Photo from here.

The Swinging Blue Jeans – Don’t Make Me Over

I’m currently reading: “Revolution in the head – The Beatles’ records and the Sixties”, and came across this line which I love:

“To be a true Beatles fan during the early Sixties entailed a fanatical devotion to the groups’ B-sides, and with its plumply rounded bass sound and air of dry self-sendup, I’ll Get You is one of the best.”

The Beatles – I’ll Get You (live)

My favourite version of I’ll Get You is this live one from The Beatles Anthology 1 cd! Personally this cd means a lot to me because it was the first cd I ever bought with my own money, in 1995 as a 12 yr-old. I bought it at the old MPH in Stamford Road. Memories, memories. And it was with this cd that launched my whole passion for The Beatles, and then my love for music just spiralled and grew. I guess I’m one of the Beatles fans from the “Anthology batch” of 1995-1996. And with the Beatles reissues and Rock Band games going on now, a new group of Beatles fans will emerge. And that is why The Beatles will never die or go out of style! ( Thus the money/royalty wheel keeps spinning. )

Top of my want list is The Beatles in Mono box set!

I was reminded of this song because it appears in the Nowhere Boy trailer. Nowhere Boy is based on John Lennon’s early years – his relationship with his aunt Mimi, meeting Paul McCartney, going to Hamburg, etc. Looks amazing! I don’t think the actors look anything like John and Paul though. “John” is way too feminine looking, and “Paul” is a tad too skinny and tiny. I’m not alone, as this use of pretty boy actors is one of the general criticisms plaguing the film. Still as a major Beatles fan, I’ll see just about any Beatles film, so looking forward to this one. Moreover, this is a side of the Beatles tale that isn’t often looked at – their early years. UK release is on December 26, 2009. Worldwide release of the film begins January 2010. Reviews online are aplenty, but I like this one, here.

I’m posting the Manfred Mann version of the song I Put A Spell On You, cos it’s the version I have on hand. And She & Him’s version, because I just found it here.

Manfred Mann – I Put A Spell On You
She & Him – I Put A Spell On You

Speaking of Beatles-related films, one of my favourites is actually this film called Secrets, from 1992. It’s about a group of teenagers who get stuck in a hotel basement while stalking The Beatles on tour in Australia. It’s only got 5 stars on imdb, and I haven’t seen it in years, but I do remember it being a good show! It’s one of those Beatles-films without any actual Beatles in the film. Just random Beatles songs and newsreel stock footage. I’d say it’s a film about Beatlemania, specifically in Australia, 1964.

Amazingly, I found a clip of the film on youtube:

When it comes to girl pop, the possibilities are neverending. I’m sure every country with a budding music scene had ambitious ladies giving the boys a run for the money. So now, for some Australian girl pop! I just got this cd secondhand from ebay, but I think it’s available brand new from the label’s site directly. I love liner notes, and this cd doesn’t disappoint. Almost all the songs are covers, so I’d say this cd is nice to add to your collection if you’re a big fan of cover songs. It’s not a must-have, but nice to have.

I think this cd will personally mean a lot more to you if you’re Australian and interested in a piece of your local music history. Along that line, I just stumbled on this website while “researching” for this post. It’s a very impressive resource of Australian music groups from the 1960s! Go visit!

I’m typing this straight from the liner notes:
- “Pam Oakley is just one of the many mystery girls of the Australian music industry who floated in and out of the local scene. Popping up from time to time, they usually disappeared without leaving evidence of their very existence except for the odd single or two. She didn’t seem to have a credible live, television, or recording career. This days, her name is only mentioned within the context of surf music…. Her recording legacy is small, just two RCA singles issued in 1964. The first side (I Want To Be A Surfer Girl) was self-composed and actually received some airplay. The second (Keep Your Hands Off My Baby) featured on this disc shows she had ample talent to handle pop music with relative ease. The disappointing sales ensured there wasn’t a third opportunity.”

Pam Oakley – Keep Your Hands Off My Baby

——
LONG but important post ahead::

Audio visual archiving is very very important to me, and I try to support people and organisations that do something about it. Really, it’s about preserving a piece of your social history.

For instance, I’ve always believed strongly that music is something that should be archived and preserved in Singapore, because we have a long and rich musical history, stretching from the 60s, right up til today. Thank goodness for amazing blogs like this, and this, which look at our Singaporean 60s music scene, and this blog, which looks at our 80s-90s music scene.

Still, wouldn’t it be great if music archival could be done and promoted at a much larger level? I love 60s local music, and sometimes I wish I could buy every local vinyl I see, just so that they are “safe” in my room and not junked/incinerated somewhere. But obviously that is not financially/logically possible, and it’s sad that there is no agency actively saving these pieces of our music past. Hence, kudos indeed to local music labels who see the merit in anthologizing and re-releasing their wealth of local music at an affordable price.

So wherever you are, do support your local music scene, both past and present. Sure, exoticism is great, like how I enjoy French music too, but don’t forget to go local! That Australian cd I featured above is one great example of what’s available locally, in the Australian market.

Anyway, the reason I’m on this very serious subject is to share about the Asian Film Archive’s efforts to preserve our film heritage. Singapore has a rich pop culture history in general – especially in the 1960s, our film scene was booming! In fact, I read somewhere that Singapore was seen as the New York of Malaysia, because of all the buzz and activity in our entertainment scene (ie. music and film). AFA looks at preserving Asia’s film heritage as a whole, and I do say that it’s very commendable. I’m sorry I’m ranting so much but sometimes I just wish more people paid attention and cared about their social/pop culture history. When you study what people listened to and watched in the past, you’re looking at how people like you and me lived back then.

From AFA:

“In Asia’s tropical climate and environment, films in both print and digital video formats can disintegrate rapidly when not kept properly. Even films in the digital format are not spared given that the longevity of the digital format is still under scrutiny. Through these videos, the Archive hopes to generate the realisation in filmmakers on how urgent it is to archive their works early as they become aware of the fragility of their creative works physical shelf life when stored improperly.

To build the Asian Film Archive Collection, we invite contributions from filmmakers, collectors, companies and the public. We are currently focusing on culturally important works by Southeast Asian filmmakers. If there are films you feel are of importance and needs proper preservation, please contact us.”

You can visit the Asian Film Archive website here, and check out their tongue in cheek videos (one embedded below) to promote film archival awareness here. Do support!

a girl and a band called Phantom Planet, part 1

When I was 16, life to me was all about Phantom Planet. Forget O Levels. Second to the Beatles, they set my teenage heart aflame. And plus they were a whole lot younger and cuter than the Beatles. When I’m feeling nostalgic, I have quite a sizeable Phantom Planet stash in my room to rummage through – relics of 1999! Including vhs and cassette bootlegs which I really should convert to digital soon. I even did a Geocities web shrine, which is now lost forever, but thankfully the guestbook is still around somewhere.

Oh Phantom Planet, how I wish I’d seen you live back in those days! Sadly I was a poor student surviving on pocket money and minimal side income earned during school holidays, so there was no way I could afford to fly to California to catch them live, as much as I wanted to.

Thankfully there was ebay and Napster, so I made do with bootlegs. So yes, I have a lot of Phantom Planet audio to share, in what I hope to make a regular feature! If all you know about Phantom Planet is California (The OC theme song), hopefully you’ll be pleasantly surprised. In my opinion, Phantom Planet was severely underrated. Or maybe I’m just ranting with biased ears. It’s ok. A girl can still dream. (Hmm… isn’t it amazing that reminiscing about Phantom Planet has inspired a full fledged real blog post!)

Phantom Planet – Goodbye
This is from a Phantom Planet demo cd I bought from ebay back then.

In the next Phantom Planet update, I’ll post the awesome Hey Now Girl video. (I promise I won’t turn this into another shrine.)

UPDATE: Click here to check out the video. I’ve uploaded it on Youtube, but somehow I can’t enable the embed settings… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6CWZT-7Lpk

The Pinholes are releasing their debut album sometime near the end of this year!

Check out this fabulous, really cool video preview here:

Can’t wait! I love watching the Pinholes live (I’ve blogged and youtube-posted abt them before). Visit the Pinholes on facebook here.

DOWNLOAD the show!

Catch more hamster-iffic tunes tomorrow! The Hamster & The Guppies Show #2… Tues, Oct 27, 9pm.

On the playlist: M A Maya & The Les Diggerz, God Help The Girl, Nouvelle Vague, 15th Scenery, Rita Chao, and many many more.

Tracklist:
1. World Without Love – Mystery 60s Girl
2. Never Forget You – The Noisettes
3. Capsize – Karen O and the Kids
4. Spellweaver – Suchness
5. The Psychiatrist Is In – God Help The Girl
6. Birthday – The Bird and The Bee
7. Rela (I Know) – Ena S/M Y Yunus & The Mods
8. Two Lovers – Louise Cordet
9. Happy Like A Honeybee – 15th Scenery
10. Never Gonna Take My Life – The Pinholes
11. Diamond – Rita Chao
12. Untukmu Teruna – M A Maya & The Les Diggerz
13. Ca Plane Pour Moi – Nouvelle Vague
14. Lost Summer Love – Lorraine Silver
15. I’ll Ride The Storm – Ludella Black and The Masonics
16. Giving Up On Love – Slow Club
17. Guantanamera – Fang Yun
18. I’ve Told Every Little Star – Linda Scott

DOWNLOAD

I sense a new musical obsession forming…

Slow Club – It Doesn’t Have To Be Beautiful

Just bought Slow Club’s cd today! Along with Sondre Lerche, and Karen O’s Where The Wild Things Are soundtrack. Tis the season for excellent new releases.

Sondre Lerche – Heartbeat Radio

Indie pop and 60s music from The Hamster & The Guppies aka modcentric tomorrow, yay!

Expect… PaddlePop, the Lion Story, Emmy The Great, June Mok, The Saints, and many many more!

Tracklist:
Little Things Mean A Lot 2:36 – Antoinette
Tigerlily – La Roux
Aurora – The Jets
Now And Forever – Chad And Jeremy
Surfer Girl – Cub
So Sad Too Bad – The Delmontes
i wonder – paddlePOP
I Wonder Why My Favourite Boy Leaves Me In The Rain – The Marshmallow Kisses
Fill You In – The Lion Story
Go Jetsetter – The Postmarks
Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want – She & Him
Falling From Grace – The Gentle Waves
You Better Move On – Katherine and The Firebyrds
Evergreen Tree – June Mok
Let’s Get Together – The Go-Go’s
Too Young – The Saints feat. Hui Li
We Almost Had A Baby – Emmy The Great
Lying Awake – Dany Chandelle & the Ladybirds

Tune in, 9pm, October 20 2009, Tues!
DOWNLOAD

hamsterguppies is this and this.

My heart literally jumped when I flipped through this month’s issue of BUST magazine (Oct/Nov 09) at Borders. A super fashion editorial of the Vivian Girls – in Nancy Drew themed-wear! Amazingly beautiful! You can click here to see the photos in the spread, but really, do consider getting the magazine if you’re a fan and want the pictures in their full-page glossy beauty.

And the track to accompany this post is the Vivian Girls’ most 60s girl-groupish song yet.

Track to download:

Vivian Girls – Can’t Get Over You

Behind the scenes at the BUST Nancy Drew photo shoot: