Sounding out Goan cover bands Remo’s offer to reward originality By Cecil Pinto
Last week I noticed a very spiteful advertisement in a local English daily (not GT). It referred to the reunion of a cover band named The Syndicate. For younger readers let me first explain what The Syndicate was/is. It consisted basically of five male musicians who formed a beat group somewhere in the 1980s. They were very popular for the next two decades until they disbanded somewhere in 2002 or thereabouts. Now The Syndicate, as they styled themselves, was no more or no less talented musically than any other Goan cover band of that time or now. What made them uniquely popular was something called The Syndicate Sound. The members of the band had shrewdly read the writing on the wall and invested in state-of-the-art sound equipment that was miles ahead of the competition. Their sophisticated synthesizers, amplifiers and speakers could output the highest treble sounds (ting!) and the lowest bass sounds (thud!) with amazing effect. It was said at the time that for your wedding reception if you wanted the village to know you should hire The Big City Band and Xavier Sound. But to keep the taluka awake till odd hours you should hire The Syndicate Sound. Their sound equipment was capable of decibel output that could put a sonic boom to shame. After any beat show featuring The Syndicate Sound you could see young people walking around in a daze for days afterwards. Initially it was thought that these young people had consumed some narcotic substances. An investigation proved that these youth were dancing right in front of the speakers, like they see stoned foreigners do at trance parties, when The Syndicate Sound was at full blast. It was their ear drums that had been effected and not their brains, hence the dazed look. The Syndicate Sound ruled the music scene. Other Goan cover bands joined the bandwagon (chuckle!), investing in sound equipment rather than improving their musical talents. The objective seemed to be that whoever had the loudest, clearest, most thumping sound was the better band. And if you could not afford to buy expensive sound equipment then you hired it from a whole slew of entrepreneurs who cropped up to meet the demand for amplified sound. Xavier, Henry, Sebco and Cassant to name a few. Ownership of equipment soon became a factor in beat groups breaking up. For example if Damodar from Parivarthan Band had wisely invested his share of earnings in sound equipment, then effectively he became the controlling partner in the band and he became more powerful than Pandurang who had invested in a tempo to transport the stuff around, or Sashikant who had invested in a computer and learning music sequencing. If Damodar left and joined Shantadurga Beat Group then Parivarthan Band was effectively finished and the remaining members either invested in sound equipment to survive or drifted into other beat groups (names in this paragraph have been deliberately changed to protect identities). Thus sound equipment become the deciding factor not only among cover bands but within the band itself. The owner of the equipment became the unwritten leader and decided which gigs they take up, how much they charged, and even what songs they sang. Anyway with the rise of sequencing most of the band members, except for the vocalist and the guy on the synthesizer, became rather redundant and were often more for visual effect rather than anything else. When you pay for a band you want to see five people on stage. The penny-wise realized that they could hire a One-Man-Band (like Shelton-goes-Solo or other such musical entrepreneurs) for a fraction of the amount a ‘big band’ charged - but then not everyone is penny-wise. What the public wanted, and the cover bands provided, was 1) loud clear thumping music 2) visible and animated musicians on stage 3) exact duplication of voice and sound. So if the song being played was ‘No Woman, No Cry’ the voice and accent had to be exactly like Bob Marley and the sound had to be exactly like the audio CD which had actually been recorded in a soundproof studio with 54 piece orchestra backing. One cover band called Dee Bees from Mapusa used to sing Eddy Grant’s ‘I Don’t Wanna Dance’ with a particularly unique Goan accent. I personally was happy at the ‘interpretation’ rather than trying to mimic. But the Goan audience wants mimics. A few valiant attempts have been made over the years at original compositions in English. There was this guy in the 1980s named Franz Black who used to compose and sing his own songs. Lynx resleased an entire album of their own compositions. Forefront had two original compositions ‘Rhythm of the Night’ and ‘We Belong’ in the album they released, as did even The Syndicate with ‘Black and White’ in their release. Purple Rain composed and made popular ‘Bala Bala Music’ and V4 had ‘Vitalla’. AIR FM’s Night of the Fortnight, by RJ Savio and RJ Bambino, released a compilation album of original songs by Goan groups. Roque Lazarus, Colin D’Cruz, Rui Lobo, Schubert Cotta etc continue to compose exceptionally great music and songs. But except for Remo very few of the producers of original music are able to popularise their creations. The advertisement I had mentioned at the beginning of this rant said, “OH GOD! THE SYNDICATE IS Back.” I myself empathize with the sentiment but I think it was in particularly bad taste to put a newspaper advertisement saying so. The Syndicate might have shifted the emphasis to sound and mimicking, rather than music and originality, but they were just catering to a market. It is us, the tasteless audience, who is to blame. Anyway after so many years of cover bands and sound-alike singers dominating the musical landscape of Goa there is extremely good news. In a recent interview Remo has emphasized the importance of recognizing and encouraging creativity and originality. After the Kingfisher Voice of Goa contest Remo has volunteered to himself arrange, orchestrate and record the best original composer and song in his studio. The winners can then use this professional recording to approach producers. Remo has to be commended for, in his own words, starting, ‘the originality ball rolling in Goa”. The Konkani musical scene is throbbing with originality in lyrics and composition. The musicians and lyricists provide, and the audience encourages, originality. Why doesn’t the English musical scene in Goa also have ‘originals’? Remo has started the ball rolling by putting his money and time and expertise where his mouth is. I hope others will take up the ball and encourage originality in Goan English music. ----------- The column above appeared in Gomantak Times dated 21st October 2010. A similar themed rant appeared in the April 13, 2006 edition of the Gomantak Times and is archived at: http://www.goanet.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=636 Feedback most welcome <cecilpinto at gmail dot com> ======