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The Thunderbirds – My Lonely Heart

Uploaded by STEVEN ANG on January 9, 2021 at 11:42 am

The Thunderbirds – My Lonely Heart

by Tan, Joanna Hwang Soo

The Thunderbirds was a Singapore band that was popular in the 1960s. Formed in 1962 and anchored by guitarist Derrick Fitzgerald, it was probably the longest-running band in Singapore, having played for almost two decades at the Carriage Bar at York Hotel. The band is best known for its original hit songs “My Lonely Heart” and “My Hula Girl”.

https://youtu.be/4VY2Gqjxqds

Members
The Thunderbirds was formed in 1962 with Tony Chong, Harvey Fitzgerald, Freddie Tan and Derrick Fitzgerald. It won the Beatles Versus Rolling Stones of Singapore band competition in 1965.

The band’s member line-up evolved over time to include Heather Batchen on lead vocals, William Wee on bass and Freddie Tan on drums. Another Fitzgerald brother, Ivan, also joined the band as percussionist. The late 1960s saw the addition of bassists Alan Lyford and Richard Danker, organist Freddie Kang as well as Philip Monteiro and Shediq Marican on drums. Bassist Harris Hamzah came on board in 1976.

The most significant change to the line-up occurred when Harvey Fitzgerald and Heather Batchen married in 1970, and then emigrated in 1975. The couple visited Singapore in the 1980s as part of the lounge act Trilogy and played at Le Vendome at Dynasty Hotel.

As the line-up changed over the years, lead guitarist Derrick Fitzgerald remained the mainstay of the band. He was well respected as a guitarist in the local music industry and known particularly for his slide guitar skills.

Recordings
In 1965, The Thunderbirds released its first recording under the Philips record label. Its release the following year, “My Lonely Heart”, topped the charts in Singapore and Malaysia. Written by Harvey Fitzgerald and Gerry Pasqual, the song featured Derrick Fitzgerald on slide guitar. “My Lonely Heart” became the band’s signature tune and has remained popular over the years.

https://youtu.be/Jdt2YDF_Ls8

Performance venues
Unlike other bands in the 1960s whose members juggled school and career with their music and eventually quit the music industry, The Thunderbirds was a professional group from the outset, playing continuously until 2007 despite its changing line-up

https://youtu.be/781vxRbvPe4

Over the years, The Thunderbirds had performed at numerous venues. It started out by playing at the British military bases in Seletar, Tengah and Changi before making its debut at the Tropicana nightclub on Orchard Road. This was followed by a stint at the Singapore Lady Riverboat Restaurant in the late 1960s.¹⁴ In 1968, together with Pietro and The Warlocks, The Thunderbirds began playing regularly at The Pub, Singapore’s first discotheque, until 1975 when the venue closed. Meanwhile, the band also played for a short spell in 1973 at the Barbarella discotheque in Ming Court Hotel. From the late 1970s to mid-’80s, the band played at various venues, notably the American Club, Century Park Sheraton Hotel, Cairnhill Hotel and Treetops Bar at Holiday Inn Hotel.

https://youtu.be/7JbSYSIbcjU

In the late 1980s, The Thunderbirds became the resident band at the Carriage Bar at York Hotel, staying on to play for almost two decades. When the lease for the bar expired in December 2004, Derrick Fitzgerald, Harris Hamzah, drummer Dannie Boy Khan and 11 other partners invested in the bar to prevent it from closing. However, Fitzgerald suffered a stroke in 2007 and the bar, which had not been doing well financially, was forced to close. As Fitzgerald’s health and finances continued to decline, a charity concert was organised in 2009 by two young musicians, Pauline Chong and Errik Wong, to raise funds to assist him.

https://youtu.be/FPmLjK9zsyk

Derrick Fitzgerald suffered a stroke in 2019. That same year, the Composers and Authors Society of Singapore (COMPASS) awarded him the Artistic Excellence accolade. The following year, Fitzgerald contracted pneumonia and passed away of complications on 23 April 2020.