An RD Burman album you didn't know about
The Latin-American-Indian music album titled 'Pantera', brought out in 1987, was a radio chartbuster in New York Hit Parade.
Rahul Dev Burman, who composed music for 331 Hindi films, also made an international music album not many know about. The Latin-American-Indian music album titled 'Pantera', brought out in 1987, was a radio chartbuster in New York Hit Parade, the same programme that featured Paul McCartney and Linda Ronstadt, among others. RD's father, SD Burman, and his friend Pete Gavankar, who wanted the aspiring musician to explore the music scene outside India, financed this album.
The story behind this album began when RD and Asha Bhosle met Gavankar and his wife in Las Vegas in 1975. Pete was a computer chip virtuoso who made millions after migrating from India to America in 1950. He asked RD to move out of India if he wanted to make a name in music.
RD hesitated and decided to think about it. RD's decision to move to the US then which could have proven sad for followers of his music in India even today. Also, making a music record in the USA then was a tedious process that took months. In 1980-81, Gavankar visited India and borrowed 15 tunes from RD, who had composed them in a matter of seven days. Gavankar handed these cassettes to his sister Nilu, who was connected to pop groups in San Francisco. Nilu played the tunes to Jose Flores, an upcoming musician. Jose immediately liked five compositions and recorded them on another tape.
Back in India, RD received this cassette and listened to it. It goaded him to go to San Francisco and record the songs and create an album. It was carnival season when Pancham landed in San Francisco on June 15, 1984. The atmosphere there inspired RD so much that he composed the number 'carnival caminando' (in the album) right there.
Later that evening, they visited a disco where RD and Jose's joint number 'In every city' was played.
"The number began with a bang, 'New York City, Chicago, LA, San Francisco and Bombay'. All the people there started dancing. At the climax all were clapping. I was so moved I almost cried," said RD later in an interview to a popular film magazine.
Thus, came about the album Pantera, a new album of Latin-American-Indian music. All the artistes in this album were budding musicians. The vocalists too were from diverse backgrounds - a Japanese, a Puerto Rican and an African-American.
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