Keith Kanga
The Butterfly
Keith Kanga – Hit Film Themes
Label: Multi-Sound – 2392 576
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: India
Released: 1982
Genre: Electronic, Rock, Funk / Soul, Pop
Style: Psychedelic Rock, Rock & Roll, Funk
This piece was written by Dan Greenpeace and originally featured in issue seven of DIG – copies of DIG Mag can be purchased here.
I moved to Dubai in 2014 and I’ve been lucky enough to travel and dig
in some amazing places from Beirut to Bombay on a regular basis. I have a particular fondness of India as it’s provided some of the most raw digging experiences of my life. Whether it’s the Chor Bazaar, Mumbai or Meena Bazar in Delhi, you really have to go deep into largely uncharted tourist territory to find the best spots.
Navigating Bombay’s back streets is not for the faint hearted but the warmth of the people and the few remaining characters still running music stores in the most unlikely of places draws me in time after time. I found this particular album at the wonderful Shah Music Centre in Delhi when the owner, Zafar, put me onto it. Unbelievably, he sold me the only copy he’d ever seen and him and his father had run the business for close to 50 years. The music is by the almost mythical Keith Kanga. Formerly the bassist for Atomic Forest, the group behind the phenomenal Atomic 77 LP, an original copy still commands hefty prices. Kanga went on to release a solo album shortly after, covering film theme tracks such as 2001 Space Odyssey on the similarly sought after and pricey Disco Roar LP. Hit Film Themes was released a year later in 1982 and solely covers film themes such as a killer rendition of The Godfather.
Drug and alcohol abuse was rife in Bombay in the 70’s and 80’s and unfortunately many hugely talented musicians and artists fell victim but left behind a really interesting legacies and an expansive catalogue of gems which are still being discovered. Hopefully Keith Kanga’s whole repertoire will one day all see the light of day but until then these psychedelic, funk and drum infused gems remain a true anomaly in the history of modern Indian music.