Reginald "Reggie" Verghese (16 August 1947 – 17 June 2015)[ Billboard, 27 July 1996 - Page 59 Global Music Pulse, Singapore: - Edited by David Sinclair] During the 1960s, he was a member of Singaporean band The Quests.[ Today, Friday 27 April 2018 - The Quests’ guitarist Reggie Verghese dies By Christopher Toh][AsiaOne, 4 March 2014 - The Quests' Jap Chong dies from heart attack by Melody Zaccheus] He later moved into production, producing work for acts such as Matthew and the Mandarins, Frankie Cheah, Anita Sarawak, Western Union Band, Jennifer Yen, and Tracy Huang.
Career
The Quests
Around 1963, while still in secondary school, he was a member of a group called The Checkmates.
[ The Straits Times, 17 June 2015 - The Quests' guitarist Reggie Verghese dies of heart failure - Eddino Abdul Hadi]
In 1964, the guitarist for
The Quests, Raymond Leong, had left the group to pursue his studies. Verghese took his place. In a matter of months, the group had a no.1 hit with "Shanty". His guitar playing in the song attracted a lot of attention. Along with
Jap Chong, sharing the vocals, he stayed with the group throughout all of the line up changes until the group's break up in 1971. He then moved into production.
Production
In 1977, Verghese produced the debut self-titled album for The Western Union Band which had evolved out of a 1960s group called The Rubber Band and featured songs such as, "Sausolito" and "Howzit".
[ The Rocky Road: Autobiography By Mr Boogie Woogie, By Rockin Dave - -] He produced the self-titled album for Matthew & The Mandarins which was released on
EMI and contained the song "
Singapore Cowboy".
[Discogs - Matthew* & The Mandarins – Matthew And The Mandarins] The song would eventually become a big hit in Singapore, reaching no. 1.
[Bandwagon - Matthew & The Mandarins, Biography] Verghese also produced their next album,
II, which was released in 1979 also on EMI.
[Discogs - Matthew* & The Mandarins – II]
In 1984, together with Ken Lim and three other partners, Verghese formed Boogie Productions Pte Ltd and took over the recording studio and equipment from EMI Singapore Pte Ltd which had closed down.
Death
Having suffered from heart and liver problems for a few years, Verghese died of
heart failure at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital on 17 June, 2015. He was 67.
[ The Straits Times, 17 June 2015 - The Quests' guitarist Reggie Verghese dies of heart failure - Eddino Abdul Hadi][ Today, Friday 27 April 2018 - The Quests’ guitarist Reggie Verghese dies By Christopher Toh]
Discography
