Looking back at the few albums that I have assisted EMI Singapore to compile in the past, this one stands out as my favourite. As a Quests fan since my school days, I have followed the fortunes of the group over the years. Surprisingly, despite being an avid fan, I never had the opportunity to personally meet up with any member of the band until long after they have disbanded !I still remember the first time I met up with Jap Chong, the leader of the band, about 5 or 6 years ago. It was over lunch at Suntec City, together with Sam Toh and Vernon Cornelius. Besides myself, there were a few other 60s music fans, including the Guru of 60s music Joseph Pereira. My first reaction was......"Wow ! after all these years I finally caught up with some members of the famed Quests." Although I was abit awed by the occasion, Sam Toh made me feel very much at home after the initial introductions. They were all great guys. Since then, I had the honour of meeting up with other members of the band, including the great guitar legend, Reggie Verghese and his predecessor Raymond Leong. The only member I missed out meeting is the late Mr. Peter Richards.
During my younger days, whenever I spinned my old Quests vinyls, I often hoped that someday EMI Singapore would release all their music on CD for the benefit of their fans and also for preservation of such musical treasures from the past. After years of yearning, my opportunity finally came in 2003 when Ms Pearl Wong of EMI contacted me for assistance in compiling an album for The Quests under their "Recollecting" series, as their master tapes were no longer available. EMI had earlier released two albums of this series for Tracy Huang and Francis Yip successfully. Well, I was most glad to oblige with my collection of vinyls, and the first Quests double CD album was released in 2003, featuring most of their hits.
This was followed by a second double CD release in 2004, "Recollecting The Quests Vol. 2 the legend continues..." with an improved packaging. This particular album was very special to me as I was given the opportunity to include most of the songs recorded by the group during those "lost years" when they were performing in Hong Kong. You may term some of these songs as "rare" materials. The album was also a personal triumph for me because I finally succeeded in getting most of their recordings converted from vinyls to CDs, thus offering fans the chance to reminisce about those glory days when we were young. Another comforting thought was the preservation of their music through the years. It was in some ways a closure for me as well, my own way of thanking the boys for helping me shape a part of my life through their music. Thanks for the memories, guys.......
And here are details of the tracklist from my all-time favourite Quests album:-
This Side.
1. Come On And Shout
2. Love Has Gone
3. The Man From Madrid
4. Dum Dum
5. I'm On Top Of The World
6. I Want A Home
7. Mockin' Bird Hill
8. Ding Dong Twist
9. I'll Be Your Man
10. Shanty
11. All My Sorrows
12. Honey House
13. Please Try And Understand
14. Instrumentally Western
15. I'll Be Looking Out For You
16. Come On Down To My Boat
17. What's Wrong With The Way I Live
18. Guantanamera
19. Never Ever
20. I'll Never Fall In Love Again
21. Hur Pi Tzu Shau Shiang
22. The Return Of Spring
23. Sayonara
That Side.
1. La La La Means I Love You
2. A World Of Tomorrows
3. Pop Inn Theme (1968)
4. Gallopin' (1968)
5. What Is Soul ?
6. Sunshine Of Your Love
7. Hey Girl
8. Soul Finger
9. Love Is Blue
10. The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
11. Sound Of Silence
12. Proud Mary
13. Traces
14. Time Is Tight
15. I'll Wait A Million Years
16. Don't Forget To Remember
17. When The Clock Strikes Twelve
18. Love At First Sight
19. Holiday
20. The Cage
21. Who'll Stop The Rain
22. American Woman
23. Love And The World Loves With You.
Cheers !
6 comments:
Dear Vernon,
If only we could locate the casette recording of their farewell to HK Concert which I read back then was released only in Hongkong. I am puzzled why a copy cannot surface.
Regards.
Joseph.C.Pereira
That's interesting Joe. A recording of their farewell concert in HK ? This is news to me. I knew they released a couple of songs there, noteably Mr. Rainbow and La La La Means I Love You, both were hits with the locals.
Something I noticed about this album is that its copyright protected, EMI really guards their music jealously.
There were two other Quests CDs released by EMI 1996, The Quests - the EP Collection and moore... and The Quests..the very best of..." These were the very first Quests CD released. The audio quality could have been better on these two CDs, but who is complaining...I was just glad that "Don't Play That Song" by Keith Locke was avaiable after a long long time.
Regards.
Patrick
There was also this album from Polygram "In quests of the quests.." ? Although most of the tracks were remakes of the original Quests' recordings from the 60s, it was a reasonably good attempt by them to rejuvenate their musical talents, although missing out on a couple of members like Jimmy and Sam. There was this track "Thank You" which included an extract of their Hong Kong Farewell Concert. Suffice to asssume that someone do have a copy of that Farewell Concert tape among the members that took Hong Kong by storm. Well, with EMI out of the recording scene here, its unlikely that we will ever have any more EMI releases of local music from that period. Be thankful to Pearl for the goodies she have left for us. The best we could hope for now is perhaps some re-issues of past EMI releases from Rita Chao, Sakura Teng, Western Union Band, Anita Sarawak and of course The Quests, by Warner Music. If only Pearl was still at the helm there. Regards.
Dear Vernon,
We are a group of students from St. Andrew's Junior College. Currently, we have a project on conserving Singapore's 1960s' music and we find your blog extremely informative and helpful. We wonder if we can have an interview with you via email exchange.
Please contact us at
60s.chachacha@gmail.com
Thank you so much
Regards
How about Greatest 100 - The Quests Story ? A compilation of the best of The Quests and artists whom they have recorded together such as Rita, Sakura, Lam Leng, Suyin, Tina, Saloma, Fatimah, Keith Locke and any others whom I may have missed out, will do the trick nicely. Universal Music has shown that its a tangible venture, why not give it a go, EMI or Warner Music ?
Aquarius
Hi Vernon, just came across your blog by chance and I must say it is so refreshing to read someone writing about my all time favourite local group, The Quests. I have virtually all the tracks recorded by The Quests in my collection except for one, "I am feeling fine" or something like that which was recorded on the same EP as "Memories". I used to have a band in the sixties and whenever we perform at a function, our opening number would be "Shanty" and the crowd would go wild (well, sort of). I am writing from Kuala Lumpur. Many thanks - Billy Ong
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