But the former band member died in a road accident along the North-South Highway in Johor last Saturday afternoon.

A band member and his friend of 30 years, Mr Ahmad Jaffar Jawahir, told The Straits Times that he and Sweet Charity frontman Ramli Sarip were discussing plans for the band's 40th anniversary reunion last Saturday night when they received a call from Mr Masrom's wife, Madam Rafia Sulaiman.

'Masrom's wife was very soft over the phone. She said he had died in an accident in Malaysia,' said the 54-year-old administrative assistant, who was also a keyboardist with the band.

Mr Masrom played in the band from 1981 to 1982. Sweet Charity disbanded in 1986. At the time of his death, he was playing three nights a week at private clubs.

He was on his way to Batu Pahat from Malacca with his wife and three sons when he was flung out of the back seat of the family's red Mitsubishi Lancer before the car flipped over several times.

His son Muhamad Fadzhan Masrom, 24, who was at the wheel, said he lost control when a black car cut into his lane, causing him to hit the road divider. He had bruises and injured his right eye.

Madam Rafia, 43, who was in the front passenger seat, had bruises and a rib injury. Her two other sons, aged six and 12, escaped with fractured collarbones.

Mr Masrom's five other children were not with them in the car.

Mr Ahmad, who is also a part-time sound technician, said he last saw Mr Masrom last week. 'He came by my workplace and we had lunch together,' he said.

The anniversary concerts will go on in both Malaysia and Singapore. But they will now be bitter-sweet.

'We'll tell the audience that the concert is in memory of Masrom,' he said. 'If he was around, he would definitely be on stage with us.'

ESTHER TAN