Merdeka Musings 4

I am a great fan of local talent. I listen to Malaysian artistes on the radio often. If we don't support our own, who do we support then? When approaching how to write this post, I figured I'd list down my thoughts on the first 10 songs that came to mind.

In the 80s, I was crazy about Francisca Peter's songs. I bought cassette after cassette of her albums. Here's Sekadar Di Pinggiran which was the best song at the very first Juara Lagu.

The Alleycats is my all time favourite Malaysian band. They first caught my attention when singing Sampaikan Salam Cintaku during the first Juala Lagu. However, my favourite song of theirs is Andainya Aku Pergi Dulu.

This is a great song which is coincidentally written by a schoolmate of mine, Azlan Abu Hassan, Anuar Zain's Keabadian Cinta.

The late Sudirman needs no introduction. I love this ballad entitled Terasing.

Here's another version of Terasing by KRU, called Perpisahan Terasing. I like this take of the song as well.

I, in fact my entire family, joined in the Akademi Fantasia craze in 2003. We would religiously tune into Astro Ria every night for the entire run of the reality show. My mum must have voted AFUNDI VINCE about 200 times on the day of the final itself, I was not lagging far behind. I attended one of the weekly concerts at UPM and even camped out at KLCC Park for a concert just before Merdeka that year. The latter was where I mingled with total strangers, all fans of the show, and a family actually invited me to join them on the mat, share the food they brought and we all sang along to every song. Here's Vince, who recorded this duet, Di Persimpangan Delima with Nora, after his win.

What so great about Akademi Fantasia is the emotional roller coaster ride it brings its viewers on. Witness it here in a scene from the final concert, where Adi Fashla sings Aku Cinta Kau Dan Dia.

The first time I heard Bunga Bunga Cinta was when Liza performed the song at one of the weekly Akademi Fantasia concerts at UPM. The original is by Misha Omar.

Zaiton Sameon's story is one of overcoming adversity. The lyrics from her song Menaruh Harapan ... 'selagi hidup belum sudah, saya akan terus melangkah' ... rings true.

And finally, I believe originally sung by Carefree, I like this version of Belaian Jiwa by Innuendo.

Enjoy.

Photo of Alleycats.