A very appreciative audience enjoyed listening to several songs by Andrew Lee which brought, for many, fond memories. Andrew was the guest presenter at the May 10 meeting of the Pattaya City Expats Club (PCEC). He is known as the “Sinatra Guy” because he sings the popular songs of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Bobby Daren, and more.
As an introduction, Andrew began with Sinatra’s “My Kind of Town,” but with a twist. He replaced Chicago with Thailand and even manage to include “PCEC” in the lyrics as well. Following this song, Andrew described how he started his career in the field of marketing and later becoming an entertainer. In his youth, he said he listened to his parents’ recordings noting his Mother’s favorite was Dean Martin. This was followed with a Dean Martin song, “A Kick in the Head” from the original Ocean’s Eleven movie.
Andrew said that growing up in Sacramento, California, he continued to prefer the songs of that era rather than what was popular at that time with his high school contemporaries. He also played drums, which he said helped him in developing his singing style. After getting his college degree in marketing, he began his business career. During these earlier years, he had not thought about or tried singing. That is until he discovered karaoke.
He made a business trip that took him to Italy, Germany, Japan, and Thailand. Based on his visit to Pattaya, he told himself that when he eventually retired, this is where he wanted to live. He returned to Sacramento from that trip in 2008. In 2013 started taking voice lessons. It was during this period that he became familiar with Bobby Daren’s songs and he then entertained everyone with “Mack the Knife.” Again, with a slight change in the lyrics when he sang “Mack is back in Pattaya Town.”
It was Covid that caused him to change course and begin his music career. The resultant downturn in the economy resulted in his losing his Vice President of Marketing job. As a result, he decided to take a trip to Las Vegas. There, he visited the local haunts of many entertainers. Being invited to sing led to his launching his singing career. He noted that he was not a Sinatra impersonator, but rather used his own voice to sing songs Sinatra and his associates made popular. This led to many bookings in smaller casinos and other venues, eventually performing 5 nights a week. After 2 years, he decided to take a sabbatical and returned to Thailand.
He said it was not his intent to continue as an entertainer, but as in Las Vegas, the musical community accepted him as one of their own and invited him to join them on stage. One of these was Yves Baron, a singer as well as music promoter who encouraged him to start working again as a singer.
He mentioned that he has over 200 songs in his repertoire. In conclusion, he performed several of these including Sinatra’s signature song, “I Did It My Way,” “New York New York,” and “That’s Life.” Based on suggestions from his audience, he also sang Bing Crosby’s “Moonlight Becomes You,” and Sammy Davis, Jr.’s “What Kind of Fool Am I.”
Following the presentations, MC Ren Lexander called on George Wilson to conduct the Open Forum portion of the meeting, where questions are asked or comments made about Expat living in Pattaya and Thailand. To learn more about the PCEC, visit their website at: https://www.pcec.club.
