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When Bhangra really was cool
The legends of British Bhangra from Heera to DCS are remembered in a new book by a fan of the music.
Rajinder Dudrah's new book 'Bhangra: Birmingham and Beyond' is the first book of it's kind and features a unique and fascinating insight into the growth of Bhangra in Britain.
"It was and still is part of our cultural heritage and I wanted to highlight what a huge phenomenon it is."
"I wanted to re-tell some of the great and wonderful stories of the bands and artists such as Alaap, Heera and Apna Sangeet."
The book charts the rise of some of the real heroes of Bhangra through the eighties, the nineties and right through to the likes of Judggy D and Hard Kaur.
Dr Dudrah, a senior lecturer in Film and Media Studies at the University of Manchester says he was always interested in the phenomenon that was Bhangra.
"I've always been a Bhangra enthusiast as far back I can remember. I loved going to Bhangra gigs and listening to the tunes. Growing up for many of us Bhangra was our R & B and Rock'n'roll.
"At our school we used to have a Bhangra disco every Friday with the support of the teachers where everyone could play their favourite tracks."
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| Writer Rajinder Dudrah |
"When I started my degree at Portsmouth University in 1991 the Bhangra scene was in full flow. We would travel to London and the Midlands for gigs.
"But even during that time it was a very Asian thing with the host community not entirely sure of what it was and what it meant to us."
The book was made possible thanks to records supremo Ammo Talwar and established photographer-writer Boy Chana.
Some of the photo's featured in the book are truly stunning and capture the very essence of what Bhangra meant to many youngsters growing up.
Rajinder adds, "Personally I rank DCS and Achanak as my own favourites. But what I found whilst researching for book was unique and personal memories people had of their favourite artists."
The book also features a section dedicated to the women artists who continue to make a huge impact on the music scene.
"Bhangra was always seen as very macho and very male thing but it was important to acknowledge the contribution female artists made to the growth of the music scene.
"Women were performing as well but they never used to get as much attention as the male bands and artists."
For Rajinder the book was partly about looking at the how artists in the 1980s such as Alaap and Heera started experimenting with different instruments and giving the genre a distinctive British Asian feel.
"Whilst I have utmost respect for some of the today's musicians I feel slowly we have lost the true essence of Bhrangra.
"In the digital age one can make music without any instruments as such. The beauty of Bhangra music has always been the live element to it and the fact that all these different instruments were played."
Bhangra: Birmingham and Beyond partly evolved out of a unique exhibition, "Soho Road To Punjab", which also tells the story of Bhangra in the UK and is currently touring throughout the country.
The book is out on November 19.
9:05am Wednesday 7th November 2007
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CommentPosted by: G.Mall, T.S.Bilga, Birmingham on 11:26am Sat 15 Dec 07
We the Action Committee are representing most of the artists involved in Bhangra Dance and Bhangra Music industry in UK. We held an emergency meeting at a very short notice at Redfort Public house, High Street, Smethwick, on Saturday evening 17th Nov 07, regarding a new book called “BHANGRA” being released this Monday 19th Nov and Launch on Sunday 25th Nov 07.
We are deeply disappointed that the book is a gross misinterpretation of the title BHANGRA. The images and posters contains a misleading and unrepresentative amount of history of bhangra music in uk and there unjustifying the hard work of all those artists who contributed to preserve and present the Bhangra culture in UK since 1960’s.
We believe public funds have been misused by these writers of this book (BHANGRA) to distraught the history of Bhangra.
We ask for that you to put our cause of concern and have the book reviewed by an independent body of experts and until such investigation on justification on the contents are completed the book should not be allowed to be released to the media or the public. We also request that any copies that have already been distributed should be all called back immediately before the public are presented with this FALSE HISTORY OF BRITISH BHANGRA/MUSIC.
Yours Sincerely
Mr. Gurcharan Mall & Tarlochan.S. Bilga
Action Committee reprehensive of UK Bhangra
We the Action Committee are representing most of the artists involved in Bhangra Dance and Bhangra Music industry in UK. We held an emergency meeting at a very short notice at Redfort Public house, High Street, Smethwick, on Saturday evening 17th Nov 07, regarding a new book called “BHANGRA” being released this Monday 19th Nov and Launch on Sunday 25th Nov 07.
We are deeply disappointed that the book is a gross misinterpretation of the title BHANGRA. The images and posters contains a misleading and unrepresentative amount of history of bhangra music in uk and there unjustifying the hard work of all those artists who contributed to preserve and present the Bhangra culture in UK since 1960’s.
We believe public funds have been misused by these writers of this book (BHANGRA) to distraught the history of Bhangra.
We ask for that you to put our cause of concern and have the book reviewed by an independent body of experts and until such investigation on justification on the contents are completed the book should not be allowed to be released to the media or the public. We also request that any copies that have already been distributed should be all called back immediately before the public are presented with this FALSE HISTORY OF BRITISH BHANGRA/MUSIC.
Yours Sincerely
Mr. Gurcharan Mall & Tarlochan.S. Bilga
Action Committee reprehensive of UK Bhangra
Posted by: J. Singh, Birmingham on 11:20am Tue 19 Feb 08
The comment by the two artists as the self-appointed Action Committee is sad. 'Reprehensive' actually means that they are against Bhangra music themselves - oh dear! The book is a very good introduction and so it is a shame that these allegations are being made by these two people who can not even write properly themselves.
The comment by the two artists as the self-appointed Action Committee is sad. 'Reprehensive' actually means that they are against Bhangra music themselves - oh dear! The book is a very good introduction and so it is a shame that these allegations are being made by these two people who can not even write properly themselves.
Posted by: surjeet, Leicester on 1:55pm Fri 13 Jun 08
Gurcharan is absolutely right this is not a real representation of Bhangra. Dr. Rajinder is not really a big fan of Bhangra an acedemic who first exhibition was passionate about bollywood. Hes misrepresented and grossely distorted timelines of Bhangra. But hes made a lot of money for messing up the uk bhangra history.
Gurcharan is absolutely right this is not a real representation of Bhangra. Dr. Rajinder is not really a big fan of Bhangra an acedemic who first exhibition was passionate about bollywood. Hes misrepresented and grossely distorted timelines of Bhangra. But hes made a lot of money for messing up the uk bhangra history.
Posted by: Ranjit, Midlands, Midlands on 4:30pm Sun 15 Jun 08
The Bhangra book is a good starting point and on page 16 in the book it makes it claims very clear. It's a sincere and selective book. Does Surjeet know how much money was made by the author - ??? Maybe Surjeet would enlighten us by offering his own history and timelines? People are quick to criticize and do nothing to offer in return. Shame really! Well done to the author/s of the book.
The Bhangra book is a good starting point and on page 16 in the book it makes it claims very clear. It's a sincere and selective book. Does Surjeet know how much money was made by the author - ??? Maybe Surjeet would enlighten us by offering his own history and timelines? People are quick to criticize and do nothing to offer in return. Shame really! Well done to the author/s of the book.
Posted by: random, birmingham on 2:53pm Wed 25 Jun 08
[bold]i dont think u realise how messed up the bhangra industry really is with atleast half of the artists on drugs. maybe u should have had a look at how it is behind the scenes. you would have found out how producers and dj's and singers etc con each other out of money through copyright and beat sampling etc. the oly view you have ha dof the industry is your own. take a closer look mate.[/bold]
i dont think u realise how messed up the bhangra industry really is with atleast half of the artists on drugs. maybe u should have had a look at how it is behind the scenes. you would have found out how producers and dj's and singers etc con each other out of money through copyright and beat sampling etc. the oly view you have ha dof the industry is your own. take a closer look mate.
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