Filed under: Sri Lanka
The Fabulous Moonstones started playing together in 1964, formed by Clarence Wijewardane and Annesley Malewana in Columbo, Sri Lanka.
Clarence Wijewardene is credited with being the person who first introduced the electric guitar into Sinhala music.
After the break up of the Fabulous Moonstones in 1970, Wijewardene formed the the Golden Chimes with singer Anil Bharati. This did not last long, though, because Malawana and Wijewardene could not be seperated in the pop music scene. They eventually returned together with the Super Golden Chimes in 1972.
For more music from Sri Lanka, be sure to check out Sinhala Jukebox.
Catalog number CHB 023 on Sooriya records of Columbo, Sri Lanka.
Filed under: Sri Lanka
Mignonne & The Jetliners are from Sri Lanka, which is also known as Ceylon.
Mignonne Fernando first appeared onto the Sri Lankan music scene in 1963 when as Mignonne Rutnam she won a song contest on Radio Ceylon. The radio station is one of the oldest broadcasting institutions in South Asia.
Vernon Corea, who was a popular disc jockey in Colombo, Sri Lanka, introduced Mignonne to The Jetliners in 1965. Later, he would go on to play their music on his popular radio program on BBC Radio London called ‘London Sounds Eastern‘ in the 1970s and 1980s.
In 1980, Mignonne and The Jetliners began a 17 year contract to play The Regent Hotel in Hong Kong. And in 2003 when Mignonne Fernando released her first CD titled ‘A Celebration of Life.’ They still perform in and around South Asia, Australia and supposedly some dates in the United States in 2006.
This is the only song I have been able to find by them (so far) that is actually in Sinhalese. I’m also guessing that this is from the mid-Seventies since that sounds like an early drum machine and the liner notes talk about Mignonne’s succes at the World Popular Song Festival of 1972…
Catalog number LBEP-009 on Lewis Brown records of Columbo, Sri Lanka.
Radiodiffusion Internasionaal Annexe 