TypeWriter played two shows recently – at a show entitled Noisy-Pop! at Home Club, and at Esplanade outdoor theatre. These shows were a week in between each other, and I helped to man the merch stand for both. Super fun! I love sitting at the counter, whether it’s at work (reference desk) or even manning a stand, because I can people-watch and I always tend to meet random/strange people while on duty. We closed the stand during TypeWriter’s set so that I could catch it, take pix and videos.
These are TypeWriter’s latest two songs, which have been a favourite of many at the gigs. Power-pop Explosion!:
Zooey Deschanel is my ultimate girl style icon. In reality, she might not as indie-quirky-twee as she portrays in photoshoots and (500) Days of Summer, but I’ll still love her for the eye candy at the very least. I can surf Google Images for her pictures and screencaps all afternoon long, seriously. And as we all know, she sings and writes her own songs too – under the moniker She & Him with M. Ward. So that’s a huge, huge plus for a girl-pop obsessive like me. I just got their album on vinyl yesterday, and basically fell in love with her all over again, hence this post!
In this song, she makes a theme song/advert for Cotton fabric absolutely sweet, chirpy and sixties. More Cotton theme songs here.
I recently ordered Ace Records’ Nippon Girls compile, and it is a work of true art! Everyone who is a fan of girl pop, or Asian 60s beat should get it! Sheila Burgel of ChaChaCharming compiled it and wrote the amazingly detailed liner notes. The thought of all the research! She is my idol! Perhaps I’ve reached the heights of music-geekdom once I’ve started taking note of my favourite 60s cd compilers…
Listening to Nippon Girls and reading the liner notes, I’ve been inspired to do a Singapore 60s girl post! Presenting, Lara and The Trailers!
This is a super, ultra catchy song. If I ever get to spin for a mod dancefloor, it is definitely my tune of choice. I spoke to someone before, in course of busy-body interviewing, and he referred to Lara as “Cosdel’s answer to EMI’s Rita Chao”. She recorded backed by labelmates The Trailers, and sang primarily covers of English hits in Mandarin.
And another chirpy track off the same EP (pictured above):
It doesn’t have their big hit ‘You Were On My Mind’, but this record was released shortly after the band broke off. Folk-pop bands in the 60s all had really cool album covers – witness Peter, Paul and Mary and We Five.
I love Cher’s 60s period, and this is her second album, released in 1966. If you’re looking for a greatest hits cd, I think The Best of Cher: The Imperial Recordings 1965-1968 is singularly the best cd compile of Cher’s 60s period. I was lucky to find it on clearance at Borders KL sometime ago.
Joseph Pereira kindly passed me a copy of Universal Music’s More Singapore 60s Treasures From The Vault cd, as I’d lent my Stevie Lorraine & The Clansmen vinyl for the project. I already have a copy of my own because I bought it when it first came out, so I’m offering one copy to my blog readers in this giveaway!
Stand a chance to win a sealed copy of More Singapore 60s Treasures From The Vault cd. I will send to anywhere in the world by regular airmail.
Here’s how we play this giveaway:
1. Leave a comment with at least 1 band/musician/song recommendation. It could be anyone, any genre, and new or old, it doesn’t matter. As long as you think it’s good enough to recommend!
2. Make sure you include your email address so I can contact you if you win.
3. Contest ends 13 Feb 2010.
4. I will pick the winner using an online random number generator.
Good luck! Can’t wait to check out your music recommendations!
tracklisting:
CD 1
1. Mr. Twister – The Crescendos
2. Frankie – The Crescendos
3. 45 RPM – The Checkmates
4. Sylvia – The Checkmates
5. I Don’t Want You Around Anymore – Mike & Herb
6. What Can I Do – Mike & Herb
7. Do You Care – Heather & The Diamond Four
8. Hey, Mr. Moon – Heather & The Diamond Four
9. I’ll Never Be Mad At You – Wilson David & The Jets
10. Yours – Wilson David & The Jets
11. To Sir With Love – Ernie Djohan & Her Buana Suara
12. Let’s Pretend – Ernie Djohan & Her Buana Suara
13. The Unfaithful Kind – Henry Suriya & The Boys
14. It’s No Sin (To Love You) – Henry Suriya & The Boys
15. You Better Move On – Katherine & The Firebyrds
16. Yes I’ve Fallen – Katherine & The Firebyrds
17. Wedding Bells Soon – Ray Johnson & The Diamond Four
18. Help Me Little Girl – Ray Johnson & The Diamond Four
19. Do Re Me – Stevie Loraine & The Clansmen
20. Walk With Me – Stevie Loraine & The Clansmen
CD 2
1. You’re The Boy – Shirley Nair with The Silver Strings
2. If You Ever Go – Shirley Nair with The Silver Strings
3. L’Edera – Girvin Sisters with The Dukes
4. Without You – Girvin Sisters with The Dukes
5. You Don’t Know, Baby – Teresa Khoo & The Five Notes
6. Unspoken Words – Teresa Khoo & The Five Notes
7. Chains – Alan Lyford with The Thunderbirds
8. Love Me – Alan Lyford with The Thunderbirds
9. The Boy I Love – Aida Mustafa with The Steps
10. Give Me Your Hand – Aida Mustafa with The Steps
11. There’ll Never Be – Mark Yun
12. Never Die – Mark Yun
13. Burong Kaka Tua – Marie Tang & The Commancheros
14. Fireball XL 5 – Marie Tang & The Commancheros
15. China Doll – Tom Reyes with The Moonglows
16. Things – Tom Reyes with The Moonglows
17. Singapura – Sandra
18. Sunrise In Malaysia – Boy & His Rollin’ Kids
19. Your Cheating Heart – Sonny Bala & The Moonglows
20. Kentucky Waltz – Sonny Bala & The Moonglows
They were the first Singapore 60s band I’d heard about, since they’ve benefited from several waves of revival recollection cds in the 90s and early 00s. Even before I started collecting local vinyls, I remember hearing them on the radio. I used to listen to them an awful lot on my ipod to and from school, and did many posts on them at my old blog, but almost three years ago I got disillusioned and stopped listening entirely. I know it sounds super pathetic and drama, but I have my reasons. Sometimes fans look up to a band so much that they put the band on a high pedestal and totally idolise them… only to be rudely awakened at some point or other that in reality, everyone is just human, favourite legendary bands included. Perhaps I was too sensitive, and too fanatical then, but disillusionment is a disappointing experience.
Anyways fast forward to Jan 2010, and I’m suddenly inspired to rummage through my cd collection for my Quests cds (the vinyls are somewhere abouts) and put them on my bedroom stereo for a spin. What encouraged this was a night of super conversation with my favourite person (mfp), and Singapore’s walking 60s-70s music archive, Joseph Pereira (he compiled the two Universal Singapore 60s compiles). And what a lucky night it was, because at one point we were joined by Richard Khan from 60s band The Surfers/The October Cherries, as he happened to be buying dinner from the same Indian eatery we were at. Lots of interesting stories about the various bands (eg. the time The Quests were booed at Malaysia), who dated who, which girl singer had many fans (Shirley Nair), who’s around (Rita, Sakura, Naomi, Heather) and who’s not (Shirley), etc. In the course of the conversation, mfp, who’s also a huge Singapore 60s fan, asked Joseph to name his favourite local vinyls in his collection. Joseph mentioned The Quests’ ‘Mr Rainbow’, and shared the interesting back story to the song. <It was actually a cover song, whose original title was ‘Hallucinations’ Naturally, a song of such title wouldn’t get pass Redifussion in those days…>
I’m listening to The Quests Recollecting 1 now as I’m writing this, and it brings back a lot of memories – all of which are good. Moving on, moving on! As I wrote on my Facebook status a few weeks ago, it’s time to stop looking at the past and focus on moving forward and onward!
My thrift expedition yesterday was supposed to be about sourcing goodies for my store. I couldn’t find anything for the store, but I did hit jackpot in terms of expanding my vintage photo collection. I spent a long time at one particular flea market stall just looking at every vintage print they had. I love looking at old, old photos of Singapore, scenes and places that are no longer there. I don’t find them spooky really, they are bits of history! In the end, I bought 10 assorted photos.
A small highlight (you can view them all here). Watch out for the MEGA SURPRISE at the end of this post!
This is the first ‘kid’ photo I’ve gotten, because usually I go for retro-vibed youths/teens. I like this photo because you can see the hint of wind messing the girl’s dress and hair.
Hello Vespa Girl!
Class photos always look better when someone’s distracted.
And now, for my most favourite photo of the lot…
How magnificent is that? My hands started to tremble when I turned the album page and saw this pix right in front of me. First, it’s a band promo photo. Second, it’s a GIRL GROUP. and Third, it’s GIRLS WITH GUITARS!
The only way it could possibly get any cooler would be if this were a Singaporean 60s girl band. But it isn’t – according to the handwritten note on the back, this is: “Philippines Top All Girl Show Band by The Phililettes”. So a Filipino band it is. I can’t seem to find anything about them online right now, so they are a mystery! Any collector out there who can shed some light? I wonder if the band’s name is spelt correctly in the photo’s note too, because it looks quite a tongue-twister.
Happiness is finding and falling in love with something you never knew about previously.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs came to Singapore on Jan 12 2010. I’ve wanted to catch them live ever since their first EP gained buzz-hype in the music press. I so love Karen O’s attitude, and for a period of time in Uni, I wanted to groom my hair like Nick Zinner’s. I love Yeah Yeah Yeahs, so I don’t think I can give a reasonably unbiased review. I was jumping and screaming the words to every song – quite possibly the best gig experience I’ve had in a while.
Have a happy Sunday everyone! I’m off to do some thrifting for my store! I will leave you with a youtube vid I found of YYY’s Turn Into performance in Singapore. Favourite song!
My music options have grown, grown, grown, because I’ve finally gotten my Nokia Comes With Music-ready phone. And along with it came a year’s supply of unlimited downloads from Nokia Music Store. I like having a mix of music media – physical format for albums I love and *must* own the whole cd, and digital tracks for singles I like but not necessarily the full album. And of course vinyls for the wall of sound touch, and 60s music in general. It may surprise you, but many indie releases are often more easily available digital, than physical. I previously worked in an online digital music store, and the major perk of the job was access to the store’s test account. I sampled tons of tracks and fell in love with so many indie acts, like Tilly and The Wall, Duke and The Dutchess, Beach House, etc. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Tilly and The Wall cd in any store in Singapore, but we had the band’s full catalogue (singles and B-sides/remixes included) on the store, in digital format. And you can look to emusic for another example – it’s been called the indie-version of iTunes because of all the indie/alternative/niche labels on it.
I don’t think cds will ever go the way of dinosaurs, just as how vinyls are still around. There will always be a group of music buffs who still prefer to hold and touch their music buys. The joy of flipping through cds in a sales rack cannot be described to non-music fans! Legal-digital, in my opinion, is the way, only if prices stay low and DRM goes. My purchases at Nokia Music Store are DRM-protected, and in WMV format, which means I can’t transfer it to my ipod, or upload it on this blog to accompany my posts. But I’m not going to complain too much about it, because my phone is a functional digital music player in its own right. Best of all, think of all the music I’ll get to sample and preview, this whole year! Joy!
Two lovely tracks I’ve downloaded today – singles for which I don’t think I’m getting the full album as yet:
Lenka – Trouble Is A Friend
Amazingly catchy, I’m surprise this song wasn’t a bigger hit.
The Pixies – Here Comes Your Man
Covered by Meaghan Smith on the 500 Days of Summer soundtrack. I love the original, just as much!
My latest vinyl – Dory Previn’s Reflections in a Mud Puddle / Taps Tremors And Time Steps (One Last Dance For My Father). Read about it on wiki here. And Dory Previn on allmusic, here. I almost didn’t buy it because it just seemed ‘murky’ to me, in a “i need to wash my hands right after touching the picture sleeve” kind of way. But that’s probably the intent of the design, and you don’t find a Dory Previn 2nd-hand LP in Singapore very often. ‘The Art of Dory Previn’ is my album of choice for moody days, and a great starter-kit if you’re new to Dory Previn.
@manicmolly i know! but so expensive! her dresses are v sweet too. past wk, i've been hooked on surfing etsy for pretty handmade clothes =) 17 hours ago
just found out 1 of my fellow museum guides writes bks on s'pore history. gosh! but i shall not be intimidated! tour this sat! 1 day ago
