1) From Hockey to the Guitar
In early 1961 when I was a young lad of fourteen, I was a keen hockey player. I was staying in Greentown, where most of the civil servants were housed in government quarters. As my father was a civil servant, we stayed in one of the government quarters in Fifth Avenue Cator Avenue School Perak Anderson
When I gave up playing hockey, I found a new interest in music. It all began with the school talentime. In my school, St. Michaels Institution, Ipoh
After watching them, I was really eager to learn the guitar. My late brother Andrew who was six years my senior and my only brother, bought me a Kapok guitar. It was an acoustic guitar and I was proud to own a guitar even though it wasn’t a fancy brand. In those days, there weren’t much choice in Ipoh
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Albert Teh drove a red MG Midget, and played rhythm on a Hofner-like semi solid. He was quite a popular chap with ladies. The Hawaiian Rhythmaires had a Hawaiian lap steel-guitarist by the name like “Pak Kooi” ?? Was the drummer a Malay teacher who lived along Greenhill Drive ? He used to give tuition classes also.
Prior to 1966, I also lived in government quarters as my fathher was with the RIMV, and our house was along Ashby Road, exactly where GreenTown Mall is situated now. Right behind our house, was the Nurses Hostel of the Ipoh General Hospital. Now and then, on Saturdays nights, there used to be parties with live music provided by Albert and is Hawaiian group.
I was probably not more than 15 years old, when I used to stay up at night, went to our back room (some kind of store room), opened the window that was exactly facing the nurses hostel (which could not be more than 100 yards away) and listened to the wonderful dance music that came from the parties.
Fast songs, slow ones, Latin ones. And it was then during such absorbing nights of uninterrupted musical entertainment that went into my ears and into my deeper being, that I didn’t realise I was “absorbing in” a myriad of tunes. I truly liked them. I didn’t know their titles. I just adored the melodies, and the simple accompaniment that went along with those tunes that The Rhythmaires were playing.
We never had any record player at home, except an old Philips radio, and later, my father brought home a newer looking PYE radio, that had some 5 or 6 knobs that you could press down to select the bandwave group – MW, SW1, SW2, SW3, and so on, together with another one called “Phone”. I never knew then what that last one was for.
Fast forward 15 years or so, until I was between 30+ and 50, then only I realised those great songs that I loved so much listening to, coming from the dance parties at the nurses hostel were standards like … Mamselle, Poinciana, Summertime-In-Venice, Out-Of-Nowhere, Tea For Two, Tangerine, La Vie En Rose, Pennies From Heaven, Woman In Love, The Continental, Shangrila, Green Eyes .….. and so many others.
That development in me was somehow activated and nurtured “from-a-distance” by Albert The and his Hawaiian group. In the past almost 20 years now, I simply cannot do without standards and mainstream jazz !!
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Around that same time, there was also another Hawaiian group from Batu Gajah led by the steel guitarist Edwin Rajamani. Heard of them ? I could have heard them playing on one or two occasions in the St John’s Ambulance Hall.
Do you by any chance also knew one Penang guitarist called John Lim ?
The Hawaiaan Rhythmaires were THE most popular band during that time. I think their drummer was a Eurasian called Cubinar and he lived in Greenhill Drive.
I lived in Greentown too on 5th Avenue. Looks like were were kind of neighbours.
Yes, Batu Gajah produced some real good musicians like Edwin Rajamani, also a famous band. A few more good musicians also hailed from there. As for John Lim, he was the lead guitarist of The Thunderbolds from Penang. They cut a record with a song 'Thunderbold Twist'
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