Why supercool Sammy Davis Jr loved Hong Kong: ‘it has the finest tailors in the world’
- The American singer, who ‘insisted’ on playing in the city, in 1970, performed at the Lee Theatre
- ‘Davis walked on the stage wearing a fashionable Afro haircut, a peace medallion and a smile’
“American Negro singer Sammy Davis Junior is to give a one-night concert in Hongkong on Wednesday March 11 – and it is hoped that 14,000 people will turn out to see ‘Mr Wonderful’ perform,” reported the South China Morning Post on February 13, 1970.
Davis had been booked by Australian nightclub owner John Harrigan, who said “he didn’t mind ‘too much’ if the Hongkong concert lost money”.
“Sammy will be coming here under a HK$1-and-a-quarter million deal I recently signed with him in Puerto Rico [...] Actually, Sammy insisted that I try to book him here in Hongkong because he loves the place,” Harrigan revealed during a press conference to announce the show. “He was here about five years ago, and he says Hongkong tailors are the finest in the world – so he’ll be buying a whole new load of business and stage suits while he’s here.”
Originally, the Hong Kong Football Club was booked to host the concert, however, on March 8, the Post reported that Davis had been “relegated, because of red tape, to the Lee Theatre, which holds only 1,400”.
According to a March 11 Post article, Davis “didn’t really fly in last night – he swung in”.