Alleycats have managed what many other great bands of their era could not: capturing the crowd’s attention even to this day. At the 2016 Rockaway Festival, millennial KLites sang along to Alleycats hits as far back as “Senandung Semalam” from 1979 debut album Terima Kasih. The response was a microcosm of the band’s appeal: formed in 1969, they transcend Malaysia’s many religious, cultural beliefs and generational divides. But it mustn’t be easy for frontman and vocalist David Arumugam. He’s lost two brothers along the way—band co-founder Loga (Loganathan Arumugam, who passed away in 2007) and bassist Frank Ong (who died in 2019). But even before those tragic deaths, mortal thoughts had inspired Alleycats’ singles (the best ones often penned by fellow greats M. Nasir and S. Amin Shahab). Tracks like “Andainya Aku Pergi Dulu” (from 1981 album Kuching) and “Hingga Akhir Nanti” (from 1981 album 4) deal with the unease of impermanence, both in relation to life on Earth and their musical legacy. “To my knowledge, the legendary status is given when you’re dead,” the late Loga said in a 1991 Harian Metro interview. “If we were dead, I don’t care what [fans] chose to call us.” Regardless, legends it is.
