Music review: The Adventures Of The Mad Chinaman Upsized

SINGAPORE — “Fried rice paradise, nasi goreng, very nice, that’s her specia-ya-lity, ninety-nine varieties…” In case you’ve forgotten, Dick Lee is more than just the guy who wrote Home. Since his first album Life Story in 1974, which contained the heartfelt title track, the singer-songwriter’s career has spanned an impressive four decades.

And there is no better showcase for Lee’s stellar musical journey than The Adventures Of The Mad Chinaman. During its first iteration in 2011, he recounted his beginnings as a wee piano-loving lad in the 1960s all the way to the debut of his iconic alter ego The Mad Chinaman in 1989.

For the “upsized”, SG50 version held at the Esplanade Concert Hall on Thursday night, Lee extends the story by including his highly successful forays into Japan and Hong Kong in the 1990s as both a performer and songwriter, which is still unmatched by any other Singaporean artiste to this day.

In the sold-out, one-night-only show, Lee took the audience (both young and old, although judging by those who sang along, mostly the latter) on a two-hour trip down memory lane. Backed by a six-piece band, the now much grey-haired-yet-still debonair singer looked dapper in a tailored pink suit with a tiny yellow flower pinned on the jacket lapel.

As in all his one-man shows, Dick talks a lot on stage. Then again, hearing him talk about his past— as we watch black-and-white photos and short films from his childhood — and what Singapore fashion was like decades ago was always bound to bring on the laughs.

But it wasn’t all talk, of course: The best of Dick Lee is most evident in the song interludes. He kicked off with 1989’s The Mad Chinaman and drew the audience in with the haunting Bunga Sayang from 1994, which was incidentally used by film-maker Royston Tan in his segment in the acclaimed SG50 film 7 Letters.

He then performed a disco medley with Melbourne-born soul/funk musician Dru Chen, complete with a Barry Gibb-like falsetto (although you could say that the 59-year-old showed his age somewhat in some of the disco moves).

And there were lots more, including a repertoire of songs that made his name (from his first single, Life Story, to the title track of his acclaimed 1984 album Life In The Lion City), and a medley of songs he “loves to hate”, such as Boney M’s Hooray! Hooray! It’s a Holi-Holiday.

The most rib-tickling bits, though, were the National Day songs, which Lee had ingeniously tweaked to come up with Standing Trial In Singapore, One People, One Nation, 1MDB (an “ode” to our neighbours up north) and, in time for next week’s General Election, Count On Him (PM Lee), Singapore.

Elsewhere, you had a lively rendition of the Indian-flavoured Mustapha, featuring homegrown musician Govin Tan on the tabla, while Sukiyaki and Lover’s Tears reminded the audience of Lee’s successful stint overseas, where he would write hits for the likes of Jackie Cheung and Sandy Lam. Despite his questionable Cantonese accent, Dick gamely and commendably performed two of his Hong Kong hits without, he quipped, understanding a word he was singing.

The memorable night ended with perhaps his most memorable songs: Fried Rice Paradise and Rasa Sayang — banned on Singapore radio when they were first released because of “improper use of English”, he said — and the enduring Home for his encore.

Dick Lee thoroughly deserved the standing ovation he got in the end — here’s to more adventures, upsized or otherwise.