Ismail Haron

Ismail Haron (full name: Ismail bin Harun) was born in Singapore in 1947 from a big family of 8 boys and 4 girls. He became interested in pop music like everyone else and began to harbour intentions of singing. He said that he had been singing in front of schoolboys since he was 7 or 8, at assembly periods. He was from Queenstown Secondary Technical School.

The first group he joined was Valiants. He was with them for only a few months. Then he teamed up with Vigilantes some of whom were his secondary school classmates, to record their first EP with under the Eagle label, with a series of Malay songs adapted from English hits, namely "Senyuman Terakhir" ("Green Green Grass Of Home"), "Pulang Pada-Ku", "Mari Sayang" ("Hang On Sloopy") and "Mari Menari" ("La Bamba"). His 1968 album with The Vigilantes called "Jangan Marah Lili" contained the hit "Enam Belas Lilin" ("Sixteen Candles"), which remained in the Malaysian charts for 15 consecutive weeks. Another EP that he recorded under Panda in the same year contained songs like "Impian Suchi", "Tangisan Hati", "Gadis Peladang" and "Mengusek Mambang".

Ismail was actually the second vocalist for The Vigilantes. The first vocalist for this band was a Singaporean Peranakan singer, Solo Chu, with his only album containing songs "Kau Tinggal-kan Diri-ku", "Jangan Salah Sangka", "Di-Goda Kenangan" and "Harapan Hati Kaseh".

Prior to this, The Vigilantes was an instrumental band with Eagle Records and had managed to record an EP with songs "Till We Meet Again", "I Fell Into A Trance", "Love In Bloom" and "Reminiscence".

Meanwhile, The Vigilantes had decided to change their name to "The Guys" due to changes in the bands' line-up and the style of their music performance. Also, the band and Ismail Haron had secured a contract with the world's recording giant, EMI. In 1968, they began their recording stinct with EMI with an EP containing "Ribin Biru" ("Pretty Ribbon"), "Ku Ta'kan Jatoh Chinta Lagi" ("I'll Never Fall In Love Again"), "Tunggu-lah Puan" ("Keep On Runnin'") and "Delailah" ("Delilah"). As most of his rendition was based from Tom Jones' popular song and that he emulated the singer's way of performance, he was later given the moniker "Singapore's Tom Jones". He said he did not mind but Tom Jones was not his main idol. He said his main inspirations were black singers. He said he was the first to do James Brown songs in Singapore.

A few more EPs ware released in later part of 1968 and early 1969 with more hits like "Sembilan Bulan Ku Nanti-kan", "Kenangan Manis Di-Kuala Lumpur", "Bersedia" ("Get Ready"), "Bebas-kan Daku" ("You Keep Me Hanging On"), "Sudi Sudi-kah Dikau?" ("Gimme Gimme Good Lovin'") and "Ku Tiada Minta Lahir Ka-Dunia" ("The Music Played"). However, the year 1969 witnessed the end of The Guys' recording career and their final work being put up was for another artiste, Eddie Ahmad, with "Khayalan" ("The Fool On The Hill"), "Rintehan", "Chipta'an-Ku" and "Hanya Mimpi".

Ismail Haron also recorded four English songs with The Guys in one EP under EMI - "My Elusive Dreams", "The Rose", "A Minute Of Your Time" and "Hungry For Love".

In 1970, Ismail Haron embarked for a solo career with his first solo EP under EMI titled "Kehilangan Chinta" ("Without Love"). He took a break for a live performance in Hong Kong in the same year for a few months. By this time, he was under the management of Quill Organisation. They decided to form a supergroup and got Roland and Eddie from Guys, saxophone player Andrew Oh from Pink and Purple, John Choo (organ, sax) and Philip Koh (drums) from Blackjacks. They were even spotted by Robert Stigwood who was manager of Bee Gees and ex Cream who wanted to manage and record them and bring them over to the West. They were even offered a gig in Japan which somehow never materialised. Instead they played in Bangkok at Montieth and at Udon Thani further North near the Lao border. Udon was a US base and they were playing in club for US soldiers and officers.

Then they came back to Singapore and continued playing the clubs in 1971 and 1972. The band changed personnel at this time. Various members came and went. Finally the group broke up.Ismail continued to record a few more solo albums - "Ismail Haron & Maria" (1972), "Ilham Pujangga" (1972), "Ismail Haron" (1972), "Antara Pujangga Dan Insan Biasa" (1973), "Sutra Mulia" (1974), "Hulurkan Tangan" (1975) and "Potret Sindiran" (1975). Among his popular hits within these periods were "Dendam-ku Kerana Maria" ("I Did What I Did For Maria"), "Antara Anak Dan Ayah" ("My Boy"), "Tolong Damai-kan" ("Mammy Blue"), "Ilham Pujangga", "Wati", "Persembahan-ku", "Hey Hey Sunny", "Junainah", "Kehilangan Chinta" and "Apa Khabar Sayang" ("Hello Darling").

Between 1972 and 1976, Ismail Haron recorded a few duet songs with diva Anita Sarawak. Songs include "Alam Terpuja" ("You Make Me Feel Brand New"), "Rahsia-Mu Rahsia-Ku" ("Sealed With A Kiss"), "Janji Tetap Janji" ("My Girl"), "Gabus Tarbus" ("House Of Bamboo"), "Asmara", "Rahsia Di-Ayer Jerneh", "Menunggu Nasi Minyak" and "Kesah Dol dan Minah".

In 1977, Ismail migrated to Australia. There were rumours that he left Singapore after a failed love affair, although he later reiterated that his purpose of leaving was to develop his vocal skills. Nevertheless, he continues singing in nightclubs, apart from collaborating with his Malaysian colleagues in his latest album. In Australia he performed for 18 years and did well there. However because he was an Asian performer there was a ceiling.

Then in 1995, Ismail opened a restaurant with another musician. They ran it for 8 years but closed after that. He admitted that neither of them had the management skills to run that.

He returned to Singapore in 2002 because he wanted to see his family. He said that he had 5 years to stay out of Australia but then he had to return. He also plans to help out in the enhancement of the Malay-language music industry through production works, apart from writing a book based on his vast experience in the entertainment circuit.