If you’ve been around the nightlife scene long enough, Zouk’s Mambo Jambo nights should be more than familiar in your lexicon.
Retro pop hits from the 70s and 80s incorporated with house music; making those especially cheesy synchronized dance moves; going delirious over Rick Astley’s ‘Together Forever’ when it starts playing — all classic memories of Mambo Jambo nights. The story goes that Zouk wanted to introduce house music into Singapore, but the genre wasn’t established yet in the Asian nightlife landscape. A plan was concocted — introduce a blend of classic pop hits and thumping house music every Wednesday night.
Though it was initially set to be a temporary affair, it soon became a pretty permanent institution in itself when popularity for those nights shot upwards, turning into an initiation ritual for noobs easing into the clubbing scene.
Local musician Dave Tan (of indie-rock outfit Electrico) is a fan of the long-established iconic nights at Zouk, which has run weekly for 21 years before it ended in 2012. Such a fan in fact, that Tan is producing a whole documentary on the uniquely Singaporean phenomenon.
Entitiled Blame it on the Boogie, the film will take audiences through its historic beginnings and how the iconic night has become entrenched in Singaporean culture, featuring anecdotes by ex-staff, DJs, journalists, celebrities and many more who’ve had their lives transformed by Mambo Jambo. The film’s epic conclusion will apex at Zouk itself for the massive Mambo reunion party this coming Aug 8.
Tan has even launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for his film, with most of the money going into acquiring music rights of the songs that’ve made Mambo nights special.
So far, a total of $3,970 has been raised out of its target of $75,000 (music rights are VERY expensive guys), with only 55 days left before the end of the campaign. So if you’ve often found yourself missing the days up on the podium synchronising your hands to Belinda Carlisle’s ‘Summer Rain’, now would be a good time to help Tan immortalise Mambo Jambo for future generations to appreciate. Stay updated on their Facebook page.
Photo: Mambo Jambo film Facebook page
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