At their inaugural concert on April Fools Day, 1976, the members of a light music troupe distributed cotton pieces and pills to the audience as suggested relief for headaches caused by their tunes.
Even today the troupe’s founder, Ramjhi, is better known by the moniker ‘Abaswaram’ (meaning off-key).
“Our mascot was a donkey. Everything about our troupe was so non-musical. But we gave the audience our best music,” recalls Ramjhi, who now runs Issai Mazhalai, a professional music group of children.
The troupe’s drummer, Ramjhi says he deliberately chose All Fools Day to inaugurate the troupe.
“It was a time when Western music was fading away and light music troupes were doing well. It was also the time when Ilayaraja entered the field. I made a circuit of other troupes, poaching the best from amongst their people and made others angry. But it did not matter to me then as I had to have a group,” recalls Ramjhi, who was the first to introduce transparent drums in the city.
D. Ramakrishnan, who used to render songs of T.M. Soundararajan and Malaysia Vasudevan on stage in Abaswaram, recalls how Ilayaraja had complimented the troupe, saying it was the only group that retained the true spirit of his songs.
“Since this group had excellent orchestrations, I had a desire to join it and my friends Benjamin Chellappa Samidas, the key board player, and Raghu, the flautist, who had already joined the troupe, introduced me to Ramjhi and after that there was no looking back. Though singing did not pay much, it was the only thing we knew then. All 18 of us and the instruments would get loaded in a Matador van and travel from one concert to another,” he recalled.
Though the group was well-received and, at one point in time, they had 26 concerts in a month, it took them several years to see their name printed on invitations to functions.
“The organisers would politely ask if they could just say light music instead of Abaswaram,” recalled S. Manjula, who had also lent her voice to many songs and now works as a music teacher in the city.
The group was the first to perform in casual clothes, a marked departure at that time from other light music groups that donned formals.
“Ramjhi sir used to crack jokes on stage and converse with the audience, which was very unlike what other groups did. If a bride and groom walked in late for a wedding reception, he would ask them if the beautician had delayed them and people would laugh,” she said.
The group was disbanded after Chellappa passed away in 1999 as Ramjhi did not want to continue with another keyboard player, she added.
While a few members of the troupe, including M.C. Balu, former Chief Minister MGR’s nephew who was the main singer, have passed away, those in Chennai plan to meet on Wednesday.
