Tuesday, June 5, 2007
a tribute to Loga...
Those wishing to pay homage to Loganathan Arumugam of the Alleycats who passed away on Monday can do so by sending an SMS message during a special tribute programme, Loga Dalam Kenangan (Loga in Memory). TV1 will be airing the three-part special programme in memory of Loganathan, better known as Loga, at 8.45pm Wednesday night. please...this is he least anyone of his fans can do...let's all pray for our dear Loga..may his soul rest in peace...
A TRUE LEGEND
by : nantha kumar
Alleycats co-vocalist Loga succumbed to cancer yesterday, but his legacy to the Malaysian music industry continues.
The younger generation cannot be expected to recall the exploits of the Alleycats, an enduring music heavyweight that is now a faintly-familiar name in the dusty annals of the Malaysian music industry.
The MTV crowd wouldn’t have even been aware of the passing of a true Malaysian music legend.
However, the seasoned listeners amongst us would have known by now that Loganathan Arumugam or simply Loga, as he was popularly known in the music fraternity, passed away yesterday in Penang after a struggle against lung cancer. He was 54.
A question that has persisted among older music enthusiasts is the exact role that Loga played within Alleycats. We have known him as the vocalist – back-up or lead – in all of the group’s gigs.
“David (Arumugam, Loga’s bandmate and elder brother) takes care of the finances, hotels and he was the leader of the band as well as its spokesperson. But Loga was 100% in charge of the band’s music. He decided the venue for our gigs, songs that we were going to play, the theme for the night and everything else connected with the music (album producers, etc). Loga worked very closely with the producer in determining the music,” said Ramesh Kandasamy, who served as the Alleycats’ guitarist for eight years.
He remembers Loga as a “jovial” person and one of the best singers he has ever known.
There is no doubt that the zest for life that Loga exuded was unmistakable and infectious. Even when he was lending his vocals or hamming it up with a tambourine, or producing those funny little jigs that became part of his personal repertoire, his famous smile never faded.
But, as Ramesh recalled, there was more to the man that his on-stage personality suggested.
Those who have encountered Loga will remember him as the affable musician with a ready “hello” for anyone.
Sadly, not many are aware of how significant the contributions of Loga and David have been towards grooming the present set of Malaysian musicians.
For musicians who grew up in the 1980s, joining the Alleycats was a means to stardom. There are still many within the Indian music arena who have been inspired by and continue to look up to Loga and the Alleycats.
“It is impossible to find anyone who has not heard of the Alleycats within the Indian community, never mind the homegrown musicians.
“When I was the manager of Lock-up (one of the pioneering bands of the Indian music scene), we approached Polygram for permission to remake one of Alleycats’ songs. We got the approval in record time – we learned later that the band actually instructed that permission be given without heavy financial bearing upon us,” said A. Gopalkrishnan, the president of the Indian Recording Industry of Malaysia.
“We don’t know whether (the instruction) came from Loga or David but we will always remember that ... Lock-up was virtually unknown back then and the support Alleycats provided was invaluable.
“Over the years, we learned that there was none of the fuss associated with big-name musicians when it came to the Alleycats ... only encouragement. In fact, the group was genuinely concerned about the growth of the Indian musicians and whenever our paths crossed, we could see that the brothers were always ready to give us a boost,” he added.
The chairman of the Music Council of Malaysia, Datuk Rahman Hassan, remembers Loga as “a committed, passionate musician ... and easy to be around with.”
Rahman is not alone: we may not have personally known Loga but at the end of any Alleycats gig, we left with the feeling of having been embraced by genuine warmth. The distance did not matter as the smile had a way of touching you. And it will remain so ...so let's all pray for Loga..may his soul rest in peace...
The younger generation cannot be expected to recall the exploits of the Alleycats, an enduring music heavyweight that is now a faintly-familiar name in the dusty annals of the Malaysian music industry.
The MTV crowd wouldn’t have even been aware of the passing of a true Malaysian music legend.
However, the seasoned listeners amongst us would have known by now that Loganathan Arumugam or simply Loga, as he was popularly known in the music fraternity, passed away yesterday in Penang after a struggle against lung cancer. He was 54.
A question that has persisted among older music enthusiasts is the exact role that Loga played within Alleycats. We have known him as the vocalist – back-up or lead – in all of the group’s gigs.
“David (Arumugam, Loga’s bandmate and elder brother) takes care of the finances, hotels and he was the leader of the band as well as its spokesperson. But Loga was 100% in charge of the band’s music. He decided the venue for our gigs, songs that we were going to play, the theme for the night and everything else connected with the music (album producers, etc). Loga worked very closely with the producer in determining the music,” said Ramesh Kandasamy, who served as the Alleycats’ guitarist for eight years.
He remembers Loga as a “jovial” person and one of the best singers he has ever known.
There is no doubt that the zest for life that Loga exuded was unmistakable and infectious. Even when he was lending his vocals or hamming it up with a tambourine, or producing those funny little jigs that became part of his personal repertoire, his famous smile never faded.
But, as Ramesh recalled, there was more to the man that his on-stage personality suggested.
Those who have encountered Loga will remember him as the affable musician with a ready “hello” for anyone.
Sadly, not many are aware of how significant the contributions of Loga and David have been towards grooming the present set of Malaysian musicians.
For musicians who grew up in the 1980s, joining the Alleycats was a means to stardom. There are still many within the Indian music arena who have been inspired by and continue to look up to Loga and the Alleycats.
“It is impossible to find anyone who has not heard of the Alleycats within the Indian community, never mind the homegrown musicians.
“When I was the manager of Lock-up (one of the pioneering bands of the Indian music scene), we approached Polygram for permission to remake one of Alleycats’ songs. We got the approval in record time – we learned later that the band actually instructed that permission be given without heavy financial bearing upon us,” said A. Gopalkrishnan, the president of the Indian Recording Industry of Malaysia.
“We don’t know whether (the instruction) came from Loga or David but we will always remember that ... Lock-up was virtually unknown back then and the support Alleycats provided was invaluable.
“Over the years, we learned that there was none of the fuss associated with big-name musicians when it came to the Alleycats ... only encouragement. In fact, the group was genuinely concerned about the growth of the Indian musicians and whenever our paths crossed, we could see that the brothers were always ready to give us a boost,” he added.
The chairman of the Music Council of Malaysia, Datuk Rahman Hassan, remembers Loga as “a committed, passionate musician ... and easy to be around with.”
Rahman is not alone: we may not have personally known Loga but at the end of any Alleycats gig, we left with the feeling of having been embraced by genuine warmth. The distance did not matter as the smile had a way of touching you. And it will remain so ...so let's all pray for Loga..may his soul rest in peace...
[ courtesy of 'THE STAR ONLINE' ]
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