Sometime ago I chanced upon a coffee table
book, “Taj Mahal Foxtrot – the Story of Bombay’s Jazz Age” by Naresh Fernandes.
Glancing through it and finding familiar names transported me to my happy days
in Bombay of the 60s and brought back sweet memories of my favourite haunts
from Kalaghoda to Churchgate.
Near
Kalaghoda was a restaurant called ‘La Bella’ where I spent many evenings requesting the band to play one particular
song they did fabulously and of which I just could not get enough, “All of Me”. Strangely enough, I never heard any other
band play that superb number!
Moving near Flora Fountain, there was Volga
with the famous Hecke Kingdom casting a spell with his saxophone. I also
remember Volga for my favourite dish, Vegetable Petrograd, which was mouth-watering
croquettes filled with butter. Nearby was Bistro which I preferred for coffee
and morning jam sessions.
My favourites for jam sessions and cabarets
though were Venice and The Little Hut at Churchgate. Many a time one had to
return disappointed as getting a table there was extremely difficult unless one
lined up early enough. My memory may be playing tricks but I am willing to bet
my boots that a charming teenager, Pam Crain, started singing at one of these
restaurants before moving to Calcutta. One particular cabaret dancer those days
was a ravishing girl I would have liked to know better but for the fact that
she was always escorted by a companion considerably bigger than me!
From Churchgate to Marine Drive,
restaurants with great bands abounded on both sides of the road bearing famous
names such as Gaylord, Berry’s and Bombelli’s. Towards the waterfront was
Napoli’s, a smaller place suitable for tea/coffee, which had the novelty of a
jukebox so you could play all your favourite numbers if you carried a
sufficient number of 25p coins!
Later in the 60s, on the waterfront the other side of
Napoli, a restaurant called The Talk of The Town
came up. I had not heard of it till one evening my friend Aku Roy and I happened
to notice it and decided to go inside. We were waiting for our order when a
band including a modest, conservative-looking lady in a sari took the stage. We
thought we were in for some run-of-the-mill Hindi film songs but were
thunderstruck when the lady belted out ‘Be-Bop-A-Lula’ and other rock numbers
in the most enthralling way. On inquiry, we were told she was Usha Iyer. Soon after, I was transferred to Cochin and
was dumbfounded when I bumped into her in company of my tea-planter friend,
Jani Uthup, who she had married in the meantime! As we all know, she soon became a top singer in Bollywood.
Around that time Bombay’s first
discotheque, Blow Up, started functioning at the Taj with the sound of music going
up many decibels accompanied by mind-blowing psychedelic lighting making one
dizzy. Those were the days of Beatles’ “Ob-la-di Ob-la-da” and Sam the Sham’s
“Wooly Bully”.
A top favourite band for occasions like the
New Year Dance and the Navy Ball was that of Goody Seervai. He would have an entire crowd on the lawns of
the National Sports Club of India or the United Services Club at Colaba swinging
and dancing with everyone accompanying him throatily as he sang his signature
tune, “Goody Goody”.
Yes, those were the days!
Interesting to get a peep into Bombay of the 60's, a Bombay that I didn't know, having first visited as an adult, looking for a job, in 1971. The music was familiar, however, except 'All of Me', which, of course I had to check out, and found versions by Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, and Willie Nelson. Also found that it was given the Towering Song Award by the Songwriters Hall of Fame, in 2000! You were early to recognise it!
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