Filed under: Sri Lanka
♬ Clarence Wijewardena & Super Golden Chimes • Gamen Liyumak
♬ Annesley Malawana & Super Golden Chimes • Udarata Niliya
The music of Sri Lanka is a product of cultural traditions that are the result of three major factors: the religious practices of Buddhism, the lingering influences of Portuguese colonization, and the influence of Indian culture – most notably, Bollywood cinema.
The country’s first pop band was The Moonstones. The group was formed by Clarence Wijewardena and Annesley Malewana in 1966, in the town of Ratnapura. Clarence Wijewardena is also credited with being the person who first introduced the electric guitar into Sinhala music. Although the band was only together for four years, they were very influential. Wijewardena left in 1970 to form the Golden Chimes with singer Anil Bharati, and Malawana continued the group as the Fabulous Moonstones with Mike Gunesekera. In 1972, The Fabulous Moonstones called it quits and Malawana teamed up with Wijewardena once again. They changed the name of the band to The Super Golden Chimes and were quite popular well into the 80s. They reunited in 2003 and 2004.
Catalog number LECL / 007 / LP / 001 on Lotus Entertainment Company Ltd. of Sri Lanka. No release date listed.
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Sri Lanka is the most beautiful country in the world. It would be perfect if we had some honest leaders!
Comment by sheena October 19, 2010 @ 3:56 pm