Manhattan Transfer, The - On A Little Street In Singapore Lyrics






On a little street in Singapore
With me - beside a lotus covered door
A veil of moonlight on her lovely face
How pale the hands that held me in embrace

My sails tonight are filled with perfume of Shalimar
With temple bells that guide me to her shore
And then I hold you in my arms
And love the way I loved before
On a little street in Singapore

On a little street in Singapore
With me - beside a lotus covered door
A veil of moonlight on her lovely face
How pale the hands that held me in embrace





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Manhattan Transfer, The On A Little Street In Singapore Comments
  1. s.... ....

    Takes me back to my teens. They my definition of cool! The harmonies are sweet!

  2. D.... O....

    Camp as tits love it

  3. T.... ....

    Great timeless song ❤️. But he wouldnt last long on lipsync challenge lol x

  4. B.... 7....

    When music was great. So glad I have a grandson who has a great voice and loves close harmony. Just 15 with a bass voice. Will be at Wells Cathedral School performance of Grease next week to see him. Go Charlie!

  5. M.... A....

    Creme de creme!

  6. K.... J....

    Composers Billy Hill (July 14, 1899 – December 24, 1940) and Peter DeRose (or De Rose) (March 10, 1900 – April 23, 1953)

  7. n.... ....

    This was a MASSIVE hit for MHT;  they could do no wrong during the mid to late 70s - and even made into the 80s with 'Twilight Zone'!!

  8. a.... ....

    i love this song i listened to on the radio in the 70s in my dads bicycle shop and still do

  9. m.... m....

    Really wish i had seen them in concert when i was younger, i loved them in my teens but never mentioned it as my friends would have laughed.

  10. m.... f....

    the definition of smooth

  11. P.... ....

    I think the song and the whole production was little above the heads of the crowd there. This was old folks music to them.

    P.... ....

    Peorhum - you'd be surprised; I was in a Record Shop at the time,  and a LOT of young people bought this Single!  Great Song and performance!

  12. M.... B....

    14 sordos que no entienden nada de musica, han pasado por aquí...

  13. M.... M....

    This is much better than the other version by MT.

  14. T.... M....

    Is that the BBC? I mean, hats off the to props department for raiding Tony Blackburn's dressing room.

  15. R.... T....

    The only song about Singapore that I like.

  16. F.... G....

    His voice is perfection

  17. K.... N....

    Sounds even better from the deck of a merchant ship!

  18. O.... D....

    i think he sang it live

  19. K.... ....

    My God, their harmonies are just so beautiful. I could listen to them all day.

  20. L.... L....

    What's with that weird ending? The applause is sudden and loud, and none of the audience is shown to be applauding.

    L.... L....

    Who the hell cares, it's the music that matters.

  21. p.... ....

    Amazing. How great was this? Teaching kids something about harmony- I was one of them!

  22. P.... T....

    an Equal to Big Frank's original.... or was that The Original?...... both great.... apart from the dodgy synth bit on MT's which dates it moreso than Big Fwanks..... Im sure there was a lot of WW2 meaning and one-up-manship following USA's winning of the Battle of the Pacific and the capitulation of Brit forces of Singapore when they pointed the guns the wrong way.... Great song.... from 50's to 70's..... wouldnt stand a chance in this epoch of piss!! GREAT SONG! LOVE IT!

    P.... T....

    The song was written in late 1939 so it predates the Pacific war. The first US recording was by Harry James and his orchestra backing Frank Sinatra, quickly followed by Glenn Miller with Ray Eberle doing the vocal.

  23. L.... L....

    Cheer her up? I could dedicate my life to it. And her. That's Laurel Masse, and I think her mission on Earth is to capture my heart.

    L.... L....

    That Tim Hauser... I was 16, me and my mother got tickets to front row seating to their concert. I had such a crush on him. He saw me smiling and looking at me, looked at me directly, and winked at me. I will treasure that memory forever! God Bless you Mr. Hauser...see you again, on the other side.

  24. L.... L....

    Please put a stamp on that redhead and mail her to me.

    L.... L....

    +Lee Larson She looks bored with the whole thing. But I'm sure you would cheer her up.

    L.... L....

    Redheads are often postured as almost saying out loud "Ah, yes, I'm divine and I know it."

  25. c.... ....

    Amo esta m'usica.

  26. T.... ....

    Quelle belle époque!

  27. k.... ....

    Great song and a great voice but his miming is way out of sync here. But I have the 7inch single and still play it from time to time...

    k.... ....

    kingofvintage I think the sync on the clip is out. Guy’s a pro. No way he’d be that bad. TOTP made artists make a live recording then lip sync to it on the show.

  28. j.... d....

    Damn, everyone's so young and good looking. Just learned that Hauser passed away in 2014. Time's marching on, everyone gets old.

    j.... d....

    +john dow Saw them in concert back in the 70's. Fantastic. RIP Tim.

  29. i.... S....

    Yes we love it!

  30. h.... ....

    That singer has a great voice.

    h.... ....

    @highflyguy1 Alan Paul

    h.... ....

    and still does

  31. K.... B....

    Alan Paul has such a crystal-clear voice = plus I wouldn't mind having his looks, either...

  32. A.... B....

    Uploaded on our wedding week 8.8.88 in Singapore!

  33. w.... ....

    Best two years of my life were in Singapore in the early '90s. Happy Days! BTW this song is not Glenn Miller's originally.

    w.... ....

    You are right wingaard it is not Glenn Miller, it is way better than Glenn's

    w.... ....

    Lived there twice back in the 1960s.Took my kids there to visit my sister back in 2007.Love the place.

    w.... ....

    +Geoff Broad In the mid- Fifties my dad was posted to Malaya. We lived in Johore Bahru, which was across the Causeway from Singapore. I remember both well from a child's perspective. We left that part of the world in sunshine and arrived in Southampton on a drizzly day in September- how much I wished that the Empire Windrush would turn around and head back East!
    Trish

    w.... ....

    Pity. I wish too the British Empire hadn't fallen on hard times. Can't get a decent bottle of gin at Raffle's anymore.Beastly it is but the wogs don't seem to mind the heat poor devils.

    w.... ....

    @divynem wells I think the point is that Miller didn't have the first recording. That honor goes to Harry James with a young vocalist named Frank something ... oh, yeah. Sinatra. Miller's version came out just a few weeks later. His band didn't really mature until the 1940-41 period.

  34. j.... d....

    Sorry, I got it, LOL. What a silly question.

  35. j.... d....

    What's "TOTP"?

    j.... d....

    top of the pops

  36. M.... X....

    attractive people with intelligence especially, evolution the survival of the fittest lacks meaning ultimately, so christianity might mean something after all,

  37. M.... X....

    attractive people make me angry

  38. 6.... ....

    Singapore should make this their theme song for their 50th national day 2 yeas from now
    thumbs up if you agree

  39. L.... S....

    That would be Alan Paul. I don't recall him getting lead vocals much. Of course he's 35yrs older now (as are all of us who remember this on TOTP).

  40. H.... J....

    Who is the gorgeous male singer?

    H.... J....

    Huwey Jenkins Alan Paul

    H.... J....

    Huwey? That ain't no female name.

  41. A.... H....

    Another classical TOTP performance.

  42. D.... O....

    Not going to take that bait.

  43. M.... K....

    But why do you hate it Daphne, are they too good looking to be Singaporean ?

  44. D.... O....

    Hate the video (I'm a Singaporean), but love the song.

  45. B.... ....

    I love this so much, you would never ever guess.

  46. B.... ....

    stylish

  47. j.... d....

    Quit defecating into this site, dinky. Your literary exercises are of no interest to anyone.

  48. H.... A....

    I care. I'm sure the whole of Singapore cares.

  49. j.... d....

    Fuck off.

  50. j.... d....

    "burp" indeed. Who cares what it looks like.

  51. j.... d....

    Is it out of sync or am I dreaming?

  52. S.... ....

    Any one know where I can find this ? Not on itunes or Amazon

  53. J.... B....

    @burp let's sing the other 5%!

  54. T.... ....

    A Glenn Miller special that transcends time. I hope Glenn Miller will be in heaven. I just adore the video and the innocence that this song portrays. The singers voice and sailor style clothes are so touristly swish. And the allurement of that Shalamar perfume is so irresistible. Ahhh that Oriental experience is blissed to the maxx in less than 3 minutes of song. WOW.

    T.... ....

    No disrespect to Mr. Miller, but the first recording was by Harry James with Frank Sinatra. The Miller version didn't come out until a few weeks later.

  55. J.... N....

    another classic that gives class to my google jack netfan +1 links.
    my visitors are in for a treat.

  56. H.... A....

    What a stereotype. 95% of Singapore does not look like that.

  57. S.... H....

    nearly as good as glen millers version...........

    S.... H....

    And definitely inspired by it. Although in all fairness, Harry James and Frank Sinatra had the first release, beating Miller by about a month.

  58. h.... ....

    For this to be on "Top of the Pops" it must've been a hit in Britain - which it wasn't in the USA, although they certainly had other hits at home.

  59. S.... ....

    I just love the MT. They are so talented and diverse.

  60. K.... ....

    I assure you that singapore does NOT look like that any more. LOL.

  61. m.... ....

    @pix042 1978

  62. a.... ....

    @lenoreleblanc Only if the copyright killjoys don't step in...

  63. a.... ....

    search on this very page the bingcrosby1903 post

    glenn miller version,from which manhattan transfer took the inspiration

  64. G.... ....

    i'd bet my life it was in the charts in the summer of 1978.
    Wikipedia: Artists to cover the song included Frank Sinatra, Glenn Miller, Bert Kaempfert, and Jimmy Dorsey among others. Manhattan Transfer covered it again in 1978

  65. L.... L....

    My goodness! I have the '45 of this single that I inherited from my mother. It's actually my favorite version of this song, and I'm completely surprised that I could find it. Yay for YouTube to keep fantastic songs from fading into obscurity!

  66. G.... ....

    Summer '78 if I remember rightly, carefree days gone forever but always remembered.