Comments on: Going Multitone: Desi Ska Music

By: parminder.

parminder. — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 07:11:03 +0000

because of bollywood and Punjabi folk singers,

experimentation is dead in desi music

80s and 90s were a great time of musical experimentation for desi music

and I dont mean remixes

Sahotas were probably the best indian music ever got

they should reunite and save the planet

By: danny

danny — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:56:26 +0000

he is the most mental person in the world

By: danny

danny — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:55:16 +0000

i hate him the most in the world

By: Reet

Reet — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 22:18:57 +0000

I used to love listening to the great Bhangra bands from the UK in the late 80's and early 90's such as the Sahotas (best albums were first two ones: Sahota beat, and Aaja), DCS, Azaad, Premi, Heera, Anakhi, Achanak, Azmat (Power packed series), Bally Sagoo, Geet Mega Band, Saqi, Safri Boys, Apna Sangeet, Amarjit Sidhu, Johnny Zee, Raga Kaka Winston, The New Pardesi Music Machine, Johnny Zee, Anaamika, XLNC, Ajuba, DJ Jiten, Toofan, etc. In fact, I used Audacity to convert all my favorite songs from cassette to mp3 format and now I can listen to them on my iPod.

I used to have the Cultural FX tape that I purchased from Calgary, Canada (lived there for 20 years). Sadly, I must have misplaced it, as I cannot find it anywhere. I loved the Boliyaan by Sahotas as well as Gal Puchni by Sahotas as well. I'm trying desperately to track these songs down, but cannot find them anywhere. Any suggestions?

By: HEJ

HEJ — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 16:36:18 +0000

I love Sonic Boom Six; I found out about them a few years ago. I’ve noticed how alternative rock music is dominated by white people; it’s really not nice to see when they’re trying to stamp out racism. I got into ska and everyone’s so much more welcoming and accepting.

By: Suj

Suj — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 22:10:57 +0000

Wow, I’m really late to this one…just came across the article. I’ve been a huge ska fan for a really really long time. And always thought I was the only Indian kid to ever listen to it (until I heard about Tony Kanal). I liked the Skalars back in the day…who knew they had an Indian drummer! There has been a lot of Reggae-influenced and Dancehall-influenced desi music. But it is next to impossible to come across an Indian who’s ever heard of the Skatalites or Hepcat or the Pietasters. Maybe there is some hope after all

By: sonny

sonny — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 21:20:03 +0000

okay i’m like a year late here but really glad i found this. very interesting stuff. amardeep – i too grew up on ska music in high school and college and it had a huge impact on me. of course i was the only desi at most of the ska shows i went to in phoenix and tucson, arizona. when i was in college i had a hokie but fun ska band called Turban Jones (i meant it when i said hokie) based in tucson, az. musically there wasn’t much desi influence – it was more along the lines of two-tone stuff and quite horn driven. the guitarist in that band was anoop bhatheja also desi. we didn’t get out of AZ really but we opened up for a lot of the bigger touring ska bands like the toasters, the slackers, etc. oh and we had one song that was in broken hindi and another where the chorus was the lyrics to that old film song “mera jutha hai japaani.” good times… true that outernational isn’t exactly a ska band but the influence is definitely there, as is the desi influence. but not often simultaneously. sounds like a project to me i really haven’t heard any musical fusion of desi music and ska, though plenty of reggae and dancehall. i’m sure many know of funkadesi from chicago who mix indian music with roots reggae – http://myspace.com/funkadesi . but i have to wonder what were all the indian people in jamaica doing when ska was emerging in the 60s? hmmm…

By: Sohan Kailey

Sohan Kailey — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 18:47:39 +0000

Hi, Good to see the feedback on this page. Just to point out within the UK Bhangra Music Industry it was bands like Sahotas, DCS, Azaad, Pardesi Music Machine and Achank who experimented using Reggae into their music. However most popular out of them all would have to be the band Sahotas, you could not only hear the Reggae Beat in all their albums but they were the one band that guaranteed a Reggae-Bhangra track in neafrly all their albums. Take for instance the track ‘Akia Smaal’ from the Sahota Beat (1988) album. The track opened up with a Dreadlock Rastafarian chatting! Went on to be popular as the band took the track live on stage at gigs. Later they returned with many Reggae/Ska fused tracks such as, Aaja Aaja Aaja, the Reggae-Boliyaan, Heerie, Yaaran Di Yaari, Maa Da Pyaar. Who can forget ‘Sach’ which proved successful at Bhangra/Reggae ballad at Bhangra gigs. The great thing about it is that the genre’s of ska, Reggae and Bhangra do compliment each other. From Sohan Kailey (Publicist, UK).

By: Rekha malhotra

Rekha malhotra — Fri, 02 Jun 2006 02:08:35 +0000

Dave Sharma currently on tour with Bombay Dreams was in the Skalars who at one point opened up for No Doubt- who bassist is Tony Kanal. Multitone Records was at one point acquired by BMG given hope for international success, but failed to make it big outside of UK. Achanak is still around. Love the informed bhangra conversation on thess postings.

By: gatamala

gatamala — Wed, 31 May 2006 15:21:00 +0000

Amardeep– I agree. As you get further and further away from 1st & 2nd wave it gets a little ho-hum. But….if you get a chance go see No Doubt live. With all the focus on Gwen’s appearance, the band’s musicianship is totally overlooked (compare solo effort to ND albums). I saw them a few years ago at VoodooFest (NOLA) & have never seen a festival-size crowd under that kind of control in my life. Tony Kanal does not f–k around on that bass!