Phil Beards’ Weblog

Back in the mid 1980’s and early 90’s I ran a recording studio in Birmingham, I recorded hundreds of sessions with all sorts of bands and artists, recording for major and independent labels, local radio and the odd session for the BBC. One musical genre I was extensively involved in was Bhangra. (Traditional Bhangra is a fusion of music, singing and the beat of the dhol drum, a single stringed instrument called the iktar (ektara), the tumbi and the chimta. The accompanying songs are small couplets written in the Punjabi language called bolis. -Wikipedia)

Bhangra relies on the heavy percussive beat of the tablas, Dholak and Dhol and in the 80’s this was incorporated with synthesizers, electronic percussion and electric guitar to create a new form of Asian popular music for the younger generation. Day-time Bhangra shows were organised around the Midlands and attended by coach loads of young Asians wishing to escape from their religious family ties. Here they could listen to something new and exciting whilst their parents thought they were attending college.

I worked mainly with the band DCS recording several albums with them which where highly successful and were awarded platinum disc status, reaching No1 in the Bhangra charts for many months.They still remain the top Bhangra band in this country as well as being Internationally recognised across Asia.

Now many of these recordings are being featured in an exhibition “Soho Road to the Punjab” currently on show in Bristol.

The exhibition features cover art work, posters and graphics from the time and explores the design and culture of Bhangra. The exhibition is currently showing in Bristol Central Library, College Green from April 21st – June 20th 2008.

DCS • ‘Rule Britannia’ • (1982) With ‘Bhangra fever’ gripping many South Asian youth across the country by the late 1980s, many bands attempted to crossover into the mainstream charts, including Birmingham’s DCS with their 1989 track Rule Britannia. The song was a call for national racial unity: ‘We all live under the same sky, the same moon, so let’s dance to the same old tune’. Such endeavours were unsuccessful, primarily because of the cultural racism encountered by British Bhangra artists when faced by the mainstream music industry. Their albums sold in thousands, mainly through South Asian music retail outlets. Yet the sale returns from these smaller stores weren’t included, or even acknowledged, in the make up of the British pop charts of the time.

Here is a clip of DCS now from a recent studio session for the BBC Asian Network revisiting one of their classic tracks from the 80’s and one of earliest tracks I recorded, Vaisakhi Boliyan.