THE QUESTS WITH RADIO DJ BERNARD SOLOSA(IN SUIT & TIE)AT THE GOODWOOD PARK HOTEL,SINGAPORE 1967. Reggie Verghese is the guy with checked pants standing next to Vernon Cornelius (on his right)
The Quests Story - By Joseph Pereira ( an Excerpt)
They were the band that surpassed every other Singaporean band in the Sixties.
They were the most successful Singapore group having No 1 hits in Singapore, Malaysia and in Hongkong. The group started in 1960 when guitarist Jap Chong Chow Pin asked his school friend Raymond Leong if he would team up with him to enter the Radio Talentime. Raymond agreed but they could not come up with a name. Jap saw his school magazine titled Quests, which stood for Queenstown Secondary Technical School, and decided that would be the name for his duo. Thus the Quests were born. When Cliff Richard and the Shadows played at the Gay World Stadium in 1961, Jap and Raymond decide to emulate them and form an electric band. They needed to find a bass player and drummer. A neighbour Lim Wee Guan offered to play drums although he did not know how. Lim's brother introduced Henry Chua and he was interested in being in a group although he did not know how to play guitar.
Henry brought a guitar and Jap showed him chords and strumming techniques. The band had their members and was set. The line-up read: Raymond Leong (lead), Jap Chong (guitar), Henry Chua (guitar) and Lim Wee Guan (drums). Henry said, "We started out as a three guitars and drums band. We had no bass initially. I took an interest in finding out chords to songs we were going to do. That made me aware of bass lines and their function in music. Since no one else wanted to play bass, I offered to do so. I was initially playing bass notes on a regular six string guitar." All members of the group took turns to sing.
Besides being a self-contained band they also backed Siri Perera who was then known as Singapore's Charlie Chaplin. He was a versatile entertainer who could sing, do comedy routines and magic. The band rehearsed and built up a repertoire quickly and started to look for gigs. An early gig came along during Christmas 1961 when they were invited to play at the St Andrews Mission Hospital. They managed to get guitars and amplifiers to play this gig for which they were given the princely sum of $20. They were off to a good start and felt encouraged. Other early gigs were house parties where they would get paid $30. In 1962, the Majestic Hotel in New Bridge Road organised a talentime in which Quests participated and made it to the finals where they played Frightened City. They did not win. Jets won that time with their superior equipment and guitars.
Another talentime, which they took part in that year was the Cliff Richard and Shadows sound alike talentime. They auditioned at the Blue Room of Capitol Theatre along with other bands and singers. Again they made it into the finals where they played Living Doll, which Jap sang, and for the instrumental section they played Frightened City. Stompers who took first place with Big Boy and Tornados who took second place with Sleepwalk eclipsed them. Quests realised that they needed to have better instruments in order to get a good sound on stage. Henry's picking of bass lines on a six string guitar would not do when other bands were using bass guitar which made the music sound better. Henry persuaded his mother to buy him a bass guitar and she paid $200 for Hofner bass guitar. With the bass the sound of the band improved dramatically. They purchased a Gibson amplifier from Edward Tan, lead guitarist of the Jets. The two guitar players and the bassist plugged into this one amplifier. Still it was an improvement over their earlier sound. Their rehearsals took on new meaning and they worked hard on their repertoire. Another talentime opportunity came, this time organised by the YMCA and having made it to the finals they won this talentime.
While Siri Perera was still singing with the band Wilson David joined up with them. It was a coup for the Quests to be playing with Wilson David as he had impeccable credentials. He had sung with Stompers who was one of Singapore's earliest electric groups having formed in 1958 and they had the added honour of having appeared with Cliff Richard and the Shadows during their performance in Singapore in 1961. Stompers had also won the Cliff Richard and Shadows sound alike contest in 1962. Further Wilson David was coming from a different angle. He was singing black. His influences were Fifties Rock and Roll but with Sixties group influences they were beginning to sound different. In other words Rhythm and Blues. Thus there was no conflict between Siri and Wilson as they each had different singing styles.
Their earlier talentime win brought them to the notice of Television Singapore and they were invited to appear on a pop program called Dendang Ria. Another program on which they appeared was Pop Inn. In 1963 they took part in the Radio Singapore talentime. They played Big Boy in the preliminaries and made it to the quarterfinals. It was at this point that Raymond announced to the band that he wanted to leave to further his studies. It was a blow to the band but they recovered quickly and looked for a replacement. It came to them in a flash. Reggie Verghese who was then playing in the Checkmates.
Victor Woo who was lead guitarist of the Trailers remembers a Singapore Teachers Union dance where Checkmates, Quests and Trailers were on the bill. He said, "Reggie Verghese was then playing lead with Checkmates but when Quests played he also played with them. I think this was the time when Raymond Leong had left the band and they were looking for a lead guitarist. I had been learning guitar from Alan Verghese who was Reggie's older brother. I commented to Alan how good he was. He told me that if I thought he was good; wait till he saw my younger brother. This function was the first time I had seen Reggie play and it was like his brother said. He was good. He had a fluidity of style and his licks and sound were very good. I was impressed and realised that he posed a threat as a potential guitar contender."
They played Nivram at the quarterfinals stage but were knocked out. The band's performance on TV created such an impact that Radio Talentime host Kingsley Morrando recommended the group to EMI. EMI auditioned the group and Wilson David on the same day. Quests played an instrumental number and then backed Wilson David for his number. The two songs were made into a test tape to assess the strengths of the band and singer Wilson David. The verdict of EMI was that Quests had something but they passed on Wilson David. This was a blow to Wilson. However he took it in good grace and they decided to part ways since Quests were going to be EMI recording artistes. Philips who was the other major label signing and recording local acts would shortly after sign Wilson.
While all this was taking place Quests continued with the gigging which was their main reason for existing anyway. Wanting to play music. They started playing at the Palace tea dance in 1964 and appeared for a total of 13 Sundays between March and May 1964. They stopped performing there to go on a Malaysian tour with the Maori Hi-Five from May 19 to 25 performing in Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh and Penang. At Palace Trailers fronted by Vernon Cornelius replaced them.
Now that they were signed with EMI the pressure was on. Henry said, "Mrs Daisy Devan who was the Artistes and Repertoire manager of EMI told us that we were recording in a week and we had to have two originals which would be our first single." This was a challenge to the band. From playing covers they now had to think of an original tune. They decided to compose an instrumental for their debut single on EMI. After all instrumental music was the vogue during this time in Singapore although the Beatles had broken through a year earlier and their type of vocal cum instrumental music was still the rage. But there was still an audience then for good instrumental music. Thus came Shanty (CHK 1009) written by bass player Henry Chua that the band recorded on August 24, 1964 at EMI's studios. In Shanty, the Quests managed to write and perform an original that was their signature tune. A jaunty tune, Shanty featured a guitar instrumental with Reggie playing the main melody while Jap Chong played counterpoint on second guitar. The melody stuck in people's minds and helped to ensure that people bought the single captivated by the melody and playing of the band. The song went into the charts and knocked off the Beatles I Should Have Known Better off the top spot. It was a harbinger of greater things to come.
EMI who pleased with their new signing's sophomore effort encouraged them to record a second single to cash in on the success of the first. The band produced another two originals; Tea Break coupled with Pop Inn Theme (EMI CHK 1050), which was recorded in January 1965. Pop Inn Theme became the theme song for a television program called naturally Pop Inn. It followed the style of American and British pop shows, which showcased foreign and local records. This gave Singaporean musicians and singers a visual medium in getting their music across. The show had live performances and also featured a section where records were spun and a selected panel was asked to comment on the music. So for Quests to have an original song of theirs chosen as the theme for a TV program was indeed a step up. Like the first single Tea Break became a hit in Singapore. Henry Chua who composed Tea Break played second lead guitar on this tune in addition to bass.
Quests were now busier than ever as they had a full gig book playing stage shows, making appearances on television and radio and playing in the British camps. At one of these camp gigs they met Keith Locke. Locke was a British citizen of Jamaican ancestry and he had sung in Britain and with other bands in Singapore since coming to Singapore to serve with the British army. The Quests saw him sing and thought he had a good voice, moved well on stage and wrote songs too. The combination seemed potentially lethal. A hot Singapore band backing a dynamite R & B singer.
Once Keith Locke settled in with the band, they began to gig and perform in the Services clubs. The Services clubs, which dotted the Singapore Island, provided plentiful gigs during the weekends and Keith Locke cashed in on his contacts in the British Army to secure gigs for himself and his backing group The Quests. They also appeared on stage shows in Singapore and one of these shows attracted the attention of TV, which decided to give them a half-hour special. The show called Keith Locke and The Quests was broadcast on April 13, 1965 and then repeated on May 5, 1965. It featured Quests playing their own set consisting of their earlier hits and some chosen songs after which Keith Locke came forward to sing his R & B repertoire.
Quests recommended Keith Locke to EMI and after auditioning him they signed him to the label. They entered the recording studios and recorded Be My Girl backed with Don't Play That Song (You Lied) which was released in June 1965. Just before the recording sessions, the band parted company with Reggie Verghese. Henry said, "Reggie had been in Secondary Four the previous year and he had started playing with the band even though he was still in school. We were gigging heavily then. This resulted in him neglecting his studies to a certain extent and he did not do well in his final exams in that year. His father had nagged him about his studies and he decided to sit for his exams again. That was the reason for him leaving the band." He did however play on the two songs. It was announced that he was leaving to further his studies.
Quests attempted to carry on with Henry moving to lead guitar while they called in Teddy Song from Sonny Bala and The Moonglows to help out on bass. After some rehearsals they found it to difficult to manage. They were in a dilemma because they had a full gig book and needed a full time guitar player. A call was made to Michael Magness who was lead guitarist with Strollers then and he agreed to fly to Singapore to join Quests. Michael appeared with Quests at a show at the Badminton Hall called Show of Shows. Fans who were used to Reggie's scintillating leads were disappointed. Not that Michael was a bad player. His style was different. Michael suggested that they call Reggie back to the band. A call was made, a meeting held and Reggie came back to the Quests. Michael headed for home and rejoined the Strollers.
Keith Locke and the Quests began a Malaysian tour to promote their latest release. The tour saw them playing in Malacca on July 3, Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh, Penang and Seremban from July 9 to 13. They finished the tour and returned to Singapore for more appearances including an appearance on Singapore Startime, a Television Singapore show program shown on August 21, 1965.
Keith Locke's first single with Quests backing became a hit although in later years it was the B-side that was to become etched in people's minds. The band was on a roll. Quests released their own single in September 1965, which featured two originals, Come On And Shout composed by Reggie Verghese backed with Memories composed by bassist Henry Chua. Come On and Shout was significant for the Quests because it featured vocals in a Quest recording for the first time apart from their work with Keith Locke. Reggie used a Burns 12 string guitar to play the main guitar lines and he also doubled on organ for this song while in Memories, Rufino Soliano did a string arrangement to held broaden the appeal of the Quests sound. During this time, Jap Chong said that the band would attempt to write more originals than do covers.
EMI decided to use the band as session musicians to back up singers on their label. This had a two-pronged effect. EMI had a ready band to back their solo artistes and the name association with Quests would not necessarily be detrimental to the solo singer. In 1965 they backed Lam Leng on her EMI EP (ECHK 553) containing Mandarin language versions of songs such as Under The Boardwalk, Boys, How Do You Do It and I Feel Fine. Lam Leng besides being very pretty had a good R & B voice, which was husky, and the combination of her voice and the Quests backing ensured that the EP was musically credible. Reggie Verghese's riffing at the bridge on I Feel Fine was potent and added to the song although it was being sung in Mandarin. This was western pop music given an eastern tinge.
In late 1965, during the screening of the move What A Crazy World, at the Lido Theatre, Quests appeared on Sunday December 19, 1965, during the 1.30 pm, 4.00 pm and 6.30 pm screening of the show. This was a common occurrence then to get young punters to come watch the movie by having a well-known pop group or singer come play before the start of the show. Quests with their single releases were hot at this point and it was certainly worthwhile for patrons to hear them before they viewed the movie.
Their last released for 1965 was a four song instrumental EP (SEGO 70115) featuring four originals from Reggie. On one particular track Champagne Reggie played acoustic guitar and his playing on this track surprised many people because it showed another facet of him full of tenderness and emotion. Man From Madrid had touches of Spanish music with kettledrums and orchestral flourishes provided by the RTS orchestra. The other two tracks were I'm Feeling Good and Dum Dum.
The Quests celebrated the fourth anniversary of the band by hosting two nights at the Singapore Badminton Hall on December 24 and 25, 1965. They got a host of other well-known Singapore bands to come and play the two nights. It was their way of showing that they had arrived. It had been a successful year and they had released a few records in 1965. They had a new singer in the band; Keith Locke and his first release had become a hit. The international music scene was getting to be interesting too and Quests were looking ahead at 1966 to see what was in store for them.
In early 1966, Keith Locke and The Quests recorded and released Push Push/That You Are Mine (DO 4661) and had a big tour of Malaysia just to promote that single. The mind boggles to think of a band touring a country to promote just two songs. But it was a major tour and artistes such as The Falcons from Kuala Lumpur, The Antartics, The Meltones, The Bee Jays, The Teenage Comets and Susan Seong Koon supported them. The tour covered places such as Seremban, Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh and Penang.
There were problems on the tour. For one, Keith Locke had gone Absent Without Official Leave (AWOL) from the British Army with whom he was serving. There was a riot at the Kuala Lumpur show during the Quests segment. Keith Locke delayed his entrance while the Quests did their set. He was probably quaking in his shoes. There was a riot out there and he might just be recognised as having gone AWOL.
The problems were not confined to the Kuala Lumpur show. There was more mayhem at the Ipoh show. Supporters of Ipoh Falcons had turned up to boo Quests. They were retaliating for the treatment that Ipoh Falcons and Malaysia's Elvis Rocky Teoh (another Ipoh resident) had received in Singapore. This was at a concert at the tail end of 1965 when the two Ipoh acts were booed endlessly by Quests supporters. You took your loyalties seriously in those days. Guitarist Joe Mann who was with the Antartics, another support band on the tour said, "When we did our set there was no problem. Same with Bee Jays. But when Quests played, the crowd got ugly. It became frightening. The concert was stopped and the police escorted us back to our hotels."
The band came back from the tour traumatised. Riots at two shows. Then the problem about Keith Locke having gone AWOL. Locke offered to sort out his problems with the British Army. He opted for early discharge. This meant that he had to go home. Leaving the band was inevitable. He recorded his last single with the band ( DO 4664) which paired You Talk Too Much with Lonely Street. The A side was an uptempo R & B original from Locke while the B side was a slow contemplative piece with fine singing from Locke. With Locke gone, the band looked around for a new singer to replace him.
One name kept cropping up. Vernon Cornelius. He was singing with Unit 4 Plus 2 Plus 1 and Quests remembered some shows where Unit 4 Plus 2 Plus 1 appeared on the same bill playing their more overt R & B repertoire. Vernon had stage presence and his singing was extroverted. He seemed a perfect fit. An approach was made to him and he did not hesitate to say yes. After all he was being asked to join the top band in the land. Vernon's place in Unit 4 Plus 2 Plus 1 was taken over by Bryan Neale who had formerly fronted the Easybeats. With Vernon in the band, they went into the studios to record their next single which appeared in May 1966 (DO 4663) with Silly Girl coupled with I'll Be Your Man. Silly Girl was overtly pop with strains of R & B but the B side which was a S.A.Vinton composition, I'll Be Your Man was more R & B and suggestive of Unit 4 Plus 2 Plus 1. Vinton who was the Antartics drummer was also a budding songwriter and since his band was signed to EMI he found avenues to place his songs with other EMI artistes.
With this release Quests were once more in the public eye. Furthermore Vernon Cornelius had integrated into the band as an equal member, which was a different, set up from the Keith Locke era when they were billed as Keith Locke and The Quests. Still a concession was made to Keith Locke era in that the band still performed "Don't Play That Song (You Lied)" at their gigs because there were still requests to do the song. Now Quests acknowledged that vocals were important too and should not be an afterthought. Although they still performed and composed instrumentals the thrust of their music now was vocal music with instrumental embellishments. The gigging and shows continued.
They toured successfully in Eastern Malaysia in August 1966 doing 40 shows in all including broadcasts over Radio Sarawak and Radio Sabah. Coming back to Singapore for a three-week break they again took off for another tour of Malaysia. When they came back to Singapore they entered the EMI studios to record their first album, which they released at the tail end of 1966. Questing (ESX 7775) which the album was titled was the first stereo LP from a Singaporean group. It featured the line up of Vernon Cornelius, Reggie Verghese, Jap Chong, Henry Chua and Lim Wee Guan.
The LP featured a mix of originals and covers, which showed their diverse range and versatility. Opening the album was Reggie Verghese's Instrumentally Western, which was a nod to their days as an instrumental band. The LP also contained S.A.Vinton compositions continuing his trend of contributing originals for the band. For the album he provided two songs, one of which You're Telling Lies had double tracked vocals from Vernon backed by quite unusual singing from Reggie and Jap. Vinton's other composition was In A World Of Our Own which was a more serious number featuring Reggie on piano and bassist Henry Chua providing stellar bass lines. Vernon provided the singing, which he said he found it uncomfortable to do because the lyrics seemed "forced". Another instrumental track was a jazzy rendition of My Favourite Things where Reggie took a solo playing flurries of notes, which astonished listeners more accustomed to his Shadows, inflected playing. Here he showed that he was listening and absorbing other forms of music and had the technical dexterity to execute some challenging guitar playing.
Among the other songs were Lengkang Kangkong, which was a Malay folksong given a modern interpretation by the band and Yang Di Mana Satu, which was a P Ramlee composition. They also recorded a second version of Shanty updating the sound to reflect 1966. The intro was more drawn out with the volume slowly increasing from the instruments. The album sold well and signaled a furthering maturity in the scene as bands exhibited confidence in moving away from being a strictly covers band to exploring their originality and sound.
They had another honour too in January 1967 when they appeared at the Yardbirds/Walker Brothers show, which was held at the National Theatre on January 17. The Yardbirds that came to Singapore was the last line up of Keith Relf (vocals, rhythm guitar, harp), Jimmy Page (lead), Chris Dreja (bass) and Jim McCarty (drums). Unfortunately just before the show Henry's father passed away and Henry was in mourning. The band decided to get a replacement bass player for the show.
They remembered Peter Ghouse of Malaysia's Hunters. He was the rhythm guitarist and singer with that band. Hunters were one of the top guitar bands of Malaysia at that time, as they had an ace guitar player in their midst, Terry Thaddeus. They performed on many shows, which came through Malaysia featuring Singapore bands and singers. Hunters had played at some Quests shows, and even when they were not on the bill they would turn up at the event to talk to the band. A call was made to Peter and he agreed to fly to Singapore to play the show. This was going to be tricky. They were asking to him play bass when his instrument was guitar. To his credit Peter pulled it off. Vernon said, "We practised very hard as we wanted to of standard and be accepted by the fans of Yardbirds and Walker Brothers." Quests opened the show and played a mostly covers repertoire that took in contemporary British styles. They played seven numbers and for their finale covered the Easybeats "Friday On My Mind" which was a difficult song to do given its odd time shifts and jagged guitar riffs.
They stood well next to the British bands. Vernon said, "The Yardbirds were our idols from their first hit, "For Your Love". Meeting them softened the legs, let alone standby with them in readiness to go on stage. They had no airs and were very unassuming lads. When they went on stage they ripped everyone off their chairs. Especially Jimmy Page, extraordinarily dressed in Carnaby colours who ripped and raged on guitar with amplifier volumes we'd never heard till then. Keith Relf was outstanding both onstage and off stage and had the most charisma." Yardbirds playing had a long lasting impact on Reggie Verghese in particular as his guitar playing after that seemed to chart new sonic territories. Scott Walker of Walker Brothers also had a long lasting impact on Vernon Cornelius.
In early February 1967, Quests released an EP (ECHK 566) with Malay versions of top English hits. The songs were Sunny, I'll Be Back, The Sun A'int Gonna Shine Anymore and With A Girl Like You. EMI wanted to break the band in Malaysia among the Malay listeners and this EP was the result. Local musician Yusnor Ef provided the Malay lyrics. Although the disc sold well, The Quests never tried to make another Malay record throughout their career. They however backed other Malay singers on their own records. One such was with singer Eddie Ahmad who released an EP on EMI with two songs backed by the Quests, Aduh Sarodja and Dara Ayu. The other two songs featured backing by the Antartics. Coincidentally the Quests and Antartics appeared at the Sea Cadet Corp Dance at the Victoria Memorial Hall on February 10, 1967.
The A Go Go craze which started in mid 1966 encouraged them to release an EP of instrumentals to cash in on the craze. The record (EMI SEGO 70115) which was released on April 15, 1967 contained familiar songs like Mustapha, Rose Rose I Love You, Ding-Dong Twist and Nyonya Baba A Go Go. Mustapha had a lopping Turkish feel to it topped off with Reggie's fuzzed guitar, which also featured in Rose Rose I Love, You. This song had Wee Guan driving it along with his swinging drum beat. Perhaps seeing Jimmy Page utilise fuzz at the Yardbirds show in January had given Reggie new ideas in using fuzz and distortion to colour his guitar sounds. This EP was released simultaneously in the Philippines and Australia, as EMI was confident enough of the ability of the band to sell in these overseas markets.
Their first single of 1967, Roller Coaster Man/The Dancer (DO 4731) was also another chart topping single for them. In this single the band simulated the sound of a roller coaster by tilting a long narrow wooden table and rolling a Coke bottle down it. Vernon Cornelius said, "I added a sort of crazy humming to simulate electricity in the background and the amusement park atmosphere was helped with shouts through a megaphone and general crowd noises."
Quests were contracted to play on Rita Chao's new LP, which was recorded in mid 1967. The LP contained songs in Mandarin with two numbers Hanky Panky and Sixteen Candles sung in English. Rita recorded My Lonely Heart, which had been a big hit for the Thunderbirds in 1966. Reggie played lead guitar on this track creating the whining sound that had been the trademark on the Thunderbirds version. They also backed Sakura Teng on her LP recorded at the same time titled Boom Boom. She recorded John Lee Hooker's Boom Boom and it proved that singing twelve bar blues did not come easily to everyone as she fluffed the phrasing of the song. Quests however played well with Reggie Verghese adding an explosive guitar solo on this track.
The next line-up change took place when bass player Henry Chua announced to the band that he was going for further studies and wanted to leave the band. He left Quests in June 1967. Henry's leaving the band hit them hard because he had been a founder member and he was also one of the principal songwriters in the band. He had come a long way on the bass from the time when Jap Chong had showed him the first chords on the guitar. The band had to go on.
Quests who were then playing at the New World Ketai decided to hold auditions. One of the musicians who turned up to audition was Sam Toh, bass player with Bee Jays. He recollects, "I used to hang out with the CYC boys in Selegie Road. They were the original Blackjacks and good friends of mine. Especially David Low. They heard that the Quests needed a bass player. David encouraged me to go to the auditions. So I rode my Vespa one day to New World. I met the band and was introduced to the members. Then Reggie showed me Henry's Jazz Bass and we played a few lines. I cannot remember what we played. And that was it. I was a Quest. Just like that."
The next day the new Quest Sam was in the EMI Studios at McDonald House in Orchard Road. Sam continues, "We listened to a song called Da Doo Ron Ron, then we practised it and recorded some takes. The next thing I knew was that it was the Quests new single. That was the first Quests record I played on."
EMI kept them busy as session musicians and the backed Kartinah Dahari on her single released in September 1967 which paired Release Me with There Goes My Everything. Reggie Verghese in addition to playing guitar doubled on organ on the sessions. They also backed her on her next release which was an EP containing A Man and A Woman, Somewhere My Love, Born Free and Music To Watch The Girls Go By.
Their first opportunity to play a hotel gig came in October 1967 when they were offered a contract to play at the Goodwood Park Hotel. They appeared there playing Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday which left them free the rest of the week to play concerts, shows, do recordings and perhaps do short tours. In October too they started to record their second LP and a Christmas EP. In October too EMI released a new single from Quests (DO 4733) featuring Da Doo Ron Ron backed with I'll Be Looking Out For You. Da Doo Ron Ron had been a hit for the Ronettes but the Quests version suggested the influence of Flower Power. Tablas and tampuras abounded in the track to suggest an Eastern tinge with a heavily distorted fuzz solo from Reggie to suggest the whining of a sitar. Here Reggie's approximation of the Jimmy Page style of guitar playing reaches an apogee as he plays screaming licks high up on the fretboard. I'll Be Looking Out For You was more straight-ahead pop. EMI who felt confident in Quests abilities in overseas markets released the single in Philippines concurrent to its Singapore release.
Quests were in the studios a lot during this period as they provided music for various releases by EMI solo artistes. The backed Lam Leng on her second EP (ECHK 572) which contained two Mandarin numbers, one of which Solid Gold Rickshaw, was a duet with Henry Fu Su Yin and another song called Wedding Bells. Sakura Teng was backed by the Quests on her EMI EP (ECHK 579) released in October 1967 containing Puppet On A String, Yum Yum Cha Cha, Rock and Roll Yodelling Guy and My Boy Lollipop all sung in Mandarin. Rita Chao had an EP released this time too (ECHK 580) which had music from the Quests, n songs like Sixteen Candles, Frankie, I'm Into Something Good and How To Catch A Girl some of which had been recorded for her earlier LP release. The two combined to release an EP (ECHK 589) where Quests backed them on two Mandarin songs and Mandarin language versions of I'll Never Be The Same and Sandy Posey's Single Girl.
The band went to Jesselton at the end of October 1967 and performed at the Sabah Arts Ball on Saturday October 27, two Quests show on Sunday October 28 and the Peep Pop Show on Tuesday October 30. They flew home to Singapore on November 1.
Upon arriving back home they decided to get a keyboard player. One catalyst for this move was seeing D'Starlights play. They were a Filipino group who came to Singapore to play after having honed their playing skills in Hongkong where they had performed nightly for a few years. D'Starlights turned the music scene on its head with their superior musical ability and slick showmanship. Quests saw them using a Yamaha organ and were drawn to the richness and depth using an organ added to a band's sound. They looked around for a keyboard player and chanced on Jimmy Chan of the Trailers. A tentative approach was made and Jimmy Chan accepted the offer becoming the sixth Quest. Quests had indeed grown from a quartet to a septet. For Trailers it was an honour to have Jimmy Chan join Quests. He was the second Trailer to join Quests. Vernon Cornelius was also a Trailers alumnus.
Prior to Jimmy Chan joining the band as a full time keyboard player, Reggie had doubled on keyboards both in the studios and live on gigs. He had started to contribute keyboards from the third single onwards and onstage on certain numbers like Telstar and later Man From Madrid he played organ on stage. With Jimmy Chan on board, Reggie could concentrate solely on his functions as a lead guitarist.
The Summer Of Love of 1967 did not escape their attention and their second LP 33rd Revolution, which was released in December 1967, was their attempt at doing a Sgt Pepper's. The opening number of the album was a pyschedelic rendition of Hava Nagila. Bassist Sam Toh said, "The A Go Go Requests EP was wildly successful for them. In fact when I joined the band I had to learn Mustafa which was one of the songs on the EP and had featured Henry Chua. The band decided to find another instrumental number to do but adept Eastern instrumentation to it. We got session tabla players to augment us on that track." A chime sound resonates at the beginning while Lim Wee Guan starts the track with his drumming. Organist Jimmy plays the first half of the melody with Reggie Verghese using a fuzzed guitar sound to play the second half of melody. This is broken up with tabla interludes to create a contrast. Then they both combine to play the bridge. Reggie then picks up the melody at double speed on his guitar followed by Jimmy's organ. Reggie gets a rather fat distorted tone on his guitar for this piece. The number evokes 1967 and the onslaught of pyschedelia well.
The next song was a cover of Every Mother Son's, Come On Down To My Boat which was featured in the movie The Karate Killers. This song shows the tight ensemble playing of the group. The rest of the album contained flower power era songs. Even a commercial number like Guantanamera was covered and comes out rather well because of the quality singing from Vernon Cornelius and the sterling playing of the band. Reggie Verghese did not forget his instrumental roots and did The Seekers' hit Georgy Girl as a guitar instrumental. However it was their versions of some underground songs that really made the album distinctive. One of them was Hallucination from the group Tomorrow but cleverly titled Mr Rainbow to sidestep any attention from the authorities who were likely to frown upon this homage to Western progressive thinking.
Tomorrow was a four piece UK group featuring Keith West, Steve Howe, Junior Wood and Twink. They were regarded as one of the foremost pyschedelic groups in UK that year. Renaming the song Mr Rainbow since the lyrics does contain a reference to Mr Rainbow was smart as it allowed the song to be passed untouched. Perhaps nobody caught the irony after all. Mr Rainbow was evocative of pyschedelia as it featured tingling keyboard work from Jimmy and Vernon's memorable lyric in the second verse, "Sometimes at night, a circle of light shines on my pillow". Another cool song they covered was Action's Never Ever which they raunched up and 26 Miles with its dense rhythms and heavy guitar playing from Reggie Verghese.
In late 1967, Quests received an offer to play at the Mocambo in Hongkong. The contract came about as the management had heard about the popularity of the band and wanted to give them an opportunity to play there to see what they could do in front of Hongkong crowds. For Quests this was their big opportunity. They had never done nightclub work apart from their short stint at the Goodwood Park Hotel. This seemed like a dream come true. A chance to play nightly in front of a foreign audience. Even if they were Asian. Anyway, Hongkong teenagers were reputedly more trendy than their Singapore counterparts then with their music tastes deemed to be at least six months ahead of Singapore tastes.
In December 1967, Quests released a Christmas EP (CHK 1063) which had been recorded in October 1967 and was the first record to feature new keyboard player, Jimmy Chan. It was recorded live in the studio in front of a studio audience and the hand clapping and cheering at the end of each song is captured to convey a party atmosphere. The songs were Jingle Bells, Santa Claus Is Coming To Town, White Christmas and We Wish You A Merry Christmas. In other words typical Christmas fare. They joined other bands like Naomi and The Boys and Thunderbirds who had also released Christmas records.
Hongkong 1968.
The Hongkong that Quest was flying to at the end of 1967 was a very exciting place to be then. It was nominally a British colony ruled by British Administration but within that framework, the British administration pretty much left the people to their own devices. Which suited the people just fine. They wanted to be left alone so that they could make money. Whether legally or illegally. It was this freewheeling atmosphere that made for such a heady mix of the above ground and underground.
The Swatownese Chiu Chao syndicates had cornered the South East Asian Heroin market and working with Corsican syndicates was refining the raw opium into high-grade heroin to be shipped to Europe and the US. Master chemists from Hongkong had been sent to clandestine laboratories in Lao PDR, Thailand and Burma where they refined the techniques of distilling raw opium to get high grade cocaine and heroin.
Back in Hongkong it was no less frantic. Events elsewhere in Asia were turbulent and it was the era of the Vietnam War. Both North Vietnam and South Vietnam maintained embassies in Hongkong and it was also designated a R and R centre which meant that patriotic American soldiers fighting the war in Vietnam could come to Hongkong to let off steam and a lot more.
The Hongkong pop scene at this time was thriving with numerous venues hosting stage shows and tea dances being a veritable Sunday pastime then. Tea dances afforded Hongkong bands an opportunity to play their music in front of audiences who had a chance to see and hear their favourites in action. The Polydor label had set up a subsidiary called Diamond and they had cornered the HK market because of the numerous bands they had signed. Their major rival was EMI who was a little more conservative in their policy of who they would sign and they were displaying the same strategy that they adopted in Singapore. Subsequently they signed a lot fewer bands than Diamond did, but concentrated more on the Cantonese and Mandarin market as they had the advantage of working with movie tie ins. This offered them an opportunity to tie in releases with new movies, which were being released with factory line production speed.
The pop scene which had started a few years earlier had thrown up bands like Teddy Robin and The Playboys who was then riding high in the charts with Language Of Love, Joe Jr and The Side Effects with their Here's A Heart, Anders Nelson Group with Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind and the outsiders of the Hongkong pop scene, The Mystics.
Quests flew to Hongkong on the afternoon of December 27, 1967. Sam Hui, Chris Hunt and EMI representatives met them at the airport. They had only a few days to take in the sights as they started at the Mocambo Nightclub on January 1, 1968. Before that they had a Saturday Night Show on New Years Eve titled Top Of The Pops. Quests played at that show and they were booed. They were perplexed. They could not understand why. They thought they would come in and conquer Hongkong. Now at their first show Hongkong teenagers were booing them. They could not understand that it was only a knee jerk reaction to a foreign band by a few unenlightened teenagers. To the majority of Hongkong swingers, the idea of a foreign band playing in Hongkong was not anathema. They had bands from Philippines and Italy who had been based in Hongkong and had been playing there for years. Vernon said, "The show was the 'end of the year music awards' with Hongkong's crème de la crème of Pop Music. Here were their top pop bands and all of them from the Diamond record label. We were the last minute EMI addition to the show. We looked different, our style was different and it was like we just dropped by and only because we had the chance to. I was not in the least upset by the boos, I was amused. The fans were there to cheer their favourites and we were the sudden intruders."
Undaunted Quests started at the Mocambo on January 1, 1968. Initial reaction was muted. But then Quests won them over with their brand of Singapore pop and the crowds started warming to them pretty quickly. Their gig was tiring. They played every night at Mocambo without a break, plus Saturday and Sunday afternoon tea dances. Plus they had regular television appearances on HK-TVB courtesy of Robert Chua, a Singaporean producer then working in Hongkong.
In March 1968, EMI who had released 33rd Revolution specifically for the Hongkong market went a step further to try and break the group in the Hongkong. They released a single, which paired Mr Rainbow with Never Ever. The single went to No 1 in the Hongkong charts, which was surprising because only three months ago they had been booed at their first ever show in Hongkong. This was indeed sweet retribution for Quests because they had only been in Hongkong for three months and now their single was No 1 in Hongkong. A rather enterprising young lady called Angela Siu formed the Quests fan club in that month which only added to the Quests popularity as they now had an organisation to look out for their interests.
At the end of March, the management extended their contract by another three months. Quests accepted the offer. They were now on a roll. Their first single release in Hongkong had topped the HK charts. EMI decided to capitalise on this newfound success by recording them in Hongkong and they released an EP titled Instrumentally Yours (ECHK 587). The four songs were instrumentals done with an Oriental slant and one song Sayonara became their final song at their nightly performance at the Mocambo. Sam Toh said, "That song became our signing off song and many nights the crowds there will sigh when we played this song as it signalled the end of the nightly entertainment. On good nights when we had a good crowd and we were giving our best there was reluctance on both sides to end it."
Quests also appeared on stage shows in Hongkong that featured the cream of Hongkong singers and bands. One such show was held on Friday July 19, 1968 at the City Hall at show called Young Beat Live. Other groups appearing with them were Mystic, D'Topnotes, The Menace and Robert Lee & The Montana. Incidentally Robert Lee was the younger brother of Kung Fu legend Bruce Lee. Another show was a fan club party held at the Mocambo in September 1968. Quests performed there together with Peter Nelson, Sam Hui and Lotus, Wot's Happening, Marilyn Palmer & The Reflections and Anders Nelson.
In August 1968, EMI in Singapore released a Best Of Quests LP (ESK 608) to keep the Quests in the minds of their fans in Singapore and Malaysia. It collected the A and B sides of their early single released with some tracks from their albums. It was an all instrumental album. The cover showed the six-piece line up with Vernon Cornelius and Jimmy Chan and Sam Toh but in fact it was the line up of Reggie, Jap, Henry and Wee Guan on the tracks except for Jimmy Chan on some tracks. What was interesting too was that a couple of the tracks had been re-recorded and presented as new versions of old tracks. Gallopin which had been the B side of their first single was one of them and the new version had Jimmy Chan's organ accompanying the guitar melody. For this track strangely bass was not utilised. Pop In Theme was done soul instrumental style with a wah wah guitar solo from Reggie that updated the earlier version while Tea Break was done as a tender ballad. Henry Chua who composed Tea Break said, "When I heard that second version, I thought they had played it the way I had originally conceived it when I had composed it. But being young and enthusiastic then, we got carried away and rocked it up."
Towards the end of October, Quests were asked if they wanted to extend their contract at the Mocambo by another three months but this time they declined. They had tired of playing non-stop nightly for nine months. They decided to go home. Their friends in Hongkong were sad to see them go as they had becomes an integral part of the Hongkong pop scene and people there had started referring to them as a Hongkong group. A Farewell to Quests concerts was held at the City Hall on October 23 with Betty Chung, Rowena Cortes, Danny Diaz & The Checkmates, Peter Nelson, Marilyn Palmer, Irene Ryder, Lotus and Vic Christobal and his Orchestra among those who turned out to say farewell to the Quests in song. It was a sad parting indeed for Quests and their Hongkong friends and fans. EMI released a cassette only recording of their farewell concert in the Hongkong territory only. Further they released a single World Of Tomorrows and La La La Means I Love You in Hongkong after they had left.
Just before they returned they went to Macao to play some dates there. They did one concert on November 3 in this old concert hall which had seen better days but now was old and seedy. They travelled to and from Hongkong to Macao on one of the first hydrofoils used to link the two territories. Quests returned to Singapore on November 4, 1968. When they returned to Singapore Vernon dropped a bombshell.
He left the band within two weeks of their return to Singapore. He had been with the band for two and a half years and appeared on numerous recordings with them. He said then that the hectic pace of the time in Hongkong had played havoc with his health. They were gigging nightly at the Mocambo plus Saturday and Sunday tea dance sessions plus radio and TV appearances. Hongkong was to have been a stepping stone on a long term plan by the band to make it England, the land of pop music. However they had achieved what they had set out to do in Hongkong and it was felt that anything further would only be repetition. They took a deserved vacation for a few days and then regrouped as a five piece with Reggie and Jap splitting the vocal duties.
With this new line up they played their first contract in Singapore at the Sea Dragon, which was launch docked off Clifford Pier. They started there on December 14, 1968 alternating with Cells Unlimited. After playing a month there, Quests again began to prepare for a second visit to Hongkong as the management of Mocambo who wanted them to return and perform had approached them.
Quests arrived in Hongkong at the end of January 1969, and started at the Mocambo on February 1, 1969 replacing Danny Diaz & The Checkmates who had replaced them three months earlier. A week later on Saturday February 8, they played at a Music Maker organised concert at the Scene Club performing with Teddy Robin and The Playboys, Anders Nelson and the Cesare Bruno Group.
At the end of March 1969, Quests were offered another extension by the Mocambo Management, which they accepted. EMI released an EP (ECHK 612) titled Conquests, featuring the five piece line-up with songs such as Jesamine, What Is Soul, Sunshine Of Your Love and Hey Girl. The recordings had been done in Hongkong in 1968. One other track Watermelon Man that was recorded at these sessions was never released. On Hey Girl Reggie did the lead vocals and his singing sounds uncannily like Vernon Cornelius. It proved that the Quests who feared not having a lead singer when Vernon left were now able to manage with Jap and Reggie.
They also released an instrumental EP (ECHK 613) with The Good, The Bad, The Ugly, Sounds Of Silence, Soul Finger and Love Is Blue. The songs were the usual instrumentals that Quests were a deft hand at putting out but Soul Finger exceeded expectations. It was an amazing instrumental featuring Reggie going over the top with his guitar solo. Those who had imagined Reggie to be a controlled player can hear him here moaning and whining aurally through his guitar as he bends and meanders through his solo. Some of his notes hit harmonic squalling levels.
During this time, an American promoter saw them perform at the Mocambo and sounded them out about playing in Hawaii. They prudently decided to discuss this after their contract ended at the Mocambo. Towards the end of July, they were again approached about extending their contract at the Mocambo but by now the boys were tired and only wanted to go home. They left Mocambo at the end of July 1969 and were replaced there by another band from Singapore, Blackjacks. Keyboard player, Jimmy Chan decided to stay on in Hongkong and work there. They wished him well and returned to Singapore and again broke up. Before they left Hongkong, they had recorded an EP in Hongkong and this proved to be Jimmy's last recording with the band. It was an all covers EP with Proud Mary, Traces, Cupid being the vocal numbers and Time Is Tight being the only instrumental number.
They got together a few weeks after their return and decided to regroup again. Playing music was in their blood and they missed it. One of their recordings as a four piece was backing EMI singer Fatimah Ismail on her EP (ECHK 632). The songs were Nothing But A Heartache, Little Green Apples, Come Back And Shake Me and Every Time I See A Rainbow. The billing reads Fatimah Ismail accompanied by the Quests but upon listening one does not detect the Quests. Not to suggest that the Quests is not playing there but that their playing has been rendered totally anonymous.
After the Fatimah Ismail EP EMI approached them about making an EP and they recorded one (ECHK 635) as the four piece line up. They did popular chart covers like I'd Wait A Million Years, Don't Forget To Remember, Memphis Street and When The Clock Strikes Twelve. Reggie doubles on keyboards in addition to his guitar work. While recording was going on they could feel that being a four piece without keyboards was going to be hard, now that other bands were using them and also adding horns to the line up. They decided to look for another keyboard player. Peter Richards was recommended to them. He was approached and accepted their offer of a slot in the band. This new line up rehearsed and was approached by Quill Organisation to take up a residency at the Kelong, which they accepted.
Quests were still called to do sessions duties and they backed Anita Sarawak on her EP which contained Rain, Happy Heart, Come Into My Arms and I'm Gonna Make You Love Me. On their own they continued recording in 1970 releasing an EP (ECHK 644) which featured instrumental numbers like Tears, Jilted, Flower Of Tears and My Lost Dreams. These Chinese sounding instrumentals were targeted at the Chinese segment of Singapore and Malaysia's population. These same sessions produced another EP (ECHK 647) which had Sugar, Sugar, He Ain't Heavy He's My Brother, Baby Make It Soon and Holiday. These were recent chart vocal hits but again the Quests played them as instrumental numbers. The fans were mystified. It seemed like they were reverting to their instrumental roots and releasing purely instrumental works.
One of the very last EPs they released was in April 1970 (ECHK 649) which featured the five-piece line up with Peter Richards. The songs again were covers but they were interesting choices. Quests fascination with Creedence Clearwater Revival continued and this time they did Who'll Stop The Rain. Their version of Guess Who's American Woman was filled with Reggie's guitar licks and his bending techniques showed that he had been listening to the new guitar heroes of late. He uses lesser notes but wrings each of them to get maximum effect. Elton John and Benny Taupin's The Cage is given a quasi Latin feeling with quite intricate bass lines from Sam Toh. Here Reggie holds back apart from the centre bridge for a mournful fuzz interlude.
The very last Quests EP (S-ECHK 659) was another Chinese instrumental EP with strong guitar playing from Reggie Verghese but seemed to suggest that the band was moving away from Western oriented music to Eastern. At their gigs however, they still sang in English and played instrumentals.
To all intents and purposes it looked like Quests had run their course. They had achieved what they had set out to do. Became the major band in Singapore, had numerous hits in Malaysia and done two successful stints in Hongkong. There was on challenge left. Now they were just coasting along. The members discussed the future of the band and it was inevitable that the thought of splitting up was mentioned. They asked charter members Jap Chong and Lim Wee Guan what they thought. Jap and Wee Guan thought it was better to call it quits than carry on without any real purpose. So Quests split up in 1970 with the members going their different ways.
After the band had become defunct, EMI put out a final product by the band in the form of an album titled The Sound Of The Quests (SREG 9514). This consisted of their releases in the later stages of their career. Side one contained instrumental versions of Hawaii Five O, Booker T & The MG's Soul Finger, The Good The Bad and The Ugly, Time Is Tight, Sound Of Silence, and Love Is Blue among the instrumental numbers. The vocal numbers were Sunshine Of Your Love, Don't Play That Song (You Lied) and Be My Girl with Keith Locke singing, The Grassroots I'd Wait A Million Years and the Casuals Jesamine. It was not the best Quests compilation as it featured only material from the final era apart from the two Keith Locke era songs.
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Recollecting The Quests - The Star Newspaper Review
Artist: The Quests
(EMI Singapore)
Reviewer: DARYL GOH
ANYBODY remember The Quests – one of the earliest local rock ’n’ roll groups to emerge from the Malaysia/Singapore music scene? Shame if you don’t. Maybe the early 1960s is probably a long way back for most with a Beatles’ “1s” compilation to recall such vibrant, swinging days.
As far as The Quests is concerned today, the band remains an obscure act to the modern masses. That shouldn’t be the case. Some vinyl archivists have scoured flea markets for rare and coveted The Quests EPs and LPs, and if you’ve read bassist Henry Chua’s book Call It Shanty: The Story of The Quests, then you’d probably be familiar with this remarkable band’s history.
The story of The Quests started in 1964 – in Singapore. According to war stories from older music fans, The Quests was Singapore’s equivalent of The Shadows or some might argue, The Beatles. It seems like lofty comparisons, but the young guitar-band boom was on and the screaming girls were everywhere – even for these hometown heroes barely out of their teens. It’s nearly a movie script here.
To think EMI signed The Beatles in 1961, and only three year later, the same label produced The Quests in this part of the world. It was a golden era that sadly has been rarely documented from a significant local context. In pre-independence Singapore, the hub of international record labels then, The Quests were the first local upstarts allowed to record original material for EMI Columbia (yes, “that” label with Cliff Richard and The Shadows, too).
In its heyday, this outfit was ubiquitous and even ousted The Beatles from the top of local charts on several occasions. It’s 40 years ago since The Quests first cut loose with the classic instrumental Hank Marvin-inspired single Shanty. In recent years, you probably had difficulties tracking down The Quests on CD. Now this double-disc Recollecting The Quests is a timely retrospective to replace the out-of-print Very Best of The Quests and The EP Collection, originally issued on CD in the mid-1990s.
For original fans of The Quests, this 46-track compilation is a blast of nostalgia with the band’s pop highlights from 1964 to 1971 amply represented and the remastering is a boost in sound quality. Newcomers to the band can now easily discover the true vintage of the Singapore/Malaysia pop scene of the 1960s. All the major instrumental hits and vocal-era smashes dominate this compilation – divided in chronological order. Disc One revisits the classic 7” singles years with Shanty, Gallopin’, Tea Break, Pop Inn Theme, Memories, Champagne and I’m Feeling Good blazing the trail for original local music with verve and attitude.
These guys had the Mod suits, the shades and the music. It was also the days of talent-time shows, tea dances, etc. The era of the LP was near and if you had a record deal, your vinyl was pressed in Bombay, India and shipped back for release. Musically, there was change in the air. Buddy Holly had been dead for a bit and Elvis an army enlist, but rock ’n’ roll refused to slow down. Even if you were a teen in KL or Singapore then, you would have had a problem with the charts filled with Adam Faith, Pat Boone and Ricky Nelson. A young and eager band like The Quests in town was a big deal for yesterday’s pop rebels and Merseyside was their Seattle.
Further collaborations with Jamaican vocalist Keith Locke on the honeyed Push Push, That You Are Mine, Don’t Play That Song and Be My Girl also added a swoon-some pop dynamic. Nice and sweet was the wholesome standard but sex also got a look-in with the frisky Quests boys. Guitarist Reggie Verghese’s deceptive buoyant pop on You Are Standing by Me was possibly the first local tune to cross the line from “hold my hand” to “making love to you” in a few deft taboo-breaking verses. Such cheek.
The second disc sees The Quests evolving in sound and adding a growing list of influences reflecting the folk-rock and psychedelic stirrings cropping up in the mid-1960s. Line-up shifts were unavoidable and nods were made to danceable cuts (Lengang Lengang KangKong, Nonya Baba A-Go-Go) that lacked fizzle. But the band managed the jinks despite a few cheesy moments late in the episode. Arguably Roller Coaster Man (with Vernon Cornelius on vocals) is the bridge from the pop to rock years. By now, the folk-rock jangle of The Byrds was taking over and the edgier full Eastern-blown Da Doo Ron Ron captures a (brief) grittier dynamic.
But pop did return. The crossover Malay reworkings across Aku Kembali Lagi (I’ll Be Back) and Chinta-ku Jauh (The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore) certainly provide interesting cover material derived from The Beatles and The Walker Brothers respectively. The late 1960s saw the band back to picking instrumental melodies and the vocal tune Jesamine was another fav in 1968. By 1971, The Quests disbanded.
With a scarce catalogue of available material, Recollecting The Quests is an indispensable two-CD set celebrating The Quests in the first rate. More classic photos would have been useful and the sleeve notes more informative, but as one of the real rock ’n’ roll legends from a “blurred out” period of Singapore/Malaysia pop history, The Quests is duly acknowledged here. File beside The Beatles’ “1s”.
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KEEPER OF THE CLASSICS
- An article featured in the Singapore Straits Times by Yong Shu Hoong.
Music fan Vernon Cheong has fond memories of the now- defunct Capitol Theatre, just steps away from the cafe in Capitol Building, where this interview took place. It isn't classic films that he reminisces over, but local English language bands like The Quests, that would hit the theatre's stage on Sunday mornings back in the 1960s. "Those performances, held at the Capitol and Odean cinemas, would start at 9 am and end usually by 11 am" said the 56-year old airline operations manager, who is married with two daughters in their 20s. "I remember paying $2 to get in." Over the years, Mr. Cheong has amassed an impressive collection of 1960s and 1970s Singapore music in vinyl records that even music company EMI Singapore had to tap into when they were compiling local golden oldies into CDs.
Recollecting Singapore 60s, launched just before Christmas last year, and its Volume Two, which was released last month, contain popular 1960s hits by local bands like The Quests, The Blackjacks, The Straydogs, as well as a sprinkling of more recent tracks, like songs by Tania and Sarah Chen . According to an EMI spokesman, many master tapes of such recordings were misplaced over time after office moves, so the songs were mostly transferred from selected albums and singles that Mr Cheong has recommended from his library of approximately 200 discs of local music.
The tracks were then digitally enhanced to ensure sound clarity, though Mr Cheong pointed out that most aficionados wouldn't mind an occasional vinyl pop or hiss in their bid to secure these rare recordings. "I'm not paid for the loan of my records." he admitted. "The main motivation for my participation in this project is to share my collection with music lovers of my generation and to preserve it for generations to come." The O level graduate had saved his pocket money while studying at Beatty Secondary School and later used his pay from National Service to splurge on singles and albums priced at $2 and $10 respectively. "In those days, there was a fair mix of local and foreign bands being played on radio." he said. "Local bands were also frequently invited to appear in variety shows on television, with regular gigs performed at the Singapore Badminton Hall and National Theatre." He added " After the British withdrew their military forces from Singapore and an influx of Filipino bands entered the night scene, local music began to show its decline during the mid-1970s."
In his spare time, Mr Cheong manages an MSN group called Recollecting The Quests, an online forum dedicated to his favourite band. On the forum, members wax lyrical over recent retro concerts or the latest sightings of Quests members like Vernon Cornelius and Reggie Verghese. He no longer keeps taps on the pop scene now, he confessed, chuckling that he is too entrenched in music hailing from his formative years." The best music is what you grow up with," he said. "Hopefully, our current generation can also appreciate that fact that good local music was produced and supported in the 1960s."
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