2008/07/30

Lani Misalucha

Lani Misalucha, Asia's Singing Sensation - She never planned to be a professional singer, she simply loves to sing, and boy, can she sing! With the voice of an angel cascading up and down the scales like a roller coaster, a full five octaves of heavenly music, full throated, full chested and fully seasoned, she can sing a song as few others can.

Most people seek the dream of being great singers. But for Lani Misalucha, it is the dream itself that seeks her. Born into a musical family, with parents who are operatic singers, Lani grew up immersed in song, with siblings similarly endowed with wonderful vocies. Through the years, Lani has expanded her musical horizons to various genres and styles, and developed a dynamic versatility. She can easily shift from ballad to pop rock and even jazz. She may even surprise you with a sudden burst of operatic aria in a seasoned soprano voice.

Named Philippines Entertainer of the Year 2002, Lani has attracted a huge following all over Asia, Europe and Amercia. She is one of the few artiste in Manila who has shared the stage with international singing stars, Kenny Loggins and popular R & B artiste, Brian McKnight. For many, Lani Misalucha is a tender and soothing voice that caresses your soul, a dynamic voice in inspiring crescendo to uplift your spirit, a lovely voice that sings of moonlight and roses and love eternal - you can find all these and more in Lani Misalucha. - Rose Cheeks Entertainment Group, Inc.

Teddy Robin & The Playboys

One of the most popular local groups in Hong Kong during the 60s. They were probably Hong Kong's answer to The Quests of Singapore. The group released 4 albums, one double album, and several SPs from 1965 to 1969.Their music ranged from 60s pop, beat, garage, fuzz-punk and psychedelia. A compilation of some of their hits was lately released on a CD titled "The IN Sounds of Hong Kong". The comprehensive track list included The In-Place, Crying In The Rain, Don't Throw Your Love Away, Norman's Fancy, Don't Go Out In The Rain, Language Of Love, Zee Pa De Do Da, Fever, Don't Try To Love Somebody Like Me, In September, Sands Of Time, I Dreamed Of You Last Last, Don't Make My Baby Blue, She's Rather Be With Me, What'd You Say, We Can't Go On This Way, Come On Down To My Boat, Move It, Carousel, You'd Better Cry, Magic Colours and Take My Life.

The Brown Boys

The Brown Boys, another one of those Pinoy groups that made an impact on the local music scene during the 60s. They recorded with EMI Singapore featuring titles like Goin' Out Of My Head, Give Me A Little Sign, among others.

Tracy Huang

Tracy Huang, another popular female artiste in the region. She recorded several albums with EMI Singapore and most of these were produced by guitar Guru Reggie Verghese of The Quests. Several of her albums are available on CD.

Anita Sarawak

Anita Sarawak, this lady needs no introduction. Her popularity extends beyond the shores of Singapore to other countries in the region and even to Las Vegas, USA. A compilation of most of her evergreen hits were recently released on a 3-CD package. The tracklist included The Way I Feel Tonight, Don't Leave Me This Way, Dancing in The City, I Wanna Be Where You Are, Copacabana, Somewhere In The Night, Right Time Of The Night, Sophisticated Lady, Smile, The Other Side Of Me, Magic, Wild Thing, You're My World, among others. There is a total of 51 tracks on this package. Another collector's item not to be missed out.

Matthew & The Mandarins

One of the most popular country and western group in Singapore. Two of their greatest hits were Singapore Cowboy and Let's Put The Sing In Singapore, both original compositions by Matthew Tan and Bristow Hopper. A compilation of most of their hits were released on CD in 1992 that included titles like Broken Lady, Lucille, Daytime Friends, That'll Be The Day, A Legend In My Time, The City Of New Orleans, Love Or Something Like That, I Can Almost See Houston From Here, Honky Tonk Downstairs, Stranger, Movin' On, Margaritaville, It Was Almost Like A Song, Lovesick Blues, Play Born To Lose Again, The Last Farewell, Get Down Country Music and I Really Don't Want To Know.
In 1990, Matthew also released a CD titled "Looking For A Dream", recorded at the Hilltop Studios, Nashville , Tennessee. The tracklist included Looking For A Dream, Darling Take Care Of Yourself, Jamestown Ferry, Don't Touch Me, I'm A Lonesome Fugitive, A Letter To Daddy, Fraulein, Make The World Go Away, The Son Of Hickory Holler's Tramp, Darlin', Even The Bad Times Are Good and Ricky Top.

2008/07/27

Legends Of The Golden Venus

Talk to any Singaporean who had a band in the 60's and you'll get a story or two about the Golden Venus, a now defunct nightclub once run by the Orchard Hotel. Every Sunday, the Venus hosted its "Beat & Blues Sessions", where you could find some of Singapore's best rock'n'roll and R&B bands ever, including The Checkmates, The Straydogs, Pests Infested, Barbed Wire, Fried Ice, and High Ground.

These bands pioneered the 60's entertainment scene, blazing a trail of exciting music that drew from the British invasion, Woodstock, Motown, and the folk/ blues revival. The path widened as later generation bands like Heritage, IGTA, and Calcutta Blues Experiment ventured into jazz-fusion, reggae, and rockabilly blues respectively. In legends of the Golden Venus, Joseph C. Pereira presents a fascinating collection of interviews, commentaries, and photographs that chronicles a lost era of Singaporean music history.
This is the first documentary book to recognise the unsung heroes who gave Singaporeans their first taste of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Chuck Berry, Jimi Hendrix and Bob Marley. Their story covers three decades of rocking and rolling, hit records and dud records, breakups and reunions, shindigs and stadium shows, playing at home and abroad. This is history, music and nostalgia with the amplifier cranked to 10. - Joseph C. Pereira.