Alleycats’ tales told in a book

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Easy and convenient: Tang (in white shirt) helping BR1M applicants including Ooi (left) to apply for the aid at the mobile centre in Air Itam, Penang.

THE country’s original 1Malaysia band Alleycats will be sharing the inspirational story of brotherhood, unity and perseverance in a soon-to-be-published coffee table book.

To be launched in February next year, ‘My 30 Years with Alleycats’ was penned by the band’s lead guitarist and founding member A. Shunmugam, 56.

Although Shunmugam had been diligently keeping a diary of the band’s experiences since it was formed in 1967 until he left 14 years ago, it was brother Loganathan’s sad demise in 2007 that sparked the idea for the book.

“His passing made me realise how important it was to document the things we’d been through as a group — the ups and downs, the times we spent away from our families and funny stories like how as a young boy, I’d grab a broom and pretend it was a guitar,” he said in an interview at their family home in Penang.

The group’s line-up consisted of the Arumugam brothers David (vocals), Loganathan (vocals) and Shunmugam (guitar), Frank Ong (bass), Tan Chin Hock (drums), Chester Danielle Pasarella (saxophone) and Khoo Fok Sin and later Grenville Pereira (keyboards).

“I was just a 12-year-old boy when Alleycats was formed.

“My brothers were in other bands at the time but would sing with the Alleycats when we had events, which at the time was mainly school gigs.

“Eventually, we realised that we didn’t want to compete against each other in the music scene so they joined me in the Alleycats,” Shunmugam, who is also the Malaysian Artistes’ Association (Karyawan) Penang bureau head, said.

Married to Esmeralda Tomas, daughter of renowned Filipino jazz musician Tony Soliano, the father-of-two said the book would contain never-before-seen photos of the band from the early days.

He recalled how back then, the band would play Tamil songs and the crowd of Chinese and Malays would just dance and clap along.

“It was only in the 1980s that the band really achieved success.

“We were based in Hong Kong at the time and only found out about the buzz when some Malaysia Airlines stewardess approached us at a club we were playing at, urging us to come back home,” he said.

This period gave birth to the band’s monumental hits, largely penned by composer M. Nasir, like Hingga Akhir Nanti, Kerana and Sampaikan Salam Cinta Ku.

David is the sole remaining member of the original band today and continues to carry the Alleycats torch more than 40 years after the band began.

Mother A. Meenanbal, 86, said she was “very proud” that the family’s story was finally being told.

“I am very happy that Shunmugam is now an author.

“People used to ask me all the time how the band came about so it’s good that they can read about it now,” the former classical Indian singer said.

Shunmugam said the book would be launched in Penang and Kuala Lumpur at a fund-raising dinner for Karyawan.

“We are looking for corporate sponsors now and the original Alleycats members will be reuniting to perform,” he said, adding that several top Malaysian entertainers would also be on hand to entertain the crowd.