The Sixties Show

As some of the original jazz,blues and rock artistes of India try to get back together to sing stories of revival,Singapore-based musician,Joseph Clement Pereira,is chronicling their work. On January 6,2011,the Mustangs got back for a performance in Bengaluru. The band was originally formed in 1965 and their blues and rock music was an instant hit. In the e-zone,on YouTube,the hits on the Monkey Song are on the rise. It has Nondon Bagchi on drums and vocals and Lew Hilt on bass — artistes from the ’60s Kolkata. In another performance,Radha Thomas from Bengaluru-based ’70s band,Human Bondage,belts out My Funny Valentine,a jazz number. Jazz,blues and rock music grew stronger in the country from the ’60s.

“I have always been interested in the Indian music of the ’60s. I had a cousin who studied in India from 1966 to 1972 and he would regale me with stories of Indian music,” says Pereira. His idea was to get together interesting people,ideas and memorabilia that defined the Indian western music scene. He had completed a similar project for Singapore. “I wanted to do this for India because it’s about time someone did. Initially,I titled it ‘India Sixties Music’,but then I expanded it to include the ’70s. Later,I thought of going the whole way to include the present,” he says. Thus,‘India Sixties and Beyond Music’ project was born.

The Net enabled him to contact a few musicians here. One was Nandu Bhende from Mumbai. He was part of Velvette Fogg,a finalist band at the All-India Simla Beat Rock Contest (1971). Another was Gussy Rikh from the Bengaluru band,Devil Beats. “I travelled to Mumbai in 2002 and met Nandu and Gus. Another musician I got in touch with via the internet was singer Asha Puthli. She had recorded an EP in Singapore,with Surfers,a Singaporean band,backing her,” says Pereira. On the Facebook community page of this project,one can find old pictures,record covers,letters,concert posters and the like. Bands like Delhi-based Mustangs,Bengaluru-based Human Bondage,Parikrama and artistes like Usha Uthup are also featured here.

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For Pereira,the biggest challenge was to hunt for places where these memorabilia could be found. “Finding articles on Indian music from the past was difficult. Not many are on the Web. In 2005,I was in Chennai and went to a flea market. At a stall,I chanced upon a stack of Rock Street Journals. It was like finding treasure. I am in constant search for similar places,” he says.

For the Facebook page,log on to:www.facebook.com/pages/India-Sixties-and-Beyond-Music/147952891964475?ref=ts