Charanjit Singh (musician)
Charanjit Singh (1940 – 5 July 2015) was an Indian musician from Mumbai, who performed as a session musician,[3] often as a guitarist or synthesizer player,[4] in numerous Bollywood soundtrack orchestras from the 1960s to 1980s,[3] working with filmi composers such as Shankar-Jaikishan, R.D. Burman, S.D. Burman, and Laxmikant–Pyarelal.[5]
Charanjit Singh
15 December 1940
Bombay, British India
Composer, guitarist, Session musician, songwriter
violin, keyboards, bass, lap steel guitar
1960s–2015
In the 21st century, Singh became known for his 1983 album Synthesizing: Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat following retrospective associations with acid house, both of which prominently feature the Roland TB-303.[3] It received re-release in 2010 on the Bombay Connection label.[6]
Biography[edit]
Singh led a wedding band and recorded and released a number of albums covering popular film songs.[7] These were a form of instrumental elevator music, some of which have since been re-released by Sublime Frequencies,[8] such as his steel guitar renditions of "Manje Re" from Bandhe Haath in 1973 and "Chura Liyaa Hai Tumne" from Yaadon Ki Baaraat in 1975.[9] In 1981, he produced synthesizer-based electronic renditions of the Silsila soundtrack in his record Charanjit Singh: Plays Hit Tunes on Synthesizer of Silsila.[7]
Synthesizing: Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat, an album of original electronic disco compositions Singh recorded in 1982, was a commercial failure at the time of its original release, but its re-discovery in 2002 and re-issue in early 2010 garnered attention due to comparisons with acid house from the mid to late 1980s.[3][10] Since then, certain commentators in the music press have recast Singh as an originator of acid house music.[3][10][11] He also used the same drum machine and synthesizers for his experimental electronic calypso record, Experiments in Calypso.[12] His son Raju Singh is a composer, who has scored for films and television shows.[5]
Charanjit Singh died of cardiac arrest in his sleep during the midnight of 4 July 2015 at his home in Bandra, Mumbai.[13]
Synthesizing: Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat
1982, 1983, 2010
1982
Gramophone Company of India,
Sa Re Ga Ma,
Bombay Connection[6]
Charanjit Singh