Konkani Pop Scene===============
(from the pages of the WEST COAST TIMES, Margao, 26 NOV 1978)
ALFRED ROSE'S *Jhelo*
... by S. Valmiki FaleiroThe eighth edition of *Kantarancho Jhelo*, a booklet of popular Konkani songs by
Alfred Rose, has hit the stands. The booklet contains the words and scores of songs
from the Konkani pop singer's LP record cut in March last and a stereo cassette
published more recently.
The *Jhelo* is the only book of its type available for Konkani song lovers. The
previous editions of the book, without exception, sold well. With all the LP-recorded
and cassette-taped songs in it generally meeting a good response - some were
actually instant hits - this edition of the *Jhelo* was long awaited.
I asked Alfred Rose about the origin of the *Jhelo* when he visited the offices of
the West Coast Times the other day. Said the pop singer:
"Many fans kept asking for the words of my songs. Then someone suggested that
I print the words in the form of a booklet. I did. It surpassed my expectations.
Goaded with the success, I brought out two more editions.
"Then some friends started asking for the music score together with the words. So
I had the fourth edition with both the lyrics and notes, specially printed at Mangalore.
But here was the case of the father, son and the ass. (You can't satisfy everybody at
the same time). Some people now began complaining that they didn't understand the
music notes. Since then I have stuck to the easiest way out: I print the words of only
the published and well-known songs."
This ace recording star of HMV - he has some 500 songs cut in discs - has had no
problem with the *Jhelo* ever since.
Included in its latest edition are the words of 17 songs recorded in a novel stereo
cassette. Produced by himself on an imported consignment of TDK cassettes, Alfred
Rose says he got the idea as hundreds of Gulf-returning Goans brought cassette
players with them. With cassettes coming cheaper than vinyl records, the singer
hopes that the idea will click.
Alfred Rose took to singing, as also the stage, at an early age - while at school at St.
Xavier's, Bombay. The knowledge of music and his father have been the two assets
of his life, he says. Having studied music, he does not face the problem that many
contemporary singers do - of being at the mercy of music composers and setters.
The singer's father, Mr. AMB Rose, an established character-actor in his own right,
helped his son find a firm foothold on the Konkani stage. The senior Rose, now living
a retired life, was recently decorated with the Citizens Award by the Municipal
Corporation of Bombay.
Alfred Rose soon made his own music arrangements and had his own *Swing Band*.
There was no looking back, he says.
The major factor that shot Alfred Rose to popularity, perhaps, is the clarity of his
voice. And coupled with his wife, Rita, the result is part of the history of Konkani pop
music. Nobly carrying on the tradition of his father, Alfred's sons too have not lagged
behind, even if at an amazingly tender age. Schubert and Englebert are names oft
heard over Akashvani's Konkani request programmes.
The family is slated to stage the first Musical Show in January in Bombay. Asked
as to what made him think in terms of such a show, Alfred says, "our dramas are
dominated by songs." So he thought of rendering a few songs, with skits spaced in
for good measure.
