Automatic for the people

Lambada seems to be everywhere. Not only at the Poona Coffee House PCH, from where the group's career took off, but also at Blue Diamon...

Lambada seems to be everywhere. Not only at the Poona Coffee House PCH, from where the group8217;s career took off, but also at Blue Diamond, Pride Hotel and at almost every party in town. What is it that makes the music of these young men so successful?

8220;It8217;s quite simple really,8221; says 26-year-old Narendra Chavan, lead singer, 8220;we play music that people like.8221; But it8217;s not as simple as he makes it out to be. Playing what people like8217; involves knowing more than 300 songs and hours of practice, dedication and, of course, talent.

A few years back, Chavan and Manoj Pandya were regular college kids who had a zest for life in general and music in particular. Says Pandya, 8220;I did have some formal training in playing the guitar. I have been learning music from Neelkant Kulkarni right from my school days8221;.

But for Chavan, music was something he stumbled upon. 8220;I have always been a bathroom singer. One day, I sang at a local Ganesh mandal8217;s celebrations which was also attended by a senior from my college. She pulled me out from modelling for the college fashion show and insisted that I sing8221;.

Not only did Chavan sing Kishore Kumar8217;s Neele Neele Ambar Pe, but also won the first prize. Meanwhile Pandya was playing for a hard rock band called Blud. The first taste of success made Pandya wonder why the two couldn8217;t start their own music group with others.

Says Chavan, 8220;We were sitting at the PCH when Manoj voiced his desire to start a band. At that time, all we needed was a name. Which Manoj8217;s mom provided 8211; and Lambada was born8221;.

Pandya did not want their group to be limited to any one kind of music. Says he, 8220;We wanted to be known as a music group, period. We did not want to limit ourselves to either Indian or Western music. Narendra8217;s forte was old Hindi film songs, Anand Iyer8217;s was bass guitar, mine was lead guitar and keyboards and Shaique Sheikh8217;s was percussion8221;.

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That was in 1992. Their first performance was at the Poona Goan Institute, where only a handful attended the dandiya programme. Later, they started to play at the PCH and the shows became so popular that people would come only if Lambada was playing.

Today, Lambada is perhaps the only Pune group that plays rock, pop, ghazals, film songs. And it is its uncanny knack to judge the audience8217;s tastes that makes it so popular. Says Chavan, 8220;When we are called to play, we judge the average age of the audience. For those in the age bracket of 35 to 40, we play old filmi songs and ghazals, popular numbers like Those Were The Days, while the younger crowd gets Alisha, Boy Zone and numbers like Barbie Girl, Macarena8221;.

But what does the Lambada like to play? 8220;We like to play the music of our generation, but all of us are great fans of R D Burman and A R Rahman. The best part of our job is that we enjoy the music we play,8221; says Chavan.

After having tasted success, Lambada now plans to plunge into the big league. Says Pandya, 8220;We have recently recorded four of our own compositions. After having played cover versions, we felt it was time to create our own stuff.8221; They have approached Magnasound and Plus Music, and if their music release is a hit, then perhaps Lambada8217;s history of success will repeat itself.