Wow....its been a long time since I play "Micheal Learns To Rock"-Paint My Love Greatest Hits" album.
It was there, in the corner of my drawer collecting dust, neglected for ages. Its suddenly just came to my mind that I still have this wonderful album while I was watching Austin Power. Right now I am writing this blog in the tunes of - That's Why- Paint My Love- 25 Minutes - Out of the blue. Still remember it was almost 6 years ago that I brought this album while working at Sembawang Music Center as a sales assistant and this album was selling cheap than; at $16.90 only! Although the "Greatest Hits" album was release in 1996, it was still selling like hotcakes through 1997~1998. So much so, our stall have to keep on replenishing the stocks. Some time it was 50 CDs a week, sometime 100 and there was once we have to stock up at 200 which surprisingly was all out of the stall within a month. THATS really a good sale record!
I guess the style of their songs, the tunes and lyrics must be widely popular. Other band and singer probably only have a narrow group of fans ranging from Young girls and boys (for Back Street Boys) to Ah Pek and Ah Ma (Fei Yu Qing?). Micheal Learns To Rock SELLS, not for their look, but for their style of songs. Still sound so good despite all the dust it collected in my drawer. In the times of Silicon Breast Implanted Pop singers, Boyish looking Gay bands, Skimpy dressed spice girls, listen and forgotten over hyped and over advertised songs, Foul mouth rappers....its assuring to know that another band out there focus on the core of an Album...THE MUSIC.
HEY! What do you guys thing of street performance? Legal or illegal...whatever. There is really a serious lack of street activity at orchard road aside from the S.O.P style christmas light up. Don't know if Singaporean are generally shy or that they are afraid of breaking the law while singing out "Will the real slim shady please stand up". The street looks dead, not exactly ghost town but dead because all I see are people walking in two direction.... towards Orchard Station and towards Somerset MRT station. So dull... so unexciting. Just last saturday, I was at Bugis Junction and there is this Street Illusion show (Magic show) perform by a....er...World Illusionist. He was great! His Illusion was fantastic! He tried to engage the crowd, pulling people to volunteer for his magic!
He shouted "Hello! Good afternoon everyone! Can I have a show of hands who knows me?". No one raise up their hands. "Who don't know me?" No hands are up. "Who don't really care who I am" Yet again, no hands. His next said sarcastically "Thank you everyone for you very enthusiastic respond." And thats send a bit of chuckle through the crowd. Through his magic show, I guess I was the only one going "WOW, WOAH, INCREDIBLE, HOLY!" sounding like a lunatic.
Now I realise something...something about Singaporean culture that is happening everywhere. We are all very shy people, not wanting to raise up their hands, not wanting to shout or cheer, not expressive. Very very reserve... Its like an office worker who likes to confine himself/herself in that 4 walls cubicle everywhere they go. Sometime, its good to just stand up and be expressive even if it look stupid or foolish. I actually came out with a wonderful solution for it, drink more tiger beer ...when you are drunk you are very expressive! Look at all those fights at pubs, girls doing stupid stuff, guys singing horribily and loudly, the "Drunkern Dance" outside nightclubs, back alley R(A) scene, the blur unsober driving caught by TP....whew.... alchohol sure is a great catalyst to expression.
