Filed under: Malaysia
Zaleha Hamid was born in the Sungai Pinang neighborhood of George Town, Malaysia.
She got her start the lead singer of Orkes Zindegi – who originally from Singapore and accompanied many Malay and Jawi Peranakan artists in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In the 80s, Zaleha became a solo artist singing traditional pop and dangdut. She eventually earned the title of “Queen of Dangdut”.
As for Orkes Zindegi, the bass guitarist was Rickieno Badjuri – originally a member of the band The Cliffters in the mid-1960s. Also, the word ‘Zindegi’ means ‘Life’ in Hindi.
Catalog number GES 103 on Sea Lion Record of Malaysia. Released 1970.
Filed under: Malaysia
Hussain Marican and Betty Ismail were from Malaysia. Hussain Marican recorded at least 16 singles and an album. Betty Ismail released 7 singles. They released two singles together. And that is all of the information I could find.
If you have any further information about these artists or anything else about this recording, please leave it in the comment section below.
Catalog number RE 121070 Royel (sic) Record of Malaysia.
Filed under: Malaysia
Somehow this single has even less information than the last single I posted from Malaysia. Other than a listing on Discogs, there no information available about the band or it’s members and nothing about the record label that released it.
If you have any further information about this artist or anything else about this recording, please leave it in the comment section below.
Catalog number S. B. 101 on Suara Baru Record of Malaysia. Released 1967.
Filed under: Malaysia
♬ a) Gelisah b) Kuchupan Azimat
This is one of those records that raises more questions than it answers.
Discogs lists this single in with The Wanderers – who were a five piece and primarily were a backup band for various singers like Adnan Othman, Betty Ismail and S. Ahmad.
Also, the single clearly lists four songs. But there’s only one per side. Could each side be a medley?
If you have any information about this record, please leave it in the comment section below.
Catalog number KLC 902 on Cameron of Singapore, released 1970.
Filed under: Malaysia
Way back in 2005, before I started collecting the records that would eventually spawn the blog you are reading at this very moment, I used to trade CD-Rs with people all over the planet. There was a guy in Japan who had a GeoCities website that focused on singles from Southeast Asia. I believe his name was Yoshi. Unfortunately, in the intervening years I have lost his information. But this song was the first track on a CD-R he gave me. I spent years tracking down this single.
The Fabulous Falcons were from Ipoh – not to be confused with The Falcons (K. L.) from Kuala Lumpur. This is The Fabulous Falcons first single. They released one other instrumental single and they recorded two singles with Les Lee on vocals and one with Rubia Lubis on vocals.
Catalog number EE-001 on Tigerphone of Malaysia, released 1965.
Filed under: Malaysia
Funny… The last single I bought from Malaysia also happened to be cover versions of Bollywood songs. But where as that single was note for note recreations – and all from the same film – A. Aziz & The Addend Boys have transformed their versions into garage rock gems. This track was originally recorded by Mohammed Rafi for the film “Milan Ki Raat“.
Unfortunately, there is zero information on the record sleeve or the record label. If you have any information on A. Aziz & The Addend Boys, please contact me or leave a comment.
Catalog number EP 018 on Rose Record. No further information available.
Filed under: Malaysia
The film songs of Bollywood are the pop music of India. It is only in the last couple of decades that the film industry of India has come to the attention of the Western World, and even more recently – Hollywood. But those films – and the songs contain there in – have influence music around the world for many years. The films have been popular in Africa, Asia and the Middle East dating back to the 1950s. Besides being popular with Indians who have migrated around the world, millions of non-Indians enjoy Bollywood films for many years.
I have seen an Israeli album of filmi songs in Hebrew. Then there is a live album by Usha Uthup that was recorded in Nairobi. I have a Malay pressing of S. Hazarasingh album and a South African pressing of Van Shipley album. As for M. Shariff, I have seen one other single by him performing songs from the film Bobby, on what is apparently his own label.
If you have any further information about M. Shariff, or his Bombay Orchestra, please contact me or leave a comment.
Catalog number MSF 5020 on M. Shariff Scope Trading of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. No release date listed
Filed under: Malaysia
Instrumentalia was not just limited to Indonesia, but can also be found in neighboring Malaysia – although with notably different results. The best example of this – at least in my opinion – is Band De-Fictions.
The band were from Muar, Malaysia – about halfway up the Malay Peninsula between Kula Lumpur and Singapore on the Straight of Malacca. They got their start as the backing the singer A. Halim as part of the Pop Yeh-yeh movement of the early 1960s. The band released a handful of singles, as well as a few albums before going out on their own. As far as I know, they only recorded two albums, both for the Tatex company – that also released The Brothers Hawk album Let’s Do The Funky.
According to the Google translator, the members of the band were S. Dina on lead guitar, Zaideen on rhythm guitar, Idris Talib on organ, Wahid H. on drums, Kassim on percussion and A. Murad on “guitarist behavior”? Not quite sure what that is. Air guitar? But if I had to guess, I’m thinking that A. Murad must have played bass guitar.
If you have any further information, please contact me or leave a comment.
Catalog number TLP-1010 on Tatex Records of Singapore. No release date listed.
Filed under: Malaysia
When I finally decided to start hunting down the vinyl that would eventually become this website, this record was in the first batch, along with a S. Hazarasingh record and a very odd album of Thai Modernized Music… Actually, that’s a lie. My first batch of records were three Chang Siao Ying albums. I don’t count them, because I no longer have those. But this was definitely the first seven inch single of non-Western pop music. And as you can tell, I bought it solely for the cover.
The seven inch single has to be the perfect format. It’s short and to the point. If you are musician and you are only going to be able to record two (maybe three or four) songs, you’re definitely going to pick you’re ‘A’ material. And the cover… I think some of the greatest artwork ever conceived has measured only seven by seven inches square.
In this day of mp3s and i-tunes, the long playing album seems to be losing the battle. There appears to be a shift back to the single, now that the record companies have figured out a way to sell you just one song (with no manufacturing expenses). To be honest, I have never really been a huge fan of the LP. On most albums, there is always some filler. Maybe it’s because I have such a short attention span, I don’t know. And the advent of the CD player only made skipping those songs that were only “so-so” into a nervous twitch. Next.
As for A. Romzi dan The Hooks, they were part of the “Pop Yeh-Yeh” movement of Malaysia and Singapore at the time. They recorded a handful of singles, this one being their first and most popular. A. Romzi later became a solo artist, and released records into the Seventies.
Catalog number EGEP. 626 on Parlophone / EMI of Singapore, released 1967.
Filed under: Malaysia
♬ Setia
♬ Teroda
The Barons were from Johor Baharu, Malaysia.
Johor Baharu, also spelled Johor Bahru, Johor Baru, or Johore Bahru and abbreviated as JB, is the capital city of Johor in southern Malaysia. It is within walking distance from Singapore, and is one of the largest cities in Malaysia.
I haven’t been able to find any information about the band. As far as I know, this is their only single. I do know that the band members were: Eluna Edrus on vocals, Azmi Mohamed Khir on lead guitar, Adnan Mohamed on rhythm guitar, Mohamed Matta Abdullah on bass and Aziz Mohamed Khir on drums.
If you have any information, please contact me.
Catalog number KSEP 5002 White Horse Record of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. No release date listed.
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