Blue is the new black
Blues Gang frontman Ito speaks to theSun about the band’s journey, and how their iconic song came about when he was missing home in a foreign land
would have thought that one of Malaysia’s favourite and most well-known songs, Apo Nak Dikato, a song sung in the Negri Sembilan dialect, was written at an airport in Australia?
This was in 1982, when Blues Gang singer Ito was waiting for his flight during the band’s tour of Australia.
“We were playing at several spots in Australia and the inspiration to write Apo Nak Dikato came when I was waiting for my flight to Melbourne from Perth. You can say that it was written because I was missing Malaysia at the time,” Ito told theSun in a recent interview.
Blues Gang was formed in 1973 by drummer Shaik Karim, the late bassist Jim Madasamy and lead guitarist Ahmad Abdullah @ Mat Dollah in Johor Baru. The band took inspiration from blues acts like John Mayall’s BluesBreakers, Alexis Korner, John Lee Hooker, Peter Green, the Rolling Stones and James Gang.
“We started off playing in Johor and then we moved to Kuala Lumpur where we played at famous spots such as the A&Z Pub in Bukit Damansara, which was the starting point of Blues Gang in the music business,” Karim said.
“It was also then that Ito and Ghani Dato’ Abu Talib @ Tok Ghani joined us.”
Karim said it was with this line-up that in 1979, Blues Gang cut their first album titled Anyday Anytime, which included numbers such as Causeway Boogie and Parasite People.
“The album sold over 20,000 units, after which Mat Dollah migrated to Australia and was replaced by Julian Mokhtar.“
Blues Gang was also the opening act for the Ian Gillian Band, which featured 80s rock goliath Deep Purple’s lead singer, Ian Gillian.
Another international act the Gang opened for was English rock band Uriah Heep.
“Opening for Uriah Heep was absolutely fantastic, it was like a dream come true for us.”
On some of the band’s unforgettable moments, each of the Blues Gang members said they had their own.
Julian said the band’s journey unforgettable, especially touring Malaysia alongside famous Singaporean band Sweet Charity in a roadshow called “Kosert Raksasa”.
For Tok Ghani, it was during the Konsert Raksasa in Arau, Perlis, where the band saw the attendance of 100,000 fans.
Ito’s unforgettable moment was a bombing at the venue they were to perform at in Sabah in 1986.
According to Ito, there was
is political instability at the time, resulting in several small bombings in the state
“It was in Likas Stadium, where we were supposed to play but about an hour before, we heard the venue was bombed. Luckily, the stage and the equipment weren’t damaged so we carried on playing later,” Ito said.
Blues Gang is indeed one of Malaysia’s favourite blues bands and have throughout the ages received several accolades, including the Brand Laureate award and an entry in the Malaysia Book of Records as the “Oldest Blues Band” in Malaysia.
On playing for the upcoming
Musicians for Musicians Benefit Concert 2020, Karim said it would help fellow musicians who are in need.
Blues Gang now comprise Ito on vocals and harmonica, Julian on lead guitar, Shaik Karim on drums, Azizi Ithnin on second guitar and vocals, Shah Shariff on bass and Tok Ghani on keyboards.
The concert will be held on March 15 at the Mines International Exhibition and Convention Centre from 2pm to 12am, with a total of 30 bands performing.
Ticket prices start at RM100 per person or RM5,000 for a “Golden Hearts” table of 10. theSun is the media partner for the event.
To purchase tickets, contact Edwin Nathaniel at 012 209 8849.