LAKE CLUB - AUGUST 2007

SATURDAY NITE LIVE
BATEK BAR
LAKE CLUB KUALA LUMPUR
AUGUST 2007

by LUCY PANE

THOSE WERE THE DAYS
===================

Saturday Nite Live artistes have always been a favourite with the Batek Ba crowd and none more so than Alfred Ho, the visually-challenged crooner. His versatility and the range of his repertoire were truly displayed when he sang Chinese songs such as Francis Yip's "Shanghai Beach" to Teresa Teng's "The Moon Represents My Heart" and a couple of numbers later, switching effortlessly to a Spanish number and then a Thai evergreen "Loy Krathong".

He was word-perfect with such childhood songs as "Burung Kakak" or that school day campfire favourite "Ging Gang Gooli-Gooli".

But his most endearing quality must be his ability to play any song from the 50's and 60's at the shout of a title. About half a century ago, I remember sharpening the metal stylus for my uncle's gramophone and playing Marty Robbin's "The Story Of My Life" and Pat Boone's " Bernadine" and Alfred Ho was able to magically remind me of my carefree childhood.

He rekindled our admiration for artistes such as Cliff Richard, Elvis Presley, The Platters, Jose Feliciano, CCR and even Russ Hamilton and Frankie Lane.

The crowd at the Batek Bar just wouldn't let him go and thanks to the good sense of Alex Bremmer, the GC member on duty, Alfred stayed on for an extra session and entertained us with "Red sails in the sunset" and "Only you", among other golden oldies. Many of the members present could be seen humming the words or singing along with gusto. Beatles hits such as "I saw her standing there" and Mary Hopkin's "Those were the days" reverberated along with "Obladi-Oblada".

Alas, all good things must end and many of us went back, happy and contented to be least momentarily transported back to the good old days when songs were so singable. Nostalgia isn't what it used to be. (sigh)