The postings about Advertisements On Vinyls prompted a friend to send an article:"Tonic Chop Gajah, which literally means Elephant Brand Tonic is an interesting vinyl and features a number of bands all singing about the virtues of the Tonic, which was very popular in Malaysia and Singapore in the 60s.
The performers are the Sangam Boys, Jabis 5, Vinnoli Music Party, and Kugiran 4 Sekawan. There are four tracks on the EP and all are sung in Malay, although the singers spell out the name of the Tonic in English.
The Sangam Boys are known to me mainly for backing other artists, such as S. Roha and Halim Yatim. A group called Vinnoli Music Party was still operating in Singapore in the early 2000s at Indian functions, and they might be the ones who do a more Indian sounding track.
There was an 4 Sekawan that backed some Malay singers in the 1960s. Jabis 5, of which I know nothing, could also be a band, or it might be the group of singers."
Could be the last posting in this series on advertisements. Thanks Steve!
(If I am not mistaken the Sangam Boys are also Tamil speakers. Please correct me if I am wrong because we have a large Tamil population in Singapore. I am not sure if they have produced records in Tamil.)
Image/Original article: Steve Farram Collection, Darwin, Australia.
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