s only single contains covers of both “For a Few Dollars More” and “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly”, I have not been able to find any proof that the record exists. And lastly, while countless songs from Jamaica reference the titles and actors of these films, I have not heard an actual cover of a Morricone tune from there as of this posting.
If you would like to listen to all 10 tracks in one uninterrupted mix – as well as a couple of other mixes – check out Radiodiffusion Internasionaal’s SoundCloud page.
Filed under: Singapore
A good friend of mine gives me a lot of grief for posting Christmas music on the site. Besides the fact that he does not care for Christmas music, he says that he think people from “countries outside the US have no idea how Americans celebrate Christmas. They tend to not realize Christmas music is for shoppers at malls.” And for the most part, I have to agree with him there.
At the same time, I find it very odd that musicians from countries where Christianity is not the majority would choose to record these songs. Then again, if you look in the news as of late, you’ll see that the ‘most expensive Christmas tree ever‘ is in Adu Dhabi and that people are starting to celebrate Christmas in China… The religion of Consumerism – and it’s soundtrack – is the gift that keeps on giving.
I have not been able to find anything about The Impossible – who are not to be confused with The Impossibles of Thailand. If you have any information about the band, please get in touch or leave a comment.
Catalog number SMR 111 on Sima Records of Singapore. No further information available.
Filed under: Singapore
♬ 爱情感气球
Back in October of 2007, I posted a single by The Vampires of Singapore. I did not have any information back then, but I have since been contacted by one of the members of the band. Her name is Connie Fong. We did a little e-mail interview back in July of last year.
Radiodiffusion Internasionaal Which instrument did you play?
Connie Fong I played the guitar.
RI Do you remember when the band first got together?
CF 1964/5 when we met as music students under Harry Martinez (Harry also formed several boys band those days).
RI Do you recall how the band decided to call themselves The Vampires?
CF There was another all-girl band named ‘Angels’ at that time, and we cheekily decided to be different
RI I know that the band recorded two singles, the one that I have posted on my site and the one on Philips that is by Dorothy & The Vampires. Did the band record any other singles?
CF No, those were the only two recordings we did.
RI Is there any reason that the second single was credited as Dorothy & The Vampires versus just The Vampires?
CF No reason I believe, as everything were arranged by our mentor and manager, Harry Martinez. The other single recorded by Philips was all instrumental with all the titles composed by Harry, therefore Dorothy was not featured in that single.
RI When did the band decided to break up?
CF There was no breaking up, we are still friends except that we grew tired going for our regular band practices and after playing together for five years.
RI Did you play in any other bands? Did they release any recordings?
CF No.
RI I am guessing from your e-mail address that you are back in Singapore now, right?
CF Yes.
RI Have you stayed in touch with any of the other members? If so, do you know if they stayed in Singapore, or moved away?
CF Yes, they are all in Singapore except Dorothy Sin, I don¹t know her where about, have lost touch with her.
Catalog number 43802 QE on Philips. No release date listed.
Filed under: Singapore
This week’s guest post is by the illustrious Dustin Drase. Dustin is the mastermind behind PlusTapes. The label has released a very diverse roster of artists – from the French pop of Anna St. Clair and Peruvian psych of Los Holy’s, to the lo-fi thrash noise of the Chicago Thrash Ensemble and seaworthy folk-rock of Death Ships, as well as legendary Asian garage bands like Dara Puspita and The Travellers. Dustin saved the day by swooping in to fill a last minute cancellation for this month’s guest post. Also, Dustin decided to post the entire album – a first here at Radiodiffusion Internasionaal – and I was in no the mood to argue.
The Brothers Hawk were an Asian, mostly instrumental, band that played and recorded throughout Singapore and Malaysia in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The Brothers peddled in the popular “Hala Hala” or “A Go Go” styles much like other contemporaries of their time, The Travellers or The Stylers. Like these bands, the Brothers also served as the backing band for popular vocalists, in their case on three records with Wong Shaiu Chuen.
Let’s Do The Funky, on the Tatex Records label was curiously distributed by the similarly named Tatet Records Trading Co. throughout Malaysia, and Victory Records in Singapore. As is the case with many 60s and 70s records from Singapore, the covers are more exciting than the actual music. There are a number of sites around the net that post covers of records from the 60s Singapore scene, but David Greenfield’s ever growing collection is perhaps the most impressive.
The Hala Hala / A Go Go style (sometimes also referred to as Off Beat Cha Cha) takes traditional Chinese surf-style twang and mixes elements of Rumba, Foxtrot, and Quick Step rhythms. The music was made to be fairly breezy “Teen Dance Music”, and is nowhere near as heavy on the funk or psychedelic as Indonesian and other Malaysian music of its time.
I first came to the music of Singapore through the Girls in the Garage: Oriental Special compilation, which shows an admittedly slanted view of the Singapore music scene. Whereas much of the music on that compilation was meant to show Westerners the silly, broken-English side of Singapore, the Brothers Hawk seem to sidestep that pitfall and actually can sing in English as evidenced by the cowboy ballad “One Way Wind”, and the ultra groovy “Co-Co”.
Many of the Singapore bands had recurring night club gigs and were tied to one specific recording studio. They would churn out a multitude of hits and cover songs, which were sometimes released repeatedly on differently packaged albums (see discography below for a good example of this). Let’s Do The Funky is labeled as The Sound of the Brothers Hawk Vol. 2, which leads one to believe there is a Vol. 1 out there somewhere, but I have yet to see evidence of this record existing.
Track Listing
1. Flying Machine
2. Bombay Duck
3. One Way Wind
4. My Lady
5. Co-Co
6. Funny, Funny
7. Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum
8. Where Are You? The Jilted
9. Forgive Me, Darling
10. Wonderful Life
11. To the Frontier
12. Only You
13. Nothing in My Life
14. The Fated Dream
Discography
*special thanks to the ongoing discography project by the folks from Scarce Sounds – reprinted by permission
TATEX (Singapore)
TATEX (Singapore)
TLP-1011 • The Brothers Hawk • Let’s Do the Funky – The Sound of The Brothers Hawk Vol. 2
PEAK RECORDS (Singapore/Malaysia)
BCLP-8004 • The Brothers Hawk • Popular Hits Party ‘70
WHITE RABBIT RECORD (Singapore)
HE-1975 • Wong Shiau Chuen + The Brothers Hawk
HAPPY RECORD COMPANY (H.R.C.) (Malaysia) – “Happy Record Electronic Enterprise Sdn. Bhd., Malaysia”
HE-1975 • Wong Shaiu Chuen + The Brothers Hawk
HE-1976 • Wong Shaiu Chuen + The Brothers Hawk
HE-1978 • Wong Shiau Chuen + The Brothers Hawk
PEAK RECORD (Singapore)
BC-7097 • Lin Zhen + The Brothers Hawk
ORIENTAL RECORD (Singapore) – “Oriental Record Co., Singapore”
ORC-9901 • Jia Jia + The Brothers Hawk
Catalog number TLP-1011on Tatex Records of Singapore. No release date listed.
Filed under: Singapore
♬ a) New Year’s Greeting / 王小二拜年 b) Happy New Year / 賀新年
♬ a) Congratulations / 恭喜恭喜 b) Winter Jasmine / 迎春花
The Travellers were from Singapore. They were part of the Non-Stop Dancing Music scene that also produced The Stylers.
My first introduction to The Travellers was on the questionable compilation entitled “G. I. Funk” on the Payback Recordings label. The song was listed as “Slow Soul” (It was also included on the “Dusty Fingers Vol. 12” compilation, released by Strictly Breaks). Who ever transferred the song, did not bother to learn the real name of the song, instead only listing the track by it’s dance style. On the Non-Stop Dancing Music records, medleys of songs are group by their dance style, A Go-Go, Cha Cha, Bolero, Fox Trot, etc. But the title of the song is actually “Smiling Face, Flushing Heart”.
I have not been able to find hardly any information about the band. I do know that they, as well as The Stylers, would occasionally back singers like Chang Siao Ying on their recordings. But other than that, there is just a few sites with their records here and there.
In 2003, Singapore’s Media Development Authority (MDA) commissioned a six-part series documentary for television on the Singapore music scene from the 1960s to the present day, entitled Jammin’. If anyone knows how I could get a copy of that documentary (especially the first two episodes), I would greatly appreciate it.
If you any information about the band, please contact me.
Catalog number MEP-9048 on Victory Organisation of Singapore. No release date listed.
Filed under: Singapore
The port of Singapore was, and still is, an active hub for international travelers and merchant marines, who bringing with them their favorite pop records from around the world. During the Vietnam conflict, American soldiers brought the sounds of rockabilly from the stateside while the British nationals in camp at RAF bases introduced the British Invasion bands. The area was fertile ground.
The Shadows played their first concert in Singapore in late 1961, which marked the beginning of the Beat group era with bands who were strictly instrumental. Most times, singers were only an addition to the band. After the arrival of The Beatles in 1963 gave birth to “Malay Pop Yeh-Yeh” – a term derived from the song “She Loves You (Yeah, Yeah, Yeah)” – and changed the emphasis from the instrumental band scene to self-contained units with singers and musicians
I have not been able to find any information about The Spiders. Of course, these are not The Spiders from Japan. And, as far as I know, this is the only record that they released.
As for Santana… They were apparently quite popular in South East Asia. Their Latin influenced rock with its use of cowbells and timbales, mixed right in with the Non-Stop Dancing / A Go-Go music that was popular in Singapore in the 1970s. Although Santana did not originally write this song (or “Black Magic Woman” – which is the very next track on this record) covers of their versions of these songs were common.
In 2003, Singapore’s Media Development Authority (MDA) commissioned a six-part series documentary for television on the Singapore music scene from the 1960s to the present day, entitled Jammin’. If anyone knows how I could get a copy of that documentary (especially the first two episodes), I would greatly appreciate it.
If you any information about the band, please contact me.
Catalog number JR 302 on Jubilee Records Trading Co. of Singapore. No release date listed.
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