When Zainal Beat Iglesias
Neves is the lead singer and lyricist of award-winning rock group Pretty Ugly.
Crooner Zainal Cugat will be releasing a compilation of his favourite Spanish songs in his debut album later this month. DENNIS CHUA writes.
Zainal and his son Razlan, who used to lead the band Natures.
WHILE the Spanish song Amor is often associated with Julio Iglesias, a Malaysian artiste had actually performed it much earlier.
Zainal Abidin Yassin, better known as Zainal Cugat, sang the song written by Gabriel Ruiz back in the 1950s.
He is still going strong at 73, crooning numerous Latin tunes, including Beautiful Maria, Besame Mucho, Quizas, Quizas, Quizas and Volare.
Zainal, who made Cugat his stage name in honour of the late Spanish violinist Xavier Cugat who visited Malaysia (then Malaya) in 1954, is a self-taught vocalist who sings fluently in Bahasa Malaysia, English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, French, Japanese and Tagalog.
He is the first notable Malaysian to specialise in Spanish songs.
A fan of evergreen songs and jazz numbers, the Kampung Baru-born Zainal first performed in the 1950s as a back-up singer of Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM, then Radio Malaya).
In 1954 and 1955, he participated in talent search Teletime, organised by Rediffusion Radio at the Chinwoo Stadium, Kuala Lumpur.
He sang Volare (made popular by Dean Martin) and Come Closer To Me (made popular by Nat King Cole) and won first prize both years.
Zainal subsequently formed The Saint which became one of the first pop acts to appear live on television in the 1960s. He sang and played the drums.
Zainal’s pop group was among the first to perform on board a decorated float at the first Merdeka celebration in 1957.
“We performed keroncong and traditional pop as well as contemporary pop numbers. I later joined Gema Pesta and Puteh Lima, groups which backed music legends such as Datuk Ahmad Jais, Tan Sri
P. Ramlee, Puan Sri Saloma and Fazidah Joned,” he said.
He was also part of Ramlee’s famous Ben Puteh Orchestra and performed with the legendary violinist Hamzah Dolmat on television.
Zainal, the youngest of four siblings, “fell in love” with Spanish music during his teens.
“I just love listening to Latin music - it is so romantic and melodious,” he said.
“I loved Cugat’s music in particular. The legendary bandleader made popular the cha cha, conga and mambo among others and recorded the song Perfidia.”
In the 1960s and 1970s, Zainal performed with veteran pop singer Dahlan Zainuddin’s group The Gypsies at Federal Hotel in Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur.
He subsequently formed Latin group The Muchachos which has performed in the Crown Princess and Flamingo Hotel in Kuala Lumpur as well as the Regency Hotel in Port Dickson.
“I’ve also sang at The Ship in Bukit Bintang and Medan Damansara and Westin Hotel, where I collaborated with Colombian musicians five years ago,” he said.
“I also perform regularly with the City Hall Orchestra.”
In 1991, Zainal played the drums with the Ben Puteh Orchestra in the (Tribute to P. Ramlee and Saloma) at Panggung Bandaraya.
The following year, he sang Fly Me To The Moon, Red Sail In The Sunset, Come Closer To Me, There Goes My Heart and Walking My Baby Back Home in A Tribute To Nat King Cole at Machine One in Jalan Sultan Ismail.
Zainal will be launching his first album later this month. It is a compilation of his favourite Spanish songs, produced by LFI Events and Entertainment.
Come Oct 18, he will be performing at RTM’s radio station Muzik FM’s Hari Raya Open House in the town hall of Papar, Sabah. He will be joined by popular singers Farawahida, Mamat, Mas Idayu, Aznil Nawawi, Ebi Yaimal, Aizat Amdan and Nubhan Ahamad.
“It’s never too late to have an album, and it’s not about going mainstream. I love Spanish songs and this album is my labour of love to fans. It’s my invitation to Malaysians to share with me the beauty of Latin music,” he said.
Four of Zainal’s sons are musicians or recording artistes in their own right.
His fourth son Raizan Zainal Abidin or better known as Neves, is the lead singer and lyricist of award-winning rock group Pretty Ugly, which delivered the hit, Diari Seorang Lelaki.
Interestingly, Raizan’s stage name is a tribute to his father. Zainal has seven children and “Neves” is “seven” in reverse.
His third son Razlan, better known as Ozone, used to lead the band Natures which was popular in the late 1990s. The singer and composer is now a draughtsman.
Razif, the youngest, is better known as Pretty Ugly’s guitarist J. A. while fifth son Shahrizal, who excels in the guitar and Spanish music, used to be part of The Muchachos and is currently an interior designer based in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.
Zainal also counts popular television host Aznil of Akademi Fantasia fame as his nephew. The zany host is the son of Zainal’s cousin.
Razlan said: “We’ve yet to sing together as a family, but that’s in the pipeline.
“My brothers and I may have different musical tastes from our father, but all of us inherited his love of music. Hopefully, we’ll still be active performers like him at 70.”
New Straits Times