Friday, July 30, 2010

Meeting Kassim Selamat of the Swallows (4 hours before I had to board my plane back home)






Encik Kassim Selamat (Rahmat) looking at a photo from a wedding years ago that Zam Zam brought with him that evening --(i think it actually brought him to tears when he saw this photo - thinking of people he hadn't seen in such a long time... at this moment Zam Zam explained to me that "so many of these people are no longer around..it just makes you sad sometimes")


the photo Zam Zam brought along with him that evening - several Pop Yeh Yeh artist were in this photo -- Zam Zam is top Left


thanks again to Cikgu Yusnor Ef and Encik Zam Zam for helping arrange this meeting with the legendary Kassim Selamat. It was great to see Encik Yusnor Ef and Zam Zam again, and really inspiring to meet yet another one of my all time favorite Pop Yeh Yeh artists -- Kassim Selamat. Actually, my friend Yuana drove Encik Yusnor Ef and Encik Kassim Selamat back home that evening, and we listened to the Swallows greatest hits CD the whole way back. I sat in the back seat next to him and he sang every song..he even elbowed me a few times in the ribs during the freak out guitar solos. This is where I got a little teary eyed.. a memory that I will never forget.... I hope to go back again to spend more time with Encik Kassim Selamat (Rahmat is his real last name -- Selamat is his stage name - taken from a P Ramlee film character) and Cikgu Yusnor Ef.



UPDATE -- Here's a new website that my friend is constructing right now dedicated to The Swallows!

http://www.la-aube.de/

He's also working on a film about them!

14 comments:

  1. Hi DJ,
    Wow, this is great. Congrats! I haven't met them since 1964. Can I put your postings on my blog with the connecting link?

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  2. Hi Andy, Thank you so much!!

    I have lots of video footage that i'm editing from interviews I did with them too!

    Sorry, I'd actually rather you not take the photos, but you can link to it. Hope that's ok?

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  3. It's OK. I wouldn't do it but my idea was to take one image, do a short write-up about your trip using your name as headline, eg: 'DJ Carlito Meets The Swallows' and then link the posting below to this blog.

    I have recent pictures of them too, taken by another friend.
    Cheers.

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  4. Hi Andy, well, alright you changed my mind. : ) go ahead and do it. Just use one photo and maybe add a note at the bottom saying - "please do not take this image - c) Carl Hamm 2010".

    Hope you are doing well!

    thanks,
    Carl

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  5. Thanks Carl. Appreciate. Will do so.

    Glad you met these Swallows gentlemen. They have always been humble and unassuming, even during the 60s and at their peak.

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    Replies
    1. Dear Andy, thank YOU for all you did to put me in touch with these artists. I believe I originally found Cikgu Yusnor Ef through your website and I am eternally grateful to you for that. Also, looking back, I'm sorry about being overly protective of my blog photos. I had just returned from my trip and probably wasnt sure what to do with all of the Pop Yeh Yeh data yet! anyway, thanks again, and all the best to you.

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  6. My brother (Richard) actually bought the Swallows' record and other Malay singers' records as well back in the sixties (around years 65/66). He would played the records on a small portable gramophone (operated with batteries then). I remember the records cover of the Swallows was in black & white, if I recall correctly. Oh, we love the their songs, although we are Chinese. Both of us also like those songs during the Pop yeh yeh periods. I remember we also tuned in the Malay radio program with the Pop yeh yeh's hit chart, I think.

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  7. Thanks so much for your comment FL. Wow.. two kids with a portable battery operated gramophone listening to pop yeh yeh 45s!! that's such a great memory! Yes, this music crosses all cultural boundaries... and it still sounds good after all these years..

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  8. dj can you confirm that kassim selamat's la o be hit the charts in germany somewhere in the 60's

    tq

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  9. Hello pd,

    I have only heard that La O Be was "reported to be" a hit on the charts in Germany -- but one good blog I know that mentions this may have more info if you contact them...

    http://questing.wordpress.com/2009/04/25/kassim-selamat-the-swallows/

    I see that the Wikipedia entry says " The Swallows featuring "La Aube", "Angkut-angkut Bilis" etc. whose vocalist was Kassim Selamat and the EP was featured in a radio station in Germany. There, "La Aube" was in the German pop chart."

    I will see if I can dig up a more credible source to confirm this statement.

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  10. Also, pd, I believe I actually asked Kassim about this. I will go through the interview footage this weekend and let you know - -but I currently have no source other than this first hand account. If I had more time, I would have visited him at home because he mentioned he kept some old newspaper clippings from those days that he wanted to show me. He said that much of this collection had recently been destroyed in a rain storm which caused water to drip in through his ceiling. But he said he still had a little stack of old magazines. I might also be able to check with some of my other contacts over there.
    I need to go back already!

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  11. I would like to update you on Kassim Slamat & The Swallows new URL. It is now called http://swallowerwins.blogspot.com/

    The former URL is way too long. Thought it would be easier for people to Swallow & Win at the same time! :D

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  12. I have 6 EP of Kassim Selamat n The Swallows for sale. Are you interested? I will post the item in mudah.com under collectibles catagory tommorrow. You can email me if you're interested at moodsukhairi@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i don't see anything there... maybe you made a mistake in your website address?

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