The Alleycats

Sampaikan Salam

Sampaikanlah salam cintaku padanya
Send (her) my wishes of love
Walaupun terluka namunku merindu
Although (it) hurts, but I miss (her)
Kerana cintaku tiada akhirnya
Because my love has no end
Walaupun kau telah menghancurkannya
Even though you’ve crushed it

Sampaikanlah salam cintaku padanya
Send (her) my wishes of love
Walaupun sengsara namunku masih sayang
Although (I) suffer, but I still care
Kerana cintaku mewangi dan harum
Because my love is perfumed and fragrant
Walau tercampak di mana jua
Wherever it is discarded

Andaiku tiada, andaiku pejam mata
If I am gone, if I close my eyes
Biarku abadi, cinta yang setia ini
Leave me in eternity, this loyal love
Biarpun kau jauh, sambutlah salamku
Even if you’re far, receive my wishes
Kerana aku masih menyayangimu
Because I still love you
Tidak pernah aku membenci dirimu
Never have I ever hated you

I don't think my translations actually do real justice to the lyrics, its so much better in Bahasa Malaysia/ Bahasa Kebangsaan/ Bahasa Melayu and whatever else the politicians decide to call it next. The Alleycats were made up of the late Loganathan Arumugam and David Arumugam on vocals, Tan Chin Hock on drums, Shunmugam Arumugam on lead guitar, Chester Anthony Passerella on saxophone, Khoo Fook Sin and Grenville on keyboards, Frank Ong on bass guitar.

Rest in Peace, Loga.

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I spent most of my early years blissfully unaware of the meaning my ‘house-name’ had. It was a nickname everyone from my parents, to my sister, uncles, aunts and cousins would call me. You see, my nickname in another language means love, that icky thing all young boys and girls ‘hated’. You could love your mummy and daddy and maybe sometimes your ugly baby sister, but God help you if someone said you loved a classmate – a boy at that!

Then, this song came out in a BIG way in 1986. Even if it hadn’t, I suppose I was already doomed to be tormented by sniggers everytime a class teacher mispronounced my name, accidentally or otherwise. But this song heralded a lifetime of people singing songs that included references to love for me, mostly annoying boys who hadn’t met Simon Cowell. The worst was my cousin, a year older than me. He taught the song to the entire troop and they’d yell their lungs out, how I hated it back then.

Now that I’m older (not by much though :-p) I love my name, and I love this song too. Alleycats were the cool cats of music, with the signature affro’s of the Arumugam brothers, to the trademark ‘Trima kaseyyyyyy’ (thank you) at the end of every performance. They were big even way back in the mid-70’s, even as far as Hong Kong. They sang beautiful songs, which every Malaysian worth their salt will know and remember. They looked perpetually high and seemingly unchanged even as the years rolled by bringing newer bands and pop stars who sold more personality than music and soul. The Alleycats were originally from Penang, earning them another 10 points in my book! :-p

I also had the opportunity to watch them perform live. In 2002 I had just started working and organized a dinner at the Pan Pacific in Glenmarie. After dinner by the pool, we headed to the bar where I had reserved the top floor. And guess what? The Alleycats were performing! Ok so I had known earlier that they were going to be there, and as I rightly guessed my mostly middle-aged colleagues were ecstatic to see them. As we watched The Alleycats perform, my Scandinavian CEO asked me if I knew who they were. Of course, I replied, Malaysians (mostly anyway) know and love The Alleycats. Then he asked me if I owned any of their albums. I had to tell the truth and say no, my dad had owned a few cassette tapes when I was much younger, but I didn't think we had them anymore. Then he said that he owned all of their albums. Apparently someone had introduced their music to him when he came to Malaysia a couple of years earlier, and he bought up all their CD's because he loved them so much!

Its a damn shame if the MTV generation will not know these songs. With all the choices of TV stations and radio channels around, you can block out what might seemingly not be your cup of tea and in the process miss out on some really good stuff. It seems to me that even Sheila Majid, Zainal Abidin (who still rocks the house y'all) and so many other talented Malaysian singers and groups from my youth are now 'old-school' but that's a given I guess. I have to confess, there are only a handful local Malay songs I listen to these days, I prefer the Indonesian singers and bands now, like Peter Pan etc. Do you have a suggestion of who I should listen to?