RANN LEE (FOUNDING MEMBER, RHYTHMIST) TALKS TO ANDY: The Stylers would have *recorded so many albums that only a serious collector could answer a difficult question like, "How many albums do they have to their name?" Even Randy Lee, Stylers founding member and rhythm guitarist, was not able to provide a figure because, as he explained, they were with more than one recording company and it would have been impossible to collect statistics as to the number of albums pressed.
Randy and I were at a food outlet having satay and dessert when a group of young men and women converged on the place to enjoy a late night supper. As they gathered and sat around us, a young lady noticed the gleaming CDs on our table. She looked at one as said, "I know the Stylers!" Deja vu I screamed to myself. Like Larry Lai's interview!
Randy was surprised. "But you are so young," he remarked. "True," she said, "but my mother is a fan and she has a good collection of your records." An older gentleman and also a member of the group remarked, "Yes, the Stylers are very popular, especially amongst the Chinese educated in the region." And so the conversation went.
The rather large group was getting noisier and some of them joined in my conversation with Randy, so in my enthusiasm for figures Randy mentioned, "I cannot recollect the actual numbers but they are estimated to be in the hundreds."
"Approximately?" I asked but he did not elaborate. "Our own record company alone had completed about 100 albums, not forgetting the others like, Panda Records, Polar Records, Chuan Tat Records, TNA, and others."
The group recorded in sound studios all over Singapore island from the 60s to the 80s. These would include Kinetex and Form in Kallang, Life in Jurong, Quad at Bendeemer Road, Boss in Paya Lebar Road, Digit and Happy Records at King George Avenue. The last studio had since closed. Then there's the famous EMI Studio at McDonald House and Oscar Studio at the Tan Boon Liat Building and later Genting Lane," he added.
The mostly popular songs they recorded also went into the hundreds and as Randy rattled off the titles, I realised there were too many to document. "John (Teo/band leader) is remarkable. He did the music arrangement for every song, but because he is such a gifted musician, he did it with speed and accuracy," said Randy. "The change in group dynamics over the years did not affect us very much because it was a simple matter of working hard and achieving our targets."
The youngsters milling around were very noisy and the weather too warm, so we said our goodbyes and promised to meet again the next time he visited Singapore. Randy, by the way runs a very successful company in Indonesia but it has nothing to do with music.
*Albums recorded and not copies sold (which would have been more.)
Image: Randy Lee Collection
Original article: Andy Lim.
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