Sing The Bossa!

I found this curious cd while on holiday last week at Bangkok. Holidays for me are a great chance for music shopping, and this trip was no exception. So I got this cd primarily based on the pretty cover, not knowing much about the "teen idols" performing the bossa-nova covers. While in all honesty, this cd is nothing much to shout about (some of the arrangements and instrumentation sound very karaoke), this track got the ye-ye fan in me excited.

Laura - La Plus Belle Pour Aller Danser

julie grant!

I personally think this is an awesome single, with its classic Brill Building sound. Unfortunately for Julie Grant, this single proved to be a non-event, as her label failed to promote her. Despite her quality recordings, Julie never quite managed to make her name as a major recording star and the flow of singles stopped at the end of 1965. Interestingly, Julie won a talent contest at a Brighton holiday camp in 1960, beating Helen Shapiro!

Julie Grant - Baby Baby (I Still Love You)

A well-researched bio on Julie Grant at Ready Steady Girls, here.
Julie Grant's discography at 45-rpm, here.

sailor girl!

Because I can't sleep, and I was inspired by DJ Colleen Crumbcake's Linda Scott posting at her blog, I decided to share an early girl pop song that never feels to make me smile. Diane Renay and Linda Scott are very similar in style, and were the same age, though Linda Scott's big hit "I Told Every Little Star" came 2 years before Diane Renay's "Navy Blue". Written as a follow-up to "Navy Blue", Diane's biggest hit, it's very similar in sound and theme to the 1963 chart-topper. Diane even refers to it as "Navy Blue Chapter Two"!

Diane Renay - Kiss Me Sailor

More about Diane Renay at her wikipage here.
And find out what Diane's up to these days, at her official site, here.
An interview with Diane Renay, here.

Ernie Djohan!

Brand new in my collection! Isn't the sleeve design cool? Ernie Djohan was an Indonesian singer who sang mostly English covers, like this Lulu cover. Most of her recordings were backed by the Band 4 Nada or Her Buana Suara. I found this nice collection of Indonesian Girl Pop (yet another genre to dwelve into!) sleeves here, though The Reynettes are from Hong Kong, not Indonesia.

Ernie Djohan & Her Buana Suara - To Sir With Love

More Ernie record cover art here.

Yeah Yeah Yeah!

I did an All-Beatles show last Wednesday! As you know, I'm a huge huge fan of Beatles covers and novelty songs, so this episode was a real treat!

Download Mod-ified Music Show Episode 6 (The Beatles Special)

Download the playlist here!

Thank you all you lovely readers for your nice comments and emails! I'm really glad that you enjoy the stuff I post.

Wilson David and The Moonglows

Wilson David had the title of Singapore's Elvis Presley. For a while, he was backed by The Quests, and together they put up many stage acts, such as at Goodwood Park Hotel. In 1964, Wilson David and The Quests were invited to audition with EMI, but in the end, only The Quests were signed up (and they recorded their first single, 'Shanty'). Nonetheless, Wilson David later went on to record under the Philips label. In this single, he's backed by fellow label-mate The Moonglows (featuring my late granduncle Sonny Bala on lead guitar). This song is an original composition of Robert Suriya, lead guitarist in Naomi & The Boys.

Wilson David & The Moonglows - Cold and Lonely

In case you haven't checked this out before - clips from an interview I conducted with Vernon Cornelius (of The Quests) in 2006. He talks about the vibrant 1960s music scene.

Mod-ified Music Ep 5

sixties styled music and more

tonight / tues 11 march / 10pm - 11pm

DOWNLOAD

VISIT UNPOPULAR.RADIO, HERE.

New Episodes!

Yes I know there's been a serious lack of posts here lately. But I have two new unpopular radio show episodes up for download, if you haven't already heard them.

Episode 3 (12 Feb 2008)
- Featuring Naomi & The Boys, The Crescendos, Rita Chao, Yang Mi-Ran & He5, Broadway Hush, Kylie Minogue, The Caravelles (see pix above), and more!

Episode 4 (26 Feb 2008)
- Featuring Sonny Bala & The Moonglows, Zhang Xiao Feng, Patrina & The Melodians, Nana Kinomi, Persephone's Bees, Chantal Goya and more!

I make it a point to play lots of local 60s music each show, so hopefully that's an incentive to tune in!

Tim, Do You Really Wanna Make A Film?

Something from my favourite indie pop duo, My Little Airport! I love their whimsical melodies and quirky lyrics. Elefant Records released a nice compilation last year, comprising songs from their first two albums. This Hong Kong band is now on their third album, 'We Can't Stop Smoking In The Vicious And Blue Summer', which was also released last year. Allmusic named My Little Airport the "Twee-est Band of 2007".

This particular song was featured in a 2004 compilation of indie HK acts.

My Little Airport - Tim, Do You Really Wanna Make A Film?

My Little Airport official website, here.
My Little Airport on Wiki, here.

Baby I'm Yours!

Countless artistes have covered this song, from Peter & Gordon to Cher, Cilla Black to the Arctic Monkeys. And so did Sakura!

Sakura - Baby I'm Yours

More on Baby I'm Yours, here.