WEBVTT

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man let's do this one more time I've got you

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under my skin I've got you deep in the heart

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of it so deep in my heart that you're really

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a part of me and I've got you under my skin I

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tried so not to give in I have said to myself

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this affair is never gonna go so well But why

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should I try to resist when baby I know so well

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I've got you Under my skin I've sacrificed anything

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Come what might For the sake of having you near

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In spite of a warning voice Comes in the night

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And repeats how it shouts in my ear Don't you

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know you fool You ain't never can win Use your

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mentality Wake up to reality But each time I

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do Just the thought of you Makes me stop before

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I begin Cause I've got you Under my skin Yeah

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Let's go Oh yeah You tell them, Chris. I would

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sacrifice anything, come what might, for the

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sake of having you near. In spite of a warning

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voice that comes in the night and repeat, repeat

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in my ear. Don't you know, you fool, you never

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can win. Yeah, why not use your mentality? Wake

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up to reality. But each time I try, just the

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thought of you makes me stop. Before I begin,

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I've got you under my skin. Yeah, I've got you

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under my skin. All right, Robert. High five,

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man. I did my best. Well, that's something I

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really want to hear again and again and again,

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man. I would also like to hear that again. All

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right. Welcome back to the show. Welcome back

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to the Chris Hansen conversation. Being mentioned

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in the same breath as Andy Williams, James Ingram,

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Luther Vandross and Johnny Mathis. My guest is

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the voice behind our favorite national songs,

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We Are Singapore, One People, One Nation, One

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Singapore, and Stand Up for Singapore. He is

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blessed with a rich, velvety, soulful voice that's

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all about emotional depth and romance. He's our

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very own local crooner. Please welcome my guest,

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Robert Fernando. Welcome to the studio, Robert.

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Thank you very much. It's good to see you, man.

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It's been so, so long. It has been. 20 years,

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maybe? Oh, yeah. Actually, you're right, you

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know. Come to think of it, the last time I saw

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you, I can remember vividly, one time we worked

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together was in Stunk Studio. Remember this?

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Welcome to my world. We did a commercial, remember?

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I think so. And we were pastors also there. Will

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Xavier was also there. That must have been ages

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ago because I can't remember. There was this

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girl that we worked with. Her name was Clodagh.

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I still remember her name. Oh, dear. Was she

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a vocalist? No, no. I think she's one of the...

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She works in the studio for Shrink. I think she

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was directing the entire thing. She took me as

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Ricky Ho. I don't know. Isn't he Ricky with Yellow

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Box? I have no idea. I mean, yeah, Ricky was

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or is. I don't know which one came first. I mean,

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talking about jingles, I've done countless. And

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this was all mainly in the mid -80s all the way

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to maybe mid -90s. After that, jingles kind of

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like died off. Almost sudden death. Yeah, you

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think so? You think it's dead now at this time?

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I don't know whether it's dead now, but I know

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back then. It died off. I think maybe because

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radio took over doing all the jingles so there

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was no private entity Right, right. involved

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in it anymore. I mean, I do a lot of VOs too.

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I mean, not a lot though. I mean, AI is taking

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over a lot now. Right. I don't do VOs. I just

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sing for jingles. Yeah, yeah. I hardly sing for

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jingles. I do a lot of voiceovers though. Good.

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At least that way you know where you stand. You

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know where. So what you been up to, man? I mean,

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nothing much nothing much at all yeah just relaxing

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and trying to recover from i have not been taking

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care of my health so or i kind of used up more

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than i'm i'm allowed okay yeah so now i gotta

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lay back so health -wise not doing too good yeah

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you could say that energy has kind of died off

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all kinds of other complications with modern

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medicine You know something, man? I was trolling

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through the internet before today. And all I

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was keying in was Robert Fernando. All right.

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Must be very little. No, I wouldn't say that,

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man. The videos of you performing live on stage,

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right? I was just sitting there, playback. After

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playback, watching and listening to you, man.

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All right. I tell you. You've learned nothing.

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No. No, man, no. It's not that I learned nothing.

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No, no, I was just kidding. You've got this unique

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tone, and that voice was simply magical for me.

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Thank you. You know, as a matter of fact, at

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the end of this show, at the end of this program,

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everyone listen up, please. Please don't switch

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off too early because we'll be playing a performance

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by Robert Fernando on the song. What's the Streisand

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song? The way we were. Thank you, Guy. Where

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did you get that from? You'd be surprised. And

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it was so wonderful. Wow. I was so thrilled just

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listening to you, watching you do that, man.

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Those are just old school songs that I grew up

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with. Don't ask me why I got hooked on all these

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songs, but the voices were just wow. But you

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know something, you got hooked on it. I got hooked

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on the same kind of songs too. Just that I can't

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sing those damn songs, you can. There were many

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songs that I got hooked on. I wouldn't know what

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it's all about. They were just beautiful voices

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with beautiful melodies that I just got caught

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on. And since we're talking about favorite songs

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of yours, songs that you got hooked on, if you

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could take us back to your earliest childhood.

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What are some of your earliest memories related

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to music, man? Related to music or music itself?

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Well, you and your relationship with music going

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way back when. How did it first begin? We would

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be going back to 1971 at least. I was 12 going

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on 13. I can't remember. And I remember listening

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to... The group, bread. Okay, roti. Roti. But

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there was no John in the group. There was a David

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Gates though. Buka pintu. Buka pintu makan roti.

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Make it with you, kind of like. Yeah, make it

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with you. Boom, hit me. And this was walking

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past a coffee shop. that has this Ready Fusion

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box. Yeah, yeah, I mean, everyone talks about

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that box, man. Yeah, you know, I mean, so it

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goes on for 24 hours, but of course, when it

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comes to the Teju Opera and all that, you don't

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hear it, you know, but when they did play English

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music, and they played all the current hits.

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way before RTS would be playing anything. Sometimes

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you will have to wait a couple of months before

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RTS plays anything on the radio. It's much like

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British Top Ten. You get to hear it at British

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Top Ten, and then you hope you can... Listen

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to it in RTS and then it takes a couple of months.

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I may be exaggerating, I don't know, but that's

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how it felt back then. So that was my first heart

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-pounding moment. And then came the song, If.

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That one was intoxicating. The kind of music

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that wah -wah -wah -wah. Yeah, the wah -wah.

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And so I got hooked on all these songs. And the

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only way to get to hear more... was to hang around

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coffee shop and wait for it to come back again.

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You know, because... I'm curious, man. Where

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is this coffee shop? Toa Payoh, Toa Payoh. Okay,

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all right. Yeah, Toa Payoh. Just about all coffee

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shops had ready fusion going on. Yeah, actually.

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Yeah, it's just... That's quite true. Entertainment.

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Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, which you don't find

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it anymore. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now you need an

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entertainment license to play this kind of stuff,

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I suppose. That's true also, I suppose. Yeah.

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Everything is about money. Anyway, so these are

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the two songs and I think they were not too far

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away from within a year or not. I can't remember.

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And we didn't have CDs back then. Okay. I think

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they would. just about coming out. And if you're

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not from a well -off situation, you go to a friend's

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place to listen to a vinyl or whatever it is.

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And then while they are jamming or learning to

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play guitar, I used to hang out and just sing

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along with them or at least try and sing along

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with them. And then one day, My late brother

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-in -law brought in an album, Andy Williams.

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Wow. And that was the first time I heard the

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song Love Story. Where do I begin? Yeah, and

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that was my love story with that song. It was

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like, wow, out of this world. I could just, I

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think in a way it's kind of good, you know, vinyl

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or if it's just sound, you get to visualize.

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So you hear all the music going around you, the

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full orchestra. Right. And with vinyl, remember,

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we used to get stereo. Yep, yep. You can hear

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one on this side, and you can hear the strings

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on the other side. So you are in the middle,

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so you can start to visualize that you are singing,

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and you have the strings on this side and the

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rhythm section on the other side. And that kind

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of like got home to me. Okay. Yeah. And then

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when you, That's listening to music and enjoying.

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Strangely, Robert Fernando became the balladeer.

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And all this stuff that you heard, that you listened

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to, that you start to love, are all ballads.

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So it's always been a thing for you, ballads,

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huh? I have. I have enjoyed rock music, you know,

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like Deep Purple or Hura. He had been Black Sabbath.

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But they were short -lived because there was

00:13:34.409 --> 00:13:39.379
just too much going on. And I don't think I had

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that kind of voice. They were screaming a lot.

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And you know, like Deep Purple, the singer, his

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voice was strong. The other guy, Ian something.

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My discography is all going haywire now. Powerful

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voice, raspy. I was too little for that. Yeah,

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I was too small for that kind of voice. So you're

00:14:08.490 --> 00:14:10.230
saying when you were younger, you were a small

00:14:10.230 --> 00:14:15.490
guy? No, I'm saying my voice was small. My voice

00:14:15.490 --> 00:14:20.330
was sweet. So I'm not someone who screams. Now

00:14:20.330 --> 00:14:23.549
that's a better adjective there, man. Voice sweet

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lah, not small lah. So I wasn't a screamer. So

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even though I like songs like Burn, you know.

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Yeah, okay. Couldn't do it live. Followed the

00:14:33.940 --> 00:14:36.120
guys to the jam studio and then after they all

00:14:36.120 --> 00:14:41.120
say, never mind, don't sing. Right. You started

00:14:41.120 --> 00:14:43.379
to enjoy ballads when you were younger. How old

00:14:43.379 --> 00:14:46.340
were you back then, about that time? You're 12,

00:14:46.600 --> 00:14:50.320
13, 14. When did you actually start singing then?

00:14:52.460 --> 00:15:01.450
Late 18, 19. So not long after, actually, you

00:15:01.450 --> 00:15:03.330
started singing. How did you get about doing

00:15:03.330 --> 00:15:06.470
that? How did that happen? Oh, that's a funny

00:15:06.470 --> 00:15:12.590
story, actually. Yeah, so the only thing I did

00:15:12.590 --> 00:15:17.129
was always sing to myself. Okay. It was a pastime

00:15:17.129 --> 00:15:21.909
for me. Like, today we have whatever it is I

00:15:21.909 --> 00:15:25.110
bought on your phone. You've got your headphone.

00:15:25.389 --> 00:15:30.080
Yeah. And much later on, those days, you had

00:15:30.080 --> 00:15:34.799
your Walkman. Walkman, yeah. Prior to all of

00:15:34.799 --> 00:15:37.080
that, there was nothing. Nothing, yes, correct.

00:15:37.519 --> 00:15:40.879
So long bus rides, I would be singing to myself.

00:15:42.340 --> 00:15:44.879
Quietly, of course. Otherwise, I'd get kicked

00:15:44.879 --> 00:15:49.639
out of the bus. I'll just sing to myself whichever

00:15:49.639 --> 00:15:52.340
song that came to my mind that I enjoyed, and

00:15:52.340 --> 00:15:54.740
then at the same time, trying to figure out if

00:15:54.740 --> 00:15:59.740
I got the lyrics right or not. And then National

00:15:59.740 --> 00:16:03.240
Service came, and there were plenty of opportunities

00:16:03.240 --> 00:16:14.460
to sing. Gun duty. You sing and you keep yourself

00:16:14.460 --> 00:16:18.519
awake at night. So that kind of helped. Let me

00:16:18.519 --> 00:16:22.139
just rewind that a little bit. You started singing

00:16:22.139 --> 00:16:24.740
on the bus rides. You started singing to yourself,

00:16:25.100 --> 00:16:28.460
right? Or even when I'm walking or running. But

00:16:28.460 --> 00:16:33.639
you really didn't toy the idea of how you could

00:16:33.639 --> 00:16:37.639
hone singing as a skill at that time. No. Not

00:16:37.639 --> 00:16:40.539
at all. Okay. Never even looked at it as you

00:16:40.539 --> 00:16:44.340
know I have to hone that skill. I just sang because

00:16:44.340 --> 00:16:47.840
I enjoyed it. Did anyone else hear you sing to

00:16:47.840 --> 00:16:50.500
yourself and make any comments or compliments?

00:16:51.000 --> 00:16:54.690
Back then not much. And how did you know? I mean,

00:16:54.690 --> 00:16:58.190
the only time anyone who made comments was in

00:16:58.190 --> 00:17:01.289
my family, my siblings might say, tell him to

00:17:01.289 --> 00:17:04.829
shut up, he's a bit too noisy. And I was glad

00:17:04.829 --> 00:17:09.690
I remembered this one. I was singing church hymns.

00:17:09.710 --> 00:17:14.619
Okay, okay. And so one of them got annoyed and

00:17:14.619 --> 00:17:17.480
said, you know, like, shut up or whatever. And

00:17:17.480 --> 00:17:20.220
my mom was there and said, don't disturb him,

00:17:20.299 --> 00:17:24.339
he's singing God's song. I was like, yeah. So

00:17:24.339 --> 00:17:28.900
I sang even louder. Got authority. Okay, yeah,

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I sang a short while in a church choir. full

00:17:35.220 --> 00:17:39.740
of seniors. I was like one or two of the young

00:17:39.740 --> 00:17:45.779
kids in that choir. And this was while they still

00:17:45.779 --> 00:17:49.420
were laying the bricks for Risen Christ Church

00:17:49.420 --> 00:17:57.720
in Toa Payoh. So they hired this hall and they

00:17:57.720 --> 00:18:01.680
will have Sunday Mass there. And I just joined

00:18:01.680 --> 00:18:07.990
in. So that enabled me to also kind of like use

00:18:07.990 --> 00:18:12.250
my voice. But did you enjoy singing? Oh, I love

00:18:12.250 --> 00:18:15.230
singing. You love singing? I love singing. And

00:18:15.230 --> 00:18:17.670
did you validate for yourself? Since you have

00:18:17.670 --> 00:18:20.309
siblings that go, hey, shut up! But did you validate

00:18:20.309 --> 00:18:24.369
for yourself that? Unfortunately, not. Not quite.

00:18:24.670 --> 00:18:26.569
You didn't know you were good? You didn't know

00:18:26.569 --> 00:18:29.390
whether you were not that good? Yeah. I didn't

00:18:29.390 --> 00:18:33.009
know. What? Until I was older and I had people

00:18:33.009 --> 00:18:36.529
around me who said, what's wrong with you? So

00:18:36.529 --> 00:18:39.109
when I received the compliment, hey, that's really

00:18:39.109 --> 00:18:43.710
good, and I go, no lah. You know, I wasn't playing

00:18:43.710 --> 00:18:47.150
smart, but it's like, are you sure? Because you

00:18:47.150 --> 00:18:48.970
really couldn't tell whether you were good enough.

00:18:49.569 --> 00:18:53.230
I didn't know. You didn't know. I could tell

00:18:53.230 --> 00:18:58.750
I could sing. Yeah, but I didn't know that others

00:18:58.750 --> 00:19:02.019
will appreciate that. Okay. Yeah. I didn't really

00:19:02.019 --> 00:19:05.880
sing to get validation from people. Right. It

00:19:05.880 --> 00:19:09.660
was just a pastime. It was a joy. Okay. You know,

00:19:09.660 --> 00:19:11.900
I mean, back then when we were younger, we had

00:19:11.900 --> 00:19:15.460
plenty of time. Okay. You know? Okay. We had

00:19:15.460 --> 00:19:19.220
plenty of time. Journeys on its own was good

00:19:19.220 --> 00:19:23.920
enough. Okay. And I used to play games with myself

00:19:23.920 --> 00:19:29.039
while I sang as in trying to sing the song with

00:19:29.039 --> 00:19:35.880
the intensity of what it should be but deafening

00:19:35.880 --> 00:19:41.000
the sound keeping it really small so the inside

00:19:41.000 --> 00:19:44.319
was working for you to produce that sound but

00:19:44.319 --> 00:19:48.480
very little came out and so with with buses being

00:19:48.480 --> 00:19:53.259
noisy right windows were all open wind flying

00:19:53.259 --> 00:19:57.000
through so people hardly heard but that was my

00:19:57.740 --> 00:20:01.019
Right. So it was like trying to control the levels.

00:20:01.400 --> 00:20:05.440
I didn't look at it that way. Okay. It was a

00:20:05.440 --> 00:20:08.819
very simplistic thing. Yeah. I just didn't want

00:20:08.819 --> 00:20:11.819
to bother anyone or for someone to think I'm

00:20:11.819 --> 00:20:16.700
wacko or not. You know, I mean, and, you know,

00:20:16.720 --> 00:20:22.640
we do live in diverse societies, so not everybody

00:20:22.640 --> 00:20:27.390
would like that. English songs. Maybe if I sang

00:20:27.390 --> 00:20:30.950
in Hokkien. But then again, they still think

00:20:30.950 --> 00:20:36.490
you're wacko. So I did that. And when I was in

00:20:36.490 --> 00:20:41.170
the army, I'd go for jogs. Oh, of course, during

00:20:41.170 --> 00:20:44.150
basic training, when we all had that full battle

00:20:44.150 --> 00:20:49.539
order, and you'd run. And you had songs like,

00:20:49.660 --> 00:20:54.299
where's your mama gone? So I used to kind of

00:20:54.299 --> 00:21:00.019
like lead. And so running and singing, that gave

00:21:00.019 --> 00:21:05.920
me more energy, more air. Which again, I never

00:21:05.920 --> 00:21:09.940
knew that's what I was doing. Not until my 30s,

00:21:09.940 --> 00:21:13.380
someone told me that. I was like, wow, you actually

00:21:13.380 --> 00:21:18.019
started training way back then. But unwittingly

00:21:18.019 --> 00:21:22.059
so. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So it wasn't until when

00:21:22.059 --> 00:21:26.920
I was in National Service, on a Saturday, I remember,

00:21:27.140 --> 00:21:30.200
or was it a Sunday? Anyway, there was this guy,

00:21:30.400 --> 00:21:35.019
friend, not very close friend, but we all kind

00:21:35.019 --> 00:21:39.319
of like jammed in the group together. You know.

00:21:39.420 --> 00:21:41.799
And one day he came to me and he said, he saw

00:21:41.799 --> 00:21:46.369
this newspaper article in New Nation. There was

00:21:46.369 --> 00:21:50.329
an audition happening a couple of weeks from

00:21:50.329 --> 00:21:53.589
the date that he told me and whether I would

00:21:53.589 --> 00:21:57.410
like to go. And he said in that it stated that

00:21:57.410 --> 00:22:01.910
if you can sing, dance, or simple steps or whatever,

00:22:02.210 --> 00:22:07.640
be a cast member of a musical. Okay. So when

00:22:07.640 --> 00:22:11.859
I heard dance, I go, no way. I don't know why.

00:22:12.279 --> 00:22:14.279
No, no, me too. I would go no way too. Yeah,

00:22:14.299 --> 00:22:18.539
don't worry about that. So I said, no, dancing,

00:22:18.680 --> 00:22:23.480
nah, not my thing. So he kept pestering me. And

00:22:23.480 --> 00:22:26.480
then finally he said, why don't you just come

00:22:26.480 --> 00:22:29.519
along? Because he needed support. Or at least

00:22:29.519 --> 00:22:32.450
that's what I thought I was doing. So we went

00:22:32.450 --> 00:22:35.730
to Plaza Singapura. There was this unit there.

00:22:37.710 --> 00:22:41.670
And they had a piano there. And this person who

00:22:41.670 --> 00:22:44.809
received us at the door took the details, you

00:22:44.809 --> 00:22:47.430
know. What's your name, where you stay, and all

00:22:47.430 --> 00:22:50.650
those kind of stuff. And then when he gave his

00:22:50.650 --> 00:22:52.950
details, she came to me and I said, no, no, no,

00:22:52.970 --> 00:22:58.470
I'm just accompanying him. And this guy, oh,

00:22:58.650 --> 00:23:02.210
he can sing as well. you should get him to sing.

00:23:03.150 --> 00:23:05.130
And so she said, do you want to try? I said,

00:23:05.190 --> 00:23:07.130
no, no, no. She said, why not? You know, what's

00:23:07.130 --> 00:23:10.630
wrong? I said, no, dancing, I'm not into it.

00:23:11.349 --> 00:23:15.490
And then she said, never mind, just give me your

00:23:15.490 --> 00:23:21.349
details. And when everybody gathers and when

00:23:21.349 --> 00:23:23.930
the audition begins, you decide whether you want

00:23:23.930 --> 00:23:26.490
to go through it. So, okay, I gave my details.

00:23:27.549 --> 00:23:29.690
And the rest of the people started gathering.

00:23:30.720 --> 00:23:35.279
And true enough, audition came on. And there

00:23:35.279 --> 00:23:42.700
was this choreographer from MTC. I guess he was

00:23:42.700 --> 00:23:48.319
helping out. And so he called on, and then very

00:23:48.319 --> 00:23:51.720
few people dared to go up. And then he said,

00:23:51.859 --> 00:23:55.259
no, don't worry. The steps are super simple.

00:23:55.579 --> 00:24:01.700
All you have to do is... If you think you can

00:24:01.700 --> 00:24:05.619
do that, come over. So I looked at her and go,

00:24:05.720 --> 00:24:11.759
hey, not so bad. So I went. And just did those

00:24:11.759 --> 00:24:15.119
simple, what do you call that, square or something,

00:24:15.339 --> 00:24:19.619
where you cross your leg. So that was fine too.

00:24:20.740 --> 00:24:29.930
And then came to vocal audition. Nervous. Voice

00:24:29.930 --> 00:24:36.369
shaky, a bit like now. And so I can't remember

00:24:36.369 --> 00:24:39.410
what song. I think I did Maria from West Side

00:24:39.410 --> 00:24:47.309
Story. Okay. Wow. Wow. And then, 18 years old.

00:24:49.049 --> 00:24:52.779
And then that was it. We went back. I was kind

00:24:52.779 --> 00:24:55.740
of glad I went along and I was like, eh, it's

00:24:55.740 --> 00:24:59.759
not so bad. But then again, never thought of

00:24:59.759 --> 00:25:03.799
anything. So two weeks later, I get a letter

00:25:03.799 --> 00:25:06.660
in the mail. It says, congratulations, you've

00:25:06.660 --> 00:25:10.160
been selected. I'm still in National Service.

00:25:10.859 --> 00:25:15.140
You've been selected and rehearsals are... We

00:25:15.140 --> 00:25:18.900
will meet on this date, and then we'll work down

00:25:18.900 --> 00:25:23.519
to rehearsals. More will be told to you when

00:25:23.519 --> 00:25:27.480
we all get together. Right. And we're supposed

00:25:27.480 --> 00:25:35.940
to meet at ECA Centre in Fair Park. Okay. So,

00:25:37.359 --> 00:25:41.559
I immediately got excited, and then I called

00:25:41.559 --> 00:25:45.089
this friend of mine. And I said, yeah, we got

00:25:45.089 --> 00:25:48.470
the letter. So can we meet at this date? And

00:25:48.470 --> 00:25:50.710
then, you know, can we meet here? And then we

00:25:50.710 --> 00:25:53.069
can go together because I don't know where it

00:25:53.069 --> 00:25:58.690
is. And then he said, what letter? He didn't

00:25:58.690 --> 00:26:02.589
get a letter. Oh my goodness. So the unintended

00:26:02.589 --> 00:26:05.369
person, the one that was not willing to go. Reluctant.

00:26:05.509 --> 00:26:10.089
Yeah. Got the, got the, got casted. Yeah. And

00:26:10.089 --> 00:26:13.269
what was this musical for? What was that? It

00:26:13.269 --> 00:26:17.470
was for charity. It was a original musical? No,

00:26:17.490 --> 00:26:21.369
no, no, no, no. It was just musical as in songs

00:26:21.369 --> 00:26:26.430
from all musicals. Okay. So it was called Stardust,

00:26:26.490 --> 00:26:31.369
the Musical. Oh, Stardust. That's the first time

00:26:31.369 --> 00:26:35.549
I heard Stardust. Stardust, the Musical. And

00:26:35.549 --> 00:26:40.759
it was for the Breadline Group. Right. So that

00:26:40.759 --> 00:26:45.640
was my ever -first charity event that I was involved.

00:26:46.460 --> 00:26:50.839
And we had a lot of notable people in that cast.

00:26:51.079 --> 00:26:53.759
May I ask you, Rabbi, what year was Stardust?

00:26:53.920 --> 00:27:00.019
1978. 1978. Okay. The actual event was 1978,

00:27:00.440 --> 00:27:05.500
but I think we started in 1977 with the rehearsals

00:27:05.500 --> 00:27:09.059
and all that. It took quite a while. Okay. Because

00:27:09.059 --> 00:27:14.579
it was like, I would guess, maybe about 40, 50

00:27:14.579 --> 00:27:18.140
people involved. Yeah, I remember Stardust, but

00:27:18.140 --> 00:27:22.859
not in 78. I think they may have done it again

00:27:22.859 --> 00:27:28.859
years later when I was older. Like how much older?

00:27:29.200 --> 00:27:32.880
I guess I must have been maybe about 17, 18.

00:27:33.619 --> 00:27:37.579
I remember that... How old are you? I am 55.

00:27:38.000 --> 00:27:41.819
Oh, okay. Yeah. So I'm 11. I was in primary two.

00:27:41.920 --> 00:27:45.740
What month were you born? April. April. So you

00:27:45.740 --> 00:27:49.619
just turned 55. Congratulations. Thank you. Yeah,

00:27:49.640 --> 00:27:53.619
but no CPF. Yeah, yeah, go ahead. What a bummer

00:27:53.619 --> 00:27:57.519
it was. I know. I know. I waited all my life

00:27:57.519 --> 00:28:00.799
to be 55 and then. Yeah, yeah. I know what you

00:28:00.799 --> 00:28:04.690
mean. Anyway, I'm 66 now. I kind of guessed that.

00:28:05.470 --> 00:28:08.190
Was it the hair? No, it was just the timelines.

00:28:08.430 --> 00:28:11.549
Or the wrinkles. All the timelines that you mentioned

00:28:11.549 --> 00:28:14.470
earlier on. So I sort of guessed it. Wonderful.

00:28:15.009 --> 00:28:17.430
You're 10, 11 years older than me. So it makes

00:28:17.430 --> 00:28:22.089
it 11. Makes it 11. Yeah. So anyway. So how did

00:28:22.089 --> 00:28:25.349
it go, start as for you? So that's how the musical

00:28:25.349 --> 00:28:29.910
went. And I met a lot of wonderful people there.

00:28:30.799 --> 00:28:34.619
whom we are still friends up to today. Most of

00:28:34.619 --> 00:28:40.940
them, not all. It was produced by Patricia Chan.

00:28:41.279 --> 00:28:47.180
Oh, okay. Pat Chan. Yep. And we had Jacinta.

00:28:47.460 --> 00:28:52.299
I think Xiao Chong was there. Siva Choi was there.

00:28:53.200 --> 00:28:59.990
David Wilson. Gee, a lot of people. And majority

00:28:59.990 --> 00:29:07.069
of them were from time periodicals or straight

00:29:07.069 --> 00:29:11.369
times. Right, right, right. Yeah. So we did this

00:29:11.369 --> 00:29:17.450
musical and that was fun. Late teens, full of

00:29:17.450 --> 00:29:20.390
energy, met a lot of new people, made a lot of

00:29:20.390 --> 00:29:23.349
new friends. Mo Alkaff was in there as well.

00:29:23.630 --> 00:29:27.890
Wow. Yeah. Shout out to Mo. Hey, Mo. Yeah. Hey,

00:29:28.009 --> 00:29:33.650
Mo. Yeah, that's where I first met Mo. And much

00:29:33.650 --> 00:29:39.029
later on, I had Pat, Chan, and Jacinta who mentored

00:29:39.029 --> 00:29:44.150
me. Okay. Yeah. So from that musical, everything

00:29:44.150 --> 00:29:49.970
was fine. We finished. And so Pat came to ask

00:29:49.970 --> 00:29:54.369
me. if I would like to join their group called

00:29:54.369 --> 00:30:07.250
Stardust. Oh! Now you connect. So Stardust, Jerry

00:30:07.250 --> 00:30:14.170
Rezzle was in the group too, right? Right. Yes.

00:30:14.569 --> 00:30:17.329
And you guys still meet up, don't you, at Pat

00:30:17.329 --> 00:30:20.769
Chan's house? Yeah, I mean, we did with Jeremy.

00:30:20.930 --> 00:30:25.809
That was kind of like a reunion after more than

00:30:25.809 --> 00:30:32.970
30 years or thereabout. Okay. You were with Stardust

00:30:32.970 --> 00:30:37.150
as well. The kickstart of everything for me was

00:30:37.150 --> 00:30:39.609
with the kickstart of Stardust. Stardust, the

00:30:39.609 --> 00:30:43.160
band, the group. It's not us, the vocal group.

00:30:43.160 --> 00:30:45.799
Yeah, the vocal group. We didn't have a band,

00:30:45.880 --> 00:30:49.599
but we always had musicians to back us up. So

00:30:49.599 --> 00:30:53.740
we were the vocal group. So when you say that

00:30:53.740 --> 00:30:59.720
Pat Chan and Jacinta mentored you, can you define

00:30:59.720 --> 00:31:03.019
for me in your words what the mentoring was like

00:31:03.019 --> 00:31:07.480
for you? Well, I was very raw. This whole scene

00:31:07.480 --> 00:31:11.859
was completely new to me. Okay. Because you were

00:31:11.859 --> 00:31:15.720
still a teen, actually. Yeah, late teens. And

00:31:15.720 --> 00:31:22.259
a lot of the songs that they had in mind to sing,

00:31:22.400 --> 00:31:27.819
many of them I did not hear. I may have heard

00:31:27.819 --> 00:31:31.180
them on TV, in old movies and stuff like that,

00:31:31.279 --> 00:31:34.200
but never really paid too much attention to it,

00:31:34.339 --> 00:31:39.920
let alone sing. So we did songs like Lullaby

00:31:39.920 --> 00:31:44.680
of Broadway. I heard the instrumental piece of

00:31:44.680 --> 00:31:50.940
it, but not so much the vocals. So all that I

00:31:50.940 --> 00:31:56.039
learned, or they taught me, they taught me diction,

00:31:56.240 --> 00:32:06.329
and what I still cannot learn is timing. It's

00:32:06.329 --> 00:32:11.930
too bad. I don't know. That's fine. So I don't

00:32:11.930 --> 00:32:15.730
play any instruments. I never took up music and

00:32:15.730 --> 00:32:19.109
stuff like that. I just wanted to sing. So no

00:32:19.109 --> 00:32:21.890
formal training, nothing like that? So I just

00:32:21.890 --> 00:32:24.390
wanted to sing. All I wanted to do was just sing.

00:32:24.490 --> 00:32:27.910
Give me a song to sing. And sometimes with the

00:32:27.910 --> 00:32:30.549
band, I may take hours to learn how to do it

00:32:30.549 --> 00:32:32.869
because I keep making the same mistake. It's

00:32:32.869 --> 00:32:36.609
so ingrained in my mind. And, you know, when

00:32:36.609 --> 00:32:39.630
I was younger, I used to listen to, let's say,

00:32:39.630 --> 00:32:43.029
Andy Williams, for instance, and the way it was

00:32:43.029 --> 00:32:47.769
arranged for him instrumentally. Right. And I

00:32:47.769 --> 00:32:53.549
pick up all the little markers. Okay. Still don't

00:32:53.549 --> 00:32:55.630
know how to count, but I'll pick up where the

00:32:55.630 --> 00:32:58.549
saxophone come in and, oh, this is where you

00:32:58.549 --> 00:33:02.930
start singing. Okay. But if another band were

00:33:02.930 --> 00:33:05.269
to play that and it's completely different, I'm

00:33:05.269 --> 00:33:10.710
lost. Okay. Because I have it ingrained in my

00:33:10.710 --> 00:33:16.849
brain. Okay. Yeah, so if you, you know, let's

00:33:16.849 --> 00:33:21.950
take an example of Just Ones. Okay. I've sung

00:33:21.950 --> 00:33:28.049
it a thousand times. But if someone did some

00:33:28.049 --> 00:33:34.309
fancy intro to that song, I'll be standing there

00:33:34.309 --> 00:33:37.269
just looking at you. You know what? Don't worry,

00:33:37.410 --> 00:33:41.109
man. I think this is, can I call it, the curse

00:33:41.109 --> 00:33:47.369
of singers. Not really the curse. Hey, I'm there

00:33:47.369 --> 00:33:51.859
too, man. If somebody... I tell bands I don't

00:33:51.859 --> 00:33:54.140
know. If we're untrained, then that's what happens.

00:33:54.140 --> 00:33:56.700
Exactly. So I tell bands I don't know. People

00:33:56.700 --> 00:33:59.500
call me up. Chris, go jam in a band. You know,

00:33:59.519 --> 00:34:01.799
I get dragged out on stage, right? I go, who

00:34:01.799 --> 00:34:03.880
the hell are these guys? You know, they may be

00:34:03.880 --> 00:34:07.039
good bands and probably are, yeah. But then again,

00:34:07.180 --> 00:34:09.420
with this sort of an intro that I don't get,

00:34:09.639 --> 00:34:12.199
you know what I say to them? Guys, keep playing

00:34:12.199 --> 00:34:14.199
the damn bars and just tell me when to come in.

00:34:15.659 --> 00:34:19.239
You even know where the bar is. I only work at

00:34:19.239 --> 00:34:26.539
the bar. Yeah. So you still have that same issue

00:34:26.539 --> 00:34:31.800
today? Yeah, I still do. Wow. Okay. Yeah. But

00:34:31.800 --> 00:34:35.559
you know, just once, man, the first time I saw

00:34:35.559 --> 00:34:41.659
Robin Fernando was on TV. Very first time before

00:34:41.659 --> 00:34:43.780
I even met you personally, man. I don't think

00:34:43.780 --> 00:34:46.579
so I ever sang that song. You did. On TV I did.

00:34:46.699 --> 00:34:49.420
You did. Okay. Oh, I remember it like bloody

00:34:49.420 --> 00:34:53.949
yesterday, man. Oh. Yeah. Yeah. And I went, Who

00:34:53.949 --> 00:34:57.269
the hell is this guy? Why is he singing my song?

00:34:59.909 --> 00:35:04.650
Your song? Wow. I'm only kidding. No, no, no.

00:35:04.750 --> 00:35:07.489
I'm only kidding. I'm only kidding. But stark

00:35:07.489 --> 00:35:11.030
admiration, man. I was like, shit, how does he

00:35:11.030 --> 00:35:14.150
sound like that? It is a difficult song. It is

00:35:14.150 --> 00:35:17.849
very difficult. Yeah. How does this guy sound

00:35:17.849 --> 00:35:20.010
like that? And you've met James Ingram before,

00:35:20.090 --> 00:35:22.630
haven't you? Oh, yeah. And two of you guys are

00:35:22.630 --> 00:35:25.300
friends. Yeah. I hate to say this. We're friends.

00:35:25.679 --> 00:35:30.599
Yeah. Unfortunately. Yeah. I met you at his concert.

00:35:31.039 --> 00:35:33.880
Remember? When he came to Singapore to Esplanade?

00:35:34.119 --> 00:35:37.619
The last one. Yeah. That was the last one. And

00:35:37.619 --> 00:35:39.820
you know, that concert, man, my wife and I, we

00:35:39.820 --> 00:35:43.659
were there and we were basically driven to tears.

00:35:43.840 --> 00:35:47.320
Yeah. Because he came down, came off that stage.

00:35:47.340 --> 00:35:51.309
It was such a simple setup. Yep. He had backup

00:35:51.309 --> 00:35:53.550
singers, only three of them. I think he had a

00:35:53.550 --> 00:35:57.030
five max, six piece band on stage. Right, that

00:35:57.030 --> 00:36:00.110
was it. That was it. Very simple setup. Very

00:36:00.110 --> 00:36:03.489
simple. And the man got off the stage and he

00:36:03.489 --> 00:36:07.610
shook each and every one of the audience hands.

00:36:08.940 --> 00:36:14.039
Each and every one. And while singing and repeating

00:36:14.039 --> 00:36:17.139
this, looping the same, looping the same bar

00:36:17.139 --> 00:36:22.039
over and over and over again. And I'm like, you're

00:36:22.039 --> 00:36:24.579
kidding me, right? What a show off, right? What

00:36:24.579 --> 00:36:28.360
a show off. I mean, he was doing push off, push

00:36:28.360 --> 00:36:31.360
up while he was singing on stage. Do you remember

00:36:31.360 --> 00:36:33.440
that? I think so, yeah. He put the mic on the

00:36:33.440 --> 00:36:35.679
floor and then he did push up and then he was

00:36:35.679 --> 00:36:39.489
singing. He's super fit. I remember there was

00:36:39.489 --> 00:36:45.329
once we sat and chit -chatted. This was much

00:36:45.329 --> 00:36:51.230
earlier before that last concert. And we chatted

00:36:51.230 --> 00:36:54.429
a little about 4 a .m. in the morning. Wow. Where?

00:36:54.530 --> 00:36:58.070
Where was this? In the hotel lobby at Conrad.

00:36:58.250 --> 00:37:03.929
Okay. And then he says, Okay. He calls me nigger.

00:37:07.210 --> 00:37:10.710
That's a privilege and honor. He calls you nigger.

00:37:10.849 --> 00:37:15.590
Yeah. Okay. You know what I mean. Okay. I mean,

00:37:15.610 --> 00:37:19.369
when it comes from him, I say thank you. Nobody

00:37:19.369 --> 00:37:23.429
has ever called me nigger before. Mama alone.

00:37:25.130 --> 00:37:29.349
But he could have gotten my nigger. Anyway, he

00:37:29.349 --> 00:37:33.530
says, I got to go. He's going to get a quick

00:37:33.530 --> 00:37:37.360
nap. And then at seven, he's going to go to the

00:37:37.360 --> 00:37:40.599
National Stadium. For a run. For a run. Holy

00:37:40.599 --> 00:37:47.219
crap. Yeah, I was like, wow. Julio Inglis has

00:37:47.219 --> 00:37:50.099
the same habit, you know. Oh, really? Yeah, yeah.

00:37:50.119 --> 00:37:53.559
He runs like four clicks a day. That's something

00:37:53.559 --> 00:37:57.639
I should have been doing. But I don't get paid

00:37:57.639 --> 00:38:00.440
millions to do that stuff. That's also true.

00:38:00.480 --> 00:38:03.500
That's the problem. With us, we... We have to

00:38:03.500 --> 00:38:05.880
have a steady income. We have to get employed,

00:38:06.099 --> 00:38:09.619
you know. And unfortunately, that's the direction

00:38:09.619 --> 00:38:13.239
I went because during my days, everybody said

00:38:13.239 --> 00:38:18.039
Singapore is for hopeless people or, you know,

00:38:18.099 --> 00:38:22.179
you're never going to make it. There's nothing

00:38:22.179 --> 00:38:26.440
good going to come out of you. So singing always,

00:38:26.539 --> 00:38:31.300
I put it aside and became a hobby. Okay. It was

00:38:31.300 --> 00:38:34.940
actually quite a good paying hobby. Okay. You

00:38:34.940 --> 00:38:39.039
know, so, which is why I got into other industries

00:38:39.039 --> 00:38:42.039
doing the normal thing like everybody else does.

00:38:42.280 --> 00:38:45.659
Right. You got a job, but still, but still working

00:38:45.659 --> 00:38:50.800
on, on craft still. Yeah. Yeah. But, let's go

00:38:50.800 --> 00:38:53.159
back to that. And also, the other reason why

00:38:53.159 --> 00:38:55.659
I ended up doing that is that I wanted to sing

00:38:55.659 --> 00:39:00.909
the songs that I enjoy. Okay. Okay, let's go

00:39:00.909 --> 00:39:04.050
back a little bit. Stardust, let's go back to

00:39:04.050 --> 00:39:08.050
that. So you learned, you realized that you have

00:39:08.050 --> 00:39:11.730
a timing issue. And what happened after Stardust?

00:39:12.190 --> 00:39:15.829
How did Robert Fernando become Robert Fernando

00:39:15.829 --> 00:39:20.690
solo? While I was still with Stardust. It's just

00:39:20.690 --> 00:39:24.159
that I started getting more recognition. And

00:39:24.159 --> 00:39:28.760
so TV producers called me over, not all together,

00:39:28.900 --> 00:39:32.659
but one at a time. I suppose that's why they're

00:39:32.659 --> 00:39:36.179
out there once they identify raw talent or new

00:39:36.179 --> 00:39:40.460
talent. And so I got the opportunity to go on

00:39:40.460 --> 00:39:47.320
TV. But back in those days, I had lots of other

00:39:47.320 --> 00:39:49.099
guys who came on the show that I paid tribute

00:39:49.099 --> 00:39:51.219
to. In this show, I'm paying tribute to you,

00:39:51.280 --> 00:39:54.409
Robert. Yeah, I am. I mean, I even have Will

00:39:54.409 --> 00:39:57.489
Xavier here I pay tribute to. So X was here.

00:39:58.309 --> 00:40:01.349
And Mel Ferdinand was here. Stephen Francis was

00:40:01.349 --> 00:40:04.610
here. You know, and Rob Collins. Jerry Montero,

00:40:04.690 --> 00:40:07.070
two weekends ago, he was sitting in your chair.

00:40:07.849 --> 00:40:13.250
And, you know, some of these guys, when we talk

00:40:13.250 --> 00:40:19.309
about music back in the day, the media broadcaster

00:40:19.309 --> 00:40:25.130
of the day, There was only one. I am being very

00:40:25.130 --> 00:40:26.809
politically correct. I don't know why I'm being

00:40:26.809 --> 00:40:29.610
so, ah, fuck that. Okay. So the broadcaster,

00:40:29.710 --> 00:40:33.449
the only one we've got, spots talent outside

00:40:33.449 --> 00:40:38.190
on either private gigs or in clubs or bars. And

00:40:38.190 --> 00:40:41.409
they invite them to come in front of cameras

00:40:41.409 --> 00:40:44.769
in their studios and, you know, and shoot them,

00:40:44.849 --> 00:40:47.679
right? And they come on. on our screens variety

00:40:47.679 --> 00:40:50.539
shows which which is which was great because

00:40:50.539 --> 00:40:53.400
we start to realize who's who if not for that

00:40:53.400 --> 00:40:57.760
i would not have known who robert fernando is

00:40:57.760 --> 00:41:01.559
you know and and i saw you coming on that screen

00:41:01.559 --> 00:41:07.320
i was like oh boy now to me i was thinking i

00:41:07.320 --> 00:41:10.539
can never sound like that guy oh yeah really

00:41:10.539 --> 00:41:15.219
because because dude it is so unique Your tone

00:41:15.219 --> 00:41:19.659
is so unique. Wow. It's remarkable. I sat there

00:41:19.659 --> 00:41:24.679
and I was gobsmacked. I said, fuck, where'd that

00:41:24.679 --> 00:41:28.300
come from? And it was brilliant, mate. Wow. So

00:41:28.300 --> 00:41:30.900
brilliant. That's why you sit in my studio in

00:41:30.900 --> 00:41:34.000
front of me. Because I never knew that. I never

00:41:34.000 --> 00:41:38.900
knew that. I knew I could sing. And I get people

00:41:38.900 --> 00:41:43.099
who tell me, you're good. Yeah. And that's about

00:41:43.099 --> 00:41:48.320
all. So how did you actually get to meet or even

00:41:48.320 --> 00:41:51.039
get to know or get James Ingram to know you?

00:41:51.360 --> 00:41:55.400
Oh, I've been very fortunate all through my life.

00:41:55.659 --> 00:42:00.840
Okay. Very, very fortunate and I'm very grateful

00:42:00.840 --> 00:42:09.119
for that. I have a friend, Bunny Farrow. Oh,

00:42:09.119 --> 00:42:16.949
wow. Right? I hired him to play in Cheers. Okay.

00:42:17.289 --> 00:42:19.969
Yeah. I was managing Cheers. I kick -started

00:42:19.969 --> 00:42:24.510
Cheers with the singing way. Everybody knows

00:42:24.510 --> 00:42:30.130
Robert and Cheers. Yes. Yeah. So, Bunny then

00:42:30.130 --> 00:42:34.570
moved on, went to Java Jive. Right. Which is

00:42:34.570 --> 00:42:36.809
where the birth of Jive Talking came from. Yeah.

00:42:37.570 --> 00:42:40.590
And then from there, he went to Hard Rock. Yeah.

00:42:42.590 --> 00:42:46.449
So, Bunny knows I love James Ingram's songs.

00:42:47.690 --> 00:42:51.489
And so, one day he got wind James Ingram is coming

00:42:51.489 --> 00:42:57.989
over after his show. To Hard Rock? Yeah, coming

00:42:57.989 --> 00:43:00.949
over to Hard Rock. And so he called me and said,

00:43:01.110 --> 00:43:02.909
hey, do you want to meet James Ingram? I was

00:43:02.909 --> 00:43:09.110
like, no. Well, he's coming over at about 10

00:43:09.110 --> 00:43:12.030
or 11, I can't remember. He says, come on over.

00:43:13.110 --> 00:43:15.349
Then you can sit down and chit -chat with him.

00:43:15.570 --> 00:43:18.449
Because there were other... You know the lion's

00:43:18.449 --> 00:43:21.269
den in the Hard Rock Cafe? Yeah. The one upstairs,

00:43:21.409 --> 00:43:25.050
which is usually like the green room for international

00:43:25.050 --> 00:43:29.869
artists. So I went there, got introduced to him.

00:43:29.949 --> 00:43:33.309
Of course, I was shaking. I was like, wow, my

00:43:33.309 --> 00:43:39.000
idol. And then we sat around the table. Everybody's

00:43:39.000 --> 00:43:41.099
chit -chatting and everybody's taking picture.

00:43:41.239 --> 00:43:44.920
And he was so super cool. I mean, he accommodated

00:43:44.920 --> 00:43:50.219
everyone. And he always had something to say

00:43:50.219 --> 00:43:56.480
about something. And so here I pick up my cigarette

00:43:56.480 --> 00:43:58.780
and I light the cigarette and he looks at me

00:43:58.780 --> 00:44:03.320
and says, Are you married? I said, Yeah. Do you

00:44:03.320 --> 00:44:08.980
have kids? I said, yeah. And in that moment,

00:44:09.119 --> 00:44:15.940
he rings out the song 100 ways. He's telling

00:44:15.940 --> 00:44:20.460
me 100 ways to quit smoking, or why I should

00:44:20.460 --> 00:44:23.980
quit smoking. I should have listened to him.

00:44:29.539 --> 00:44:34.559
So from then, we kind of like, Again, I said

00:44:34.559 --> 00:44:37.719
I was grateful I had connections with people

00:44:37.719 --> 00:44:42.019
in the industry. And they all knew that outside

00:44:42.019 --> 00:44:47.559
of James Ingram, no one else sings James Ingram's

00:44:47.559 --> 00:44:53.099
song. Or what they tell me is that no one else

00:44:53.099 --> 00:44:56.239
outside of James Ingram in Singapore sings like

00:44:56.239 --> 00:45:02.789
you. Do justice to the song. And so whenever

00:45:02.789 --> 00:45:08.650
James Ingram is coming in, either for a media

00:45:08.650 --> 00:45:14.909
event or a concert, I get wind of it. And so

00:45:14.909 --> 00:45:20.429
a couple of times it happens, so the face becomes

00:45:20.429 --> 00:45:28.469
recognizable. And his wife also enjoyed my company.

00:45:29.150 --> 00:45:32.510
And we exchanged emails, we exchanged phone numbers.

00:45:33.170 --> 00:45:36.030
Nothing much was used from it. I mean, when he

00:45:36.030 --> 00:45:38.510
goes back to the States and that's it, I don't

00:45:38.510 --> 00:45:41.369
see him until we come back here. Because he did

00:45:41.369 --> 00:45:43.949
a lot of, every year he would go to Philippines

00:45:43.949 --> 00:45:49.650
on Valentine's Day. So he would do concerts and

00:45:49.650 --> 00:45:53.210
once in a while, someone will swing him into

00:45:53.210 --> 00:45:57.409
Singapore. Wow, wow, wow. So that's how we kind

00:45:57.409 --> 00:46:01.219
of like. got close had the opportunity to mingle

00:46:01.219 --> 00:46:04.460
with him whether on or off stage I mean like

00:46:04.460 --> 00:46:07.380
that concert where you came after the concert

00:46:07.380 --> 00:46:14.260
we were all in the dressing room and then from

00:46:14.260 --> 00:46:19.860
there we all went to wow I can't remember I think

00:46:19.860 --> 00:46:24.280
it was Conrad Hotel again and Joshua Wan was

00:46:24.280 --> 00:46:30.500
playing in one of the outlets there. And so I

00:46:30.500 --> 00:46:32.719
told James, I said, hey, you got to meet my friend.

00:46:33.400 --> 00:46:36.139
And James had this little video camera that was

00:46:36.139 --> 00:46:41.599
going to document all his experience in Singapore.

00:46:42.219 --> 00:46:45.179
And Joshua, the minute he saw James Ingram, he

00:46:45.179 --> 00:46:50.599
was like, Whoa. And started playing the intro

00:46:50.599 --> 00:46:55.000
for just once. And James Ingram immediately sat

00:46:55.000 --> 00:46:58.340
next to Joshua and started singing. And so I

00:46:58.340 --> 00:47:01.900
took over the camera and recorded the two of

00:47:01.900 --> 00:47:06.619
them. Joshua one was blown away. Who wouldn't

00:47:06.619 --> 00:47:11.420
be? Yeah. Who wouldn't be? So that's the interactions

00:47:11.420 --> 00:47:15.630
we've had. yeah so it was heartbreaking when

00:47:15.630 --> 00:47:21.130
i found out he passed away how much would you

00:47:21.130 --> 00:47:24.710
say that uh james ingram sorry would you say

00:47:24.710 --> 00:47:29.710
that james ingram is your biggest influence no

00:47:29.710 --> 00:47:33.010
in your in your style the style that that governs

00:47:33.010 --> 00:47:37.630
the style of your singing andy williams andy

00:47:37.630 --> 00:47:40.909
williams okay oh the funny thing is that the

00:47:40.909 --> 00:47:44.480
first time Like when I met James Ingram, or was

00:47:44.480 --> 00:47:46.360
it the second time? I can't remember. Also in

00:47:46.360 --> 00:47:51.079
Hard Rock. We jammed. And then someone told him,

00:47:51.139 --> 00:47:55.340
this guy can sing as well. And so, of course,

00:47:55.360 --> 00:47:59.659
I got dragged up. And here they were going to

00:47:59.659 --> 00:48:06.139
sing Yamobi there. In normal terms, I would have

00:48:06.139 --> 00:48:11.070
been super excited. But for this, I couldn't

00:48:11.070 --> 00:48:15.949
because I've always replicated James Ingram.

00:48:15.989 --> 00:48:18.650
Not Michael McDonald. Not Michael McDonald. Yeah.

00:48:18.650 --> 00:48:22.010
And so here I am on stage with James Ingram and

00:48:22.010 --> 00:48:25.789
then I got to do Michael McDonald. Oh boy. I

00:48:25.789 --> 00:48:30.900
was like. Yeah. I don't blame you. I really don't.

00:48:30.900 --> 00:48:35.260
Yeah. So I did my very best. So that's why I

00:48:35.260 --> 00:48:38.420
have to say I did my best. But was it good enough?

00:48:39.880 --> 00:48:44.940
Definitely not. So how did it go? Did it go well?

00:48:45.239 --> 00:48:48.360
Well, it was all right. I mean, from my perspective,

00:48:48.400 --> 00:48:51.840
it was all right. From James. But why Andy Williams,

00:48:52.099 --> 00:48:56.500
Robert? Sorry? Why Andy Williams? Well, I kind

00:48:56.500 --> 00:48:59.019
of grew up with it, like I told you with the

00:48:59.019 --> 00:49:04.079
love story. His voice is just so soothing. It's

00:49:04.079 --> 00:49:07.780
so damn hard. So hard to replicate, man. But

00:49:07.780 --> 00:49:11.260
I never knew then, you see. I never knew then.

00:49:11.480 --> 00:49:16.619
I just heard his voice and it was so silky smooth

00:49:16.619 --> 00:49:24.659
and gentle and calming, you know. Like the voice

00:49:24.659 --> 00:49:27.820
of God. I don't know if God's got a voice or

00:49:27.820 --> 00:49:31.980
not. I'm sure he's got a voice. I haven't been

00:49:31.980 --> 00:49:35.960
close enough with him to hear. I know a lot of

00:49:35.960 --> 00:49:40.820
pastors, they say, God spoke to me. I often wonder

00:49:40.820 --> 00:49:45.619
how come God don't speak to anybody. But anyway,

00:49:45.800 --> 00:49:48.639
I wonder if we ever had the Pope say, God spoke

00:49:48.639 --> 00:49:51.889
to me. Well, he never ever said that. Yeah. So

00:49:51.889 --> 00:49:54.090
how do all these preachers say gospel to me?

00:49:54.090 --> 00:49:57.650
I have no clue, but I don't remember in my lifetime

00:49:57.650 --> 00:49:59.989
any of our poops ever said that. Okay, anyway.

00:50:00.329 --> 00:50:04.909
So Andy Williams to me at that time, 12, 13,

00:50:05.030 --> 00:50:08.510
14, you know, from that one album I picked up

00:50:08.510 --> 00:50:13.130
and I heard every single song in that album and

00:50:13.130 --> 00:50:18.429
I would play it over and over and over. And then

00:50:18.429 --> 00:50:21.150
when I was older enough, I would go out and buy

00:50:21.150 --> 00:50:23.969
more Andy Williams records. Your all -time favorite

00:50:23.969 --> 00:50:30.690
Andy Williams song, which one? Maria. Wow. But

00:50:30.690 --> 00:50:34.369
I can't sing anymore. Yeah, it kick -started

00:50:34.369 --> 00:50:36.690
with Love Story and then after that it went to

00:50:36.690 --> 00:50:40.869
Andy Williams' version of Maria. Okay. You know,

00:50:41.010 --> 00:50:43.590
you should take a listen to it. Yeah, I have

00:50:43.590 --> 00:50:46.230
not heard it. Yeah. I have not heard his version.

00:50:46.269 --> 00:50:51.170
Oh, man. Okay, I'll do that right after the shoot.

00:50:51.309 --> 00:50:55.369
Andy William was the ultimate. And then, of course,

00:50:55.409 --> 00:50:59.590
as I got older, in my early 20s, you know, you

00:50:59.590 --> 00:51:04.070
had Kool and the Gang and disco and all that

00:51:04.070 --> 00:51:07.750
kind of stuff. A little bit of funk. I remember

00:51:07.750 --> 00:51:10.369
in my neighborhood, once in a while, you know,

00:51:10.389 --> 00:51:14.889
whenever we have a hi -fi system. People will

00:51:14.889 --> 00:51:17.869
boast about their high -five system. You go to

00:51:17.869 --> 00:51:21.010
this guy's house and listen to the records and

00:51:21.010 --> 00:51:24.929
boom, boom. It's like, wow. And then one day

00:51:24.929 --> 00:51:29.309
they came to my place. And all I had was Andy

00:51:29.309 --> 00:51:37.610
Williams. And they left. Andy left? Yeah. They

00:51:37.610 --> 00:51:40.429
left soon after they saw the place. Oh, nice,

00:51:40.690 --> 00:51:46.000
nice. My record collection didn't keep them long

00:51:46.000 --> 00:51:50.000
enough. It is kind of hard to have a young guy

00:51:50.000 --> 00:51:53.360
with loads of Andy William albums. Yeah. It was

00:51:53.360 --> 00:51:58.480
hard. So I have like a dozen of his albums. You

00:51:58.480 --> 00:52:02.199
worked in the music scene as well. Yeah. Am I

00:52:02.199 --> 00:52:05.079
right that you were managing Cheers at the old

00:52:05.079 --> 00:52:08.340
Novotel Lock It In? Yep. And then I became a

00:52:08.340 --> 00:52:10.679
regular, by the way. Oh, you were? Or after I

00:52:10.679 --> 00:52:13.699
left? After you left. When Spencer Gohawk played

00:52:13.699 --> 00:52:18.099
there with Ann Wirapas and Jimmy Lee, right?

00:52:18.320 --> 00:52:23.480
And then you went to work in Hard Rock. That's

00:52:23.480 --> 00:52:25.420
why you were always there. Because you were working

00:52:25.420 --> 00:52:28.039
there. You were managing the job. Oh, but I was

00:52:28.039 --> 00:52:31.000
in Hard Rock hanging out a few times here and

00:52:31.000 --> 00:52:35.530
there because... Bunny Farro. Yeah. Right. And

00:52:35.530 --> 00:52:37.949
another manager, Jumat. Fantastic singer, Bunny

00:52:37.949 --> 00:52:42.590
Farro. Jumat was there as well. Yeah. But, um,

00:52:42.769 --> 00:52:48.090
I didn't start until 1994. Yep. Thereabouts,

00:52:48.110 --> 00:52:50.730
yeah. Yeah, thereabouts. So, I left Cheers at

00:52:50.730 --> 00:52:55.489
about 19, I only stayed in Cheers less than two

00:52:55.489 --> 00:53:02.849
years. Conflict, management. And, So I left,

00:53:02.969 --> 00:53:07.250
and by that time, Cheers was kind of like slowing

00:53:07.250 --> 00:53:10.369
down. And the new management called me back and

00:53:10.369 --> 00:53:12.889
said, hey, we would like you to help us. You

00:53:12.889 --> 00:53:15.110
think you can bring it back again, whatever.

00:53:15.630 --> 00:53:19.150
Right. But I named my price. They couldn't afford

00:53:19.150 --> 00:53:27.010
it. So, yeah. Then a couple of years later, I

00:53:27.010 --> 00:53:30.079
went to Hard Rock. That must have been somewhere

00:53:30.079 --> 00:53:34.099
about, what, mid -90s? 1994. That's where I saw

00:53:34.099 --> 00:53:37.900
you. 93 I was in Shears. I mean, everybody who

00:53:37.900 --> 00:53:42.320
can see me, if that's the venue I'm working at.

00:53:43.000 --> 00:53:46.639
I didn't have to go out and meet people. They

00:53:46.639 --> 00:53:52.079
all came. But Shears was wonderful. It was a

00:53:52.079 --> 00:53:58.710
totally brand new concept. Jeffrey, who joined

00:53:58.710 --> 00:54:03.389
Jive Talking. He was with us, and then Kumar.

00:54:03.969 --> 00:54:08.090
There was this other wonderful singer, Ryan Powerpack.

00:54:09.409 --> 00:54:11.829
She used to do all the Whitney Houston songs.

00:54:13.730 --> 00:54:17.349
So she was awesome. So he had some great fun

00:54:17.349 --> 00:54:22.760
there. Wow. I mean, for a place where... Some

00:54:22.760 --> 00:54:25.239
taxi drivers couldn't pronounce no hotel. They

00:54:25.239 --> 00:54:29.679
would actually say, what, no hotel? No hotel.

00:54:29.780 --> 00:54:32.000
And it's all the way at Bukit Timah, which is

00:54:32.000 --> 00:54:35.900
completely off the grid of nightlife. But we

00:54:35.900 --> 00:54:39.079
were packed every night. Yeah, Cheers was very

00:54:39.079 --> 00:54:42.619
popular back then. How did you end up? singing

00:54:42.619 --> 00:54:47.659
all these iconic national numbers. We are Singapore,

00:54:47.880 --> 00:54:51.960
one people, one nation. I didn't apply for it.

00:54:52.340 --> 00:54:56.139
How did it happen? We're all in the same circle.

00:54:57.019 --> 00:55:01.159
Jeremy was the one who produced all of this.

00:55:01.159 --> 00:55:05.239
He recorded all of this. Jeremy, when we first

00:55:05.239 --> 00:55:10.820
started in with Stardust to perform for charity

00:55:10.820 --> 00:55:15.480
events. Jeremy was the keyboard player or pianist.

00:55:15.900 --> 00:55:19.199
You know, so. So it's all the collaborations

00:55:19.199 --> 00:55:23.500
over the past. Yeah. So they pick up on, okay,

00:55:23.579 --> 00:55:26.440
who can I use for this? Who can I use for that?

00:55:26.599 --> 00:55:31.059
Because Stephen Francis was also in awe. In fact,

00:55:31.079 --> 00:55:36.219
there was this group of regular faces, like Stephen

00:55:36.219 --> 00:55:41.260
Francis, Ann Vera Paz, I think Karen Xavier,

00:55:41.739 --> 00:55:49.269
myself, Ann Hussain, Linda Elizabeth. We do all

00:55:49.269 --> 00:55:52.869
the ooh -ahs, you know, to make it sound like

00:55:52.869 --> 00:55:55.289
there are a hundred people singing out there.

00:55:55.530 --> 00:55:57.690
But you did do some stuff for Singapore, for

00:55:57.690 --> 00:56:05.289
STB. Yeah. You also organized singers to go and

00:56:05.289 --> 00:56:07.650
perform for Singapore and other countries. I

00:56:07.650 --> 00:56:11.550
did a few times, not completely, but we did a

00:56:11.550 --> 00:56:14.309
few times. But I first started, I was engaged

00:56:14.309 --> 00:56:23.030
first by... 1989 or 1990, together with the late

00:56:23.030 --> 00:56:26.869
Iskandar. Joshua was there also, Joshua Wan,

00:56:27.269 --> 00:56:33.050
Rosie Ryan, Gene Yip, and quite a lot of people.

00:56:33.150 --> 00:56:38.489
Gene Yip or Don Yip? Sorry, Don Yip. The same

00:56:38.489 --> 00:56:43.889
group of local. talents why do i say you know

00:56:43.889 --> 00:56:45.889
it's really strange you know why how did i get

00:56:45.889 --> 00:56:49.210
into that mix because which mix you caught me

00:56:49.210 --> 00:56:54.449
up where you caught me i was so funny uh i was

00:56:54.449 --> 00:56:58.050
very young i was probably in my i mean we've

00:56:58.050 --> 00:57:00.949
already established that how young you are definitely

00:57:00.949 --> 00:57:04.469
11 years younger early 20s very early 20s and

00:57:04.469 --> 00:57:08.039
i was still living with my mom and I think I

00:57:08.039 --> 00:57:11.039
just started work after NS. Just started work.

00:57:11.260 --> 00:57:15.059
And I carried my dad's pager with me. And you

00:57:15.059 --> 00:57:19.320
paged me. And I remember the conversation like

00:57:19.320 --> 00:57:22.860
it was yesterday. I called you up from my mom's

00:57:22.860 --> 00:57:27.780
home. And you said, Chris, would you be interested

00:57:27.780 --> 00:57:32.300
to perform in Singapore? Performed? STB. Oh.

00:57:32.500 --> 00:57:36.300
Yeah. And I was like, whoa! First, Robert Fernando

00:57:36.300 --> 00:57:40.940
was asking me. Second, second, wow, for my country.

00:57:41.159 --> 00:57:45.139
Third, okay, they paid me peanuts. Next is like,

00:57:45.239 --> 00:57:51.559
the bit that made me say no. Where are we going

00:57:51.559 --> 00:57:53.940
to go to to perform? Okay. I was like hoping

00:57:53.940 --> 00:57:56.760
for something. cool -ass country somewhere in

00:57:56.760 --> 00:57:58.900
the world. No, Chris, you're going to go to Karachi.

00:57:58.980 --> 00:58:04.219
Oh, fuck that. Oh, okay. And I went, Oh, gee.

00:58:04.360 --> 00:58:08.440
No, man, I'm not going to go to Karachi. I don't

00:58:08.440 --> 00:58:11.630
remember. I don't recall. everything that you

00:58:11.630 --> 00:58:15.829
have said at all. But I do know Karachi because

00:58:15.829 --> 00:58:18.510
I went to Karachi. Yeah, I know you went to Karachi.

00:58:18.610 --> 00:58:23.030
You did ask me if I could go with you guys. It

00:58:23.030 --> 00:58:27.559
was a great experience in Karachi. definitely

00:58:27.559 --> 00:58:30.239
wasn't a country that you would say hey let's

00:58:30.239 --> 00:58:33.760
go for a holiday you know exactly yeah so i appreciated

00:58:33.760 --> 00:58:36.219
all of these countries that i went that i would

00:58:36.219 --> 00:58:39.179
normally okay okay i sound i sound like a real

00:58:39.179 --> 00:58:41.159
entitled piece of shit but let me just say this

00:58:41.159 --> 00:58:44.619
my mom although i was already a working adult

00:58:44.619 --> 00:58:48.739
right my mom was going no no you're not gonna

00:58:48.739 --> 00:58:54.960
go to karachi what a waste so i i i i wouldn't

00:58:54.960 --> 00:58:57.690
call it a waste You know, I was just maybe...

00:58:57.690 --> 00:59:00.289
Not meant to be. Not meant to be, yeah. Not meant

00:59:00.289 --> 00:59:02.750
to be because maybe you were not ready either.

00:59:03.130 --> 00:59:06.250
Probably. Yeah. Probably. So I did a lot. We

00:59:06.250 --> 00:59:11.510
did Canada, the whole of Canada. We did Dubai,

00:59:11.809 --> 00:59:14.989
Bahrain, Karachi. We did the whole of India.

00:59:15.050 --> 00:59:20.949
Dubai, Bahrain, call me lah. It was all in one.

00:59:21.050 --> 00:59:28.320
In Dubai, Bahrain, Karachi. Okay. So, yeah, quite

00:59:28.320 --> 00:59:31.280
a lot of countries. New Zealand. That one called

00:59:31.280 --> 00:59:35.579
me. No, once if you say no, cannot, then, you

00:59:35.579 --> 00:59:37.900
know, usually in this business, you scratch the

00:59:37.900 --> 00:59:40.119
name out. Okay, that's it. Cancel the bastard

00:59:40.119 --> 00:59:44.039
out. You don't waste. You don't waste time anymore.

00:59:44.619 --> 00:59:47.440
Cancel culture existed way back when. It's like

00:59:47.440 --> 00:59:50.400
if I were to not want to do your show today,

00:59:50.500 --> 00:59:53.760
you go, okay, cancel the bugger out. But then,

00:59:53.800 --> 00:59:57.440
no, you called me last year. I did. Was it in

00:59:57.440 --> 00:59:59.480
October or something? Somewhere there, yeah.

00:59:59.920 --> 01:00:02.800
Ah, which I said, no, I don't want. Yeah. And

01:00:02.800 --> 01:00:05.320
I still pursue you no matter what, man. Because

01:00:05.320 --> 01:00:10.869
I'm persistent as hell. Insurance boy. Oh, let's

01:00:10.869 --> 01:00:14.090
not go to that direction. They all learn to be

01:00:14.090 --> 01:00:16.769
thick -skinned. I've always been thick -skinned,

01:00:16.769 --> 01:00:19.909
man. But anyway, anyway. Yeah, yeah. So I did

01:00:19.909 --> 01:00:23.909
all the tourism board as in not entirely on my

01:00:23.909 --> 01:00:30.110
own, but I participated in. People who called

01:00:30.110 --> 01:00:32.809
me, want to hire me, and if it suits the price,

01:00:32.929 --> 01:00:36.019
if it suits the... Basically, if it suits the

01:00:36.019 --> 01:00:38.960
price, I didn't care which country we're going

01:00:38.960 --> 01:00:43.079
to go for. Because they were all wonderful anyway.

01:00:43.780 --> 01:00:46.500
You get to fly, back then, you get to fly in

01:00:46.500 --> 01:00:51.519
SIA. You get to stay in first class hotels. You

01:00:51.519 --> 01:01:02.070
get a very decent fee. Fee, not per diem. Today

01:01:02.070 --> 01:01:05.889
they will tell you it's per diem. But they gave

01:01:05.889 --> 01:01:09.969
you a fee, food was covered. And they even brought

01:01:09.969 --> 01:01:17.429
us for tours. Like in Canada, in Vancouver, we

01:01:17.429 --> 01:01:20.829
went up to the Gloss Mountain, played with snow

01:01:20.829 --> 01:01:26.909
and stuff like that. And then in Toronto. In

01:01:26.909 --> 01:01:30.630
Toronto, we went to Niagara Falls. You're doing

01:01:30.630 --> 01:01:34.730
this deliberately. No, no, no, no, no. It's a

01:01:34.730 --> 01:01:38.769
fact. Okay, Chris, one back at you. It's a prank.

01:01:39.750 --> 01:01:44.289
But that was before the Karachi. Yeah, because

01:01:44.289 --> 01:01:49.250
after that, after that, things change. And then

01:01:49.250 --> 01:01:54.800
after that. When things change and it becomes

01:01:54.800 --> 01:01:59.119
too much of a cost -effective trip, I would say,

01:01:59.199 --> 01:02:02.780
no thank you. Okay. Yeah, because you have to

01:02:02.780 --> 01:02:05.219
take leave to go for all this. Yeah, precisely,

01:02:05.440 --> 01:02:09.440
man. Cost, opportunity cost. Two more, just two

01:02:09.440 --> 01:02:11.559
more, two more little questions, yeah? Yeah.

01:02:11.719 --> 01:02:14.639
Since you, besides being a singer, besides being

01:02:14.639 --> 01:02:18.340
a performer, and also, you know, managing Cheers

01:02:18.340 --> 01:02:21.460
and Hard Rock, you've been at, You've been through

01:02:21.460 --> 01:02:24.840
the night scene. You evolved part of that bit

01:02:24.840 --> 01:02:27.400
of the night scene through Cheers and the concept

01:02:27.400 --> 01:02:29.840
that you brought to Cheers. Now, if you look

01:02:29.840 --> 01:02:32.460
at how things are like today, I don't know whether

01:02:32.460 --> 01:02:35.059
or not you would believe that you're still very

01:02:35.059 --> 01:02:37.920
much in touch with the night scene here in Singapore.

01:02:38.159 --> 01:02:40.619
What's your opinion of the night scene in Singapore

01:02:40.619 --> 01:02:43.619
these days? To be honest, unfortunately, I'm

01:02:43.619 --> 01:02:46.300
no longer in touch with the night scene. Yeah,

01:02:46.440 --> 01:02:49.340
completely lost. Do you have an opinion at all

01:02:49.340 --> 01:02:54.900
about it? No, none at all. Because it's a completely

01:02:54.900 --> 01:02:59.340
different era. Okay. So you cannot use that as

01:02:59.340 --> 01:03:03.420
a comparison. Completely different era. All I

01:03:03.420 --> 01:03:07.599
know is that if people are struggling today running

01:03:07.599 --> 01:03:14.880
a business and people earning power is way much

01:03:14.880 --> 01:03:17.940
higher than if you're talking about the 80s and

01:03:17.940 --> 01:03:24.679
the 90s. It baffles me. How did people make so

01:03:24.679 --> 01:03:30.469
much money back then? I mean, in Hard Rock, monthly

01:03:30.469 --> 01:03:33.949
revenue, okay, of course it's food, beverage,

01:03:34.210 --> 01:03:36.989
and merchandise. Right, right. You're talking

01:03:36.989 --> 01:03:41.130
about a million a month. What? You better show

01:03:41.130 --> 01:03:44.010
your face to the camera with your what. What?

01:03:44.349 --> 01:03:51.230
Okay. So this was in the early 90s. So much money.

01:03:51.710 --> 01:03:54.139
I mean, the place was... jam -packed all the

01:03:54.139 --> 01:03:56.400
time. Yeah, yeah, I know that, but a given amount

01:03:56.400 --> 01:04:00.119
is crazy. Well, merchandise mainly is tourists,

01:04:00.260 --> 01:04:03.420
but of course locals also bought all the merchandise.

01:04:04.119 --> 01:04:09.519
But just food and beverage, I mean, and drinks,

01:04:09.519 --> 01:04:13.599
F &B, that makes up two -thirds of what the...

01:04:13.599 --> 01:04:18.579
Yeah, of course, yeah. Wow. And that was more

01:04:18.579 --> 01:04:24.599
local spending. Yeah. But back when, way back

01:04:24.599 --> 01:04:27.739
when. So if we had a salary of, say, $1 ,000

01:04:27.739 --> 01:04:31.559
a month or $800 ,000 a month, somehow we had

01:04:31.559 --> 01:04:36.380
more money to spend. We had greater spending

01:04:36.380 --> 01:04:39.340
power. Yeah. But also because people back when,

01:04:39.460 --> 01:04:42.679
way back when, people like me spending at a hard

01:04:42.679 --> 01:04:47.800
rock. It's just one bullet, right? We enjoyed

01:04:47.800 --> 01:04:51.440
good music. We enjoyed the party. We enjoyed

01:04:51.440 --> 01:04:55.300
the party, man. All throughout, even people in

01:04:55.300 --> 01:04:58.699
the 60s and 70s, you know, the cover charge was

01:04:58.699 --> 01:05:03.280
like, I remember while I was still in National

01:05:03.280 --> 01:05:06.480
Service, I went to Lost Horizon. Right, wow.

01:05:06.780 --> 01:05:09.699
Yeah. The experiment was playing. Yeah, yeah,

01:05:09.739 --> 01:05:14.010
yeah. It was $25, covered charge. There's no

01:05:14.010 --> 01:05:15.510
more covered charges these days, by the way.

01:05:15.630 --> 01:05:20.550
Yeah, but $25. But it was wow enough for people

01:05:20.550 --> 01:05:22.610
to say, okay, I want to spend $25. Yeah, we'll

01:05:22.610 --> 01:05:25.789
pay that money. So hard work was the same also.

01:05:25.849 --> 01:05:30.460
We had covered charge. Right. inclusive of one

01:05:30.460 --> 01:05:33.199
drink, but people said, hey, that place is, wow,

01:05:33.260 --> 01:05:37.079
it's worth paying. So the key question here is

01:05:37.079 --> 01:05:39.860
that is there anywhere else it's worth paying?

01:05:40.760 --> 01:05:44.780
So there's a bit of a cat and mouse here. If

01:05:44.780 --> 01:05:46.880
they want to put a good band, they know they

01:05:46.880 --> 01:05:54.900
have to, the budget is sky high. But, so they

01:05:54.900 --> 01:05:58.139
decide not to put a band there. and just wait

01:05:58.139 --> 01:06:00.300
for people to come and enjoy that place. But

01:06:00.300 --> 01:06:02.619
if people don't enjoy it, then nothing happens.

01:06:03.420 --> 01:06:05.920
So sometimes they have to take the risk and put

01:06:05.920 --> 01:06:08.639
a really good band, and you've got to pay for

01:06:08.639 --> 01:06:12.539
that value of a good band. Do you think that

01:06:12.539 --> 01:06:17.679
kind of hype that we used to have, like you said,

01:06:17.739 --> 01:06:21.280
with a really good band in play, that it would

01:06:21.280 --> 01:06:26.570
bring partygoers to come back? to our local scene?

01:06:26.730 --> 01:06:32.510
No. Why not? Well, look at it this way. Music

01:06:32.510 --> 01:06:37.389
is available everywhere. Okay. Okay. If local

01:06:37.389 --> 01:06:40.530
bands were doing great back then, or even myself,

01:06:40.789 --> 01:06:47.230
if people wanted to listen to me sing, we didn't

01:06:47.230 --> 01:06:50.710
get the opportunity for listening to the original

01:06:50.710 --> 01:06:53.710
singer, the international artist. Right, right,

01:06:53.750 --> 01:06:59.400
right. Okay. So you do with the next best. Which

01:06:59.400 --> 01:07:03.719
is the cover bands. So we had so many cover bands.

01:07:04.059 --> 01:07:07.320
We had really good cover bands. Even Douglas

01:07:07.320 --> 01:07:14.019
Olivero. Good cover band. But today those kind

01:07:14.019 --> 01:07:16.880
of music has died off. And then you have the...

01:07:17.500 --> 01:07:21.219
more newer stuff which is nowhere near what it

01:07:21.219 --> 01:07:24.739
was and then you have music videos you can watch

01:07:24.739 --> 01:07:29.599
anytime right for me growing up could never see

01:07:29.599 --> 01:07:35.840
music videos at all no MTV yet yeah nothing you

01:07:35.840 --> 01:07:39.039
know occasionally you might catch a glimpse of

01:07:39.039 --> 01:07:42.380
the Jackson 5 performing but it will be more

01:07:42.380 --> 01:07:46.300
like a documentary or whatever but not the whole

01:07:46.300 --> 01:07:48.940
song but today you can get it anywhere and everywhere

01:07:48.940 --> 01:07:53.199
including on your phone Spotify and international

01:07:53.199 --> 01:07:57.460
artists just keep flowing in whether here or

01:07:57.460 --> 01:08:05.500
somewhere nearby and so why would I want to go

01:08:05.500 --> 01:08:07.579
out and spend so much money on something else?

01:08:07.719 --> 01:08:11.619
And then we've also been spoiled by, not spoiled,

01:08:11.699 --> 01:08:15.699
but, you know, piping music or DJ music. So some

01:08:15.699 --> 01:08:18.560
people like DJ music, some people like live bands.

01:08:19.000 --> 01:08:21.939
But then live bands sometimes are a bit too noisy.

01:08:21.939 --> 01:08:26.699
I cannot use my phone. In Cheers, we didn't have

01:08:26.699 --> 01:08:29.460
handphone. I mean, we had, but not... everybody

01:08:29.460 --> 01:08:32.600
could afford a handphone. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And

01:08:32.600 --> 01:08:35.359
they were not smartphones anyway. No. Yeah. You

01:08:35.359 --> 01:08:38.539
know, they were your flip phone, your brick,

01:08:38.640 --> 01:08:44.520
from brick to flip. And so, uninterrupted. Entertainment.

01:08:45.739 --> 01:08:47.760
Socializing with your friends, listening to music.

01:08:47.880 --> 01:08:51.359
So you had pager. The pager will go up. Okay.

01:08:51.819 --> 01:08:54.680
You know you got to step aside, go find a phone

01:08:54.680 --> 01:08:57.520
or use your phone. Today we have smartphones.

01:08:58.079 --> 01:09:01.140
We want to be able to have a conversation with

01:09:01.140 --> 01:09:04.500
our friends. At the same time, we want to pick

01:09:04.500 --> 01:09:07.239
up the phone for a conversation or we want to

01:09:07.239 --> 01:09:10.279
go in and chat or we want to check out whatever

01:09:10.279 --> 01:09:13.229
it is. And at the same time, the ambience, you've

01:09:13.229 --> 01:09:17.670
got music going on, you've got this. Life is

01:09:17.670 --> 01:09:21.229
so full. Distractions. So many distractions.

01:09:21.289 --> 01:09:27.729
Yeah, a lot of that. Okay. So how to put a value

01:09:27.729 --> 01:09:31.430
on good entertainment? Yeah, you're right. You're

01:09:31.430 --> 01:09:35.210
right, sadly. Yeah. We evolve like, you know.

01:09:35.270 --> 01:09:38.489
Yeah, yeah. We evolve. But at least we have seniors

01:09:38.489 --> 01:09:42.090
who enjoy the music of their time and there are

01:09:42.090 --> 01:09:44.550
seniors who are still playing the music that

01:09:44.550 --> 01:09:48.090
seniors enjoy. Yeah. And they do their own get

01:09:48.090 --> 01:09:51.970
-together. Yeah. Which is cheaper. I mean, like,

01:09:51.970 --> 01:09:54.170
I've had people who come to me and say, eh, why

01:09:54.170 --> 01:09:56.210
don't you open up a place like Cheers again,

01:09:56.329 --> 01:09:59.510
you know. It was so wow. You get to listen to

01:09:59.510 --> 01:10:01.630
Kool and the Gang and blah, blah, blah, blah,

01:10:01.670 --> 01:10:06.449
blah. And this person who's telling me used to

01:10:06.449 --> 01:10:12.630
come at least four to five days a week and will

01:10:12.630 --> 01:10:18.729
easily spend just on his own $100, right? So

01:10:18.729 --> 01:10:23.229
if I opened up a concept like that, how often

01:10:23.229 --> 01:10:28.140
do you think he can come and patronize? It wouldn't

01:10:28.140 --> 01:10:31.439
be like before. Once a month? Probably, probably,

01:10:31.720 --> 01:10:35.579
yeah, probably. So how am I going to survive

01:10:35.579 --> 01:10:39.399
if you can only come once a month? Yeah. Are

01:10:39.399 --> 01:10:41.539
you still looking forward to singing and performing?

01:10:42.279 --> 01:10:46.779
I am, but unfortunately right now my energy is

01:10:46.779 --> 01:10:51.720
really, really, really, really low. I wish it

01:10:51.720 --> 01:10:56.289
was much higher. And of course, I have this charity

01:10:56.289 --> 01:11:01.989
event with you and Stephen Francis on the 30th

01:11:01.989 --> 01:11:05.529
of July. Yeah, and the 1st of August. And I'm

01:11:05.529 --> 01:11:08.949
hoping that in the next two months or three months

01:11:08.949 --> 01:11:14.670
from now, that my health will improve, my energy

01:11:14.670 --> 01:11:18.489
would improve. I mean, singing is not only just

01:11:18.489 --> 01:11:20.829
about here, the throat, you've got your lungs

01:11:20.829 --> 01:11:24.479
and your... Your diaphragm, your entire... Complete

01:11:24.479 --> 01:11:27.279
energy, your body energy. If your body doesn't

01:11:27.279 --> 01:11:29.920
have energy, it cannot help to push the diaphragm.

01:11:29.920 --> 01:11:33.460
It cannot help to squeeze the air from the lungs

01:11:33.460 --> 01:11:37.619
to come out. So I'm hoping that happens. But

01:11:37.619 --> 01:11:39.600
you know it will happen, I'm confident. Oh, I

01:11:39.600 --> 01:11:42.479
really want to because by next year, I really

01:11:42.479 --> 01:11:46.539
want to perform again and be able to do at least

01:11:46.539 --> 01:11:54.159
70 % of what I used to be. able to do let's not

01:11:54.159 --> 01:11:55.779
wait till then because i'm pretty sure you're

01:11:55.779 --> 01:11:58.819
gonna you're gonna be great when we when we work

01:11:58.819 --> 01:12:01.100
together for that the two nights of that concert

01:12:01.100 --> 01:12:04.840
i hope so too yeah man yeah okay yeah sure go

01:12:04.840 --> 01:12:07.880
ahead please please hard rock yeah it was one

01:12:07.880 --> 01:12:10.640
of the most glamorous place i've worked but i

01:12:10.640 --> 01:12:14.840
got to thank the bosses for hard rock we had

01:12:14.840 --> 01:12:17.939
so many international artists coming through

01:12:18.729 --> 01:12:20.869
And the other wonderful thing with hard rock

01:12:20.869 --> 01:12:26.609
was HBL was the owner of hard rock. Yeah. HBL

01:12:26.609 --> 01:12:30.350
was also the owner of that art, yeah. They're

01:12:30.350 --> 01:12:33.569
still the owners, yeah. The concert producers,

01:12:33.710 --> 01:12:38.289
what's their name? Concert producers? I mean,

01:12:38.289 --> 01:12:40.090
they brought in so many international artists

01:12:40.090 --> 01:12:45.170
like Michael Jackson. Is it rock productions?

01:12:45.609 --> 01:12:51.300
No. No? No, no, no, no. Oh, dear. LAMC? Way before

01:12:51.300 --> 01:12:53.539
that. Well, who are they, man? I don't remember.

01:12:53.859 --> 01:12:57.300
But they are part of HBL. So whenever they brought

01:12:57.300 --> 01:13:00.960
artists such as Michael Jackson or whoever, people

01:13:00.960 --> 01:13:04.880
at Hard Rock get to enjoy. Yeah. You guys enjoy

01:13:04.880 --> 01:13:07.579
the fringes of it. Yeah. Like when Michael Jackson

01:13:07.579 --> 01:13:11.920
came here for his last concert here, Hard Rock

01:13:11.920 --> 01:13:14.739
was automatically the caterer, official caterer.

01:13:14.840 --> 01:13:18.170
Yeah, yeah. So in doing so, we get to rub shoulders

01:13:18.170 --> 01:13:22.130
with all the artists. And then we also brought

01:13:22.130 --> 01:13:24.970
in international artists to perform at the cafe.

01:13:26.710 --> 01:13:31.289
So we got to rub shoulders with so many people.

01:13:31.449 --> 01:13:33.810
Great experiences. Great, great, great, great

01:13:33.810 --> 01:13:39.000
experiences. Even your wrestlers back then. You

01:13:39.000 --> 01:13:43.619
know, WWF days. Undertaker and was it Yokozuna?

01:13:43.939 --> 01:13:46.699
Yokozuna, yeah. All these people. They were at

01:13:46.699 --> 01:13:50.579
Hard Rock as well. Yeah, they were giant. I had

01:13:50.579 --> 01:13:55.000
to stand on top of the chair to have a conversation

01:13:55.000 --> 01:14:00.100
with them. And I have a picture where I have

01:14:00.100 --> 01:14:05.640
Yokozuna on one side and Hogan. Undertaker on

01:14:05.640 --> 01:14:09.090
the other side. I actually look like the beef

01:14:09.090 --> 01:14:13.989
patty from McDonald's burger. And they're both

01:14:13.989 --> 01:14:17.350
the buns, you know, that thing. And their fist

01:14:17.350 --> 01:14:21.569
was as big as my face. That was a wonderful experience.

01:14:22.130 --> 01:14:25.090
We got Steve Fine who came there and that place

01:14:25.090 --> 01:14:29.010
was packed like sardines. Wow. You know, so many

01:14:29.010 --> 01:14:32.369
great artists passed through there. That's not

01:14:32.369 --> 01:14:36.569
happening anymore, man. Yeah, well. I had to

01:14:36.569 --> 01:14:40.890
move on. I even had opportunities to record with

01:14:40.890 --> 01:14:47.289
so many people. Notably with Tracy Wong. Wow,

01:14:47.369 --> 01:14:51.010
yeah, yeah. I did Phantom of the Opera. Wow.

01:14:52.029 --> 01:14:55.590
Which role do you play? What Phantom? The Phantom?

01:14:56.350 --> 01:15:00.489
You play the Phantom? Yeah. Wow! I mean, it's

01:15:00.489 --> 01:15:07.069
a duet. phantom oh no more talk of doctors okay

01:15:07.069 --> 01:15:12.029
that do it yeah that do it and uh all i ask of

01:15:12.029 --> 01:15:18.159
you that's the song yeah no not that one The

01:15:18.159 --> 01:15:20.880
Phantom of the Opera. Oh, that one. The main

01:15:20.880 --> 01:15:25.039
one. Okay. Yeah. Did that one. On My Own. Also

01:15:25.039 --> 01:15:28.079
did that one with her. Had some other Taiwanese

01:15:28.079 --> 01:15:30.460
singers. On My Own. The one with James Ingram

01:15:30.460 --> 01:15:33.520
and Patti LaBelle. That song. No. Michael McDonald

01:15:33.520 --> 01:15:35.680
and Patti LaBelle. Oh, Michael McDonald. Yeah,

01:15:35.739 --> 01:15:40.180
that's right. That one. I also did some other

01:15:40.180 --> 01:15:42.800
Taiwanese singers. I cannot remember their name.

01:15:46.150 --> 01:15:50.029
somewhere out there. Yeah, so I was called upon

01:15:50.029 --> 01:15:54.289
to do a lot of duets back then. Well, it was

01:15:54.289 --> 01:15:57.710
funny. Okay. Yeah, you got mosquito in here.

01:15:57.750 --> 01:15:59.470
It's not a mosquito. It's not a mosquito. It's

01:15:59.470 --> 01:16:02.789
a little moth. Talking about mosquito, what made

01:16:02.789 --> 01:16:08.289
me the way I am today is a mosquito. I had dengue

01:16:08.289 --> 01:16:13.319
in 2019. Okay. And it was the worst one. The

01:16:13.319 --> 01:16:16.560
doctor said, I may have had one before. And so

01:16:16.560 --> 01:16:19.039
what I had was the second, which is why it was

01:16:19.039 --> 01:16:23.840
really drastic. It was terrible. I immediately

01:16:23.840 --> 01:16:28.300
lost about seven kg. And that's when my hair

01:16:28.300 --> 01:16:34.260
started going off. And my entire energy kind

01:16:34.260 --> 01:16:39.260
of died off from there. From dengue? Yeah. It

01:16:39.260 --> 01:16:45.000
was a serious one. I struggled with it. Well,

01:16:45.079 --> 01:16:47.079
as I said, Robert, I'm confident you're going

01:16:47.079 --> 01:16:49.539
to get better. I hope so. And you're going to

01:16:49.539 --> 01:16:52.039
be light as the rain when we work together again.

01:16:52.800 --> 01:16:55.300
I'm looking forward for that. Yeah, so am I,

01:16:55.300 --> 01:16:57.420
so am I. And it's a great segue, you know, by

01:16:57.420 --> 01:16:59.859
the way, since you spoke, you were talking about

01:16:59.859 --> 01:17:01.539
Hard Rock and the experiences you had there.

01:17:01.739 --> 01:17:03.960
It's a great segue. You know why? Because at

01:17:03.960 --> 01:17:05.739
this point of the show, I'm going to look at

01:17:05.739 --> 01:17:09.000
my camera and I'm going to say a very big congratulations

01:17:09.000 --> 01:17:12.420
to the good people from Shure. Congratulations

01:17:12.420 --> 01:17:17.060
on celebrating your 100 years of existence, man.

01:17:17.159 --> 01:17:21.279
I'm churning out great microphones for, oh, my

01:17:21.279 --> 01:17:25.300
goodness. And Elvis, Elvis loved your products

01:17:25.300 --> 01:17:30.460
too. Like me, I love Shure. And also a very big

01:17:30.460 --> 01:17:33.640
thank you to the good people from E &E. Thank

01:17:33.640 --> 01:17:38.399
you very much for organizing the 100 years celebrations

01:17:38.399 --> 01:17:41.340
for Shure at the Hard Rock in Cuskenden Road

01:17:41.340 --> 01:17:47.199
a couple of days ago. For those of you, well,

01:17:47.279 --> 01:17:49.119
you're watching this episode, I can tell you

01:17:49.119 --> 01:17:53.100
right now, again, don't go away yet. We're ending

01:17:53.100 --> 01:17:55.800
the show with that soulful, unique voice of Mr.

01:17:55.880 --> 01:17:58.420
Robert Fernando, performing The Way We Were.

01:17:58.600 --> 01:18:00.819
And until next time, this is Chris Hansen with

01:18:00.819 --> 01:18:03.539
my guest, Robert Fernando. Thank you for watching

01:18:03.539 --> 01:18:05.819
the Chris Hansen Conversation. Stay safe, everyone.

01:18:06.020 --> 01:18:17.460
Bye -bye. Are you sure? Hmm. I've been standing

01:18:17.460 --> 01:18:19.560
here for one and a half hours and you get that

01:18:19.560 --> 01:18:25.539
kind of scream. Is it the sex? I mean the sex

01:18:25.539 --> 01:18:30.060
of home play, huh? How about a big hand for Liam

01:18:30.060 --> 01:18:35.739
and those of you? Awesome. Great guy. I can only

01:18:35.739 --> 01:18:41.659
hire him for one song. I mean, if not, the women

01:18:41.659 --> 01:18:45.529
will go wild, you know. Yeah. Well, we're coming

01:18:45.529 --> 01:18:53.409
to the end. Like every good thing must come to

01:18:53.409 --> 01:18:57.989
an end. And I know there are so many of you dying

01:18:57.989 --> 01:19:01.949
to go to the toilet as well. I could be one of

01:19:01.949 --> 01:19:11.210
them. You know, after a certain age. Not yet,

01:19:11.310 --> 01:19:14.800
huh? Thank you very much. not bad for 55 i'm

01:19:14.800 --> 01:19:18.619
still pretty good as a matter of fact for 55

01:19:18.619 --> 01:19:34.939
i'm great you know we always talk about the good

01:19:34.939 --> 01:19:38.359
old days yeah so when when you listen to songs

01:19:38.359 --> 01:19:41.739
like this It really brings back wonderful memories.

01:19:41.899 --> 01:19:46.119
And that's what songs represent to all of us.

01:19:46.739 --> 01:19:50.819
It takes you back when you heard the song. Sometimes

01:19:50.819 --> 01:19:54.399
they're sad memories. But most of the time they're

01:19:54.399 --> 01:19:57.279
happy. In fact, the wonderful thing is that once

01:19:57.279 --> 01:20:00.600
you've gone past it, they're all the good old

01:20:00.600 --> 01:20:03.659
days. Sometimes I hear people talking about the

01:20:03.659 --> 01:20:05.859
good old days. But did you just go through Second

01:20:05.859 --> 01:20:14.869
World War? It was still the good old days. So

01:20:14.869 --> 01:20:16.970
I'm going to do this song called The Way We Were.

01:20:19.569 --> 01:20:26.390
Can it be that it was all so simple then? For

01:20:26.390 --> 01:20:33.689
us time we've written every line. If we have

01:20:33.689 --> 01:20:44.359
a chance Tell me you could read. Could read.

01:20:47.760 --> 01:20:59.640
Memories. Like the corners of my mind. Missing

01:20:59.640 --> 01:23:23.869
one color. of a smile To do it all again Remember