MELODIOUS MEMORIES OF MOONSTONES
MOONSTONES – which originated in the gem city of Ratnapura around the mid sixties, brought out precious musical gems like Kalu Mama, Mango Nenda, Gon Wassa, Dilhani, Ramani, Muhudu Rella Osse, Dunhinda Manamali, Ruwan Puraya and hundreds of other evergreen hits involving Sinhala pop icons Clarence Wijewardana and Annesley Malawana. Memories of Fabulous Moonstones – live concert, put together by Annesley Malawana and presented by Damayantha Kuruppu of DK Promotions, will be held at the BMICH on Sunday, July 28 at 7 pm.
Annesley Malawana, Indrani, Sunil, Chanaka, Laurenz Manricks, Dammike Wijesiri, Feroz Azmon, Upali Ubayasekara, Stanmore de Jonk, Sohan Weerasinghe Lalith Fernando who are the surviving members of Moonstones will bring back melodious memories of Moonstones on Sunday, together with guest artiste Chitral (Chitty) Somapala who will pay tribute to Moonstones founder and leader. Incidentally it was Chitty’s father PLA Somapala who recorded the first four SLBC songs of Moonstones in the sixties.
Veteran Vijaya Corea will compere the show while Super Chimes will back the music, in addition to segments by past Moonstones boys.
Recalling memories of Moonstones, Annesley Malawana said the original four members of Moonstones were Clarence Wijewardana,
The BMICH is going to be the venue next Sunday when tuneful tales of a yesteryear band starts unspooling, evoking sweet memories of a band that is closest to our hearts even today
Dhammika Wijesiri, Monty Wattaladeniya and himself.
“Clarence was known as Wije then. Our homes were just three kilometres apart, but we first met each other when he was looking for a lead singer for a new band that was to be formed. I was a student at St. Joseph’s College, Colombo. I came home only during vacations. On one such visit a neighbor of mine said a friend of his called Wije was looking for a singer. I joined him to meet Clarence. Later he took me to Sangabo Corea who was so impressed and offered us our first Radio Ceylon recording. I must gratefully mention that the three Coreas – Sangabo, Vernon and Vijaya were the livewires behind our success story. Most of the songs that I sing today were composed by Clarence for Moonstones. The one and only song Clara sang for Moonstones was ‘Dileepa Podi Puthu’. So we recorded our first four songs including Dilhani. Interestingly Dilhani was initially a male version sung by me. Later we got Indrani to sing it and at that time Dilhani was the best selling record. We sang the four songs for Radio Ceylon’s Saturday Stars segment and instantly we became household names,” Annesley recalled.
“My parents who were initially against my musical venture, later softened their stance after this instant recognition and popularity. This show is aimed at bringing back Moonstones memories. Clarence was a stunning composer. He always gave his compositions to singers who suited them. That’s how I got to sing most of those songs. As the band leader he could have easily sung all of them, but he didn’t. He was not selfish and also never charged anything for composing songs for others, most of the time. One day he was composing the melody for ‘Thaniwee Sitinnai Ma’ at our place when my wife told him it was an awesome melody. Then he told her “I am going to give this to Milton because it suits him.” Later Indrani joined Moonstones. We then did our first Philips and Sooriya labels which became instant hits. Then Clarence moved away as he was more keen on composing. I took Mike Gunasekara and continued with Moonstones which later had Stanmore, Lalith and my brother Sunil. We made it into a dance and sing along band. We played for sundown dances, dinner dances, stage shows. Later we two joined hands again and formed Super Golden Chimes. The rest is history,” said Annesley who is looking forward to offer a big treat for music lovers on Sunday.
Will be held at the BMICH on Sunday, July 28 at 7 pm. For details and limited tickets contact: 0777-744950