Budiey
1969 -was the early beginning of Sweet Charity in Singapore and was brought to life by Ramli Sarip as the vocalist, Rahman Sarbani on drums, Joe Salim as guitarist and Wahid Warren on bass. The music influence by bands like Rolling Stones, Cream, Jimmy Hendrix and others bands of the same league made them a ‘Rock and Roll’ band that was uncomparable to the art of music of that era.
1974 – The joining of A. Ali as lead guitarist and Rosli Mohalim as bassist gave a greater impact on the band’s perfomances in clubs around Singapore.
1978 – Once again, they went through changes whereby A. Ali left the band and the task of lead guitarist was carried by Rosli Mohalim who became a huge idol to other local rock guitarist. With Syed Hassan Al Attas as bassist, it provided the band a fiercer element in their performance, more so with the organ sounds played by Ahmad Jaafar. This was a historical year as they were accepted as recording artiste by Warner Bros.
1979 – SWEET CHARITY’s first self-titled album was selling like hot cakes in Singapore because of their long accumulated followers since their involvement in clubs and local concerts. Their name began to spread out to Malaysia and Brunei.
1980 – The album ‘PELARIAN’ was the catalyst that made Sweet Charity popular all over Malaysia and Brunei. Following this album which was in it’s own genre, they became supertars in a blink of an eye. Eventhough technology was not in favour of the kind of music that they played, invitation to perform came from many which were left behind in terms of sound and light.
1981 – The album ‘SEJUTA WAJAH’ continued to make Sweet Charity a Malay Rock band that generated new interest among youth in Malaysia. Training studios became like music schools for them and playing Sweet Charity’s songs were their top picks. Each time Sweet Charity organised a concert in Malaysia, it will be filled with countless fans so much so, it made history as the band that was prohibited to perform due to security reasons because crowd turn up was more than the available space provided. At this point, Sweet Charity was truly an icon to the evolving rock music era among youth.
The following years, rock groups mushroomed rapidly eventhough the Malaysian government felt that it was a cultural pollution for local music enthusiast. Nevertheless, Sweet Charity continued to record the following albums – ‘PENUNGGU’, ‘BATU’ & ‘BERITA GEMPA’. Sweet Charity’s collection which had two new additional songs ‘RIBUT‘ & IKRAR UNTUK RUZANA also became a hit at that time.
Perhaps time factor and family commitment at the time was the reason for Sweet Charity’s brief absence in the industry. Each member with their enormous responsibilities in their lives and towards current issues made it impossible for them to achieve a concert together. The music piracy situation which was at large and the payment in RM that could not beat Singapore dollar was also a factor for them to choose between being a rock musician or work full time like normal people.
Although it seemed like they were no loger performing on stages, Sweet Charity’s spirit was still being carried on by Ramli Sarip who believes that the battle in his soul is only fought through music and rhythm. In Ramli’s journey as a former member of Sweet Charity, who endures the changing times, there are times when he will invite his band to join him in concerts. That is only if the allocation made does not detriment them financially.
In reality, the term retire does not exist in Sweet Charity’s vobulary. Until now, if what is offered matces the sacrifice that they have contributed in colouring the music scene in Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei, they are more than willing to play their hit songs for those who wish to reminisce the past.
This year marks Sweet Charity’s 39th year in their journey as a Rock Band. Eventhough Syed Hassan has departed, and most of them have the title ‘DATUK’, watching them perform is like seeing a 1969 Mercedez Benz with no flaws in terms of performance and acessories and the cost is much more than the original price!
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