MUMBAI: Charanjit Singh, the man credited with the invention of acid house music, passed away in his home on Sunday, 5 July. The 75-year old musician had gone to sleep the night before and did not wake up, said friends close to him. Singh’s death comes as a shock to his friends and family, because he was believed to be working on a new album of Indian folk music, as well as preparing for a show in London.
Singh was a sessions musician, and has worked with legendary Bollywood composers such as Shankar-Jaikishan, RD Burman, his father – SD Burman, and Laxmikant-Pyarelal. He was famous for playing various instruments, but was best known for playing the synthesiser. He used the legendary Roland TB 303 synth and paired it with the Roland TR 808 to produce his first album- ‘Synthesizing: Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat’, which released in 1982, and was unanimously announced to be ahead of its time.
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In an earlier interview, Singh has said that since disco music was widely used in films in 1982, he decided to do something different with the genre. He got an idea to play all the Indian ragas and give it a disco beat, without the tabla. At the time of its release, the album flopped; however, it was released again in 2010 to cult following.
Vijay Pithwa, one of his close friends for over 30 years, said Singh was a very reserved man who came alive only when he was with his keyboard, which he began playing early in the morning. Singh was managed by REProduce Artists, which is home to artists like Hashback Hashish and HVAD, amongst others.
Singh’s son, Raju Singh, a famous Bollywood musician, has composed the background score for several recent Bollywood films, including ‘Ek Villain’, ‘Mr. X’, ‘City Lights’ and others.
