The October Cherries

During the late 60s and early 70s, The October Cherries were one of the most innovative local groups in Singapore and Malaysia. They have about 20 albums to their credit. They started their recording career as The Surfers, and branched out on their own as the October Cherries and Jade & Pepper in the later years.

A compilation of some of their previous hits were released on CD in 1995. It included titles like Something I Like About You, Coffee Toffee Squares, Don't Tell It To Jane, Far Away Now, Cu Cu Cu Choo, I'll Wait, All Alone Like The Deep & Lonely Sea, Felicia-Flowers For Your Grave, I Love Suzie, All Things Work Together For Good To Them That Love God, Butterfly, Please Love Me, Beautiful Sunday, Chingay, Can't Stand The Pace, I Wanna Be Loved By You, This Is A Love Song and Bad Trip. A "must-buy" for all their fans.

The Surfers

The Surfers, later known as The October Cherries, recorded three EPs under EMI Columbia. The tracks included Hooray For Hazel, Love Theme From Romeo & Juliet, Hey Jude, Honey, Mony Mony, Answer Me, Bad Moon Rising, Gotto Get A Message To You, In The Year 2525, By The Time I Get To Phoenix, Love Me Do and The Mule.

The group also accompanied other artists like Asha Puthli and Rita Chao on some of their recordings.

Agnes Chan

Remember Agnes Chan, the little girl from Hong Kong ? A compliation of some of her past recordings were released on CD with popular folk songs that included her greatest hit, Circle Game. Other tracks were Devoted To You, Nobody's Child, Day Is Done, You've Got A Friend, Will The Circle Be Unbroken, Mother Of Mine, Killing Me Softly With His Song, It Never Rains In Southern California, For All We Know, Rose Garden, Turn Around, Without You, Follow Me, Sweet Dreams, If You Love Me, Let Me Be There and Top Of The World.

Chris Vadham

Chris Vadham of The Western Union Band, released two CDs in 1994 and 1997, featuring some of the greatest WUB's hits plus a few new original compositions of his own.

The first CD album included Sausalito, Comes A Day, Remember Me, Somewhere In Between, Paper Roses Paper Dreams, I Need You To Turn To, When You Said Goodbye, Olivia, Keep Me In Your Heart, Don't Look Back, Father Mother Son and All The Young Dudes.

The second album included I Want You To Want Me, Arms Of Mary, Questions, New York Mining Disasters 1941, Howzat, Come Tomorrow, Glass Of Champagne, January, Lay Back In The Arms Of Someone, The Pied Piper, Down By The River, Baby Come Back and sailing Home To You. Both were great albums that gave many hours of listening pleasure. Thanks for the memories, Chris.

Anneke Gronloh

From her very first single Asmara that reached the top of the charts in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia in 1960, Anneke has been a constant and prominent factor in the international world of pop music. During the 60s, she was Holland's most successful singer, collecting more gold records and No. 1 hits than anyone else has ever done. The rest of Europe soon followed and the Far East....well they had already known Anneke's great talents before the Dutch.

Some of her greatest hits over the years included Buka Pintu, Nina Bobo, Papa Dja, Boeroeng Kaka, Bengawan Solo, Widuri, Mak Inang, O Ina Ni Keke, Oh Malaysia, among many others.

The Blue Diamonds

The Blue Diamonds were two brothers Ruud and Riem de Wolff. They were born in Indonesia and moved to the Netherlands in 1949. Their break came in 1959 with the single "Till I Kiss You". They covered many Everly Brothers' songs, but they became very famous with an up tempo version of a musical song, "Ramona", originally sang by Dolores del Rio. The song topped the hits charts in Belgium, Norway and Germany. A Spanish version was released later and also became a big hit in Mexico and Spain. Their popularity gradually spreaded to the S.E. Asia region.

Some of their greatest hits over the years included Near You, Mona Lisa, All Of Me, Jealousy, Baby Face, Always, Margie, Sukiyaki, Pagan Love Song, Little Ship, Cathy's Clown, Rio Nights, Let It Be Me, Save The Last Dance For Me, among many others.

Sarah Chen

Sarah Chen, the singing sensation from Mandarin speaking Taiwan, is equally capable of handling English songs. Her first English LP tracklist included Cello, Ebony Eyes, Stay, I Don't Remember, Who's Leaving Who, Sukiyaki, Hold Me Now, Closer, Love Song, Everytime You Walk In The Room, Somewhere In My Heart and Wings Of Love. Her second LP, produced by Reggie Verghese in 1983, included tracks as The Right To Sing, Jealous Lover, How Am I Supposed To Live Without You, Words, I Knew You When, Changes, Heartstealer, I Really Don't Want To Know (duet with Matthew Tan), Love's Got A Line On You and Diamonds And Rust.

A third LP was released in 1987, with songs as Miracle Of Love, If You Ever Had A Broken Heart, There'll Be Sad Songs, Every Loser Wins, Now And Forever, Somewhere Out There, Because I Love You, Some Hearts Are Diamonds, Little Girl, Can't Help Fallin' In Love, Love In Your Eyes and Give Me Peace On Earth.

The Tidbits

The Tidbits, Serene Wee (13), sister Melina Wee (12), and cousin Bernedette de Souza (12), won the RTS Talentime Competition of 1967/68, thereby winning a recording contract with RCA. Their first EP featured their talentime winning song, I Believe, others included Breaking Up Is Hard To Do, Never My Love and Lace Covered Window, accompanied by The Trailers. In their second EP, California Dreamin', Scarlet Ribbons, Tragedy and Come Softly To Me, accompanied by The Xperiment, were added to their fans' vinyl collection.

Oh Malaysia !

Oh Malaysia, one of the most sought after EP record among 60s local music lovers. The compilation included Oh Malaysia and Pulau Pinang by Anneke Gronloh, Singapura by Sandra and Sunrise In Malaysia by Boy and His Rollin' Kids. There is another EP with the same title, featuring Midnight In Malaya and Sunrise In Malaysia by Boy and his Rolin' Kids, Oh Malaysia by Anneke Gronloh and Singapura by Sandra. Both are collectors' gem from the past.

Kong Ling

Kong Ling, this talented lady from Hong Kong burst into the music scene in the S.E. Asia region with her greatest hit, "Let's Twist Again", accompanied by The Fabulous Echoes. Over the years, she had recorded more than 10 LP albums. Some of her recordings included I've Told Every Little Star, Love Me Warm And Tender, Yum Yum Cha Cha, Sad Movies, Moon River, Ai Di La, Mr Sandman, I Can't Stop Loving You, La Paloma Twist, Why Not Now, You Don't Know Me, As Tears Go By, Walk Away, The Sound Of Music, The Wedding, 500 Miles, I Believe, Devoted To You, Dear Heart, The Hawaiian Wedding Song, A Summer Place, The World We Live In, Till and many more....

Those Fabulous Echoes

Those Fabulous Echoes, featuring Cliff Foenander, Stanley Robertson, Tony and Danny Ruivivar, Terry Lucido Jr and Bert Sagum. Together, they recorded several great hits like Dancing On The Moon, Sunshine, I Know, A Little Bit Of Soap, Carmen Twist, Loop De Loop, Baby Elephant Walk, and many others.

Over the years, the group has shifted their base from Hong Kong to Honolulu, Hawaii and lately, Las Vegas, USA. Today, the group is known as The Society Of Seven, with two of its original members, leader Tony Ruivivar, Bert Sagum, and five other talented musicians, still performing to full houses.

ConQuest - The Quests in Hong Kong

Dear Friends,

This record has a special significance for us. We call it "ConQuest", because that is what it represents - a victory, our victory, over the natural growing pains of group life. The end of the days when we arrived, nervous, hesitant, untried, and practically unknown in Hong Kong. A group on its first real engagement outside its Singapore home-base.

At our first show in Hong Kong we were disappointed and bewildered, and wondered weather the music we believed in really was right. Then the audience stopped long enough to listen, and from listening they went on to liking, then raving about us. And when it was time to leave, we felt as if we were putting aside a part of ourselves. - The Quests.

The Clansmen

The Clansmen recorded an SP with two songs, Sir Barclay More and Sha La La Love, both original compositions.

The McCoys

The McCoys' recordings included songs like Wait For Me Mary-Anne, I Don't Understand, Say You Don't Need Me, Watermelon Man, Wade In The Water, Come Into My World and Voyage To The Bottom Of The Bath.

The Blackjacks

The Blackjacks recorded an EP with songs that included I Shall Be Released, Day By Day, El Mondo and My Special Angel.

Mike & The Mysterians

Mike and The Mysterians recorded an SP with two original titles, Forget The Times and My Girl Les.

The Cyclones

The Cyclones, brothers James and Siva Choy, recorded two EP, accompanied by The Checkmates. The song titles included I'll, Oh No, She Didn't Say, She's Mine All Mine, The Dew, Your Thoughts, Your Cares And You, A New Man, Stop Your Sobbing and I'll Be Home.

Mike and Herb

Brothers Mike and Herb van Dort, aka the Beatles of Malaysia, recorded two SPs, accompanied by the Silver Strings. The song titles included I've Been A Fool, Let 'Em Come, I Don't Want You Around Anymore and What Can I Do (Composed by Shirley Nair)

Steve Loraine

Steve Loraine recorded an EP with songs that included Moments, Watermelon Man, Not Around and There Goes My Heart, accompanied by The Dukes. These songs were included in The Dukes' CD compilation album.

Wilson David

Wilson David, aka the Elvis Presley of Singapore, recorded his first EP with The Jets. The four tracks included I'll Never Be Mad At You, I Love To Be By Your Side, Yours and Jezebel. The first two tracks were composed by Alan Poh of The Jets. Wilson also recorded an SP with The Moonglows, Cold And Lonely and That's Amore.

Heather

Heather teamed up with The Thunderbirds in 1966. Some of her recordings included Love Is Blue, Green Tambourine, Nobody's Child, I'll Never Fall In Love Again, We Two Shall Be One, Day Dreaming, I'll Never Be The Same, Only Friends and more. Besides The Thunderbirds, she also recorded with The Diamonds Four.

The Thunderbirds

The Thunderbirds were formed in 1963 with Tony Chong, Hamzah Hussein, Victor Lam and Derrick Fitzgerald. In 1965, they released their first EP, titled Tony Chong & The Thunderbirds, with Tony Chong, Derrick, Harvey, Ivan Fitzgerald and Freddie Tan in the line-up. The tracks included Little Lady and I'm As Sad As I Can Be. Their greatest hit, My Lonely Heart, composed by Harvey and the group's Manager Gerry Pasquel, was released in 1966. Its one of the most popular local compositions, until this day. Other hits included You Were Made For Me To Love, I Miss Your Love & more...

Information through the kind courtesy of Joseph Pereira, aka Goldenvenus.

Cells Unlimited

Cells Unlimited, featuring Jeffrey Jalleh, Ivor Lesslar, Roy Oh and Vincent Leong. The group recorded two original compositions by Roy and Jeffrey, titled Mornings And Evenings and Where Am I Living. Wonderful lyrics on both songs.

The Straydogs

The Straydogs, featuring Lawrence Lim, William Lim, Jeffrey Low, Ronnie Kriekenbeek, Dennis Lim and James Tan. The group recorded Rockin' Our Blues, Freedom, Cold Morning, Mum's Too Pampering, I Can Only Give You Everything and Repent.

Shirley Nair & The Silver Strings

Shirley Nair & The Silver Strings, featuring Audie Ng, David Chen, Merlin Lim and Mohamed Khan. Together, they recorded You're The Boy, If You Ever Go, Don't Leave Me, I Won't Let You See Me Cry, I'll Remember Today, Two People, Too Late For Tears and Come Back To Me.

Sonny Bala & The Moonglows

Sonny Bala & The Moonglows, featuring Teddy Song, Donald Thaver and Sanny Ismail. Their first EP included songs like Girl Of Mine, Is It True ?, Atalanta and Tropical Night, the last two songs were composed by Sonny himself. The group also accompanied some popular singers like Veronica Young, Tom Reyes and Wilson David in their recordings.

Frankie Cheah

Frankie Cheah, the singing school teacher from Johore Bahru, Malaysia was a big favourite in Singapore as well. His first LP was produced by Reggie Verghese, included songs like One Day, Soldier's Prayer, Love Story, Holiday In Guam, Laughing, You've Got A Friend, Lovers, Cheryl Moana Marie, My Name Is The Wind, It's Impossible, Help Me Make It Through The Night & Woman In My Life.

Frankie's second LP was released in 1972, also produced by Verghese. The tracklist included Beautiful Morning, You (Du), It Takes The Best, Heart Of Gold, Come What May, There's An Island, Speak Softly Love, Morning Of My Life, I Just Can't Help Believing, My Dark World, Chotto Matte Kudasai & Magic Eyes. Some of his past hits were released on CD recently in Malaysia.

The Overheads

The Overheads, featuring Vernon Cornelius, Charlie Anchant, Lim Thiam Soon, Eric Tan, Hensen Beng and Chris Chew, released their first CD in 1990. There are two original compositions on the album, The Lion's Song (Steve Hogan/Vernon Cornelius) and Easy Me (Eric Tan). Other titles included It'll Be Me, Black Is Black, Mr. Bojangles, Rave On, Lucille, Without You, Rock Me Gently, Talk To Me Baby, A Song For You and You Really Got Me.

The Fabulous Falcons

The Fabulous Falcons, featuring Thomas Han, Tommy Ong, Tony Lee and Christopher Choong were from Ipoh, Malaysia. Their first EP included four original instrumentals, composed by the group members themselves, titled Midnight Express, Casino, Aquarius and Spit Fire.

The Reynettes

The Reynettes, featuring Rose, Baby, Luz, Jeanette and brother John are a family group from Hong Kong, but spent some time in Singapore during the 60s. During their first show at the Gay World Amusement Park, they captured the minds and hearts of teenagers and adults overnight. They were a sensation that nightspots like the El Amigo, Golden Crown and Princess Garni followed up with contracts for them at their nightclubs.

Their first EP was released in Hong Kong in 1966, titled "Kowloon Hong Kong" with tracks Kowloon Hong Kong, Rescue Me, Bei Mir Bist Du Schon & This Little Boy. They followed up with their second EP titled "Soulin' The Blues" that coincided with their stint in Singapore. The tracks included Knock On Wood, New Orleans, Night Train and their greatest hit, My Life Is A Lonely One, which hit the No.1 spot in the local charts.