Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Anyone remember The Music Box Dancer?

The Tabitha Wang article I mentioned in my previous post was actually about reminiscing about the music of the eighties. Reading the article reminds me of a couple of tunes by a Canadian pianist by the name of Frank Mills which was also from the early 80’s. At that time, Frank Mills’ Music Box Dancer was a big hit in the Singapore pop charts. I believe not till Richard Clayderman came along had piano tunes been so popular as pop hits.

For the younger ones who do not know Frank Mills and are curious to know what the song sounds like, here's the link that I found on YouTube.

Somebody actually made this interesting comment about this song:

”As an infant, my parents say this is the only song I'd fall asleep to. They held me up a stereo speaker while it played on the radio, and, like magic, I was out like a light.”


But, my favourite tune from that album by Frank Mills was not Music Box Dancer but a rather solemn tune called The Poet and I. I was trying hard to remember what the tune was like and searched for it on YouTube. Unfortunately, I could not find a piano version but only able to find this a guitar rendition by a Korean gentleman. You can listen to it here. Hope you like it.


There’s a third song from Frank Mills’ album which I also liked. It was called From a Sidewalk CafĂ©. To hear the tunes of these three songs that I recommended, or rather segments of them, you can go to this music store:


I think even the present generation will like Frank Mills’ music because this genre of music is quite timeless.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

In my father's time, he critised the music of the Beatles because they had long hair.......But I thot they were cool! I thot the music of SANTANA, Stephenwolf or Deep Purple In Rock was too much on the extreme, albeit I must add I enjoyed them.

Now as a parent myself, I looked back at the Beatles. I thot they had "average hairstyle". I consider Ricky Martin/Gloria Estefan as the "descendants of SANTANA" or Jose Feliciano because CARLOS SANTANA and Jose Feliciano ("Para Decir Adios") introduced the Salsa and Samba beat much before today's generation knew what was danceable or cool. Then I looked at Rap music. I wonder whether they are just trendy or a passing fad much like what my father would have said.

Because I travel extensively and often find myself in Manila soaking up whatever good entertainment there is, I like to recommend the following for easy listening

1. Jose Pasqual (best keyboard player in Asia)

2. Gary Valenciano especially "Lead Me Lord" and "How Did U Know" (ppl with broken relationships and dont appreciate what it takes to stay together). Some of his music pieces better than "My Best Friend Wedding" soundtrack.

3. Lea Salong on "IKAW" (to be married couples will fall in love with this song)

4. Christian Batista (aka Philippines Andy Lau)

OTHERS
The King of Thailand who is a renowed music composer and Peter Claydeman once took one of his compositions for his album

Anonymous said...

I like this Filipino rap song which is the lead tune for the Philippines Tourism Board. It is called "Biyahe Tayo".. The 21 singers include Freddie Anguillar, Sharon Cuneta, April Boys, Lea Salonga,......This is a recommendation from my Pinay friends.

Now I remember the interval tune which my band used to play at the Lodnon Scene in the ealry 1970s when we about to end our set or to begin a new set. It is SANTANA's Samba Pai Ti.

Anonymous said...

Chun See
You forgot that many spas in Singapore play this kind of music to relax the customers. Music, the gentle therapeutic touch of the palms and the fragance of sandlewood and oil in the air.......

Lam Chun See said...

Eh .. I've never been to a spa.

Joanna said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Nn7RLcxIRc&feature=related

(This is a piano version of the song The Poet and I. Hope it brings back memories for you.)

Lam Chun See said...

Thank you Pseudophilosopher for that recommendation. I am sorry, I don't know how I missed your comment earlier.