Sure you didn't!

We didn't start the fire (History Podcast; 2021-2023)

Hosts: Katie Puckrik & Tom Fordyce

In the mid-1980s, a young person commented to Billy Joel. In the young person's mind, the world of the 1980s was plagued with tumultuous events. In passing, he said, "I bet the world must have been a more peaceful place when you were growing up."

That got Billy Joel thinking. He started jotting down all the significant events from his birth in 1946 throughout his time growing up in New York till the summer of 1989.

Like that, he came up with close to 119 incidences that impacted him at least. He started arranging the list, like a good composer would, and wrote a record-smashing hit that everyone in the 90s would know.

Billy Joel realized as he reminisced about the years that went by that the world had always been a restless place. Looking back on the events, one thing is clear: It was as unsettled then as it is now.

The list he came up with became a narration of all the events that happened in post-war America and even the rest of the world. It even became the history syllabus for many schools in a few states. Katie Puckrik and Tom Fordyce decided to make a podcast out of the whole thing. They interviewed experts relevant to the subject for each of the 119 events, personalities or political events mentioned in the song. What transpired at the end is close to 90 hours of banter and history lessons that are excitingly interlaced with wisecracks and jokes.

Completing all the podcasts makes me feel like I'm in slumber while everybody else is doing the stuff. Many things were below the radar, and time is the best teacher for what happened in the past and will happen in the future. Many more things happened in the background without the rest of the world's knowledge. Some events still remain enigmas, which the world will never know, like whether Oswald's bullet really did kill JFK on the fateful day in Dallas.

Starting with Harry Truman and his questionable decision to drop the nuclear bomb in Japan, the podcasters dissect Doris Day. And we soon discover that her life was not like the 100-watt sunshine smile she flashes in her movies. Her life ambition was crushed when she was involved in a motor vehicle accident early on life. She had to switch careers. Married with a child by 22, life was not easy. Married four times, in the later stage of her life, she had fought court case after court case to retrieve her life savings from her lawyer, who had swindled her.

Like that, we learn about what has been happening in the background beyond the glitz of neon and what is printed in the media. It ends with the late 1980s staged Cola War between Pepsi and Coke—a fake war started to create publicity while the fizzy drink makers laugh all the way to the bank. Perhaps if the song had been written a bit later, he would have written about the fall of the  Berlin Wall and the collapse of communism.

We didn't start the fire, It was always burning

Since the world's been turning

We didn't start the fire, No, we didn't light it

But we tried to fight it

The Imperialists, specifically the Americans, in the post-war era, can deny all they want that they did not start the chaos that is rampant around the world. The sad truth is that the turmoil we are in has its roots deeply planted by the actions of people before us, intentionally or otherwise. For one, the current Middle East Crisis originates from the Imperialists' interference in the regional exploration and usurping of black gold and strategic power control of local politics. They fanned fires to appear as peacemakers akin to pinching the baby's bottom and singing lullabies simultaneously. While they were at it, they decided to sell arms to both warring sections. Why not? And sing 'We didn't start the fire, it was always burning...'

(P.S. Highly recommended for history geeks.)

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How one prospers the other!

Wham! (Documentary; 2023)
Director: Chris Smith

This documentary is a poignant one. It plucks the heartstrings of many a child of the 80s. Those who grew to appreciate British Invasion music of the 80s of pop-sync, thick hair days and gaudy attire will indeed have wet eyes reminiscing the times when the duo Wham! hit the airwaves and the night market compilation cassettes.

It was a time when young girls used to go gaga over George Michael (aka Georgio Panayiotou @Yogh) 's hair, musculature and Colgate white dentition and Cypriot looks. Die-hard fans of Wham! or rabid fans of George Michael's would all be too familiar with the genesis of their collaboration; for me, this knowledge comes 40 years too late.

This Netflix documentary is done in a captivating way, avoiding too many current interviews of famous reminiscing about the good old times. Instead, it uses scrapbook format and old footage of Andrew Ridgeley and George Michael in the 80s and 90s when they slowly climbed the ladder of superstardom.

Their friendship started at 12 when George landed as a bespectacled shy immigrant student who found it hard to get into the school crowd. George somehow found the company in Andrew, also partially immigrant, the happy-go-lucky frequent prankster. George looked up at Andrew and slowly built confidence. Over the years, they found commonality in music. One thing led to another. George started composing songs, and the free and easy Andrew just tagged along. Unlike Andrew, George had big ambitions and somehow grew too big for a duo teen bop band and started a solo career.

This documentary ends with their 1986 amicable and emotional farewell concert in Wembley Stadium. George Michael's issues with his sexuality and brushes with the media and police had not surfaced then. Afar as the world was concerned, here was a young, highly talented music composer - songwriter and performer dying to unleash his talents to the world. He was a darling of the press and paparazzi until they came and bit his behind in years to come.

Imagine from Andrew Ridgeley's point of view. There was an awkward new boy, George, who used to look up at him and follow him around in and out of school. Slowly George built confidence and found his footing in what he wanted to do in life. Maybe it was Andrew's prodding. Together, they had a jolly good time. They went places and did things. They reached heights that low, middle class boys like themselves in the grey, economically gloomy Thatcherian times can dream of. They had it good when the going what was good. He unleashed the superstar buried within George, and the bird had to fly off the nest to explore newer pastures.

P.S. Wham!'s first record stirred the interest of the British public when their song 'Wham! Rap!' spoke about the ludicrous British welfare system, which could not create jobs for the youngsters but paid them dole instead to enjoy life. They expressed their grief in a piece of then-controversial music called 'rap', which was banned in many radio stations in America.

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Race, Religion and Rock N' Roll!

Blinded by the Light (2019)
Director: Gurinder Chadha

Maybe it is the slave mentality at work. The slaves looked up to their masters and wanted to be like them very much. They see them as the proof of success, the pinnacle of achievement, and yearning to walk in their shoes. That is where the buck stops. The slaves chose what was 'good' and what was not acceptable.

Many middle-income Malaysian Indians who were teenagers in the late 70s and early 80s had to endure this, yours truly included. The parents worked hard to provide their offspring what they missed growing up. What they thought they missed most was the ability to acquire education, pass examinations and the remunerations that came with it. They wished to achieve what they did not get, like the opportunity for education, freedom by their standards and academic achievements through their children.

They did not, however, want the Master's idea of independence. Their idea of children is to be seen but not heard. The last thing they wanted was children talking back to their parents. They did not appreciate the parents' shortcomings in parenting to be pinpointed. No matter how high the children flew, they had to display Asian values, filial piety and show unwavering loyalty to the clans till their dying days. 

One peculiar thing about my mother is she was not too keen on us, the children, listening to Western songs. They wanted us to be conversant and proficient in English, but Tamil songs on RTM Red Network were the only songs blaring over the family radio. When my parents were away on errands, we heard English songs clandestinely over Radio RAAF and the RTM Blue Network. She feared we would be wild kids, showing disrespect and forgetting our roots. That was what she thought of the Masters - only substance but no soul. She wanted us to learn the things that would pull us out of the clutches of poverty but keep the Indian values.

Fast forward to the 21st century. A few of the family members have uprooted themselves from this country, seeking greener pastures in the land of the Masters. In their minds, their children would be more assured of a comfortable lie ahead.

With the children now at rebellious ages, these parents face the same dilemma as my parents. Like my parents, they wanted their kids to absorb what they viewed as 'good' qualities and reject the 'bad'. Of course, life is never so easy.

Boy George

That is what Malik, a Pakistani immigrant to the UK, had to encounter bringing up his children in Luton in the 1980s. On one end is Malik, who uprooted his life for a better life for his family. He has big plans for his family, things he never had in Pakistan. On the other hand, he wished his host country could be more cordial with their arrival. It was the 80s at the heights of unemployment and Thatcherism. Malik's son, Javed, has a mind of his own. He wants to experience life, be a writer, enjoy music, and not follow the uninspiring path that a typical Pakistani teenager is made to follow. Somewhere along the way, Javed is introduced to Bruce Springsteen's music. It just blew his mind. He finally found someone who reads his mind.

The rest of the movie is a musical galore for teenagers of the 80s who grew up with liberal doses of synthesisers-filled Brit new-wave music. It is a long trip down memory lane with the likes of 'Pet Shop Boys', 'A-ha' and an overdose of Bruce Springsteen. Sadly, I never grew up appreciating his type of shouting melody. It was a time when girls dressed up like Boy George with pleated hair, thick make-up and chequered dress, and Boy George was not a boy. But nobody made a fuss about it.

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A US propaganda movie

Top Gun (1986)
Director: Tom Scott

I never really had the chance to view this movie when it came around in the mid80s. My wife and her friends went gaga watching a topless and muscular Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer on that one. I think that was the reason they thought the film was darn good.

Viewing it now after acquiring the wisdom conferred by the School of Hard Knocks of Life, it is quite as plain as day. The movie is nothing more than a US propaganda tool deployed by Hollywood to showcase the might of the world's policeman to the rest of the capitalistic world. It was like Rambo singlehandedly ending the Afghan War in Rambo3. It was a time when the world was convinced that Americans were saviours with altruistic intentions. 

There is not much of a story here. It is more like a prospectus to showcase how an elite select group of US Marines are handpicked to compete in a fighter jet dogfight tactical competition. 

All through, I was squeezing my brain, trying to fathom the purpose of their whole exercise. It reminded me of 'Mortal Combat' and 'Street Fighter' or even 'Grand Theft Auto' where there were no rules and no holds barred. The idea of young elite fighter pilots competing all out, risking their lives for the coveted plaque, was diabolical. 

A little background search reveals much more than meets the eye. During the Vietnam War, the US Army found that despite possessing primitive equipment, their enemy was a tough nut to crack. The Vietnamese had built an effective air-to-air missile and anti-aircraft gun-based defence system with their small number of modern jets. The Americans relied on missiles and technology. The Americans soon realised the importance of fighter vs fighter or dogfighting tactics. The US Navy Fighter Weapons School was later established. This movie was filmed at the Naval Air Station in Miramar, California. 

We know who the intended villains are. Who else uses MiG fighter planes?

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Rocked you like a hurricane!

Blues Gang

I was just thinking the other day. Occasionally, in my social media group, one or two members would send snippets of Malay songs of the 80s and 90s. These songs used to be high on the music chart and ruled the airwaves in their heydays. I was pleasantly surprised that these group members were even familiar with such songs.

We, the teenagers of the late 70s and 80s, must be a lost generation. The generation that grew up under the umbrella of the Malaysian New Education policy imbibed in Malay culture and songs.

We grew up laughing at P Ramlee's antics in his actual Malaysian-themed movies and comedies in our preteen years. We ended up watching them umpteen times, probably able to rattle out certain classic dialogues and recall particular scenes from his films at the drop of a hat.

The 80s saw a renaissance of modern guitar and drums bands that were belting out hard and punk rock music. Rock Kapak was another branch of rock of Malay punk. These bands were so popular that every Saturday night saw mobile stages erected in small towns for bands to belt out their brand of music. National competitions were rave. In these otherwise mundane small towns, which had boring weekends and lights out after the territorial TV ended its transmission, these events gave them a purpose in life. Small-time businesses and vendors made their killings. 

Amy Search

As the saying goes, all good times must surely end. The new wave of Islamic scholars sent to the Middle East on scholarships generated by petroleum-fueled prosperity needed to prove their worth. They raised their eyebrows condescendingly, shaking their turban-donned head in unison. They decreed that uninhibited mixing of sexes was sacrilegious. The intoxicating mixture of electric guitar, drums and percussions swayed believers from the purpose on Earth, i.e. to hail Maker's glory. The police agreed as intoxicants found their way to these meetings. These concerts simply had to stop. The memories of Gersang, JJ Carefree, Sweet Charity, Wings, Ramli Sarip, Search, Chris Vadham, Ben Nathan, Blues Gang, Awie, Headwind, Alleycats, Ella and the Boys, Zaiton Sameon and even the notorious Mona Fandey and talented M Nasir just remain as that, mere distant memories of a bygone era.

 

With the new post-Iranian Revolution's zest to uphold self-perceived the Almighty decree on Earth, the interest in hard rock dwindled. This 'decadent' music was labelled as devil-worshipping, and believers who were seen indulging in such melodies were looked upon with accusing eyes reserved for a heretic. Music taste shifted towards desert-themed rhythm even though it should be Hawaiian as we are in the tropics. Remember Terang Bulan, Mamula Moon and Negara-ku?

So it was indeed a pleasing experience to have my social media friends showing keen interest in that music of our early adulthood when Malaysia had its own brand of rock - Rock Kapak!  

(PS. Dedicated to JT, SA, RS, SK, HS, SM. You know who you are!)

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Just do it, whatever!

In the late 1970s, as my future laid bare before me, I found no time in anything but my books. I looked at watching movies as three hours of wasted time that could otherwise be spent on something more worthwhile, so I thought. At that age, everything was either black or white, factual and goal orientated. Watching the then Tamil movie which showcased hirsute stars in unkempt hair and their un-touched up face narrating mind-stupefying cheesy village stories was a turn-off. Its songs, despite be blared incessantly by my neighbours on their music devices, were just white noise. 

Actually, it was an annoyance, as something I had to run away from to find solace at the quiet corner of the cemetery or empty classroom in the school to jam-pack precious information into my grey cells. That was the time when SP Bala and Illayaraja were churning out hits after hit that just passed me by. Occasionally a song or two would come to my attention clamouring from my father rickety radio. I did not, however, give any two hoods to it till now. Deep within me, I thought they were doing just what I wanted to do; to find a footing in life, for fame and fortune and to leave our mark in the society.

S P Balasubramanyam

The recent passing of the legendary playback singer S P Balasubramanyam, and through all the postings dedicated to him, highlighted his groundbreaking feats. Having sung 40,000 songs in 16 languages must be an achievement by any standards. Many musical analysts have dissected his exploits and his collaborations with music directors to bring to the fore many of the efforts in exploring new frontiers in music-making, music compositions and voice modulations. And everyone is impressed.

                                                       

SPB was quite popular lending his voice to movie-stars as they belted their love and emotional messages in melodious tunes to plicate what could not be expressed in dialogues. And they had everlasting impressions on the minds of its audience. Sometimes the story is forgotten but not the songs.

Every single thing that we do it in life is a revolution in the making. A little experimentation here and a little pushing the borders there are all bold moves to make the frontier further. We think what we do is a mere waste of time; not going to have any effect on the evolution of mankind. Maybe not, but a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.

We do what we think is right. Let history decide its appropriateness. Generally, people are kind to the deceased.

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Every system needs periodical revamp

Rangasthalam ( రంగస్థలం, Theatre, Telugu; 2018)

You think he is alright as your leader. He seems well composed to hear things out. He exudes an aura of confidence. He always has people around him who love him. He gets things done. He must be doing something right. He is even to be personally partaking in religious functions. He appears charitable enough. The same divine forces that govern your life must be the same one that runs his. The Ruler of the world must have sanctioned him to rule over this piece of land.

Then you realise one or two things do not match. It does not seem fair; not proper. You pass it off your own naivety. After all, a person with so much public support and approval cannot be wrong. Then it hits you. Your liberty is snatched away. You scream injustice, but then it dawns upon you the whole administrative machinery has been turned to suit him. You and the ones wronged by the once thought to be the saviour of the land is actually a wolf in sheep's clothing.

You have no recourse to highlight your plight. What do you do? An uprising at the risk of losing everything you have accumulated like a sparrow slowly building its nest? A violent revolution causes the destruction of lives and property. Psyop needs time and resources. What avenue is left when the powers that be controlled the amenities that were created to serve you, anyway.

One website described this movie as one of those movies from South India over the last few years that changed the cinema landscape. This is just baloney. In the 80s, so many movies came out highlighting the nonsensical administration of the village panchayats and the cruelty of the land zamindars. Now it is the cooperatives, that is all. This formula of a lone wolf fighting a corrupt system, coming out unscathed and winning the heart of the beautiful lass is as old as the industry itself. The redeeming factor must be the excellent cinematography and its soothing melodies.

The film tells the story of a young hearing-impaired agricultural worker, who after seeing too many injustices happening under his very nose, takes the Village Cooperative Society President head-on. Mysteriously villagers who opposed the President's decisions committed suicide or went missing. The last straw came when his learned brother was killed when he decided to stand against the President in the local elections.

Can give it a miss but the massive box office earnings and the remake in Kannada may mean that the producers are just riding on its financial success.

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The leaders and the led...

I wanna hold your hand (1978)
Director: Robert Zemeckis (debut)

I remember growing up watching many of Zemeckis directed movies. So, I was pleasantly surprised when I came across this film which was set in 1964 New York when the Beatles visited New York to appear at the Ed Sullivan's Show.

At one look, it appears like the director is trying to recreate the atmosphere and the mania associated with the arrival of the Liverpool lads at the Big Apple. Looking at the bigger picture, he seems to be ridiculing the younger generation's eccentricity, if not fetishism to pop culture.

It tells the tale of a group of youngsters who make a trip to New York to catch a glimpse of the Fab Four. Each of them has a different agenda; to watch the Ed Sullivan Show, to snap pictures of Beatles, to partake in anti-Beatles' rally, to impress a girl and so on.

In no way was the film a groundbreaking feat. All you throughout the offering are screaming and shrieking bevvy of girls before and during the Beatles' show. Even though the setting is supposed to the mid-sixties, one cannot help but have an 80s feel to throughout the film.

It is interesting how the storyteller managed to make a movie about the Beatles without actually making them appear on the screen. The 'appearances' are restricted to their 'voices' in the background and their songs. 

We are all so easily suggestible. We are easily swayed by the consensus of the masses. Some of us are spineless. We walk around like zombies following the scent of the herd. Sometimes, our senses get all entangled. We cannot comprehend whether our likes are related to our nostalgia, our simple cravings for the unattainable, our biological need or is a way to satisfy our sexual pervasions. Our fetish is further fanned by the wind of mass media and commercialisation. Every day a new 'want' is created. And many lose sleep to achieve it. At least it gives them something to forward to in their otherwise mundane life. They have overcome many major hurdles establishing themselves as the ruler of the world that they are trying to find the fine prints to perfect it. Paradoxically, it only brings them down. Or maybe, it has always been like this - the victors or elitists writing and re-writing the course of history whilst the weak majority just trail along, sometimes paying with their lives.

https://asok22.wixsite.com/real-lesson 

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Bohemian Rhapsody | Official Trailer [HD] | 20th Century FOX

Ride into nostalgia...

Stranger Things Season 1 (2016)

This is the golden age of TV, they say. With the input from companies like Netflix, box sets and internet TV streaming, binge-watching had never seen a better time. For a television addict, abstinence is becoming a Herculean task by the day.

This latest offering from Netflix that is taking the millennial and Gen-Y geeks by storm is 'Stranger Things'. It brings to life all the things we saw in the 80s - BMX bikes, big glasses, striped T-shirts, big hair and the adventures of the nerds ala-Spielberg. It can be summarised as a Stephen King story with the screenplay of John Carpenter and the cinematography of Steven Spielberg.

It can be summed up as a hotchpotch of a potpourri of box-offices of the 80s - ET, Goonies, Batteries not Included, Poltergeist and course the unforgettable X-Files. In fact, the opening music score is a reminiscence of that of X-Files. There are the three school misfits in place of Mulder and Scully to do the brain work. The bad guys are the Government agency, again, and people go missing. They are contactable, yet missing. The story is about rescuing the fourth member of the geek squad. Also on the trail are the police chief, a renegade cop, who had come to terms with the loss of his daughter to cancer, the boy's excitable mother, the boy's brother and his friend.  The only thing sorely missing from the scene is Mulder and Scully's powerful darkness piercing flashlights! There is even a life-sized Ouija Board to set the mood for spookiness.

This series would appeal to all ages as the story is told from many angles, from the pre-teen kid's viewpoint, from the teenager's with their hormone-driven high school romance drama to add and the adult's perspective with the lessons and baggage of hard-knocks of life to carry through the episodes.

Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads!

Back to the future (Trilogy) 1985-1990

October 21, 2015, has special a significance to BTTF fans, as in the second offering Marty and Doc go into the future. The future that they see in 2015 is a far cry from the real 2015! Absent in real life are the roadless highways, automobiles that run on thrash rather than fossil fuel, the gravity-defying hoverboard (the futuristic skateboard), among others! 

Back in the 80s when I first watched the first instalment of BTTF, I thought that it was the smartest storyline ever produced with its catchy dialogue. One particular scene that stuck on my mind is when Marty performed a lead guitar rendition of Chuck Berry's 'Johnny B. Goode'. One fellow band member, Melvin, overhearing the tune calls upon his cousin Chuck to hear the 'fresh' tune that he was looking for his next song!

Moving to and fro between times in their DeLorean speeding at 88mph with the help of a flux capacitor and 1.2gigawatts of power, Doc realises that time travelling is dangerous. Changing the past has disastrous effects on the futures and vice-versa.

Closer to home, you can see many who are quite particular about their future and live religiously by the words of their soothsayers. They print out the position of their stars and planet throughout their life. With the guidance of their masters, they tread life cautiously by religiously following the dos and do nots as set out by their spiritual gurus. Whenever there is a warning about danger with the element of water, they would avoid water-related activities like sea travel or even swimming. 

Unfortunately, as one were to critically analyse the horoscope readings, it is very subjective. The statements are so open ended and can be as and how wishes to interpret it. It is very much like getting fortune cookie in a Chinese restaurant, very subjective! Conveniently, one can also use fortune as an excuse for procrastination or for failure to achieve desired heights.

Who killed Jean Perera Sinappa?

Dokumentari : Jean Perera The Beauty Queen Murder 

http://www.finas.gov.my/index.phpmod=vgallery&sub=video&category=5&album=25