Ulysses hands out a big hit
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FEW of Fiji’s pop and rock groups have gone further than imitating very well, the style and numbers of the more renown overseas groups. So the release in Suva of a record written and composed entirely by one of our own groups marked a milestone in the development of contemporary music in Fiji.
The group was Ulysses, whose brief but eventful career was well known on the Fiji pop scene.
Their first record, a 45 rpm recording of two of their own numbers, Hang on Pretty Maiden and Woman, was released in Suva on Thursday, December 4, 1975, on the RCA label.
It all started early in February 1972 when Ulysses was created with the merger of two virtually unknown groups.
The eight-man outfit made their debut at the first South Pacific Arts Festival in Suva the same year.
But unlike other new groups trying to break ground, Ulysses hit the festival with a tremendous performance.
The audience was enthusiastic and since then the boys didn’t looked back.
Ulysses became one of the best known names on the Fiji music scene, but what they really had their sights on was a chance to record their own material.
That became a possibility in the middle of 1975 with the Jaycees Battle of the Bands competition.
Ulysses won one of the major prizes, a recording contract with a local talent promotion organisation, Platinum Records and Tapes Company.
Their dream was finally materialising.
But the group had a number of teething problems when they finally came to the recording stage.
Professional recording equipment was not readily available.
Ken Jansen of the Golden Dragon came to the rescue and with the help of the group’s producer, Pratap Narsey, recorded
Ulysses in action.
Ulysses at the nightclub.
“After three days and technical glitches two cuts were accepted for recording as a single play record. Both were written by the group on a “joint effort” basis. Woman was a fairly heavy rock number and Pretty Maiden more middle-of-theroad.” The Fiji Times reported.
“Both sounded very professional and technically superb, and could easily have come out of one of the more sophisticated and established overseas pop scenes, except for the occasional tinge of ‘Fiji English’.”
To help launch their record release Ulysses prepared an extensive concert tour of Suva and the Western districts.
After the tour Ulysses arranged and recorded more of their work leading up to the release of their first LP.