Much before rock n’ roll in India was reduced to entertaining crowds of barely a few hundred in high-end pubs, it was a grimy tale of life ...
Much before rock n’ roll in India was reduced to entertaining crowds of barely a few hundred in high-end pubs, it was a grimy tale of life on the road. In the 1980s and ’90s, bands would travel for days on end for the opportunity to tame wild crowds of thousands all over the country. Jumping into overcrowded trains with bundles of equipment and getting stranded on unknown highways was as much part of the deal as trying to coax out a roar from sub-standard speakers that would really get the fans going.
Sadly, that chapter and the characters who participated in it are fading away with time. On July 4, another one danced off to the great concert hall in the sky. Prabir Chandra Mukherjee, founder of Calcutta’s now-defunct rock band Shiva, succumbed to cancer. Aged 67, he is survived by his wife and two children.
PC, as he was known to all, first flexed his musical muscles as the lead guitarist of Great Bear, the pioneering rock band formed in Calcutta in the late ’60s. At a time when many other outfits were playing trendy pop music, Great Bear was playing more visceral tunes – and even had a couple of originals...
