Local Music reaches a Crescendo in the 60s
Following its establishment in Singapore, Philips recorded local band The Crescendos, whose first record in 1963, Mr Twister, was a great success. Courtesy of National Archives of Singapore.
Despite the significant changes that had taken place in Singapore’s record industry in the 1950s, few could have predicted the even more dramatic transformations to come in the 1960s. At the start of the decade, the record industry in Singapore was still dominated by EMI (which had originally been known as Electric and Musical Industries, hence the initials). The few independent record labels that existed were relatively insignificant in market terms, and no other multinational record company had yet shown an interest in establishing a presence in Singapore.
EMI was famously conservative when it came to signing up local talent in its main Asian markets of Hong Kong and Singapore. The company enjoyed a virtual monopoly in these markets in the early 1960s, and they saw little reason to expand beyond the well-established forms of local popular music.
Most Singapore recordings in the late 1950s and early 1960s were either traditional Chinese opera, or Malay and Chinese film or pop songs of the period sung in Chinese or Malay. There were very few local recordings in English aimed at the emerging youth market, which at the time was almost completely dominated by imported British and American (and some European) records.
Popular music in the 1960s
Popular music flourished in Singapore during the 1960s, when a number of local bands became extremely popular with their cover versions of British and American songs as well as original compositions. These bands had a strong following and often played to crowds at events and places featuring live music. Some also recorded albums that proved to be commercially successful. For various reasons, local music went into decline towards the end of the 1960s.
Beginnings - In the mid-1950s, Radio Malaya started Talentime, a competition that showcased good singers and musicians. It was very successful and attracted a strong following in Malaya and Singapore. At the time, most music acts consisted of vocal groups. Then in late 1961, Cliff Richard and the Shadows played at the Happy World Stadium. Appearing with them was one of Singapore's earliest electric bands, The Stompers, formed in 1958 and led by Wilson David. This landmark performance introduced the format of a lead singer backed by an instrumental band featuring the electric guitar. It had a significant impact on local audiences at a time when electric music was becoming increasingly popular.
Various other foreign acts performed in Singapore throughout the 1960s, including the Rolling Stones in 1965, but a number of local musicians cited the Cliff Richard performance as a turning point for them. As teens in the 1960s, these musicians often gathered with friends to listen to records released by British bands, and the performances inspired them to begin forming their own bands. Given that the music scene was still in its infancy, many local musicians did not have formal training in either playing musical instruments or reading music. However, most picked up music through trial and error, imitation, practice and experience.
Susan Lim and The Crescendos
The Crescendos were a popular Singapore band of the 1960s. Formed in 1961, the pop band comprised John Chee, Leslie Chia and Raymond Ho, and vocalist Susan Lim joined the following year. It became the first Singapore band to be signed on by an international record label. The band scored several hits with songs such as “Mr Twister” and “The Boy Next Door”. The Crescendos disbanded in 1966 and never regrouped after the death of lead singer Lim in 1970.
The Crescendos started out as a singing group comprising Chee, Chia and Ho from St Patrick’s School. In 1961, they took part in Radio Singapore Talentime, a programme for finding new singers and musicians. For the Talentime contest the following year, the group decided to add a female lead vocalist, Lim. A friend of Chia’s sister, Lim was then a student at Raffles Girls’ School. The band signed a contract with record company Philips International, even before reaching the competition finals, becoming the first Singapore band ever to sign on with an international record label.
The band was later joined by Israel Lim on bass guitar and Peter Soh on drums, who enabled the band to perform as an electric band. It was previously a vocal quartet with only acoustic guitar accompaniment and had to depend on other bands for musical backing. In 1963, the band released its first single – a cover of Don Conway’s “Mr Twister”, with a cover of Neil Sedaka’s “Frankie” on the flipside. The single was an instant hit and sold more than 10,000 copies in Malaysia, placing it on the Philips World Top 10 list and locally outselling even American pop singer Connie Francis’s version of the song. The band’s next single was an original composition, “The Boy Next Door”, which also entered the Philips International Top 10 list in July 1964 at second place.
National Archives of Singapore 27 April
One of the earliest music recordings made in Singapore was in 1903. Before 1960, over 10,000 local recordings were made in Singapore. By the end of 1960s, there were hundreds of labels here catering to every musical taste. 🎵
Read about the days when Singapore was a major music recording centre in Southeast Asia, in a new book by the National Archives of Singapore.
Singapore Local Music in the 1960s
Local bands had a strong following in the 1960s. Due to the presence of British servicemen in Singapore, and later American servicemen because of the Vietnam War, local bands often performed at military camps, mess halls and servicemen's clubs as well as at dance halls, and on television and radio. Other venues for live music were the Singapore Badminton Hall and the National Theatre.9 Popular nightclubs such as the Golden Venus at Orchard Hotel employed resident bands, among these The Checkmates, The Quests and The Trailers.
Several local bands were signed on by recording companies. Most bands covered versions of popular British and American songs as these were in demand. Naomi and the Boys, The Quests, The Cyclones and The Trailers were among the first bands to release original compositions that did well on the local charts.11 In 1964, “Shanty”, the original song by The Quests, became the first song by a local band to reach the top of the Singapore charts, displacing The Beatles' “I Should Have Known Better” at No. 1.12 In 1963, The Crescendos’ first record, Mr Twister, outsold an imported record of the same song by Connie Francis. Its success showed the untapped business potential of local bands, prompting the record label Philips to sign more local acts, and other labels followed suit.
While local 1960s music featured the sounds of what are referred to today as pop, rock and blues, it also demonstrated the multicultural diversity of Singapore and a blend of Western and Asian influences. Popular bands that performed in English included The Silver Strings, The Thunderbirds and The Crescendos.14 Malay bands included A. Ramlie and the Rhythm Boys, Mike Ibrahim and the Nite Walkers, and Ismail Haron and the Guys. P. Ramlee, besides being a talented film actor and director, also transformed Malay popular music by incorporating traditional Malay instruments and Western influences into his music. One of The Trailers' biggest hits was “Phoenix Theme”, an instrumental rendition of a popular Chinese New Year tune. At the height of their popularity, Singapore bands were well-known locally and regionally. Some bands went on overseas tours to countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong and the Philippines. The bands were greeted with hysteria by fans, and their appearances in some places caused near riots.
