Alaap (band)

Last updated
Alaap
Origin Southall, United Kingdom
Genres Bhangra
Years active1977-1994
Labels Multitone
MembersChanni Singh

Alaap are a British Asian live band credited as the founders of British Bhangra. [1] In 2017, the BBC described the group as the 'most prolific' bhangra band. [2]

Contents

History

The band formed in Southall, West London, in 1977. [3] Originally a traditional bhangra band, they were prominent in the community circuit, playing at weddings and family gatherings in Southall. [4] [1] They had an early break on the BBC TV Asian programme, Nai Zindagi Naya Jeevan . [3]

In 1978, they were discovered by talent scout Pran Gohill of Multitone Records [3] and they recorded several albums with the label. [4] Teri Chunni de Sitare (1979) was the first album to be recorded by a British bhangra group, and is widely recognised as marking the birth of the ‘Southall scene’. [1]

In 1984, they began work with Deepak Kazanchi on the album Ten Chunm De Sitare, which introduced elements of contemporary electronic dance music into the band’s sound. [4]

Legacy

The success of Ten Chunm De Sitare has been linked to the emergence of professional British Bhangra bands that along with Alaap have been dubbed the 'Southall sound', such as Herra and Holle. [3] [4]

Their songs were used in the films Yari Jatt Di (1984), Dil , and Hatya . [1]

Related Research Articles

Bhangra is a type of non-traditional music of Punjab originating in Britain, specifically Southall and Birmingham. It is a type of upbeat popular music associated with the Punjabi diaspora in Britain. The style has its origins in the folk music of Punjab as well as western pop music of the 1970s and 1980s. Prior to this musical fusion, Bhangra existed only as a dance form in the native Punjab. This Punjabi music was unique in that it was not traditional nor did it seek any authenticity. While the traditional folk music of Punjab has a set of melodies that are used by various singers, Bhangra was a form of strict "band culture" in that new melodies were composed for each song. Therefore, the musicians were as important as the singers.

Popular music of the United Kingdom in the 1980s built on the post-punk and new wave movements, incorporating different sources of inspiration from subgenres and what is now classed as world music in the shape of Jamaican and Indian music. It also explored the consequences of new technology and social change in the electronic music of synthpop. In the early years of the decade, while subgenres like heavy metal music continued to develop separately, there was a considerable crossover between rock and more commercial popular music, with a large number of more "serious" bands, like The Police and UB40, enjoying considerable single chart success.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apache Indian</span> British singer-songwriter and reggae DJ

Steven Kapur, known by the stage name Apache Indian, is a British singer-songwriter and reggae DJ. He had a series of hits during the 1990s. He is best known in the UK for the song "Boom Shack-A-Lak", which reached the top ten during August 1993.

Asian underground is a term associated with various British Asian and South Asian Canadian musicians who blend elements of Western underground dance music and the traditional Asian music of their home countries in South Asia. The sound has roots in the South Asian Diaspora, and many notable musicians within the genre are immigrants or children of immigrants. The first well-known mention was the compilation album Anokha - Soundz of the Asian Underground released in 1997 and masterminded by Talvin Singh and Sweety Kapoor. It is not a strict musical genre per se, since the specific sounds can vary wildly.

Swami is a British Indian electronic music/ bhangra/ world music act from Birmingham, England. "Swami" is also the pseudonym of the DJ producer Diamond Duggal. Swami currently performs as a hybrid electronic DJ act with special world music guests and collaborations including Deep Forest and PunjabTronix.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Dhol Foundation</span> Musical artist

The Dhol Foundation is both a dhol drum institute in London and a musical group. The dhol school was founded in 1989 by former Alaap member Johnny Kalsi when several musicians asked him to be their teacher, and a first album was released by Kalsi and his students in 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnny Kalsi</span> Musical artist

Johnny Kalsi is a British Indian dhol drum performer residing in London. He rose to prominence as a former member of Transglobal Underground and the founder of the Dhol Foundation. He also is a member of the Afro Celt Sound System and The Imagined Village.

Harcharanjit Singh Rupal, known professionally as Channi Singh, is a British-Indian bhangra musician, known as the "godfather" of bhangra in the West.

<i>No Reservations</i> (Apache Indian album) 1993 studio album by Apache Indian

No Reservations is the debut studio album by British-Asian musician Apache Indian, released in January 1993 by Island Records and their subsidiary Mango. The musician and singer recorded the album primarily in Jamaica's Tuff Gong studios with producers including Simon and Diamond, Bobby Digital, Phil Chill and Sly Dunbar. It follows, and includes, Apache Indian's 1990–91 singles – "Move Over India", "Chok There" and "Don Raja" – which saw him pioneer a fusion of Jamaican ragga and Indian bhangra later known as bhangramuffin.

DCS are a British Asian live Bhangra band formed in 1983. They are seen as one of the first bands of the UK Bhangra scene along with other bands such as Alaap, Apna Sangeet, Heera, Shava Shava led by Nirmal Kumar Nirmal and many more. As well as Bhangra, DCS also perform in Hindi and English.

Tigerstyle is a Scottish folkhop group from Glasgow with a British Punjabi background.

British soul, Brit soul, or the British soul invasion, is soul music performed by British artists. Soul has been a major influence on British popular music since the 1960s, and American soul was extremely popular among some youth subcultures, such as mods, skinheads, and the Northern soul movement. In the 1970s, soul gained more mainstream popularity in the UK during the disco era.

Heera Group UK is a bhangra music band that originated in the early 1980s. Also known as the pioneers of British Bhangra, and one of the most successful British Bhangra bands in history. The lead singers are Palvinder Dhami and Jasvinder Kumar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kuljit Bhamra</span> British musician

Kuljit Bhamra MBE Hon DMus is a British composer, record producer and musician whose main instrument is the tabla. He is best known as one of the record producers who pioneered the British Bhangra sound and for his many collaborations with musicians from different genres and continents. His MBE was awarded in the Queen's Birthday Honour's List 2009 with the citation For services to Bhangra and British Asian Music. In July 2010 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Exeter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Multitone Records</span>

Multitone Records, originally Savera Investments, was a British record label founded by Pran Gohil in 1978. Pran was formerly Regional Head of Polygram, Asia Pacific based in the Netherlands and also Executive Chairman of Spartan Records, London. Multitone Records specialized in bhangra style music. The style itself was commercialized by Multitone Records, which is considered to be the pioneer of British Bhangra and the label grew to become the "largest Asian record label in the world" during its lifetime under Managing Director Jitesh Gohil. In 1992, the company entered into a joint venture with BMG in order to spread its label throughout Europe and internationally. Multitone's artists formed the "who's who" of the British bhangra scene including The Safri Boyz, DCS, XLNC, Sasha, Amar, Apna Sangeet, Alaap, Chirag Pehchan and many more. A number of Multitone's records entered the UK and International charts including "People of the world" by Sasha, "Take me higher" by Bindushri and "Tu hai mera sanam" by Amar. Multitone's music also entered the market on the Indian subcontinent with hits like "Patel rap" by Bali, and hits of Abba in Hindi by Salma and Sabina Agha.The company began distribution in the United States on 27 June 1994 through M.S. Distributing Co. Paul Bernard was appointed as the US representative of the company. The US debut featured albums by Pammi and XLNC

Bhujhangy Group are the world's longest-running bhangra band. The group was founded in Smethwick, near Birmingham, England, in 1967 by brothers Dalbir Singh Khanpur and Balbir Singh Khanpur, who had come to the United Kingdom to in the mid 1950s and been joined by their families in 1964, initially working as labourers in the West Midlands' factories. They were named Bhujhangy – meaning "kids" – as they were still teenagers, and their first recording was "Teri Chithi Noon Parthan", a 7" EP recorded in 1967 and distributed manually in pub juke boxes before being officially recorded and distributed in late 1969-70.

Birmingham's culture of popular music first developed in the mid-1950s. By the early 1960s the city's music scene had emerged as one of the largest and most vibrant in the country; a "seething cauldron of musical activity", with over 500 bands constantly exchanging members and performing regularly across a well-developed network of venues and promoters. By 1963 the city's music was also already becoming recognised for what would become its defining characteristic: the refusal of its musicians to conform to any single style or genre. Birmingham's tradition of combining a highly collaborative culture with an open acceptance of individualism and experimentation dates back as far back as the 18th century, and musically this has expressed itself in the wide variety of music produced within the city, often by closely related groups of musicians, from the "rampant eclecticism" of the Brum beat era, to the city's "infamously fragmented" post-punk scene, to the "astonishing range" of distinctive and radical electronic music produced in the city from the 1980s to the early 21st century.

Silinder Pardesi is a Bhangra singer-songwriter, lyricist, and composer from Coventry, West Midlands, England. He is the founder and lead singer of the highly acclaimed British Asian Bhangra band 'The Pardesi Music Machine'. In 1994 Silinder Pardesi moved onto pastures new and began his solo career. Over the past 30 years Silinder Pardesi has released over twenty albums and collaborated with an array of artists including Rishi Rich and Neeru Bajwa.

Apna Sangeet were a British Asian Bhangra band from Birmingham, England.

Mohinder Kaur Bhamra is a British singer of Punjabi folk music, ghazals and Sikh hymns. Some of her songs have highlighted issues that concern British Indian women.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Ballantyne, Tony (2006). Between Colonialism and Diaspora: Sikh Cultural Formations in an Imperial World. Duke University Press. ISBN   0822338246.
  2. Hebblethwaite, Phil (January 27, 2017). "10 astonishing record-breakers in global music". BBC. BBC. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Dorian, Frederick; Duane, Orla; McConnachie, James (1999). World Music: Africa, Europe and the Middle East . Rough Guides. ISBN   1858286352.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Donnell, Alison (2002). Companion to Contemporary Black British Culture. Routledge. ISBN   1134700245.