From his massive record collection, Andy showcases some of the cover art featuring local artists from the 1960s.

Remember, this was from the 1960s when photoshop and other computer-aided design hadn’t existed – covers like these had to be first produced by hand. Andy writes:

What amazes me is the illustrative work done by some of our graphic designers who had taken time and trouble to draw these pieces of art.

The images shown are only samplings of the hundreds of local record covers that have hand-drawn portraits. Frankie Cheah, The Quests and Sugiman Jahuri are some of the musicians who have credibility in the 60s to attract record buyers with their own rendition of imported western music.

The first vinyl cover shows Johore (Malaysia) teacher Cheah’s hit single Woman In My Life (image 1: S-CHK 1074), with Denver on the flip. Produced and marketed by EMI/Columbia, the music was arranged and produced by Reggie Verghese/Kassim Masdor.

The photography and illustrations were by Freddy Ang. The white bold lettering with light green background announces the stylishly drawn image of the singer and guitar who appear in black and white.

Check out more examples from Singaporean music art in Andy’s post here.