Kelsom Hashim and the Plastic Deers are another mystery group, at least for me.
Three of the songs on this EP are fairly tame, but there is one gem, “Pemuda Pemudi Sekarang” (“Young Men and Young Women Today”), which sounds like a cross between the Guess Who’s “No Time” and the Archies’ “Sugar Sugar”. This is fairly reasonable as both songs were released in 1969 and this record might date from that year as well, but I think 1970 or 1971 might be more likely. The fantastically named Plastic Deers do a fine job as does Kelsom.
Looking at the cover and listening to the song, one might think it was a celebration of the young generation, but it is actually very critical, claiming that the young men with their long hair are rather unpleasant and that parents can only shake their heads etc, but I think the whole thing is sung a bit tongue in cheek. The cover and label give no clue as to the origin of this group, but I will take a punt with Singapore as I have only ever seen two other Libra releases and one of those was definitely a Singapore band.
There is the possibility that Kelsom was Indonesian, as many Indonesian artists recorded in Malaysia and Singapore, but the record itself is unlikely to be from Indonesia. Why? Because one of the other bands I know of on the Libra label was a Singaporean band and I have not heard of any other Singaporeans recording in Indonesia in this era. Also the cover shows the producer as Jimmy Lee, which seems a Chinese name. There were certainly many Chinese involved in the Indonesian recording business, but I have yet to come across any producers with a Chinese name (many Chinese in Indonesia have adopted Indonesian names). And there is no reason to doubt that Kelsom was Singaporean because she recorded in Malay; there were scores of Malay language records made in Singapore – even Chinese Singaporeans recorded in Malay (eg, Crescendos, Quests).
Steve
this is awfully early in either Malaysian or Singaporean history, so i can’t be certain, but the emphasis on Bahasa Malaysian/Indonesian (the two languages are essentially identical) on the sleeve makes me think it’s from Malaysia or Indonesia. then again, while English is the most commonly used of Singapore’s four official languages (one is Bahasa), it could be Singaporean.
Stefan
i have a huge collection of these records from singapore & malaysia & i would say 99% this (and the Ramlah Aziz record below) are from Malaysia…
I don’t know much of the group Plastic Deers but Kelsom is definitely Singaporean. Born and bred there. At that period of time the Malay slang bent a little towards Indonesia.
She did some other recordings in English, one of the songs was Mr. Monday. I cannot remember the title of the EP nor the label. The copy that I had is now in the depths of the South China Sea sometime in 1972. Her mother tongue is Malay but like most Singaporeans very fluent in English(educated in both Methodist & Catholic schools even though she is a Muslim). I hope somebody else can throw some light as to her other recordings. She also used to appear in TV Singapore during the black and white era.
Happy hunting ..
I acquired two singles by Kelsom recently, both on the Libra label. They are LRSP 003 Mr. Monday/I Will and LRSP 004 Free As The Wind/Something. On both records she is credited simply as Kelsom and no backing band is listed. She certainly sings in perfect English, but I would not recommend either record for garage fans.
Hi…where can i buy her singles?Its difficult to find it online.
Dear music lovers,
The late Kelsombe Hashim was a Singaporean flight stewardess with MSA and was a talented singer.She appeared many times as guest artist in Hong Kong television shows.She was also featured on radio in singapore.
As for the bands that were featured on her records under the Libra label,it was the Australian band the “Tenderness” who at that time were performing at the “Pub” disco at Malaysia Hotel.
As for the Malay record it was a local band “The Plastic Tears”.The song “Pemudi pemuda zaman sekarang” and “Rindu was composed by it’s band leader Adi Ahmad Jaafar.