The first time I heard of Kathy Ibrahim was back in 1979 when I was working with the Kuala Lumpur Merlin. I was passing by the coffee house one afternoon when I heard this singing voice, emitting with such gusto, from the room. Out of curiosity, I decided to pop in to see who the singer was. There on a small stage was Royston St Maria (later to become known as 'Roy & Fran') on the key board backing Kathy Ibrahim. She certainly had powerful vocals not to mention stage presence as well. There was already a hugh crowd present and she was rehearsing with Roy for a show that evening. Eventually, she became a regular artiste at the hotel.
Kathy was originally a singer of Malay songs but towards the late 70s and early 80s, she switched to singing in English. Some time in 1981, she released her first English album 'Everyday Girl' with most tracks written by Simon Justine, who at that time was playing with the group, 'Carefree'. In the same album, was the cover version of the TV hit song by Irene Cara, 'Fame'.
Following are two songs performed by Kathy. The first being "Fame" and the second one [video clip 2 & 3] is the Elton John classic, 'Don't let the sun go down on me'.
[It could have been a great video if not for the continuous shaking of the camera and poor sound quality].
Previous Features:
The Saints, Kuala Lumpur
The Quests, Singapore
The "Little" Falcons, Kuala Lumpur
The Crescendos, Singapore
Rose Iwanaga, Sarawak
Naomi & The Boys, Singapore
Rocky Teoh, Ipoh
The Surfers/October Cherries, Singapore
Janice Wee, Sarawak
Roy Chew & The Merrylads, Kuala Lumpur
The Checkmates, Singapore
Terry Thaddeus and The Teenage Hunters, Kuala Lumpur
The Thunderbirds, Singapore
The Straydogs, Singapore
The Strollers, Kuala Lumpur
The Western Union Band, Singapore
Frankie Cheah, Kuala Lumpur
Sharifah Aini, Kuala Lumpur
Sudirman Arshad, Kuala Lumpur
Tracy Huang, Singapore
Very nostalgic. I first heard Kathy on an SIA flight. Her voice was terrific. I wish she was still singing .
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