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Article 37
Rock On
The "Velvette Fogg" days...
(Published
in Times of India
I ts been two years since I uploaded my website
(http://nandu_bhende.tripod.com) and it is truly intriguing to see the number
of page views it attracts. Occasionally, I receive mail from some of these
visitors and there can be quite a few surprises. Recently, I received mail from
a stranger in
Back in the early 70s, as a young teenager who had just joined college, life was like a roller coaster ride. Sex, Drugs and Rock n' Roll was the magic mantra in those flower power days. After girls, music was my paramount interest and I desperately wanted to be involved in its creation. Although I had no idea how to go about doing it, I was blessed to have been born at a time when it was at it's creative best. The numerous beat shows in Bombay at that time, with bands like the Reaction, The Jets, Beat 4, The Savages etc. had got me hooked and I was ripe to join the Rockers of the world.
It was on the very first day of college, as I climbed the stairs to get to my new class that fate dealt its first hand. Another new student asked me for directions to the same class and I asked him to join me. This was how I was to meet this young man who would go on to make such a big difference in my professional life. Prakash Bijlani, who played guitar, was an avid music freak. He was already an experienced musician as he had formed a group when he was in school in Bishops, Pune. He was very keen to form a band in college and within a few days of our meeting, I was recruited to be it's new member. It wasn't too clear what role I was to play but it did seem then that my enthusiasm and long hair were enough qualifications!
We used to go zooming down in my car with the
system playing loud and pretending to be Rock stars. I used to sing along with
the music and Prakash decided that I was not too bad as a singer. It was then
decided that I could share the lead vocal chair along with him. To be fair, I
had already done some singing as a school kid, along with my sister, when I
sang for the Youth program "Wonderland" on All
It was around this time that my cousin, Nissim arrived from the States with a Fender electric guitar and an Ampeg reverb amplifier in tow. He became an instant hero in our eyes and we started frequenting the rehearsals that the band he was putting together were having at his place. This was the first time that we met semi professional musicians with some experience. These were exciting times as we actually talked to people who had performed shows and owned their own equipment. We had already picked up a lot our selves but here we got an opportunity to get guidance from experienced hands. My cousin, Nissim, was a great help, as not only did he have the best equipment, he also had the best music!
In those days, good music equipment was rare
to find. A good guitar, a foreign amplifier, a wah wah pedal were worth their
weight in gold in
We spent our days struggling with the task of
making music that could sound decent. It was then that Dick, our rhythm guitar
player, finally decided that he had had enough of us and quit! Here was yet
another crisis that was threatening to destroy our dreams when a miracle took
place. My cousin Nissim got an offer to join one of
Rock on!
Nandu Bhende
http://nandu_bhende.tripod.com
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