Les Fentones in the classic film "Play Boy" - 1967

** UPDATE **


 Guest Blogger Ghaz writes: 


"Dear Carl,

Your posting on Les Fentonnes on your blog is very interesting.

The lead vocalist appeared on the film Playboy (1967) is the late A. Karim Jais. Prior to their appearance on the film, Karim had also cut a few EPs with the said band in June 1966, and among the hits include Bahagia Menjelma , Julaida and Si-Dara Jelita. Karim did a remake of his songs in a compilation abum 30 years later, but this time it was done with ZZ'Exprezz, a Singaporean band who make its recordings using the original 60s equipment. Prior to his death, Karim used to work as a manager for the Singapore’s famous Satay House.

Besides Karim, the late M. Osman also used to record with Les Fentonnes for his songs Kaseh Berduka and Mawarku Pergi. The only female vocalist for Les Fentonnes was Fatimah H.S.

Les Fentonnes also recorded as themselves, where the lead guitarist Manaf Ahmad (a.k.a. A. Manaf) sang their famous number Di-Sa’at Bahagia.

You can check these songs on YouTube. Enjoy the music!

Warmest regards,

Ghaz, KL"

another great Saloma song -- with a Latin/South American influence

Just for fun, as a side note, since Ghaz's post has inspired me to start watching all the P Ramlee and Saloma videos I can find, I'm adding this video (which is not Twist related at all) showing the influence of Latin/South American dance music in Malaysia at the time....



Oh, check out the Western Electric/Altec 639A/B microphone in the shot there!!!! all time classic microphone!

TWIST-LAH LAGI! (LET'S TWIST AGAIN!)

Another great piece of excellent scholarly musical commentary from our groovy pal in Malaysia, Chubby Ghaz:

Ghaz writes:

The Twist has always been my favourite 60s rhtyhm since I was 9. In one of my mom's cassette collections, two of Chubby Checker's hits - Let's Twist Again and The Twist - were the ones that I loved most. Another Chubby's tune which has always been included in the oldies selection both in Malaysia and Singapore is Limbo Rock.



Quite a number of times, my younger sister and I would be asked to perform this dance for our occassional family gatherings. Eventually, one of my closest friends recommended a nickname for me - Chubby Ghaz - which I'm still using today in my cyber-communications!

Between 1962 and (at least) the early part of 1966, Twist music was incorporated into many Malay songs, after the leading composers learned about its popularity.

Here are some of them:

AZIZ JAAFAR & NORMADIAH - Jangan Menjeling (Don't Stare)
[from the film Jeritan Batinku (The Cry Of My Soul) -1962]



SALOMA - Selamat Pengantin Baru (Best Wishes For The Wedding Couple)
[from the film Madu Tiga (The Three Wives) - 1964]



P. RAMLEE - Bunyi Gitar (The Guitar Sound)
[from the film Tiga Abdul (The Three Abduls) -1964]



P. RAMLEE - Ai Ai Ai Twist
[from the film Masam Masam Manis (Sour But Sweet) -1965]



M. BAKRI & THE SWALLOWS' COMBO - Malaysia Baru (A New Malaysia) [1965]



M. BAKRI & THE ANTARTICS - Pelita Hati (A Light For My Heart) [1966]



Enjoy the music!

Chubby Ghaz
Kuala Lumpur


(THANKS AGAIN TO CHUBBY GHAZ for sharing his wonderful insights with us on this blog !!! -- Carl )