Noel goes Calypso to Country

Noel Brian Ranasinghe, the king of calypso and folk music in Sri Lanka will not wear his archetypal straw hat, batik sarong and shirt hereafter. With most of his golden hits like 'Tharuna Jeewithe' he will go country marking his golden jubilee in the music scene. With his shift from calypso to country, a half a century of journey braving all odds, this legendary musician would bring another remarkable change to the local music scene.

As a fourteen-year-old schoolboy of St' Thomas College, Kotte, Noel's strumming started with a guitar his mother gifted him. Joining his buddy Anton Ratnayake, Noel, uninvited, went to birthday parties, weddings and every gathering that took place around the village.

"We both walked miles carrying our guitars in search of parties," says Noel reminiscing his past with a chuckle. And a few years later, Noel with Anton inflamed the country's Sinhala popular music culture with 'The Flames', the maiden beat band he started. "Dominated by Western, Hindi and Tamil music, there was no Sinhala music culture the majority could enjoy then. Even at the start we too followed western bands and singers like 'Everly Brothers' and Elvis Presley. However 'the Flames' was doused when his colleague Anton went abroad.

"Then I thought of creating something new and something typically Sri Lankan, both in the music and its presentation," Noel said. Attired in sarong, shirt and straw hat instead of long sleeves and bell-bottoms, Noel initiated a new era in music with box guitars congo drums and 'La Ceylonians' introduced a novel experience to Sri Lankan music.

"At the beginning, before we started singing, we had to wait a long time until the audience' hooting stopped," said Noel with a big laugh on his face. But the hooting was nothing compared to the bureaucratic wrath he won for being innovative and creative which went up even to banning his songs and music. "The allegation against Neville Fernando and I were that we were destroying the culture with 'Thuppahi' music and they even tried to ban the guitar at the SLBC," recalls Noel who fought against the ban which almost destroyed his career. Made of iron and a strong will, with daring courage he faced every challenge and came out in this endeavour victorious. He stood his ground, despite many changs in the patterns of music-pop, rock, hip-hop and etc. And the result was that, though unknown it was this sheer hard work that laid the foundation for Sri Lankan popular music to be built.

"I am glad that I could introduce singers like Milton Mallawarachchi and contribute to the music of the 60s and 70s which is still in the forefront of the Sri Lankan music scene," says Noel who always welcomes changes and encourages the younger generation. And being a pioneer of another music style Noel will introduce 'country' to Lankan music.

"So , its time for a new change," says this 'king' of Sri Lankan calypso who is busy working on his songs with a new dressing for a compact disc (CD) to mark his golden era. Noel will add his own calypso in country style along with the few remaining stars of the 60s, if given the green light to go ahead in many countries abroad. "Sponsors are of vital importance," says Noel, as he anxiously looks forward to make it a possibility.

Noel is confident that he will get the sponsor to invest in his new music and give out his support to all who love country music. Doing it his style, Noel also looks forward to do a DVD and is planning to launch them in Australia where most of his friends, school mates, relatives are domiciled and waiting for support for a possible tour of the UK with his old friend Anton with whom he started 'The Flames'. Noel also expressed his gratitude to Patrick Corea who first supported him to make his song into Philip label album.