Memories of Radio Ceylon - Remember Nimal Mendis

Remember Nimal Mendis - Udarata Menike

 

Nimal Mendis - dared to dream 

 

Recently, I got in touch with Nimal Mendis, a veteran composer of hits such as Master Sir, Nim Him Sewva and Ganga Addara.

He has been living in Britain for many decades travelling to and from Sri Lanka to write those hits that have proved extremely popular. 

 

When I emailed him I received the following reply.

"Thank you very much for your email. Unfortunately or may be fortunately I am now in Sri Lanka.

We came over three months ago and have been busy settling down here in Malabe.

Hoping to be here now with an occasional visit back to London.

Our son worked for the BBC (TV Centre White City) for seven years as a sound/video editor and he too is now here with us.

There is outstanding talent in Sri Lanka, especially in some of the young musicians and singers here today and we are quite amazed that they have not got on to the world stage as yet.

One thing we are determined to accomplish is to try and do our best to help these young artists."

This is the man, as a young lad from Sri Lanka who dared to dream that he was good enough to perform with the best in the West.
An impossible dream at the time!
He would swim along the coastline at "Bambalawatte" (Bambalapitiya) as it was called then, gazing at the sky on his back dreaming his dream. Just out of school at Royal College he filled in his music ambitions playing the piano for the Harold Seneviratne Combo.
He said that they used to be paid Rs 10 a night and Rs 15 for an all-night gig at the 'Pigalle' night club in Colpetty.
He came from a family that viewed the world with an Anglicised professionalism and the house was filled with the atmosphere of western classical music, art and literature, although it was also infused with everything Sri Lankan, especially in the world of art philosophy and politics.
There were discussions of Ghandian and Nehru values.
His mother was the first author in Sri Lanka to write in English and her first book was published in London in 1929.
His father was an inventor - inventor of the now famous brand of "Mendis Special" that reached great heights through its development by his brother, Walter M Mendis.
The Mendis family was a set of liberals, five children making their mark in different spheres and the youngest Nimal, who dared to dream a tall dream into the entertainment world.
Nimal said, "It must have been the `gene jewels' we inherited from my father and mother."
The liberalism of his parents is what enabled the young Nimal to convince his parents to send him to England, initially to study accountancy.
However, there was a manipulation that took place because after an year of accountancy studies in London he was playing the piano in sophisticated restaurants and writing songs and composing music.
The seeds were sown of the dream he dared to dream.

Big break
His first big break came when he was playing the piano at the Ceylon Students Centre.
He had formed a group called, `The Kandyans'.
Mano Chanmugam on piano accordian, Anura on Kandyan drums, and Subra de Silva as the singer in the group.
Nimal played piano and also sang.
The piano was in the restaurant and after meals the manageress allowed them to practice there while Sri Lankan students and their guests drank coffee or tea.
While they were practicing one of Nimal's songs a young woman came up to them an inquired about the song.
She was Mary Marshall an up and coming English singer.
The song was "Kiss Kiss Kiss" and it went on to be a huge hit in Sri Lanka played regularly over the airwaves by the late Vernon Corea, Livy Wijemane and Jimmy Bharucha, the veteran broadcasters of then Radio Ceylon.
It did well in England too but soon after Mary married a successful agent in the entertainment industry, she left England and went to live in the Channel Islands.
After 40 years Mary is in contact with Nimal again.
Her daughter had seen some of his work on Sinhala Juke Box on the Internet and emailed him.
Although Mary had faded out from the music scene in London she was involved in a lot of charity work in the Channel Islands.
Mary always kept her interest of 'Ceylon' and when the tsunami occurred collected funds for an organisation dealing with the victims of the tsunami.
"Kiss Kiss Kiss" has still an occasional play on the SLBC.

String of hits

A string of hits followed when Nimal came back to Sri Lanka for a short spell.
Kandyan Express, Butterfly in the rain, Cherry Blossom Tree, Champagne Blues, Oh My Lover and Goodnight Kisses, all with the Harold Seneviratne Combo and singers such as Ciff Foenander, Sandra Edema and the Jay Brothers.
The dream beckoned him back to the bright lights of London and Nimal became a successful musician of the sixties in London.

Although he did not share the fame of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones he held his own as a Sri Lankan with his singing partner Sandra Edema who was now also searching stardom in London.
They teamed up and were on' Top of the Pops", the famous British TV show at the time and "Beat Club" and even the more successful TV show in Germany that was viewed by millions on the continent of Europe. Nimal Mendis is one of the two Sri Lankan artistes to sing on BBC Top of the Pops.
The other singer is Bill Forbes who lives in Yorkshire.
Nimal said that he was searching for over 30 years to get a clip of the performance on "Beat Club" and there it was two weeks ago on the Internet.
He managed to get a copy which is of good quality and is hoping that a TV company in Sri Lanka will pick it up for airing.
It is certainly a clip that is worth seeing by all our young people of a lad who dared to dream. They will be inspired and they too will dream. To dream the dream is the first step of fulfilment.
Unfortunately, but as Nimal said, "What looks like misfortune at first, if accepted and you do not `Cave in could lead to fortune once more."
He was in a race attack in the late sixties and decided to come back to Sri Lanka.
He got 10 acres of land in Norton Bridge and farmed for five years.
While doing this he experienced first hand all kinds of negative values.
This was what led him to write " Master Sir".
His good friend Manik Sandrasagara said, "You are not a farmer, you are a composer. Stop burying yourself here. I am making a film and you must write the music for it."
Doing the music for Kalu Diya Dahara was the beginning of Nimal's entry to the Sinhala film Music scene.
Lester and Sumitra Peries and Manik used his talents to write several scores and songs.
Every song that Nimal wrote for a Sinhala film was a hit with our people. Master Sir, Ganga Addara, Nim Him Sewva, Upul Nuwan, Gehenu Lamai, Viyo Gee and Obey Adare are household name songs.
From the dream of the western entertainment stage Nimal was now conquering the Sinhala music scene with his songs and composing.
This is a career that should be followed by our youngsters as an inspiration.
Here is this veteran come back to his motherland.
Come on - make use of him - meet him - get his experience and storm the world stage with the amazing talent that exists today in Sri Lanka. 

Nimal Mendis

NOSTALGIA: When Ceylon ruled the airwaves

V.S. SAMBANDAN 

http://hindu.com/thehindu/mag/2006/01/01/stories/2006010100150400.htm

Once the pride of the region, Radio Ceylon is today a fading memory. Can the Sri Lankan Broadcasting Corporation regain its lost glory?

Magnetic voice: A file picture of Jimmy Bharucha broadcasting.

IT is Christmas time and Jim Reeves is on air, taking Sri Lanka back to its days of romance and charm. "You are listening to Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation and we've got more Christmas music going out for you. Hope you are tuned in to us," trills the friendly announcer. Another glorious old number "When A Child Is Born" floats across the skies. Requests pour in from all over the country and the programme continues to enthral those tuned in.

 

When Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (as Radio Ceylon is now called) celebrated its 80th birthday on December 16, it was, sadly, a pale shadow of its past. Once the pride of the region's airwaves, it is today relegated to fading memories and confined to chapters of an era of broadcasting élan.

 

High quality

For Indian radio enthusiasts of decades gone by, it was Radio Ceylon that set the standards. Those were days before commercial broadcasts commenced in India and taking a break from the monotonous, though informative, broadcasts of All India Radio (AIR) meant twirling those vintage radios to trap Radio Ceylon's programmes. Once tuned in, the listener was treated not just to music of the highest quality. The magnetic voices of broadcasters, Jimmy Barucha (English), Ameen Sayani (Hindi) and Mayilvaganam (Tamil), to mention just three, ensnared the listeners, taking Radio Ceylon to the top slot in the region's radio network.

 

The history of broadcasting, published in Wikipedia, notes that gramophone music was broadcast from a tiny room in Colombo's Central Telegraph Office with the aid of a transmitted built by Telegraph Department engineers from the radio equipment from a captured German submarine.

 

The beginnings

This metamorphosed into South Asia's first radio broadcasting station, which was inaugurated on December 16, 1925. The real catalyst was to come later, with the shifting of Radio SEAC (South East Asia Command) to Ceylon in 1949. Radio SEAC, was established during World War II for the British servicemen. Radio Ceylon, as it was called from 1949 became a public broadcasting corporation in 1967. Ceylon Broadcasting Corporation became Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation in 1972 when the island-nation changed its name.

 

"Sri Lanka was fortunate that Radio SEAC was established to entertain and inform the troops," recalls Eric Fernando, former Director General, SLBC. "Geographically Sri Lanka was the ideal location because the (transmission) reach could be all over the region, and at the end of the War, we inherited it."

 

Radio Ceylon, through its music programmes, carved a niche for itself among the region's broadcasters. Its base of Indian listeners was huge between the 1950s and the 1970s. "We were popular in India because we had a steady supply of English music," Fernando, who started his career as a broadcaster at SLBC in the mid 1970s said.

For Indians of the radio generation, Radio Ceylon was the first introduction to paradise-island and to the world of music. "I first heard The Beatles over Radio Ceylon. We grew up listening to songs over Radio Ceylon. It was part of my growing up," remembers Nirupama Rao, the Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka.

 

In addition to its well-structured English music programmes, Sayani's "Binaca Geetmala", revolutionised radio presentation. Having elevated broadcasting to a fine art in the region, Sayani remains etched in the minds of many. Mayilvaganam's silken voice, with his singsong Jaffna Tamil diction, captivated the ears of Indian listeners. Between them Barucha, Sayani and Mayilvaganam opened up the listeners' sensitivities to the finer elements that transcended mundane facts.

 

However, there has been a dip in the number of Indian listeners over the years. With Vividh Bharathi — AIR's commercial services section — Radio Ceylon's hold was diluted. The cassette revolution, which made music more affordable, the advent of TV, private radio stations and FM broadcasts were other developments. Slowly, but certainly, Radio Ceylon was pushed to the pages of history.

 

Along the corridors of the SLBC's headquarters, this history remains frozen. Elegant old studios retain their stately charm, complete with original BBC microphones. Groups of musicians and radio-drama artistes continue to use the studios to churn out programmes. However, somewhere, something is missing.

Simply put, SLBC lagged behind the times.

 

SLBC should leverage its past and harness itself to the current developments in radio broadcasting. SLBC's most unique attribute is its archives — home to more than 1,00,000 original records, comprising Sinhalese, Tamil, English and Hindi music. Sunil Shantha Perera, the new Chairman of SLBC plans to digitise the collection and share them with the National Archives. In addition, the originals with the National Archives are to be shared with SLBC. This digitally reformatted music, Fernando points out, could form the basis for a unique programme that will capture the past and lure audiences back.

 

Future plans

Plans are also on to offer more programmes on the Internet. Presently the Sinhala and Tamil National services and City FM are available on the Internet (www.slbc.lk) . An improved English content is also on the cards. The SLBC has collaborated with the BBC to share its programmes for six hours every day. Now a new English channel is being planned. "A national radio must have a national English channel," emphasises Perera.

 

The abolition of licenses for radio sets in the late 1990s had also punctured its revenues. However, deals with the internationally reputed radio stations such as NHK of Japan and DW of Germany have helped bolster its finances.

SLBC officials are emphatic that "radio is still popular", and point to the increasing "car-radio segment". However, for SLBC to regain its lost slot as the premier broadcaster, the most critical element is fresh thinking, coupled with leveraging its inherent strengths of the past. For, its success will depend on increasing the number of listeners who willingly tune in to that catchy line: "you are listening to Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation".

Also see: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_broadcasting#Sri_Lanka)

 

Courtesy: The Hindu