Ep113: The Story of Shanty with Henry Chua and Wee Guan (The Quests)

IT'S ANOTHER BUMPER EPISODE!

Lion City Rock legends Henry Chua and Wee Guan tell us the story of "Shanty", the song that changed the Singapore music landscape. Written by Henry and recorded by The Quests, it was released in Oct 1964 and became the first original composition by a Singapore band to reach No.1 – for 12 weeks! – knocking off The Beatles along the way.

Sixty years later, you can still find people covering the song.

So what do they really think of the song now? How did fame change the band? Why couldn't they go bowling anymore? What made Hong Kong audiences boo them at first? And why were the military police chasing them all over Malaysia?

All the answers to these questions and more in this episode!

-

-

"Lion City Rock theme" performed by Kevin Mathews & Chris Toh; excerpts of "Shanty", "Gallopin'" and "Memories" performed by The Quests; excerpt from "Shake, Shake, Shake" performed by Rita Chao and The Quests

******

LINKS

Follow Lion City Rock: Facebook / Instagram 

Drop us a line: [email protected]

Listen: The Lion City Rock Playlist

Read: Full Sput Ahead! (Chris' Bellied Star review)

Read: Power of Pop Substack

Listen: Kevin Mathews' music

Check out our related episodes:

1960s Icon: Henry Chua of The Quests

OG Teen Idols of SG: The Crescendos

Remembering Naomi & The Boys

******

Like, share and subscribe to Lion City Rock on RedCircle, Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Give us a 5-star rating and review – it really helps others search for some good ol' Lion City Rock!

Let us know what you like (or don't like!) so we can improve it. Also, we can do much more if you drop a donation in the link provided. Every little bit helps. Thank you very much for all your support! We appreciate you!