Charanjit Singh

Charanjit Singh (1940 – 5 July 2015) was an Indian musician from Mumbai, who performed as a session musician, often as a guitarist or synthesizer player, in numerous Bollywood soundtrack orchestras from the 1960s to 1980s, working with filmi composers such as Shankar-Jaikishan, R.D. Burman (Rahul Dev Burman), S.D. Burman, and Laxmikant-Pyarelal. Singh led a wedding band and recorded and released a number of albums covering popular film songs. These were a form of instrumental elevator music, some of which have since been re-released by Sublime Frequencies, such as his steel guitar renditions of "Manje Re" from "Bandhe Haath" in 1973 and "Chura Liyaa Hai Tumne" from "Yaadon Ki Baaraat" in 1975. In 1981, he produced synthesizer-based electronic renditions of the "Silsila" soundtrack in his record 'Charanjit Singh: Plays Hit Tunes on Synthesizer of Silsila'.

In the 21st century, Charanjit Singh gained attention for his 1982 release 'Synthesizing: Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat', an album originally intended as a fusion of electronic disco music with Indian classical ragas. Singh's use of both the TR-808 drum machine and TB-303 bass synthesizer has led some music journalists to suggest that it is perhaps the earliest example of acid house music; predating Phuture's seminal Chicago acid house record "Acid Tracks" (1987) by five years. Comparisons have also been made with the work of other electronic dance musicians who were inspired by acid house such as Ceephax, Phuture 303, and Aphex Twin. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]