By Loh Keng Fatt
Copy Editor
kengfatt@sph.com.sg

 

JERRY Fernandez, vocalist of Neu Faces, remembers this.

The Singapore band were playing in the Metropole Hotel in Karachi in Pakistan in 1974 when someone asked them to play Beautiful Sunday.

"The song by Daniel Boone?" Jerry asked.

No, the song by October Cherries. How the folks in Karachi came to hear of that cover version by the Singapore band is a mystery but Jerry, who still performs, acknowledges that the Cherries were a good, tight band.

And you can watch the latter turn back the clock once more to their golden era on Tuesday, June 23, at Timbre@The Arts House.

That's when the trio — Peter Diaz, Jay Shotam and Richard Khan — will twist and shout at their gig which is part of the Singapore River Festival.

Timbre will also play host to other great acts from the years gone by, people like Gypsy and Tokyo Square.

More recent-vintage musicians like Concave Scream and Force Vomit will also showcase their stuff.

But back to the Cherries. Chances are, babyboomers have long forsaken hanging out at nightspots to divert their time to nurturing careers and families.

But come Tuesday, expect many of them to pop up at Timbre to harvest Cherries memories.

As Richard said of the momentous gig: "We disbanded in 1975 and save for a few performances here and there, we have not played in public."

Told about Karachi folks asking for Beautiful Sunday, he said: "It's not a surprise. In the early 1970s, we recorded albums in Belgium and I hear we had hits in places like Argentina and Egypt too."

Richard now teaches music while the other Cherries — remember their big hit Butterfly? — still live and breathe music.

As does Jerry, who still rocks, with ponytail and all. The folks at the Singapore Cricket Club are so lucky to get to hear him and his band rock this town every Saturday.

Asked if he's taking things easier these days, Jerry, who has performed for four decades, says: "No way, music will always be in my blood."

Check out the sounds of the October Cherries. The October Cherries perform on Tuesday, June 23, at Timbre@The Arts House.