The Spirit of Mambo Jumbo
You know what I am talking about - Mambo Jumbo nights at Zouk. It had been many years since I last went Mamboeing, but yes, I would not be ashamed to admit that I used to enjoy it. But sometime in the late 1990s, I realised that I was looking too old the part compared to the other clubbers there and I told myself then that it was time to move on. Also, even as the familiarity offered comfort, I had become increasingly bored with retro music. It was the same songs every Wednesday, so much so that specially co-ordinated moves were used for specific songs.
The longevity of Mambo nights is truly amazing. At least, people of my generation can claim that we actually lived through the 80s, and much of the fun of Mambo nights was to go dance to the tunes we grew up with. Yet, my generation moved on but the clubbers at Mambo remained as youthful as ever, people who were clearly babies when the present day aunties of Bananarama were strutting their stuff. The success of Mambo also led other clubs to use retro music. It was like, as one of my friends noted, the 80s arrived at Singapore and never left.
Well, Singapore politics has seen its massive Mambo injection in recent weeks. MM Lee is again leading the charge on almost everything - public sector pay hikes, extradition treaty with Indonesia, population issues and even the debate on homosexuals - strutting around like the political colossus which he is, and making the political weather that the rest of us, including blogosphere, are only reacting to. In its peculiar way, MM Lee's "tell-it-as-I-think" style is reassuringly familiar. I think the Alpha-S union of Singapore Airlines will soon get a big dose of Mambo reality if the pilots remain intransigent over the pay issue. But one could again be forgiven for thinking that the 80s never left Singapore.
On this note, I leave you with the lyrics of the very first MTV I watched - Pet Shop Boy's "Rent" released in 1987. Has it really been 20 years?
You dress me up, I'm your puppet
You buy me things, I love it
You bring me food, I need it
You give me love, I feed it
And look at the two of us in sympathy
With everything we see
I never want anything, it's easy
You buy whatever I need
But look at my hopes, look at my dreams
The currency we've spent
I love you, oh, you pay my rent
You know what I am talking about - Mambo Jumbo nights at Zouk. It had been many years since I last went Mamboeing, but yes, I would not be ashamed to admit that I used to enjoy it. But sometime in the late 1990s, I realised that I was looking too old the part compared to the other clubbers there and I told myself then that it was time to move on. Also, even as the familiarity offered comfort, I had become increasingly bored with retro music. It was the same songs every Wednesday, so much so that specially co-ordinated moves were used for specific songs.
The longevity of Mambo nights is truly amazing. At least, people of my generation can claim that we actually lived through the 80s, and much of the fun of Mambo nights was to go dance to the tunes we grew up with. Yet, my generation moved on but the clubbers at Mambo remained as youthful as ever, people who were clearly babies when the present day aunties of Bananarama were strutting their stuff. The success of Mambo also led other clubs to use retro music. It was like, as one of my friends noted, the 80s arrived at Singapore and never left.
Well, Singapore politics has seen its massive Mambo injection in recent weeks. MM Lee is again leading the charge on almost everything - public sector pay hikes, extradition treaty with Indonesia, population issues and even the debate on homosexuals - strutting around like the political colossus which he is, and making the political weather that the rest of us, including blogosphere, are only reacting to. In its peculiar way, MM Lee's "tell-it-as-I-think" style is reassuringly familiar. I think the Alpha-S union of Singapore Airlines will soon get a big dose of Mambo reality if the pilots remain intransigent over the pay issue. But one could again be forgiven for thinking that the 80s never left Singapore.
On this note, I leave you with the lyrics of the very first MTV I watched - Pet Shop Boy's "Rent" released in 1987. Has it really been 20 years?
You dress me up, I'm your puppet
You buy me things, I love it
You bring me food, I need it
You give me love, I feed it
And look at the two of us in sympathy
With everything we see
I never want anything, it's easy
You buy whatever I need
But look at my hopes, look at my dreams
The currency we've spent
I love you, oh, you pay my rent
posted by Bart JP at
1:31 am
3 Comments:
Bart,
I used to go to Zouk too and Velvet Underground. That was more than a decade and 20 kgs ago.
Mambo-jumbo, it comes and goes.
Pet shop boys oh...they were my fav. I actually attended their concert when they came to Singapore - paying $80 alot of money for a thrifty guy like me.
Found all their videos on youtube...sure brings back memories.
By
Lucky Tan, at 2:26 am
=^..^= I am as amazed as Bart regarding the longevity of Mumbo Jumbo. I recall vividly the very LAST time I visited ZOUK was to see Grace Jones, or was it Kylie Minogue? The latter did a promotional show for her new album after her departure from the S.A.W. puppetry management and style to the sex goddess image with the DeConstruction label. More importantly, I am surprised by Bart's quotation of the song RENT by PSB. I never quite sense the irony in the song until I heard the haunting and melancholic version by Liza Minnelli. Hit me like a ton of bricks! I LOVE YOU, YOU PAY MY RENT. So Singaporean...
By
私が告白した：私は利用された, at 10:35 am
Haha. At least you noticed.
By
Bart JP, at 12:41 pm
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