Meeting guest blogger and Pop Yeh Yeh scholar, Ghaz in KL

Two days ago, I met Ghaz, who frequently writes for this blog, in KL for lunch. When I arranged the meeting with him the night before, he said that he stayed up late drawing up a mind-map of how the Pop Yeh Yeh artists and bands were all related to eachother.  You might say it was similar to a family tree of bands and performers. This document was very informative, and I am always so impressed by Ghaz's ability to clearly explain the history and important context and relationships of these groups.

After we finished lunch, he drew up an additional time line showing how the pop music changed from the 50s to the early 60s with film songs by legends like P Ramlee, Saloma, Fazidah Joned, etc, to the mid to late 60s when Pop Yeh Yeh had its golden era, and then on to the 70s when the style changed again to a more slick studio production and sound.

I look forward to reading more posts by Ghaz in the future here on this site and I consider myself very lucky to have such a knowledgeable friend.

Adnan Othman!

Currently visiting Adnan Othman at his house ....  here he is with two young cats that were from a litter of four (two were given away) so Adnan's daughter Ariana named them after THE BEATLES.... this is Ringo and John! 

More interviews and meetings

To be honest, I'm sort of having trouble keeping up with everything since I got to KL...  and didnt have internet all day yesterday... So I'm just putting up a few photos for now just to keep things up to date, then heading out to see Adnan Othman's daughter Ariana play music tonight!

 Joe Pereira -  author of several definitive books about Singapore music- (at Tekka Centre - Little India)

 Famie, of modern Singapore pop yeh yeh influenced band "The Pinholes"- at a studio his friend of Stone Revivals is building. 

With Pop Yeh Yeh legend, Zam Zam (Zam Zam and the Twilites)

 Photo from popoknet.blogspot.com/

LIFE RECORDS SINGAPORE 

 Encik Osman Ariffin

 Manager

 Art Fazil - popular Modern Malay Folk Musician

M.I.A. - Mohd Ismail Abdullah

My last day in Singapore I met the First Malay DJ -  M.I.A. (Mohd Ismail Abdullah) - host of Radio Singapore's weekly Top Chart "Lagu Pujaan Minggu Ini" (Hit song of the week)  

 

(will add more text to these posts soon!)    

a few more random photos from my time here in Singapore

This month is the Chinese Hungry Ghost Festival 

TOP :  a tent for performances related to the Ghost Festival
 BOTTOM: burning ghost money (joss paper) as offerings to the dead- you also see cakes, plates of food, oranges, cups of coffee, etc placed outside on corners and steps for the ghosts

________________

Chinese Roast Pig

_____________________

Maha Sasana Ramsi -  Burmese Theravada Buddhist Temple in Singapore  - founded in 1875  wikipedia;  and official website 

__________________________

Tai Pei Yuen Temple (formerly known as Kwan Yin Lodge) 

__________________

 Balesteir Road

______________________

Balestier Students' Hostel

__________________

random Chinese mythological wall decoration

_________________________

TEKKA Centre in Singapore's Little India

___________________________

Hawker Center (food market) where I ate BBQ Stingray

___________________

Now Showing at Shaw Plaza!

Meeting Cikgu (teacher) Yusnor Ef

Yusnor Ef is a prolific lyricist and has written lyrics for many of the most famous Malay pop singers over the years.  These songs are not considered "Pop Yeh Yeh" but rather "Pop Melayu" or just Malay POP.... and were hits in the era just after Pop Yeh Yeh had its heyday.  He wrote for artists such as Rahimah Rahim, Elmi Salleh, Sanisah Huri, Junainah, Ahmad Jais, Ahmad Daud, as well as the great TanSri P. Ramlee (whom he studied under and worked with) and Saloma. 


It turns out that I am staying at a hotel just minutes away from Yusnor Ef's home, and so when I called him, he immediately invited me to come to his house for lunch and conversation.  The kindness of this man never ceases to amaze me.  

Cikgu (as he is often referred to.. being a "teacher" to so many) met me at my hotel and we took a taxi to his apartment in a highrise off Thompson Street.    When I arrived, his housekeeper had prepared lunch for me, and I sat and ate with him as we discussed music.

 I asked him about his activities lately and he told me that he is finishing a TV adaptation of his retrospective of songs and music called Aku Dia dan Lagu (me, her and a song) originally released as a box set.

 This TV series features in-depth stories about the compositions and their lyrics and the artists who performed them.  Here is episode #2



Part of each episode features a music video for one of Yusnor Ef's songs - and he gave me "private screening copies" of 6 DVDs of these music videos which feature many of the original artists in picturesque locations around Singapore and Malaysia.

I also took this opportunity to ask Cikgu about the transition period between the POP YEH YEH kugiran bands and the later Pop Melayu music that was more influenced by Indonesian music and Hindustani music (Bollywood) that took hold after the rock and roll era.

Meeting Encik Kassim Selamat of The Swallows at his home in Singapore

Later in the day on Saturday I actually met Kassim Selamat at his home.

 His daughter and son in law kindly invited me to come visit him although they told me that he suffers from dementia.

  I wasnt sure if I should go or not, but I thought that the least I could do would be to take some footage of him at home with is family, and maybe look at some of the photos he said he wanted me to see when I met him in 2010 (before his condition had worsened). 

It being Hari Raya (Eid el Fitr) right now, he was visited by a large group of family members while I was there.

It was really wonderful to meet his wife, daughter, son in law, and relatives... and to see his granddaughter beside him while he looked through old photo albums was just absolutely precious..  She kept pointing at photos of him and his friends in funny clothes and asking "Why are they dressed like that!?

They served me a delicious lunch and gave me some sweets that are prepared specially for this holiday which marks the end of Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting.

Later, as the group of relatives all got together as a group and shouted "Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri!!!" while I filmed with my video camera.  

These sort of experiences are "once in a life time"....  it was so inspiring to be shown such generosity and kindness from people I had never met before.  

 I feel so honored and grateful to have met Kassim Selamat of the Swallows during my trip.

 Kassim Selamat and the Swallows

Above : a "Grammy" that Kassim Selamat was awarded at Stadium Negara in 1967