John Klass

Manchester United fan John Klass pens a tribute to the Red Devils

By Janice Lee,

This 32-year-old left his "dull" life as a radio disc jockey in 1998 to pursue a career in music.

Now four years down the road, John Klass has come a long way. Not only did he pen the soundtrack for local movie "The Teenage Textbook", but he's also written a musical entitled "Monsters".

He's even won accolades for some of his music. First known for his involvement with the local pop band Kick!, in 1993, John later joined Perfect 10 as a DJ.

Now, he's come up with a theme song for Manchester United fans all over the world.

“ A friend suggested that I write a song when they won the 1999 season but I didn’t think it would work,” said John.

“ But after I reflected on it again, I realized that there wasn’t anything like that in the world. Fans outside the UK have never had a song to call their own.”

Well, now they do. John’s single, entitled “Believing in Fergie’s Fighters” is a tribute to Manchester United and its manager, Alex Ferguson.

All this started because his brother tricked him into supporting the team.

Said John, “ We were watching the 1979 FA Cup Final and Arsenal was playing against Man U. My brother wanted to bet on the outcome of the match, so I was forced into supporting Man U since he was an Arsenal fan.”

The close fight between Arsenal and Manchester United ended in little John losing some money.

“But their fighting spirit inspired me and from then on, I became a faithful fan,” he said.

Working with renowned musical director Richard Niles, john had the track done in just four days.

Superstar Nile has arranged music for luminaries such as Sir Paul McCartney, Placido Domingo and Dame Kiri Te Kanawa in the past.

“I wanted to take my music out of Singapore and to target a more international audience,” he said.

“Niles was a real pro and so were the musicians I worked with. It was a memorable experience.”

And it wont’ be a wasted trip – organizers are now pushing for John’s single to be included in the official Manchester United Album.

Come the first quarter of next year, john will travel to Japan, Malaysia and the United Kingdom to promote Fergie’s Fighters.

“We’re striving for that. It will truly unite the fans from the different parts of the world.”

- Believing in Fergie’s Fighters is available from all participating music retail outlets and Manchester United retail stores at $11.90.
- Today Newspaper (Singapore)

By Ernest

Fergie's Fighters.

From a headline used in The Newpaper in 1999 as Manchester United headed towards that glorious Treble-winning season, it has been transformed into a pop song dedicated to the Red Devils led by manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

And the one inspired to write the lyrics around what started out as a headline is not Posh Spice...but John Klass - a singer-songwriter from our very own shores.

Believing in Fergie's Fighters is the song's title now, and Klass has had to believe hard in himself.

Because after three years of having doors closed in his face, the former deejay of Perfect 10 finally got the righ backing to record his song.

It culminated in a four-day recording session in London last month produced by Richard Niles, who has arranged songs for Paul McCartney, Tears for Fears, Pet Shop Boys, Cher, Placido Domingo, James Brown, Mariah Carey, Westlife and Boyzone.

Thenewly-pressed single - Believing in Fergie's Fighters - comes in a DVD-like cover and various edits with soccer commentary and dance mixes too.

it is available at major music outlets and the Man United Megastore in Tanglin Road for $11.90.

Said Klass, 32: " We've all heard the old Man U cheer songs before but i realised one thing: They were always done by the fans in the UK.

"Man U has so many fans worldwide but that international voice was missing.

"I've been supporting Man U since 1979 and they've always impressed me with their fighting spirit."

" The Treble-winning season in 1999 was a classic example especially when they kept coming back to win right at the end."

"Hence the lyric line. ' Never stop believing right to the end ' . And the song has become my own personal anthem too."

That's because writing lyrics was the easy part. Getting it transformed into a single was the real test.

That's where Befreunden - a local company that handles events, advertising and marketing - came in to back Klass's project.

Said its managing director Kelvin Loh: " I can't reveal the exact sum it cost, but it's a six-figure sum that we've invested. The recording session alone cost $50,000. Including the pressing of the CDs, it comes up to $80,000."

The results are obvious.

Klass' single - which was played at Thursday's press conference at the Bark Cafe next to the Changi Prison Chapel - Sounds many times better than his demo which he sent to Niles for a first listen.

It's done in a catchy pop style - not like the pub-like Glory Glory Man United songs - that is definitely very radio-friendly.

Even Manchester United (South-East Asia) has lent its support to Klass' single.

Said its event and promotions manager, Christine kong: " When we first heard the single, we were very impressed. John is a big Man U fan and to be honest this is the first effort by a Singaporean Man U fan to organise and create something like this."

Befreunden will also launch a "Believing In" campaign which starts with the promotion of the single here till January.

Then, the plan is to market the CD in South-East Asia - in countries like Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines.

After which, the Japanese, Hong Kong, Chinese and Korean markets will be targeted.

Finally, at the end of next year, the plan is to release "Believing in Fergie's Fighters" in the UK and Ireland.

Said Klass: " At the end of it all, we plan to release another single after a series of 'Fan United International' contests, where Man U's international fans come together with me to record."

Are there plans to involve Manchester United themselves?

Replied Klass: "We want to do this from the ground level first, to show them it's an effort from their international fans.

"Eventually, we will take it to them and let them see what they want to do with it and how they want to take it from there."

Till then, Klass will be believing in his Fergie's Fighters, that the song will its way to the top of the charts in this region and possibly, internationally.
- The Newpaper (Singapore)

By T Ranganayaki,

Kick!'s next album will bear the stamp, Made in London.

The Popular local band, now a duo comprising John Klass and Jai after the departure of Dinesh Bhatia last year, will record its second album in London.

" We have been talking about cutting a new record fro a while now and, between Jai and myself, we have enough material," said John, 26.

Kick!, best known for Jane, a No. 1 Hit on Perfect 10 charts in 1993, also won the Best Local Act award at the Perfect 10 awards that year. The members' looks and pop rock melodies have made them popular with teenagers.

Jai, 22, said the new album will be different from the first, Freedom (In Me). That one sold about 5,000 copies.

" It will be more melody based and more commercial," said Jai, an NSman.

The duo hopes to release the yet-to-be-titled album by June. Its 11 tracks are all self-composed.

British producer Glenn Skinner, who has worked with artistes such as Maizurah and Deanna Yusoff, will be in charge.

" When Glenn was in town, I asked him to listen to some of Kick!'s test tracks. and he liked them," said Mr Jimmy Wee, managing director of Pony Canyon Entertainment, Kick!'s recording company.

John said he and Jai also like the "romance" of working in another country.

" It will be inspiring to work in a different environment. When I was in Italy for three months, I wrote so many songs. I felt I was at my creative best."

The album cover may also be shot in London. "We want to give it a London feel. So it is important to get the background right," said Jai.

The recording will take a month. Then, Jai will come home to complete his National Service. John plans to stay on a little longer to check out the London music scene.

Kick! is also planning a concert for the end of this year or early next year.
- The Newpaper (1996)

If all goes well, Kick! will be heard in Europe next month, when the album Freedom (In Me) is released there in a distribution tie-up with German recording company BMG.

Can Dinesh Bhatia, Jai and John Klass do what no other Singapore band has done before - break into the international charts?

The Trio are confident that their album, which they produced with Mark Saunders, who produced Erasure's Wild! and The Cure's Kiss Kiss Kiss has the right mix to turn international audiences.

Their all-original material, which spans influences from '80s New Wave groups such as Wham! and Kajagoogoo, to rock, soul and rap, has a breezy, sunny style, lifted by Klass' boyish voice that reminds you at times of George Micheal during his days with Andrew Ridgeley.

Tinged with lots of bubblegum, Kick!'s songs include a rap number and some guitar-driven pop-rock, but they are strongest in their unabashed pop mode, cruiding along on strong New Wave/New Romantic elements.

Kick!'s first single was the title track on the compilation album Red Hot & Skin, released earlier this year and is representative of most of the songs on Freedom (In Me) - Radio Friendly stuff that belongs on any Top 40 station in the world.

The clean cut trio are also fuelling many a teenage girl's hormones with their live performances, in which Klass handles the microphone like a seasoned professional, never mind that he has never had voice lessons.

" I love the attention!" adds Klass, a Rediffusion producer-presenter. "What's wrong with looking good and producing good music?"

The band got together in November two years ago with another bassist and practised for two months to play for a dinner & dance function. " Our band leader wanted us to practise for six more months before we hit the clubs," says Dinesh.

" Then one day, three of us happened to be jamming at Dinesh's studio and we found out that all of us wanted to do our own stuff."

They came up with a song called Chains of Pain, which is on the album. The next day, they played the song for their band leader. Recalls Dinesh: " When he heard what we were playing, he closed his bag and by the time we finished, he was out the door..."

The name Kick!, says Jai and arts student at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, was seized upon after the group had run out of names. " We had One Tree Hill, The Graduate, Paint Us Black, but they just didn't sound right. Then I was fooling around with the drums one day and the word Kick leapt out at me."


Kick drums, part of a drum kit, are mainly used for a pounding rythm.

The boys are unabashed about their accessible brand of music. Says Klass: " Melodies have always sold."

Adds Dinesh: " We wanted an album that does not sound 'Singaporean' but international. If people think we bastardise ourselves, sell ourselves short by doing music in a pop style, it's not true. This is us, like it or not."

Add Jai: "We're just beginning. Hopefully, we can make it big one day."
- The Straits Times (1993)

Former bandboy-DJ's pop ballad, the theme song for National Day Parade, is a tribute to SARS caregivers.

By Jill Alphonso

John Klass, 33, sits drinking his iced coffee, comfortable in a white shirt and sleek denim pants.

You may remember him from the now defunct band Kick!, whose hit Jane from their debut album Freedom (In Me) topped the Perfect 10 charts in 1993. The band went on to record a second album in London which never materialised because their record label closed.

Kick! which comprised John Klass, Jai and Dinesh Bhatia, disbanded officially in 1997. Klass had begun to work as a DJ for Perfect 10 in 1996, but struck out on his own two years later and became a 'multi-hyphenate' - host, producer and songwriter. As long as it related to music, he was game.

This year, his pop ballad (Heroes and Angels), commissioned by The Singapore Red Cross in April, is a tribute to SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) caregivers. It quickly caught the attention of the media, gained wide radio and television air-play, and is slated to be sung during the National Day Parade.

Klass says that it was "inspired by caregivers who have worked to heal, and who were confronted by prejudice and shunned because they were in such close contact with the SARS virus".

"My brother-in-law had been travelling to China and Hong Kong in April, the height of the SARS outbreak. I was afraid that my wife Valerie and three-year-old daughter would be infected should my brother-in-law have been carrying the virus unwittingly," says Klass.

He moved his family out of their shared home and into a friend's for a period of two weeks.

The Song is a tribute to those who find the courage to face that which is difficult and unsolvable.

"It's the same as going to war," he says of the caregivers efforts.

So inspired was he that he penned the song within an hour.

Thru' Your Eyes, sung by Klass along with members of parliament, celebrities, doctors and nurses, took Singapore by storm and quickly gained both radio and TV time.

It was featured on the Independent Television (ITV) Network in London, in May, and was aired on BBC World Service.

It is no surprise, then, that Thru' Your Eyes is the theme song for this year's National Day Parade and is to be sung onstage by celebrities, while a group of 240 representatives from health care groups will take their places onstage and the crowd will be led in a "unity chant"

Though he will not be attending the parade, Klass will be gathering friends and family to watch the performance.

Not content with success in Singapore, he has just returned from London where he met 30 record companies to discuss projects. He hopes to make it - Solo - on the international music scene.

Citing influences from Frank Sinatra to George Micheal, he wishes his music to remain in the pop genre, but also to always remain relevant to the times.
- The Straits Times Life! (2003)

Recent Notable Singles

Honey Honey/Victims: John Klass with Jaime Yeo/ with Echoboys (BMG)

Klass is a genuine pop-talent who's as bankable an entity in homegrown music as Tanya and Jacintha.
- 8 Days (2000)

The most requested song on the station since Klass came up with it last month. He was inspired by a poem on Bengs which a listener had sent him.

He sings and raps to Puff Daddy's I'll be Missing You, while fellow Perfect 10 DJ Ivan Rentung does the Ah Beng part. Check out his classic Beng lingo - "eh, ai ki tiao bu mai?" (Translation: Do you wanna go dancing?).

After the song was aired, the station received many letters, e-mails and drawings of Ah Bengs all done in good humour. Listen out for an Ah Lian reply soon, set to (what else?) Barbie Girl.

Thanks to the Genius of DJ John Klass and the fluent Beng-speak of DJ Ivan Rentung, this ode to Ah Bengs, set to Puff Daddy's I'll be missing you, has become the most requested song on the Perfect 10. It is funny, it rhymes and it hits very close to home. - The Straits Times (1997)