Spotlight on: THE VETERANS - Guest Blogger: Ghaz

 

THE VETERANS – THE BAND THAT BROUGHT POP YEH YEH SOUND FOR P. RAMLEE’S SONGS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Veterans, a band formed by P Ramlee in 1967 for his recording of new songs.

The years 1966 until 1968 saw the emergence of pop yeh yeh bands and their companying singers who were as young as 20-something years old. In contrast, P. Ramlee whose age was approaching 40s continued to perform or compose songs in his own way. The slow adaptation to change to current listeners’ musical taste had led to an obvious decline to the style of music that he had adapted to since the World War II! 

Being aware of such phenomenon, Ramlee had formed a band called The Veterans to accompany him in his recording of new songs in 1967 and 1968 respectively, in conjunction with the release of new films that he was about to act and direct in both years, in addition to a series of new studio recordings.

Members of The Veterans include Mohd. Ali (lead guitarist), Adnan Zain (rhythm guitarist), Salleh Haji Yusoff (bass guitarist), Kassim Masdor (keyboardist), Ahmad Rejab (saxophonist and tambourine player) and Yusoff Ali (drummer). Through the performance of this band, Ramlee had tried to inject a new style of music with what he called “balo-balo-Q” and “zap a-go-go”.

The entire team tried their luck for the films that Ramlee acted and directed in the Kuala Lumpur-based Merdeka Film Studio, coupled with some songs done via studio recording at EMI Singapore.

 

Songs from the film Keluarga 69 (The 69 Family) [1967]

Keluarga 69 (The 69 Family) DIGITALLYREMASTERED "KELUARGA 69" P RAMLEE DAN THE VETERANS 1967

Semenjak Mata Bertentang (Since the Eyes Met) DIGITALLYREMASTERED "SEMENJAK MATA BERTENTANG" P RAMLEE DAN THE VETERANS 1967

Mengapa Derita (Why Do I Suffer) DIGITALLYREMASTERED "MENGAPA DERITA" P RAMLEE DAN THE VETERANS 1967

Songs from the film Sesudah Suboh (After Dawn) [1967]

Sepanjang Riwayat-ku (Throughout My Life) P.Ramlee dan The Veterans - Sepanjang Riwayatku (P. Ramlee) - 1968

Song from the film Anak Bapak (Papa’s Pet) [1968]

Terbang Burong Terbang (Fly, Bird…Fly) DIGITALLYREMASTERED "TERBANG BURUNG TERBANG" P RAMLEE DAN THE VETERANS 1967

Among the EPs and SPs recorded by P. Ramlee and The Veterans in 1967 and 1968.

Studio recordings

Senja Kala (Evening) [1967] P.Ramlee - Senja Kala (P. Ramlee-Yusnor Ef) - 1967

Dendang Perantau (A Traveller’s Song) [1967] P.Ramlee dgn. The Veterans - Dendang Perantau (P. Ramlee/S. Sudarmaji) - akhir1967

Bulan Mengambang (The Moon Begins to Shine) [1967] DIGITALLYREMASTERED "BULAN MENGAMBANG" P RAMLEE DAN THE VETERANS DBP KASSIMMASDOR 1967

Ting Tara Tilalla [1967] DIGITALLYREMASTERED "TING TARA TILLALA" P RAMLEE DAN THE VETERANS 1967

Lanang Tunang Ta’ Jadi (An Engagement Called Off) [1968] P.Ramlee dgn. The Veterans - Lanang Tunang Tak Jadi (Kassim Masdor-Yusnor Ef) -1968

Unfortunately, such approach did not bring much success to Ramlee as a singer. In a 1968 interview with the Malaysian daily Berita Harian, the reporter on duty asked him on whether he had made any recording of new songs, which he admitted. The reporter was startled with such admission as he had hardly heard those songs on radio. P. Ramlee concluded with a short reply, “Well, I just don’t know why!” As his record sales had dwindled despite his effort to keep up with the current musical preference of the audience, EMI Singapore decided to end his contract in the same year.

Nevertheless, time has proven that such perception of irrelevance by Ramlee himself, the media and the public at large were wrong when after his untimely demise at the age of 44 in 1973, the audience began to appreciate his songs recorded with The Veterans through a series of compilation albums released by EMI years later. As evidence to this, you will always be able to listen to his Eidulfitri anthem, Dendang Perantau, recorded with The Veterans in 1967, on both radio and TV during the Muslims’ annual festival throughout the entire Malay archipelago. 

Ghaz, KL

Credit to:

1.      Merdeka Film Studio, Kuala Lumpur

2.      EMI Singapore and Malaysia

3.      Imran Ibrahim, Melaka

4.      Yudhie, Sarawak

5.      A. R. Ismail, Membedah P. Ramlee (Operating P. Ramlee)

6.      Yusnor Ef, P. Ramlee Yang Saya Kenal (P. Ramlee That I Know)

7.      Shaw Brothers, Majallah Filem, 1967

Spotlight on THE CLICK IV - Guest Blogger: Ghaz

 

THE CLICK IV

Another pop yeh yeh band that had briefly coloured the Malay-language music scene in the 1960s was The Click IV (or sometimes written as The Click 4). Although the members of the band were unknown, they did have their own style of music, which had shown some improvement over time, and according to the singers’ vocal performance whom they accompanied. Through their career, they stuck to only one recording label, which is Olympic Records, between 1967 and 1970.

Jaffar O. (1944 – 2010)

The first singer that The Click IV accompanied in Olympic Records was Jaffar O. Born Japar Ohjar in 1944 from a Madhurese-Boyanese parentage in Singapore’s Bukit Timah district, he left school at the age of 14 to work as an office attendant, before carving his career as a singer in the 1960s. With The Clans, Jaffar recorded two EPs, one each in 1967 and another in 1968, respectively. His songs like Punggok Merindu-kan Bulan (The Owl Misses the Moon), Merindu Kaseh (Missing My Lover So Much) and Undang-lah Aku (Invite Me) became instant hits and had managed to hit the radio’s top charts in both the republic and Malaysia.

Jaffar O & The Click IV – Kehampa’an-ku

Jaffar O & The Click IV – Pinang-kan Si-Dia

Jaffar O & The Click IV – Punggok Merindu-kan Bulan

Jaffar O & The Click IV – Merindu Kaseh

Jaffar O & The Click IV (1967)

Jaffar O & The Click IV – Undang-lah Aku Jaffar O & The Click IV - Undanglah Aku - 1968

Jaffar O & The Click IV – Gagena Paraban Jaffar O & The Click 4 - Gegena Paraban (Senikata: Jaafar O) - 1968

Jaffar O & The Click IV – Kaseh Terpisah Jaffar O & The Click IV - Kaseh Terpisah

Jaffar O & The Click IV – Di-Tinggal Kaseh jaafar O & the click 4 _ ditinggal kasih (1968)

 

A.   Ramlie (1948 – 2001)

After recording a series of EPs with The Rythmn Boys, The Clans and his own Pancharagam A. Ramlie (a.k.a. The Ramlies) from 1966 until 1968, A. Ramlie continued his journey as a recording artist with The Clans. Coincidently, in 1969, Olympic Records was celebrating its fifth anniversary of establishment. For this purpose, Ramlie had invited his fans to contribute their composition of songs and lyrics for him to record in his two EPs in 1969. The approach turned out to be a successful collaboration, where his songs Dendang Anak Tani (A Farmer’s Child’s Song) and Ole-Ole Temasek (Gifts from Temasek) [Note: “Temasek” is an ancient name for Singapore] became top hits of 1969. His last recording with The Clans was made in 1970. By this time, The Clans were trying to break away from the usual pop yeh yeh sound as evident from their style of musical performance, but unfortunately, this was the last recording that they had ever worked out on.

 

Dendang Anak Tani A. Ramlie & The Click 4 - Dendang Anak Tani (A. Ramlie/Abdul Ghani bin Mohd Isa) - 1969

Lambaian Desa A. Ramlie & The Click 4 - Lambaian Desa (Salamah Basiron) - 1969

Oleh Oleh Temasek Ole Ole Temasik - A.Ramlie & The Click 4

Bingkisan Rahsia DIGITALLY REMASTERED "BINGKISAN RAHSIA" A RAMLIE

Ikatan Bahagia

Sa-Chebis Kaseh Sa-Potong Hati

Entah Kaseh Daku, Entah Tidak

Petaka

A RAMLIE TRC 1048 FULL EP , 1.Ikatan Bahagia 2.....

Sa-Jambak Budi Sa-Tangkai Hati Se Jambak Budi Setangkai Hati

Kelohan Di-Hati Pilu A. Ramlie dengan The Click IV - Kelohan Di-Hati Pilu (Anuar Hamid) - 1970

Sa-Untai Kata Sa-Murni Kaseh Sa-Untai Kata, Sa-Murni Kaseh

Ku Segera Pulang A. Ramlie & The Click IV - Ku Segera Pulang (A. Ramlie) - 1969

 

Credits to:

1.     Olympic Records, Singapore

2.     Imran Ibrahim, Melaka

3.     Nostalgia Hassny

4.     Yudhie, Sarawak

5.     popOK classical

 

Spotlight on THE CLANS - Guest Blogger: Ghaz

 

THE CLANS

During the pop yeh yeh era, we had witnessed some peculiar phenomena, where one singer could be accompanied by many different bands (for instance, A. Ramlie and M. Osman), or one particular band accompanying so many singers (like The Rythmn Boys for example), and so on. However, there was also a band that changed its line-up many times, thus portraying different styles of musical performance in of its recording work, which could only be differentiated by those with discerning ears. Not only that, the bands’ involvement in the entertainment circuit was also short-lived. One of such bands is The Clans.

The different members’ line-up of The Clans between 1966 and 1967.

Led by singer M. Osman, the members of The Clans include:

1.           Lead guitarists: Dine Hani Zain followed by S. Marwan followed by Dino followed by A. Hashim

 

2.           Rhythm guitarist: Brian Ariff followed by Rahim Mawi followed by Noor Hassan followed by M. Arfino

 

3.           Bass guitarists: A. Jamil followed by A. Anis

4.           Keyboardist: M. Azman

5.           Drummers: Zul Rahman a.k.a. Houmer Boy followed by Md. Omar

Despite the band’s brief period of performance, i.e., between 1966 and 1967, it accompanied quite a handful of popular pop yeh yeh singers, including:

 

M. OSMAN & AFIDA ES

 

 

 

After recording together in their debut split EP with The Mods in 1965, husband-and-wife pop yeh yeh performers M. Osman and Afida Es collaborated with The Clans for the first time in 1966. In addition, M. Osman also recorded two more songs with The Clans in another EP split EP in the same year.

M. Osman & The Clans - Lambayan Kaseh (The Wave of Love) m osman & the clans _ lambayan kaseh (1966)

M. Osman & The Clans - Kelohan Hiba (A Sad Wailing) m osman & the clans _ kelohan hiba

M. Osman & The Clans - Membena Chinta (Building a Love) The Clans 03 - Membena Chinta 03 M Osman TK 1014

M. Osman & The Clans - Menchipta Shorga (Creating a Paradise) M Osman & The Clans - Menchipta Shorga .TK1014 . 1966

Afida Es & The Clans - Tuju Bahgia (Moving Towards Happiness) Afida Es & The Clans - Tuju Bahagia (Kamarudin Ahmad) - awal 1966

Afida Es & The Clans - Penderita’an (Sufferings) Afida Es & The Clans - Penderitaan (Z. Roslee) - 1966

 

KAMSIAH M. ALI

Kamsiah M. Ali, the champion of 1963 Bintang Radio (Radio Star) of Penang, was introduced by M. Osman in this 1966 EP release. She is also Osman’s elder sister-in-law, whose husband, M. Ali is his elder brother. Osman also helped in her recording by composing songs for her in this EP.

Kamsiah M. Ali & The Clans - Dendang Seloka (A Song of Jokes) KAMSIAH M ALI/ THE CLANS- DENDANG SELOKA

Kamsiah M. Ali & The Clans - Sayang Selintas (Love in a Single Crossing) Sayang Selintas - Kamsiah M.Ali & The Clans

FATIMAH M. AMIN, NOOR HASSAN & A. ANIS

Besides accompanying Fatimah M. Amin for her two EPs in 1967, two of The Clans’ guitarists Noor Hassan and A. Anis also recorded their respective voices too.

Noor Hassan & The Clans – Selintas Lalu (The Crossover)

Fatimah M. Amin & The Clans – Oh Teruna (Oh! My Guy)

Fatimah M. Amin & The Clans – Harapan Kechewa (A Disappointed Hope)

A.     Anis & The Clans – Gadis Puja’an (The Adorable Girl)

Norhasan, Fatimah M.Amin, A.Anis & The Clans (1967)

Fatimah M. Amin & The Clans – Santapan Sukma (The Food for the Soul)

Fatimah M. Amin & The Clans – Derita (Suffering)

Fatimah M. Amin & The Clans – Di-Lembah Derita (In the Valley of Sufferings)

Fatimah M. Amin & The Clans – Berjauhan (Being Far Apart)

Fatimah M.Amin & The Clans (1967)

A.   RAMLIE

 

This is the only EP that A. Ramlie had ever worked out with The Clans in 1967 throughout his singing career, after recording 3 EPs with The Rythmn Boys in 1966.

A. Ramlie & The Clans - Merinteh Kalbu A. Ramlie dgn The Clans - Merintih Kalbu (A. Ramlie) - 1967

A. Ramlie & The Clans - Bahagian Menjelma A. Ramlie dgn The Clans - Bahagia Menjelma (A. Ramlie/Ghaus Gafar) - Mac 1967

A. Ramlie & The Clans - Mengenang Dinda The Clans 02 A Ramlie - Mengenang Dinda TRC 1012