Zircon Lounge was a Singaporean band formed in the early 1980s that achieved popularity with the release of their influential debut album, ''Regal Vigor'' (1983). The pioneering new wave band broke up in 1988. Despite their short lifespan, Zircon Lounge is credited with sparking off the Singapore alternative music scene.

History

Zircon Lounge formed from the ashes of

Damien Sin Damien Sin (1965 – 2011), born Foong Yu Lei, was a Singaporean author, poet and musician. He has written several bestselling books published by the Angsana Books imprint of publisher Flame Of The Forest Publishing. Sin died in 2011. After fa ...

's Transformer, a

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The sty ...

band that disc jockey and music critic Chris Ho was a part of from 1979. Transformer disbanded in 1982 and Zircon Lounge was formed shortly after with Ho on lead vocals, Tan Tiang Yeow on lead guitars, Ernie Woo Huay Pin on bass, and Ronnie Chung Shih Loong on drums. The band was named after a lyric in the song "The Have-Nots" by American band X. Initially, the band performed covers of

Patti Smith Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter and author who became an influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album '' Horses''. Called the "punk poe ...

and

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. ...

songs, before progressing to original songs. Influenced by American

new wave music New wave is a loosely defined music genre that encompasses pop-oriented styles from the late 1970s and the 1980s. It was originally used as a catch-all for the various styles of music that emerged after punk rock, including punk itself. La ...

Iggy Pop James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter and actor. Called the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Godfather of Punk", he was the vocalist and lyricist of ...

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and

Alan Vega Boruch Alan Bermowitz (June 23, 1938 – July 16, 2016), known professionally as Alan Vega, was an American vocalist and visual artist, primarily known for his work with the electronic protopunk duo Suicide. Life and career Boruch Alan Berm ...

, Zircon Lounge was inspired to shake up the Singaporean music scene, which in the 1980s mostly consisted of cover bands. As Ho told Philip Cheah of the ''Singapore Monitor'' in 1983: " are a band which believes in principles, and rock 'n' roll has got to do with what's new. It's got to do with change. So we've got to move and chart new directions. Everyone wants to play safe. No one wants to do anything about music because the feeling is – 'Ah, it's too difficult'. That's what making ''Regal Vigour'' means to us – not playing safe." ''Regal Vigor'', the band's debut album, was released by Warner Music Singapore (WEA) in late 1983. Consisting of three covers—

Romeo Void Romeo Void was an American new wave/post punk band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1979. The band primarily consisted of saxophonist Benjamin Bossi, vocalist Debora Iyall, guitarist Peter Woods, and bassist Frank Zincavage. The band ...

's "Myself to Myself" and two of the

Velvet Underground Weave details visible on a purple-colored velvet fabric Velvet is a type of woven tufted fabric Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabri ...

's "

Sweet Jane "Sweet Jane" is a song by American rock band the Velvet Underground; it appears on their fourth studio album '' Loaded'' (1970). The song was written by Lou Reed, the band's leader, who continued to incorporate the piece into live performances a ...

"—and seven original songs, ''Regal Vigor'' was co-produced by

Dick Lee Richard Lee Peng Boon (born 24 August 1956) is a Singaporean singer-songwriter, playwright and film director. Early life Lee was born to a Peranakan father, Lee Kip Lee, (who wrote for ''The Straits Times'') and his wife , Elizabeth Tan. He was th ...

, and featured guest spots from

Anita Sarawak Ithnaini binti Mohamed Taib (born 23 March 1952), better known by her stage name Anita Sarawak, is a Singaporean singer, actress and talk show host. Early years Anita is the only child of actor and director S. Roomai Noor and actress Siput Saraw ...

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and Broery Marantika. Two songs, "Savior" and the Thai-influenced "Chanachai", were released as singles. Upon its release, ''Regal Vigor'' was heralded by ''

The Straits Times ''The Straits Times'' is an English-language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Singapore and currently owned by SPH Media Trust (previously Singapore Press Holdings). ''The Sunday Times'' is its Sunday edition. The newspaper was established ...

Richard Lim as "the boldest venture ever in the history of local recording", and Zircon Lounge as "the only local band who's got a firm grasp of what rock 'n' roll is all about". Zircon Lounge was also billed as "Singapore's Most Exciting Group", and their live shows were compared to the

's and called "the first time

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that a band has gone out of its way to challenge the audience". To promote the album, Zircon Lounge played a one-week stint at The Rainbow on Cuscaden Road, alongside American funk band New Joy and Australian group Cut Glass. Their live repertoire included covers of

Joy Division Joy Division were an English rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist Ian Curtis, guitarist/keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris. Sumner and Hook formed the band after attend ...

's "Transmission" and

's "Street Hassle". In May 1984, Zircon Lounge was dropped by their label as ''Regal Vigor'' had only sold about 1,000 copies. In comparison, a

Tracy Huang Tracy Huang (; born 29 August 1951) is a Taiwanese singer. Huang began her career in music with the Thunderbird Choir, alongside Su Rui. After she left the group, Huang spent two years in Taichung, at an American military base, where she learne ...

album sold an average of 50,000 copies. Despite not having a recording contract, Zircon Lounge played another one-week stint at The Rainbow in August 1984. In the same month, it was reported that the band had written 20 new songs using

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

's cut-up technique, and that lead guitarist Tan would soon return to England for his final year of studies. In June 1985, Zircon Lounge contributed two tracks, "Guide These Hands" and "Lonely When Away From My Love", to the WEA Records album ''Class Acts''. The album was a hit, selling more than 20,000 copies in Singapore. In March 1986, Zircon Lounge played the "Let's Rock" concert at the

National Stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football stadiu ...

with new members Chee Kee Chien (second guitar), Abdul Razak bin Mamat (drums) and Nasir bin Abdul Rashid (bass). They performed three new songs, a cover of

Tokyo Square Tokyo Square is a Singaporean Singaporeans, or the Singaporean people, refers to citizens or people who identify with the sovereign island city-state of Singapore. Singapore is a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-lingual country. Sin ...

's hit "Within You'll Remain" and new numbers "Cold in Buriram" and funk shuffle "Nights on the CTE". In August 1986, the band contributed two tracks to WEA Records
''Class Acts Two''
the Thai-influenced "Vaneepok" and "Cold in Buriram", which was compared to

The Doors The Doors were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential ro ...

and called "the best song on the album". "Cold in Buriram" hit a peak of No. 3 on the charts. In May 1987, Zircon Lounge was captured live along with bands like Opposition Party on the cassette ''No Surrender – Live at Anywhere'', released by BigO. In the same year, the band contributed the song "Cold in Buriram" to the compilatio
''Made in Singapore''
Later in the year, Zircon Lounge played its last gig at the

National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national public research university in Singapore. Founded in 1905 as the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School, NUS is the oldest autonomous university in the c ...

's Yin & Yang Festival. The band parted ways shortly after. In 2003, Ho reunited with lead guitarist Tan Tiang Yeow to form Zircon Gov. Pawn Starz, an

electroclash Electroclash (also known as synthcore, retro-electro, tech-pop, nouveau disco, and the new new wave) is a genre of music that fuses 1980s electro, new wave and synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) ...

project fronted by singer Sue-Sue Law, the alter-ego of DJ Suzanne Walker. Zircon Gov. Pawn Starz released their debut album, ''Follywood'', in 2004. In 2009, Zircon Lounge's 1984 track "Guide These Hands" was included in ''+65 Underground'', a retrospective anthology of indie/underground rock in Singapore. In July 2013, producer Fauxe released a remix of Zircon Lounge'
"Strangers"
Later in the year, Ho announced on his website that Zircon Lounge's ''Regal Vigor'' album would be re-mastered for a re-issue in late 2013 with bonus tracks, with a new version of "Cold in Buriram" to be produced by Kiat of Syndicate. He also stated that original members of the band have reformed under the moniker Zirconia and are working on a new EP with guitarist Randolf Arriola. As of 2019, however, these plans have yet to materialise.

Members

*Chris Ho (vocals) X' Ho was the musician/author/underground filmmaker who was better accepted in Singapore as Chris Ho, the radio DJ. During his lifetime he wrote three books about Singapore, made six short films and recorded numerous CDs includin
''Lucifugous''
(2013), a collaboration with ARCN TEMPL who are Leslie Low & Vivian Wang of The Observatory. His 2009 albu
''No Ordinary Country''
the first 'protest folk' album from Singapore, received this praise from '' The Business Times'': "(It) should be required listening for anyone interested in plugging into a part of Singapore's zeitgeist that too often lies simmering below the surface." In 1987, Ho was named Most Outstanding Asia-Pacific Radio Personality by the Australasian Broadcasting Arts & Sciences. Ho was latterly a DJ on Lush 99.5FM. He died from stomach cancer on 27 September 2021.Veteran musician and radio DJ Chris Ho dies of stomach cancer
/ref> *Tan Tiang Yeow (guitars) Singer-songwriter Yeow's music career spans 20 years: from his debut album with home-bred, prodigy rock-group Zircon Lounge at the age of 18, to his first solo release

in 1994. In 2003, he released his second solo album ''This Generation''. He has a BFA in Commercial Design from Parsons School of Art, used to front the underground band Vida Loca, and runs his own graphic design company, Design Studio. *Ronnie Chung Shih Loong (drums) *Ernie Woo Huay Pin (bass) *Farihin Fattah (saxophone) *Song Kee Hiang (synths and keyboards) *Chee Kee Chien (second guitar) *Abdul Razak bin Mamat (drums) *Nasir bin Abdul Rashid (bass)

Discography

*''Regal Vigor'' (1983)

References

External links

Zircon Lounge's ''Regal Vigour'' on ''Singapore Storeroom''

X' Ho's official website

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20160215133116/http://poskod.sg/Posts/2013/7/5/Punk-Monk-Hunk Interview with X'Ho* * Entry for Chris Ho * Entry for Tan Tiang Yeow {{Authority control Singaporean musical groups Singaporean rock music groups Singaporean punk rock groups New wave groups Musical groups established in 1980 Musical groups disestablished in 1988 1980 establishments in Singapore 1988 disestablishments in Singapore