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An era gone by

by Ranga Chandrarathne

It is an ordinary middle class house in the suburban town of Nugegoda in every aspect, but for its owner and his remarkable collection of old records. When I first stepped into the house, I was amazed to see nicely packed records of every conceivable sort; a treasure trove of old records of bygone years.

Some of the records are originals yet in good form, preserved by its proud owner, Pradeep Wickremesinghe, for posterity. Pradeep spends at least two hours every day to clean and upkeep the old records.

He has old records ranging from the songs of the first Sinhala film Kadawunu Poronduwa to Hindi films of the 1940s and 1950s. He possesses original songs which is now not even played on radio or television. Pradeep claims that some of the original songs are now sung by others without reference to the original singer.

Pradeep started his hobby about 18 years ago and at that time, did not believe that one day he would own such a valuable collection of old records, RMPS both Sinhala and Hindi and that it would be of help to researchers who study the evolution of Sinhala music from the very first recording of the Sri Lankan national anthem and songs rendered in the first Sinhala film.

Now Pradeep's treasure house is frequented not only by academics such as Dr. Sunil Ariyaratne but also students of music and large number of music lovers who appreciate and listen to songs of yesteryear that are preserved and copied onto CDs.

"At this stage, gramophone records should not be played on a gramophone because we have to preserve these old Sinhala songs until they are copied onto CDs. I believe, that those rare CDs should not be played on a gramophone, because they would be damaged beyond repair and once damaged it (record) could not be copied onto a CD and would lose its original quality. Some times you may own a rare record, which is not even available at the SLBC. We are ready to provide a record player so that records may be preserved", said Pradeep Wickremesinghe.

Pradeep said that he loved old songs like those of Dharmadasa Walpola's and my brother had a record player in the 1960s and his brother used to play Dharmadasa Walpola and Mohideen Baig.

Thereafter, his obsession (rather love) for old records led him to every nook and corner in search of gramophone records.

"I used to collect old records discarded from old bungalows in Kollupitiya and along the Galle Road. Most of the records are collected from the pavements. Just like in the case of a philatelist, my desire for old records grows day by day. Later academics borrowed my collection of records and wrote books. Even now I am ready to buy old record and even books on old songs.

The doors are opened for academics and students of music or any person who is interested in old gramophone records. My intention is to build a museum dedicated to old gramophone songs and books written about them," said Pradeep Wickremesinghe.

Pradeep said that he had travelled to Uthuwan Kanda, Belihul Oya and Galigamuwa in search of old records. Pradeep had published advertisements in newspapers paying VAT out of his own pocket. "It is because of the Advertisements published in the Sunday Observer that I was able to collect a large number of Sinhala records which are in good condition.

Here I have over 10,000 records. I have Bengali, Japanese, Chines and Russian songs in this collection," said Pradeep. He had also contributed to many exhibitions and he has donated the original record with the Sri Lankan national anthem to Musaeus College.

Senior Professor Sunil Ariyaratne in his books "Lyrics of the Sinhala Cinema from 1947 to 1956" and "Pop Music Groups of Sri Lanka" has specially thanked Pradeep for allowing him to browse his private collection of old records.

It is timely that Pradeep's singular effort in collecting and preserving old Sinhala records should be recognized and he should be assisted by way of providing him with old Sinhala records or books that anyone has in his or her home. For he is ready to buy them. Pradeep also needs a high capacity computer to copy these original songs onto CDs.

He resides at 12/11, 1st Lane, Rupasinghe Mawatha, Nugegoda and could be contacted on 011-2854824.

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