Thanks to one we only know as "Anyonymous" this blog is from now on, going to focus on live bands, rather than live nighspots. Why? Because the people who make the nighspots happen are the performers. And to start your balls rolling, why not pick on what is arguably Malaysia's most famous recording band of the 70s - THE STROLLERS!
WOW! Did you ever think you'd hear that name again? The Strollers! They rocked the scene way back when Woodstock was a name we were familiar with. The band, formed in the mid-60s then comprised suave Michael Magness (vocals, organ), wild Nand Kumar (vocals, congas), quiet Billy Chang (bass guitar), not-so-quiet Hassan Idris (lead guitar) and Ramli, later replaced by Hussein Idris (drums) who would storm away on a wide drum set, regardless of his height. One remembers him at Stadium Negara concert at which he stood and stretched to crash his cymbals.
After hits like Silly Joke, Do What You Gotta Do, Just As I Am, Midday Sun and a much-awaited album, aptly entitled Waiting Is ..., the band broke up, leaving a multitude of fans in limbo, and over the years, Billy especially tried hard to keep the name alive and took a lineup that featured legendary Terry Thaddeus on guitar, along with singer Azman Warren and keyboardsman Richard Gomes all the way to Johore Baru.
After Terry passed away (but not because of it) the group disbanded again, and after quite a hiatus, we now have a lineup going by the name of The Strollers2, featuring only one old Stroller, namely Hussein idris on drums, Casper Tan on bass, Lord on keyboards, Desi on vocals and Nan on lead guitar.
Career-wise and Strollers aside, the members come from such revered names as Memories (Desi and Casper), Grim Preachers (Nan) and The Boys (Lord).
The big bonus in this quintet is that they all sing and thanks to this, the singing never gets stale. Where repertoire is concerned, you just have to hand it to them as they have more than 150 songs from the post-60s era on their list and this includes songs from the Beatles, Rolling Stones, CCR, Santana, Cliff Richard and the Shadows, Elvis Presley, Santana, Rod Stewart, Bee Gees, Drifters, Van Morrison, Los Bravos, Animals and more.
With these guys playing five days a week, it really doesn't matter where you are; they're easy to find. For the moment, you can catch The Strollers2 at La Venue Cafe (42, Jalan USJ 1/1C, Subang Jaya) on Wednesday, Ol' Skool Bistro (Jalan Gasing, PJ) on Thursday, Backyard Pub (Jalan Sri Hartamas, Taman Sri Hartamas) on Saturday and Hard Rock Cafe (Jalan Sultan Ismail, KL) on Sunday. All shows start after 9.30pm.
For more info, you can visit the band's website at www.thestroller2.com.
Keep it live and flowing! To contact us, email themusicdetective@gmail.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
