SINGAPORE – Back in the heyday of pop yeh yeh, a music genre that marries 1960s pop and rock music with Malay sensibilities, singer Dato’ Jeffrydin and his peers were so popular that they would play stadiums in Singapore and Malaysia.
“I would be mobbed by the fans and they would be tearing at my shirt,” the Singapore-born singer says in Malay of a particularly memorable show at Malaysia’s Stadium Negara in 1967. “It was very lively. There must have been 20,000 to 30,000 people there.”
He was speaking in a Zoom call from his home in Malaysia, where he now lives.
Almost six decades on, pop yeh yeh can still pull in the crowds and Jeffrydin and some of his peers are still performing.
The 77-year-old, together with Malaysian pop yeh yeh veterans Dato’ L. Ramli, 82, and S. Mariam, 74, will be staging a joint concert at the Hidup Pop Yeh Yeh! (Long Live Pop Yeh Yeh!) gig at Esplanade Concert Hall on May 12.
Joining them is Masdo, a much younger band with members in their 30s who made a name with their revivalist 1960s pop sound and looks.
The show is one of the highlights of Pesta Raya, the Esplanade’s annual Malay arts festival.
S. Mariam was only 16 when she started performing to arena-size crowds. “I was still in school then, but because of the concerts, I skipped a lot of classes,” she recalls with a laugh in the same Zoom interview from her home in Malaysia.
Dato’ L. Ramli, known for evergreen hits such as Dara Pujaanku (Maiden I Idolise), fondly remembers travelling via train to Singapore for his performance here in the early 1960s. “I got off the train at Tanjong Pagar railway station and it was (fellow pop yeh yeh singer) M. Osman who picked me up on his Vespa,” he says in Malay in the same Zoom call from Malaysia.
He last performed in Singapore at the Esplanade in 2022, and is looking forward to singing for his fans here again. “Because of Covid-19, there were still restrictions at the concert then. This time, I want to be able to get up close with my fans.”
The original wave of pop yeh yeh, a term that was said to have been coined by Radio Television Singapore deejay Mohammad Ismail Abdullah, was popular from the mid-1960s to the early 1970s. The genre would see several revivals in the following decades.
Jeffrydin, whose full name is Raden Jeffrydin Raden Imbromsoekaman, started singing while still in school and won several national singing competitions in his youth. He also sang with pop yeh yeh bands The Rhythm Boys and The Siglap Five.
Pop yeh yeh, influenced by bands such as British icons The Beatles, is a genre that crosses generations, he says. “When I do shows, I don’t just see people my age at the concerts. I see a lot of young people too, even children, singing along. I think the music of pop yeh yeh is unique.”
He is also heartened that modern bands such as Masdo, formed in 2015, are carrying the pop yeh yeh torch and exposing the genre to new audiences. They have performed together several times, including at awards show Anugerah Bintang Popular Berita Harian in 2018.
“I’m thankful that they are keeping this type of music alive, but I am also glad that they don’t just copy us fully. They add their own touch to pop yeh yeh.”
Masdo also performed at the 2022 edition of Pesta Raya, and played to a sold-out crowd at Esplanade Concert Hall.
And while Jeffrydin is best known for signature 1960s tunes such as Kenanganku (My Memories) and Mas Mona, he is also keen on coming up with fresh material. “I’ve been spending my time writing lyrics and coming up with songs. I’m planning on putting out a new album.”
Hidup Pop Yeh Yeh! (Long Live Pop Yeh Yeh!)
Where: Esplanade Concert Hall, 1 Esplanade Drive
When: May 12, 8pm
Admission: From $32, go to str.sg/eNQM
