 
Mahes Perera
A very successful launch of the young group Chimes of the 70s was
held at the auditorium of the Gampaha Pradeshiya Sabha on Saturday March
28 at 5.00 pm. It was a memorable occasion for the band led by the
youthful Rukshan Karunanayake who is not only the vocalist and lead
guitarist but also the lyricist, music composer, and music director of
the band.
The capacity packed auditorium was an encouragement to the band who
unlike today’s Sinhala pop groups was more keen on projecting the songs
of the 70s associated with Clarence, Moonstones and Annesley Malawana.
The other members of the Chimes of 70s are Dilshan Wijesekera (Rhythm
Guitar/Drums/Vocals, Sohan Anuhas - keyboards, Chamara Jayaratne -
saxophone, Thilina Madushan - bass/vocals and Chainda Pushpakumara -
drums.
 At the concert Sri Kantha Dassanayake was the chief guest and is also
the advisor to the band. Since the show contained the music of the 70s
the leading lights of the 70s Indrani Perera, Vernon Perera, Sri Kantha
Dassanayake were warmly welcomed and loudly applauded for the
performances.
There were others too who gave of their best Ananda Waidyasekera,
Batison Bolonne, Nimal S. Perera, Devinda Karunnanayake, Roshan
Jayawardena, Monika Geethani, Upali Kuruppu, Osanda Gamage and Nimalka
Shehani.
The spotlight fell on young seven year old child prodigy Udesha
Karunanayake a drummer who is studying in Grade 3 at Sri Sumedha Maha
Vidyalaya, Gampaha. His youthful and unusual artistry added colour to
the song he drummed for, and the audience was thrilled with his
performance. The concert was threaded together by the compere Nimal S.
Perera.
“We were fortunate to be supported by V. FM, who was our media
sponsor. We composed three new songs for the concert and we never dreamt
that we would get the large appreciative response we received at the
concert. The success of our concert has spurred me to plan for the
future of my band and with my parents’ support I hope to go places in
the music scene” says Rukshan. |
