An unforgettable performance put up by Straydogs in a reunion jam session in 1986 -- Lawrence Lim on vocals backed by Jimmy Appadurai (centre) and Ronnie Kriekenbeek (left). By Dave Ang THEY wore no uniforms and refused to do the cha-cha. Undaunted by the lack of interest among the locals, they took their guitars and drums and played at British army bases instead, much to the bewilderment of the British forces, who didn't expect some Chinese locals to play blues and R&B. But the soldiers loved it, and lapped it all up like lager. That was the story of The Straydogs, a local band back in the '60s and '70s, which some say could be the first rebel rock band in Singapore. "They used to get thrown out of tea dances because they wanted to play only blues music," said BigO magazine editor Philip Cheah. "People used to throw chairs at them when they refused to play what the audience wanted. That's pretty wild. Imagine getting a chair thrown at you when you're onstage!" THREE SONGS Cheah and his team at BigO are putting out a CD of three songs by The Straydogs: * Mum's Too Pampering * Freedom, and * Repent. The CD is part of the magazine's CD Singles Club release and will be given away free with the magazine's October issue. The Straydogs' CD comes in the wake of the recent Polygram release of In Quest of the Quests, a CD featuring The Quests, another Singapore band which thrived in the '60s and '70s. RE-ISSUE OF ORIGINAL But unlike the Quests' CD, which had the lads going back to the studio to record, The Straydogs' CD is a re-issue of their original recording -- sans the pop and hiss. "It's the first English language pop archival project," said Cheah. "That's why EMI, their label, agreed to the release. It's completely non-profit." "It's the first time you hear raw passion in a Singapore band," he said. "And the great thing is that they still sound raw when you play them today. "We also wanted to show the present bunch of bands that blues-rock was not old music, but actually alternative rock back then. We wanted to make that connection." First published The New Paper, Sept 27, 1994 Previous Next Copyright © 1998 Singapore Press Holdings. All Rights Reserved.