The Alleycats is a Malaysian pop band which was formed in 1969, and gained popularity in the late 1970s. It consists of musicians from

Penang Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia along the Strait of Malacca. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula. Th ...

who were popular in their home state earlier on in their career.

History

There were earlier line-ups of this band but the original line-up mentioned were the ones that took the Alleycats to great height of achievements musically. The Alleycats was always on top of the musical scene in Malaysia even before it was signed up as a recording band. This line-up secured a performance contract in the Mocambo Club situated in Central, a business sector on

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

island in 1976. It was supposed to be a three-month contract but the band's success in wooing the crowd earned it three yearly contracts bundled with TV and

concert A concert, often known informally as a gig or show, is a live performance of music in front of an audience. The performance may be carried by a single musician, in which case it is sometimes called a recital, or by a musical ensemble such as an ...

appearances as means of promoting the band. It became a hit with the locals in Hong Kong. It was not until it left Hong Kong to start a new performance contract in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

that the band was spotted by major recording companies. The Alleycats started out in 1978 by signing a contract with Polygram Records-

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarter ...

to produce an album. It went to

to record its album in Dragon Studio. Later, Lion Studio in

was responsible for mastering the Alleycats' albums. Its first released album was ''Terima Kasih (Thank You)'' which featured cover songs of R&B hits from the Anglosphere, but also had originals like their first single ''Senandung Semalam'' (lit. 'Yesterday's Serenade'). Their 1990 album C.I.N.T.A. represented a departure from pop music into rock. The existence of this band was vital to the Malaysian music industry. With more than twenty recordings, it had contributed to the development of the Malaysian music industry and is still regarded as one of the legendary Malaysian pop music bands of all time in the country. Despite the changes, the band is still active in performing and recording. The Alleycats have a strong fan base from all walks of life in

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

, and

Band members

Current members

* David Arumugam - vocals (1969 - present) *Glenville Charles Salay - vocals *Priyadashini Loganathan (also known as Dasha Loga) - vocals *David John - drums *Nazaruddin Abdullah - lead guitar *Loh Kum Swee (also known as Jimmy Loh) - bass guitar *Prawing Aroonratana (also known as Mike Prawing) - keyboards

Former members

* Loganathan Arumugam - vocals (1969 - 2007); died 2007 *Tan Chin Hock - drums *Shunmugam Arumugam - lead guitar *Chester Anthony Passerella - saxophone *Khoo Fook Sin and Grenville Pereira (Gren) - keyboards *Frank Ong - bass guitar *Ramesh - lead guitar Their music is said to be influenced by Air Supply,

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and later became the lead singer of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis and had a successful solo career, ac ...

Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry Gibb, Barry, Robin Gibb, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in ...

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Piano Man" after his Signature song, signature 1973 song Piano Man (song), of the same name, Joel has ha ...

, David Gates & Bread,

Santana Santana may refer to: Transportation * Volkswagen Santana, an automobile * Santana Cycles, manufacturer of tandem bicycles * Santana Motors, a former Spanish automobile manufacturer * Sailboat designs by W. D. Schock Corp ** Santana 20 ** Santan ...

and

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

. Most of the Alleycats albums were produced by Eric Yeo. Most of its hit songs were penned by music supremo M. Nasir with the lyrics composed by S.Amin Shahab. The M. Nasir/S.Amin combination were most noticeable on hit songs such as ''Hingga Akhir Nanti (Till The End)'', ''Andai Aku Pergi Dulu (If I Go Before You)'', ''Sekuntum Mawar Merah Sebuah Puisi (A Red Rose And A Poem)'', ''Setahun Sudah Berlalu (A Year Has Passed)'', ''Seribu Bintang (A Thousand Stars)'', ''Nota Terakhir (This Last Note)''. On 27 December 2019, former bass player Frank Ong died of lung cancer aged 54.

Death of Loganathan

Loganathan Arumugam, a vocalist of the Alleycats, died on 4 June 2007 following an 8-month battle with

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

. His death was deeply mourned by Alleycats fans as reported in the press and media. A
Alleycats Music Video Competition
held as a tribute to the late Loganathan Arumugam of Alleycats was conducted between 25 June 2006 – 25 July 2007. This was jointly organised by NGT Solutions (M) Sdn Bhd and Universal Music Malaysia, with the support from Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC). It was in line with the government's initiative in encouraging contentpreneurs to develop local content and to be able to identify creativity in the minds of Malaysians. A year after the loss of Loga to lung cancer, the Alleycats was the lead artiste in a concert organised by the Lung Foundation of Malaysia (LFM) to raise money for its activities. Established in November 2005, LFM is a non-profit Foundation geared towards offering support for patients afflicted with lung diseases to enable them to lead a better quality lifestyle with minimal suffering.

Discography

References

External links

Puisi Cinta Romantis
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alleycats Musicians from Penang Musical groups established in 1969 Malaysian pop rock music groups Malaysian people of Indian descent Sibling musical groups Universal Music Group artists Malaysian funk musical groups Malaysian disco groups