Suspense hung heavily on the night of July 9, 1988.
It was a night of reckoning for pub musicians all over the country. That night, 11 of the best took park in the inaugural Top Of The Pubs competition, organised by the Musicians Union (Peninsula) Malaysia and sponsored by Carlsberg.
There were some pretty big names that night – Leonard Tan, Frankie Tan, Mark David, David Gomes, John Derek Johnson, Yzara Wong and Roslan Ariffin, among others.
They had their sets planned to a T. Wilson Samuel was ready to joget and yodel away, Bernard Gomes had his jokes, Leonard was in Satchmo mode, Frankie knew his picking was up there with the rest and organised John Derek had 11 songs worked into the time allotted!
But apprehension hung heavily, too, that sultry July night, because there was controversial axeman Alex Peters in the line-up, too.
Soft-spoken, on stage and off, with a reputation to let his music do the talking, Peters had been packing it in at Treffpunkt, located in Damansara Utama, PJ.
The axeman from Sentul had an edge. He was already something of a cult figure. His fans had brought along the banner that hung in Treffpunkt - Souled Out On Alex Peters! - and they had their shades ready for his signature (Timbuk 3’s The Future’s So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades).
MUM, of course with this hand in the planning knew all about this and saved Peters for the last course of the night.
With stunning effect.
Fans and cult status aside, the man had another weapon – a four-track recording machine that made him sound like a full band.
Everyone else had dived into the past for their 10-minute routine. Peters had looked to the future. Not content with where the pub scene was then, he was going to take it to another level.
There had been protests about his using the four-track, but MUM insisted that “anything that could happen in a pub situation would be allowed at the finals”. Period.
When the crown went wild at emcee Patrick Teoh’s introduction of Peters, the other finalists must have heard the death knoll. By the time he whacked into Herbie Hancock’s Rock It and the signature finale, they knew they had been competing for all but the top place.
Alex Peters changed the pub scene that night forever. From then on, nearly every pub musician would turn to pre-recorded music – synthesisers, sequencers, four-track machines and gadgets that made having a band quite unnecessary.
They were also encouraged to put the country and jazz staples aside and turn to every else – rock, rap, R&B, reggae, the blues – because all they needed now was a sequencer and a recording machine.
It’s been 12 years and Peters is working hard at it, from about eight in the morning until midnight.
The hard work all pays very well, now, because Peters is certainly the most expensive pub soloist around. He sounds like a band and they pay for it. A night with Alex Peters could cost anything up to RM4,000 for which many venues turn to sponsors.
It’s worth it because it’s quite usual to find Peters performing non-stop for five or even six hours!
Peters doesn’t drink or smoke but says the hangover effects are all the same, the morning after. “I think I just get into sync with all the booze that goes down,” he laughed.
”Call it an endorphin or adrenaline or anything-you-like rush; I’m still on a high the next day.”
His efforts also saw him representing Malaysia in the recent RentakAsia (Rhythm of Asia) concert held at Bukit Jalil, the other soloist being Amir Yussuf.
In May, Peters visited his brother Matthew, the leader of a band called Indiana Jones who had asked him to check the Swiss scene out and consider relocating.
Peters, looking for a breath of fresh air, went armed with pre-recorded tapes, and performed at the Brauwerei in the town of Oensinghen.
He mad made one change to the master tape, removing the bass tracks, which he left for Matthew to play.
The pub was packed and the resident band had finished their usual set of Swiss and German standards and polkas and Top 40s. Then (as Peters proudly put it), “these two Malayalee boys got up their and the people there were dumbstruck, what with the two guys sounding like a full brown rock act.”
Yes, of course, contract offers were made, both by the band and the management, but Peters knows his future lies right here in Malaysia.
”If I go there, it will be for the experience, to do what I did here on the 80s – throw things a the crowd, see what grabs them and then take it from there.”
Commerce-wise, Peters knows he’s got quite a nest here, what with more offers to perform than he wants and a home with more than RM100,000 in equipment.
there is also his new album to work, an album of social issues songs, six of which he has already recorded. But true to form, he finds it hard to put a date on its release.
The recordings require much hard work because Peters doesn’t use sequencers. All his tracks are recorded individually to give the arrangement strength and a rich quality on both the vocal and rhythm sections.
The album also commands more work because he doesn’t have references as he would working on cover versions.
”With cover I have a reference point; with my own compositions, I have to experiment until they sound right.”
Getting it right is what he’s up to now and because it’s the Christmas season, there are more offers to perform live.
* The current confirmed dates for Alex Peters are:-
All Stars Sports Café, Mid-Valley Mega Mall, KL (December 7, 2000)
Mirage Longhouse Café, Ampang Point, KL (10pm, December 22) and
Riva’s Sheraton Imperial, Jalan Sultan Ismail, KL (10pm, Dec 31).
