Fast Forward

No more mime shows please
The Lou Bega fever has waned, and the Mumbai concert was a certain rip off, if lay invitees to the show are to be believed; some shared with this writer that it was unbearably hot, potholes were covered up, the music was uninspiring and even a child could make out that other than the Bega popular Mambo no 5, which he sang on a minus one, the others were plus ones! This is not the first time that a visiting act has put on a mime show. There have been countless others.

Another point is that very rarely has India been a destination of any pop act when they are still a selling proposition, there have been exceptions like Bryan Adams, Bon Jovi, Ricky Martin and Shaggy. Some artistes tied up with an album promotion, as was also the case of an emerging act Solid Harmonie. Otherwise it has been erstwhile acts like Deep Purple, Jethro Tull, Sting, Air Supply, etc. who have performed here when past their peak or on the wane. It is a discriminate practice of international impresarios and Indian event managers to pass out such crumbs to Indian audiences.

Also, would the same acts dare to do a plus-one performance anywhere else in world? I bet not. I am sure the audiences would haul them to consumer court. It’s not that India doesn’t have the logistical support, metros like Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore can provide services second to none. I think it’s time for discerning Indian audiences to demand their money’s worth and not settle for an appearance with back-up tracks.

The Indi-Pop singer’s plus one
Strangely some Indian pop artistes too are guilty of miming their way through a show. Long years ago, Alisha Chinai mimed her way through a show in Bombay and the music correspondent of a newspaper mentioned it. Denials were fast and furious, but the said correspondent held his ground. All this was way before Alisha soared up the international scene with Made In India. However, other Indian pop artistes have paid no heed. Now Usha Uthup sings live with a band and never mind if it isn’t her regular band, she adapts, and very well at that.

While Shweta Shetty, Mehnaz and Sharon Prabhakar have honestly projected themselves as singing and dancing to minus-one tracks; and if they don’t pant too much it’s because these ladies keep themselves fit. But some of our PYT singers pass of their neatly packaged mime shows as performances! No prizes for guessing at least two PYTs!

Why even our bhangra king Daler Mehndi made a sucker of his audience at an awards show by miming, the discerning ones in that audience the Sardar was caught miming the wrong words!! Well miming is a fine art and that deludes some of our great Indian mime singers. Must hand it to Remo who blew the lid off the great miming scam at a Channel [V] Awards show by announcing that his band were the only ones present that night who were really playing every note live and asked to audience to applaud them heartily.


Stereo Nation splits
A one-time Stereo Nation fan found something very fishy on the stage as they preceded Lou Bega at the show in Mumbai, the otherwise peppy Kendal Taylor was replaced by a poor lookalike who was made to dance in the background to Tarsame Singh tunes. So the Bhangra reggae twosome have finally split.

Class acts from jazz performers
Unlike the pop audiences, Jazz aficionados in India have been singularly lucky in the kind of line up of internationally renowned jazz acts that have performed in India. Form Jazz legends like Louis Armstrong, Duke Wellington, to recent times Illinois Jacquet, Herbie Hancock, Sadao Watanabe…. The list goes on. Class acts have not really deluded the jazz loving audiences, chiefly in Mumbai and Delhi. Recently, the Jazz Ambassadors 2000 a trio of Angela Hagenbach (vocalist and percussionist), Joe Cartwright (pianist) and Steve Rigazzi (bassist) performed in Mumbai. This trio was paying a tribute in concert to Duke Ellington in honour of his birth centenary. Prior to them there was a series by the Chicago Jazz Express.


Shweta goes international
An update from Shweta Shetty our expatriate in Germany — her single is due for release in Germany and then an album with Orbit Records — a subsidiary of London’s Virgin Records. This makes Shweta the only Indian pop artiste to have an international release before she releases in India. The album in question is a dance album with an Indian flavour and don’t call it fusion album, please. In India, Virgin Records will release it. She was in Mumbai recently to record her new album for T-Series. She gave the Indian audiences a preview during the Millenium Show in Mumbai when she sang one track. Watch this space more on Shweta. So the next few months will have two releases from Shweta. She has been doing a stray recording and recently she can be heard on the album of Bichoo in the track Dil Tote Tote Ho Gaya along with Hansraj Hans.

Classic compilations
Music racks are being weighed down with some incredible selection of compilations which ranges from EMI-Milestone’s two volume Everlasting Love Songs of the 20th Century. Looking at the track listing one couldn’t have asked for a better selection. Likewise a supreme collection of evergreen Latin hits is to be found in Virgin Records’ Santiago Fiesta Latina right from evergreens like Volare, Tequila and Brazil to now hits like Oye Como Va, Black Magic Woman, and Lambada. Only thing missing is the rum.

What Ella Fitzgerald was to Jazz, Whitney Houston is to pop music. This singular diva’s (6 times Grammy winner) repertoire has been presented by Arista in a two volume set Whitney - The Greatest Hits. It is to mark the company and the singer completing 15 years together. So Whitney in song from 1985 to 2000 is marked by 36 tracks which includes I will always love you, the twice Grammy nominated Heartbreak Hotel and the rare track of One Moment In Time and the Star Spangled Banner. The album and singer really making waves this month is Britney Spears and her second album rightly called Oops! - I Did It Again. The album is an international blazer and sure to be hit in India too. Just hear it to believe the sales graph, it has sheer appeal.