He followed Clarence...

To mark the first death anniversary of Clarence Wijewardene, there was a show at Elphinstone Theatre titled"Clarence Nirmana". There was a young man, a musician himself who could sing to crowds busy putting up posters to that event. He was an ardent fan of Clarence. Later, this man composed a song in Clarence's memory, recorded by Annesley Malawana and Indrani Perera. Though this young man had the talent to sing with a touch of Clarence, he did not subject himself to that heavy task on that day at the Elphistone. He did the hard work to make that event a success like Clarence's friend, Shelton Weeraratne organized a seminar later on Clarence bringing stalwarts like Sunil Ariyaratne and Sanath Nandasiri to speak on Clarence.

Two years later, Clarence's mentor, Sri Sangabo Corea organised "To Clarence with Love" at the BMICH with Clarence's widow, Sheela Wijewardene as the Guest of Honour. This man with the touch of Clarence, who had the ability to take the minds of the audience to the golden days of Clarence emerged on stage with Indrani Perera to sing "Loke Jeevath Vennata".

He mesmerized the audience. He was none other than today's popular composer, lyrist and vocalist, Rajiv Sebastian. Even this writer who heard his voice, first thought he was trying to copy the legendary voice of Clarence. I too criticized him on that belief. Later, I realized that there was a distinct difference between the two, and that Rajiv had a close touch to that style. .This man only possessed that touch.

In 2001, Rajiv with the consent of Sheela Wijewardene organized a show at the BMICH titled-"Tribute to Clarence". Sheela was the Guest of Honour at that show. Rajiv held the audience spellbound a second time singing a number of hits of Clarence Wijewardene as a tribute. Sheela was seen admiring the singing of this young man quite moved to emotion as it brought back the nostalgic memories of her husband, the pioneer of Sinhala pop. Rajiv, a duty bound man, requested Sheela on stage to present her with a financial gift in memory of Clarence. It was a wonderful event tele-recorded by Sirasa TV and later televised many a time. Whenever, there was "Rhythmn Chat" programme on Rupavahini at that time, Rajiv was seen seated beside Sheela singing the numbers of Clarence as a tribute.

After Rajiv took to the lead to keep Clarence's numbers alive, many others tried to follow but, could not match Rajiv who had the closest touch of Clarence. There was another young man from a band, Samantha Geekiyanage who sang Clarence's numbers on "Derana TV" in the presence of Sheela. But, he failed to make an impact like Rajiv. Even the "Super Stars" on Sirasa TV sang Clarence's songs during the competition. It looked too heavy for the young voices of those lads. Unfortunately, today, Rajiv has given up singing the songs of Clarence. He is ever grateful to Clarence.

But, as a 'Three in one man" like Clarence who could write lyrics, compose music and also sing, Rajiv too has his own compositions and he sings them on stage. Last Sunday, Rajiv with his band-"Rajiv and the Clan" held the audience spellbound at the BMICH at the event "Rajiv in Concert". The only thing the audience missed were the ever green hits of Clarence Wijewardene.