Matthew and the Mandarins

Matthew and the Mandarins are a country music band from Singapore, active since the 1960s. Among their singles were "Singapore Cowboy" (1978) and "Let's Put the Sing in Singapore" (1979).

Matthew and the Mandarins
OriginSingapore
GenresCountry
Years active1960s–present
LabelsLife, EMI
Associated acts
Members
  • Matthew Tan
  • Patrick Favacho
  • Rawi B Omar
  • Michael Png

Background

Mathew Tan is the leader of the group.[1] The group was formed by Tan under the name Matthew Tan and the Mandarins in 1961. By the mid-1960s, they were appearing in hotels.[2] By the 1970s, as Matthew and the Mandarins, they had achieved a large following. Following their signing to EMI Singapore in 1978, they performed in Canada, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand and the United States.[3] They had a number 1 hit with "Singapore Cowboy".[4]

One of the venues they played at was the Horizon at the Shangri-la Hotel. One of their shows there was watched by Taiwanese singer Teresa Teng.[5]

The group is mentioned in an L.A. Weekly article about L.A. DJ and musician Chad Brown in his quest to find rare and interesting records. Along with a record by the "Jose Feliciano of Malyasia", Alfred Ho, he rated the Matthew & the Mandarins record as one of his best finds.[6]

Career

1960s

The group backed Anita Sarawak on her With a Lot O' Soul EP which was released in 1969. The songs were "Yesterday's Gone", "Where Did Our Love Go", "I'm Your Special Fool" and "Hi-Heel Sneakers".[7]

1970s

Matthew and Co. had an LP released on Life Records in 1974. The album was credited to Mathew with the Mandarins. It featured Matthew Tan on rhythm guitar, Neal Alexander on lead guitar, Richard Danker on bass, piano and organ and Jeffrey Goh on drums and tambourine. Songs on the album included "Louisiana Man", "Is Anybody Goin' to San Antone", "Folsom Prison Blues" and "Snakes Crawl at Night".[8]

In 1978, their self-titled album, Matthew & the Mandarins was released on EMI EMGS 5016.[9] By September that year, the group had sold 5000 copies of their recently cut record. One copy was sent over to the organizers of the Tulsa International Festival. As a result, the group was invited to go to Oklahoma to take part in the international music festival, held in November that year. The festival which had an attendance of 8000 the previous year had nine countries coming over. In September that year, the group's line-up consisted of Matthew Tan, Michael Png, Derek Danker, Richard Danker and Philip Monteiro.[10]

Their album II was released in 1979. Produced by Reggie Verghese, it contained some original compositions as well as covers by Tan and Bristow Hopper. Bristow Hopper had in the past worked with Roy Orbison. The first song on side was "Let's Put the Sing in Singapore". Other songs include covers of Kenny Rogers' "Love or Something Like It", Kris Kristofferson's "Stranger", Johnny Horton's "North to Alaska" and the song "Shenandoah". In a 2016 review of the album, some 37 years after its release, Pat Padua of Spectrum Culture talking about dollar bins being a great place to get acquainted with music from a faraway said it was the kind of dollar bin album that you'd pick up as a joke but turns out to be serious fun.[11][12] Also In 1979, according to Billboard in their August 18 issue, the group was no longer with EMI and they had signed to WEA.[13]

1980s to 1990s

In 1980, Tan mentioned the problem with pirating. As mentioned in the August 16 issue of Billboard, he said his records had not done as well as expected due to the version by the pirates coming out the day after the official release.[14]

In 1992, EMI released The Very Best of Matthew & the Mandarins which featured "Singapore Cowboy", "Broken lady", "Lucille" and a duet with Sarah Chen, "I Really Don't Want To Know".[15]

The July 27, 1996 issue of Billboard noted that EMI had released two compilations by Singaporean act The Quests and an album by Matthew & the Mandarins. EMI Singapore managing director said that there wasn't any plan to re-launch any careers. The albums were just for the fans that remember.[16]

2000s

Tan became the subject of Singapore Country, a 2012 documentary by Wee Li Lin in which the film-maker paid tribute to the song as well as the artist.[17][18]

On November 8, 2013, The Mandarins were the house band for the Yesterday Once More II concert, held at the Esplanade Concert Hall. Tan was also the musical director of the concert which featured Jimmy Chan, Gina Vadham, Henry Suriya, Hillary Francis, Mel and Joe, and Frank and Robyn.[19]

In 2014, Tan was appearing at the Canberra Country Blues & Roots Festival. In addition to playing there, he was one of two artists to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award, the Asia-Pacific Lifetime Achievement Award.[20]

On June 17, 2015, Reggie Verghese who produced two of their albums died of heart failure.[21][22]

On January 4, 2016 the group were at a 2 concert event that featured Sheila De Niro and Anthony Kwah in the afternoon concert. The event, the Coffee Morning and Afternoon Tea series had been going for around 13 years. They played the morning concert. The concert was almost sold out straight away. The group opened with a Johnny Russell composition, "Catfish John". They performed another 18 songs which included a Hank Williams song " Bayou Country" and the Tanya Tucker song, "Delta Dawn". The last song was "Singapore Cowboy" which had the audience incited the audience's approval and had them singing the refrain and requesting an encore.[23]

Along with Leonard And The Country Riders, Ferdinands, Rani Tofani, and country rock group, S.A.L.T, they appeared at the two day Singapore Country Line Dance Festival 2017 which was held at the Far East Square on a Friday and then on Saturday at the Goodman Arts Centre.[24]

It was announced in The Straits Times on April 24, 2017 that the group was one of the acts appearing at the Singapore Expo that month.[25]

Members
  • Neal Alexander - lead guitar
  • Derrick Danker - lead guitar
  • Richard Danker - bass, piano, organ
  • Jeffrey Goh - drums, tambourine
  • Phillip Monteiro - drums
  • Michael Png - steel guitar, acoustic guitar
  • Matthew Tan - vocals, rhythm guitar

Note: Neal Alexander and Jeffrey Goh only appear on the first album.[26]

Discography
Album
Act Title Release Year Notes #
Matthew with the Mandarins Four Seasons Life 1974
Matthew and the Mandarins Matthew & the Mandarins EMI 1978
Matthew and the Mandarins Matthew & the Mandarins II EMI 1979 [27]
Matthew and the Mandarins The Very Best of Matthew & the Mandarins EMI CD[28][29]
EP
Act Title Release Year Notes #
Anita Sarawak With a Lot O' Soul Columbia 1969 Mandarins are the backing group[30]

References
  1. Urbanwire.com, Tue, 22 Nov 2011 - MeRadio Rocks the Marina! – Not too young, not too old - Justine Koh
  2. Mothership.sg, December 22, 2014 - 8 Pop acts you boogied to if you were alive in the 60s By Joshua Lee
  3. The Straits Times, Nov 15, 2014 - Singapore Cowboy Matthew Tan riding high - Phoebe Low
  4. Bandwagon - Matthew & The Mandarins, Biography
  5. The Singapore Memory Project - The History In Matchboxes Page 4 The Phillumenists
  6. L.A. Weekly, November 26, 2010 - In Search Of: Chad Brown on Rare Country From Prison, Johnny Paycheck and the Phillipines[sic], What were your best finds? - Lainna Fader
  7. Discogs - Anita Sarawak – With A Lot O' Soul
  8. Discogs - Matthew With The Mandarins* – Four Seasons
  9. Steve Goodman: Facing the Music, Clay Eals - Page 733
  10. New Nation, Monday September 11, 1978 - Singapore cowboy hits West, Matthew gets the big invite
  11. Spectrum Culture, November 2, 2016 - Bargain Bin Babylon: Matthew and the Mandarins: II - Pat Paduia
  12. Discogs - Matthew* & The Mandarins – II
  13. Billboard, August 18, 1979 - Page 59 International Briefs, Singapore Signings
  14. Billboard, August 16, 1980 - Page 60 Singapore Is Piracy Center, Admits Assn. By PETER ONG
  15. National Library Board Singapore - The very best of Matthew & the Mandarins, VIEW ALBUM INSERT, 6/6
  16. Billboard, July 27, 1996 - Page 59 Global Music Pulse, Singapore - Philip Cheah
  17. The Straits Times, November 15, 2014 - Singer Matthew Tan will receive a lifetime achievement award for the 1978 country hit song - Phoebe Low
  18. South East Asia + Indie Films (SINDIE) Saturday, May 12, 2012 - Singapore Cowboy... more than just a pipe dream
  19. Today, 05 November, 2013 - Blast from the past from S’pore veteran musicians By Christopher Toh
  20. Canberra Country Blues & Roots Festival - NEWS 2014, 2. Lifetime Achievement Awards
  21. Discogs - The Mandarins
  22. The Strait Times, Jun 18, 2015 - Task master who also encouraged and praised - Eddino Abdul Hadi
  23. Goldenager, January 5, 2016 - Concert : Matthew and The Mandarins; & Sheila De Niro and Anthony Kwah
  24. The Straits Times, March 10, 2017 - Yee-Ha! Get in line and dance - Gurveen Kaur
  25. The Strait Times, Apr 24, 2017 - 10-hour showcase of local music - Eddino Abdul Hadi
  26. Discogs - Matthew* & The Mandarins – Matthew And The Mandarins, Credits
  27. Discogs - Matthew Tan, Albums
  28. National Library Board Singapore - The very best of Matthew & the Mandarins, VIEW ALBUM INSERT
  29. Discogs - Matthew With The Mandarins* – Four Seasons
  30. Discogs - Anita Sarawak – With a Lot O' Soul
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