Tribute to Elvis
The king is dead but the legend lives on. Friday August 16, 2002 marks the commemoration of the 25th death anniversary of the legendary king of Rock n' Roll Elvis Presley.
Elvis look alike Fahmy Nazick will come alive to pay tribute to the late king on Saturday, August 17 at the 'Union Bar and Grill Room' of Hilton JAIC Tower.

Fahmy will sing some of the chart topping hits of Elvis. His repertoire includes All Shook Up -1957, Jail House Rock -1958, One Night, A Fool Such As I-1959, It's Now or Never -1960, Are You Lonesome Tonight, Little Sister-1961, Can't Help Falling In Love, She's Not You -1962, Devil in Disguise -1963, Crying In The Chapel - 1965, The Wonder of You -1970, and Way Down -1977.

I will be including the songs - How Great Thou Art, American trilogy and the live versions of 'Hurt' and ' Unchained Melody' as well. This year's King's B'day tribute was held at the Galadari on January 26 and last year I was contracted to perform at the Hong Kong Sheraton during the month of August with special emphasis on the 16th of August being Elvis's death anniversary. It was after quite some time that I got a chance to perform abroad again, Fahmy said. A scrumptious dinner buffet is also available at the 'Union Bar and Grill Room' on this special day.

Molly's, with Irish flavour
Capt. Nalin Abeyratne and his Irish wife Annette Walsh who first introduced the concept of the Irish pub to Sri Lanka, are now ready to open Colombo's second Irish pub and restaurant which they have very aptly called "Mollys".

The popularity of their first such venture coupled with the demand for another, led to the creation of Molly's which opens its doors to the public next Saturday (17 August).

At Molly's, the enterprising couple take on the roles of 'Landlord' and 'Landlady', fashioned on the lines of Irish tradition, with the presence of Annette adding to the ambiance of authentic Irish hospitality.

Says Abeyratne, "We decided to name our new venture Molly's after the legendary "Sweet Molly Malone" from "Dublin's fair city" given the fact that this particular Irish song is so very well known among our clientele. It makes the connection instantly".

Molly's is situated at the Forbes & Walker Building at Navam Mawatha with ample parking space, and is open the whole week through from breakfast to dinner.

Irish hospitality at Molly's extends over the Landlady's (now famous) large portions of food to supper chilled lagers and ales, including Irish Dark on tap.

The Abeyratnes complement the warm and friendly ambiance at Molly's with a daily line-up of music of the golden days gone by, and dancing too.

The ever-popular Irish pub quiz will take place on Wednesday nights with an array of prizes thrown in for good measure.

The daily Happy Hour at Molly's will actually be doubled from 7.30pm-9.30pm while a giant screen comes alive at night with sports events and movies.

Going by their prior success, Nalin and Annette are already assured of Molly's being a hit among their growing clientele.

'Ebony' : Galappaththi Brothers Ltd
By Sanath Weerasuriya
'Ebony' has become a household name the local music scene now and the popularity of the band keeps growing due to the brilliant performances of the Galappaththi Brothers.

'Ebony' celebrated its 16th musical year, in the scene last month. It is really nice and feel good to look back and see the hard way we came all these years' said Udaya Galappaththi, the leader of the band ' Ebony'.

In 1986 Udaya formed the band with four of his friends but with their depature due to various reasons, Galappaththi Brothers joined the band wagon.

In 1987, Sampath Galappaththi joined as the Drummer and Channa Galappaththi came as their bassist. Also his cousin Lasantha Boteju, who is presently performing as a keybordist in Germany with top Sri Lankan and German musicians, joined the outfit in the latter part of 1987. Apsarika Galappaththi was their female vocalist.

Whilst the youngest member in the family, Nuwan Galappaththi who displayed his talents at a tender age remained as a stand-by Artiste often replacing the Drummer and Key-Boardist during their absence from 1986.

In 1990 Nuwan joined the Band as the Permanent key-board filling the vacancy created by Lasantha Boteju, who joined 'Stealers" in 1990. Apsarika after her marriage paved way to the younger sister Dilrukshi Galappaththi to take-up as the female Vocalist, said Udaya,going down memory lane.

Udaya, Channa, Sampath, Nuwan and Dilrukshi, now popularly known as 'Ebony' started their stint in 1993.

'The Manager was our father, late Mr. Hubert De Silva, who passed away in December 1997. After that I took over the responsibility of the leader and Manager of the band' Udaya explained.

My father contributed mainly to form this family band which was his ambition. He too was musically talented and occasionally joined the group. It was his great efforts that ultimately stamped the success of a very popular band with a bright future. His younger brothers, Derrick de Silva of the Krystal Set and Lincoln de Silva of "Super Pink N' Purple' also popular Singers. They too gave their fullest support to our band, Udaya said.

'Ebony' presently perform at the 'Blue Leopard' of the Grand Oriental Hotel on Saturdays and for hotel's weddings too.

They are the house band for weddings at the Galle Face Hotel and at Sapphire Hotel, Wellawatte.

'This is beside our performances at Tangerine and Triton on and off' he said.
Ebony is the official band for the 'Pepsi Millennium Talent Contest' in 2000 and 2001.

Both this contest and final shows were held at the Millennium Park sponsored by TV Times.

Sam sparkles in Dubai
'Sam the Man' is now in action at the Horseshoe Discotheque in Horizon Hotel in Dubai for two weeks.

According to Sam, his job is to bring back the music of 60's and 70's and in a letter to TV Times, he said the people there do appreciate the music of that era.

'Horseshoe is one of the top discotheques in the Middle East, with very latest equipment and gadgetry on the bandstand. But my music too appreciated specially songs from Elvis and Louis Amstrong', he said.

'I'm lined up to do two gigs of 30 minutes each every night, but very often I do three Benji and Aquarius is the resident band at the Hotel - and have been here at the 'Horseshoe' for the past year and a half.

They are my back up group. Aquarius a very professional outfit, comprised of some really talented, dedicated and committed musicians,' he said.

'The popularity of this band is so noticeable - folks come over from Abu Dhabi and Sharjah just to spend an evening with Aquarius. The members of the band are so friendly and have built up such a rapport, that most guests are addressed by their first name', he added.

'On the 25th of July, we celebrated Benji's 50th birthday at the Horseshoe.

It was a packed house - there wasn't an inch of space left. This speaks volumes for the popularity of Benji and Aquarius', Sam said.

Sam will be in Colombo on August 20 to perform in a Sing-Along Show at BMICH on August 24.

'There are two other dances on August 31 (Centenary Ball of the Victoria Masonic Temple) and another Sing-Along party at Galle Face Hotel on September 7', he added.

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