Oldies Song - I Cannot Like Mehh??

Many a time I was questioned about my love for oldies songs. People actually found it weird for a person in his twenties to have great liking for oldies whereby I should be rooting for hip-hop or R&B. And oldies are meant only for oldies...My answer is simply "Why can't I?". My handphone caller tunes contains of Stevie Wonder"I Just Called To Say I Love You", Andy Williams "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" and Shayne Ward "Somewhere Over The Rainbow". My customers thought I was in my forties due to this song choices and my younger colleagues told me to change the tunes for God's sake.

Can't really recall when I started liking those oldies songs. It's probably due to following my parents to many karaoke outings with family frens in my younger days. It's simply because of the originality of the songs & the singers' passion in singing the songs, comparing to the songs today which sounds more or less the same and the singers are almost sound alike. The 60s, 70s and 80s are my top picks for the greatest decades of history of music.

How not to love these evergreen songs which their catchy tunes will keep playing in your head the moment the songs are played. Those will probably be playing on radio for many lifetimes to come. Think of Cliff Richards "Beautiful Sunday", Beatles "Let It Be", Carpenters "Top Of The World", Louis Armstrong "Wonderful World", The Cascades "Rhythm of The Rain", Beach Boys "Kokomo", Bee Gees "Night Fever", Willie Nelson "Always on My Mind" and many others. Push slightly forward to the 80s and we're still enjoying the memorable choruses of songs like Richard Marx "Right Here Waiting", Atlantic Starr "Always", James Ingram "Just Once", Bryan Adams "Everything I Do, I Do It For You", George Michael "Careless Whispers", Whitney Houston "I Will Always Love You", Lionel Ritchie "Say You Say Me" etc.

Cover version songs are considered safe bets for most singers today as they are previous hits which can serve as passports for them to penetrate many different age-groups. Although there's many cover version songs by top singers today, personally only barely few actually sing better than the original singers. Dan Fogelberg "Rhythm of The Rain", Jordan Hill "Too Much Heaven" and Shayne Ward "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" are my top three picks of being better than their predecessors, bringing new breathes & dimensions into the songs. We have many versions of "Unchained Melody" but tell me who can actually sing better than original version by The Righteous Brothers? You may think Air Supply & Mariah Carey's version of "Without You" are the best but wait till you listen to Harry Nilsson, the original singer. Who dare say Jessica Simpson is better at singing "Take My Breath Away" than Berlin.

With this, let not question my love for oldies anymore. Try listen to these songs in YouTube & get to appreciate their uniqueness & originalities. Enjoy !!!

Petrol - A Necessity or Luxury?

Just something to laugh about & make u feel better while pumping ur petrol. Might not be funny for some though...

Aftermath Next??

After March 8th 2008, June 4 must be the second most shocking day for most Malaysians in 2008. Petrol prices was increased 78 cents to ridiculously RM2.70 per litre while diesel prices skyrocketed to RM 2.58 per litre, up RM1 from previous price.

I've been bombarded with forwarded emails for whole day, with emails stating of how we were actually cheated by government, how our petrol price can be controlled etc etc. Honestly, those stuffs just don't strike me anymore. Why the cry over split milk? Not that government will turn back its decision despite of the massive outcry by the rakyat, the actual kingmaker who chose the government of the day. In fact, the increase is unevitable, being in line with the increasing world market price of crude oil. We all knew it's going to happen but the rate of increase apparently caught everyone in a shock.

In one report, Idris Jala, MD of Malaysia Airlines said there's actually more than enough of oil supply in the world at the moment but the rising prices are works of speculators. Being an ex-Shell guy added more credentials to his statement. There's some Soros' out there making hell of a profit & there's no one seems to care about stopping this (increasing prices) It's coming....it has happened & nothing we can do to stop it. We just need to move on. The magic question now is - how are the ordinary citizens (that's you & me) goin to move on from here???

This is just the beginning with the impending aftermath of a national level inflation, as predicted by economicians & politicians. Tenaga Nasional has increased its rates of electricity supply. Coupled with the continued rising prices of rice, all basic stuffs in our daily life will bound to cost more with some parties will take full advantage by increasing the prices unnecessarily. The "roti canai" I had for breakfast near my place in SS14 Subang yesterday, now costs me RM1.10 each !!!! Being in an airfreight forwarding industry means I'm in the frontline of the worse hit affected industries. Trucking costs increased two fold in a space of a day. One full tank for a 40-footer trailer now costs RM750.00. Airlines has given hints of increasing fuel surcharges within a month. The most painful truth is being tied to contract agreement with customers, we're unable to divert the increased costs back to them.

Back to the question, it's time to sit down & lists down the things in order to negate the inflation. Let me think about it & share with all next time...