WALSALL AND THE BLACK COUNTRY

The 1950s and 1960s saw Punjabis arriving in the Black Country to take up jobs in the steel mills. Some were later able to work “on the buses”, and later still there were opportunities for study at Wolverhampton Polytechnic and Walsall College. Music revolved around family and religious life, centred in makeshift Gurudwaras at home. In particular, International Group, Toofan, and Azaad came from the region to have national and international impact. In the 1970s Walsall's first homegrown Bhangra success was International Group - who became Anokha in the 1980s. Lead singer and prime mover Sadhu Ram came to the UK in the 1970s. He started work in the foundries of Walsall alongside family members, all living in the Caldmore and Palfrey areas of the Borough. He formed International Group in 1972, inspired by and later performing alongside Birmingham's Anari Sangeet and Bhujangy, initially at religious functions for the Walsall Punjabi community. Sadhu Ram still lives and works in Walsall, and remembers recording an EP in 1974 at Birmingham's Powermill Studios; the first Punjabi act at a studio used by Ska and Rock bands. In the late 1980s, Wolverhampton entrepreneur Rattan Rehal was financing a Bhangra album. International Group were to produce it, changing their name to Anokha. The revived group became the starting point for many young local musicians, some of whom who went on to play with Malkit Singh, the Safri Boys and Arnakhi. Also in the 1980s, Toofan’s clever mix of Punjabi folk with reggae rhythms stood out from the run of second generation Bhangra bands, but despite signing to heavyweight Nachural Records they were were denied Bhangra stardom. Red Rose were just as unique for their time, featuring a female vocalist. Their album “Gora Gora” was a favourite at Daytimers across the Midlands Comments (8) Jaz T said:   International group was a fantastic group,my all time favourite track from their album is Tere nain ne nashe de piyalay,even today I lsten to it frequently,as it is brilliant,pity they dont make tracks like that with thought and meaning these days,Red Rose,is a another favourite band of mine,or was,Gora Gora Rang,tere kalay kalay vaal,and Pab Rakhdi,were 2 of their best songs to date,it is rare to get this album,those of you lucky people who have it have a part of history,alaap,heera,premi,azaad,nishana group,akaash group,holle holle,dcs,amarjit sidhu were all great as well,In my opinion,you canot say one album was the best,they all had fantastic songs,I would say in my opinion ,the top 5 were,alaap....tere chunni de sitare,heera....Jag waa mela,Kalapreet,apna sangeet...the ist album,Kalapreet,and apna sangeet.I could go on and on but thanks to the pioneers of the music and the sacrifices you all made....waheguru ji ka khalsa,wahegure ji ke fatheh.JST. August 07, 2007 A singh said:   Werent the sahotas from this area as well. Would love to hear some words about them as they had a strong following in Wolverhampton. I know Mr. Rattan Reehal wrote some excellent lyrics for them as well. I love this period in Bhangra because everyone brought out their unique interpretation without worrying about what Bhangra should sound like. Thanks to the Boy Channa for his excellent work. Even though I grew up in the U.S. I have followed British Bhangra all throughout my life. I think that is worth mentioning as British Bhangra has allways been more about all Punjabi immigrants all over the world rather than just those in Britain, even though in my opinion we in the U.S. have really not contributed much (hopefully that will change). We could identify with the lyrics and music in British Bhangra more readily than with the stuff that came out of India. Will be ordering the book online soon as I find some time as I have not seen it in North America. November 05, 2007 no1 fan said:   Mr JST your knowledge is fantastic about music in th early days,I no of you and you were the geezer back in the day,you no all the bad boys and you yourself were very handy all the guys had nuf respect for you,u chill bro thanks for the memories,no1 fa. November 10, 2007 no1 fan said:   Mr JST your knowledge is fantastic,you certainly no your stuff mundeya,I have heard of you back in the day you was the man and still are I hear but lead a quite life now,i listen to a lot of old tracks and you are right you just cannot find classics and good music anymore they just have groups and live music again chill bro and nuff respect no1 fan xx November 10, 2007 rani said:   hi JST,you are right in what you say,old is gold dnt make it like they used to,you have good taste in your music,classic classic tunes u have mentioned....rani xx November 11, 2007 JJ said:   you seem to forget to mention the big artist in Wolverhampton such as Jandu Littranwala, the guy is a living legend and has contributed more to the bhangra music in the UK than any other lyricist... November 19, 2007 jkt said:   i have been lookin for kalapreets album called shava shava has any 1 got any idea to where i can get it 4rom? January 13, 2008 Saresh said:   i would like to get all the songs sang and composed by the Anari Sangeet Party. I am having trouble finding any on the internet and even in the shops. Can you please advise me on the best place to go as my father is a really big fan of them and i would like to get all there hits on tape or better still on cd. If you could help i would be really greatful. February 19, 2008 Write comment Name Comment Add Comment

 

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