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Zep-'72 Bombay Visit-Article-Times of India '01


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Great work PlanetPage! Thank you.

Sam, I can attest to the great work PlanetPage did on this project. It hasn't been easy but she was remarkable in her persistence and willingness to research, confirm dates/places and then track down people who could visit the archives. I've worked in India and been involved in research of a different kind there and I know firsthand how incredibly difficult (and often frustrating) it is to do in person, nevermind from the other side of the world.

..........Fellow Zep Fans, here are The Photos/articles which finally have come to light since Fall of Last year.

I sincerely want to thank foremost our Webmaster, Sam, for providing such wonderful forum for Led Zeppelin fans around the world.....

Thanks to Ms. Radha Nair, Writer, Pune, India for her encouragment (I gave up!!) that I should pursue my passion, it is fruitful indeed. It is her prayers that connected me to many writers/journalists who further the cause each step of the way to present....

Writer/Journalist Sidarth Bhatia from Bombay who assisted in archives from Bombay...

A Big Thanks to our Veteran Forum Member MadScreamingGallery, MSG - Thank you for your friendship through this challenging archival process. Your friendship is truly noted in hearts of hearts, thank you!!!

..and Vinayak Razdan, New Delhi expert who assisted to search for any copies of lost Junior Statesman Issues and many other archival publications. There are none Junior Statesman (JS) to be found. Only one issue exists...and that leads me to The Statesman, Kolkatta, archives.

Very sincere thanks to Mr. Prasanto Banerjee, Assistant Editor of The Statesman, Calcutta for making these highly restricted archives to public available!!! These archives of Junior Statesman resided in a warehouse of Calcutta since the war of '71, Zep's first visit to India...

...finally I post the photos with this thought "Life is too short" ...........

Thank you so much for bringing this to light, PlanetPage! The LZ guys' time in India, for many reasons, holds a special interest for me so it's fascinating for me to read this article and see these beautiful photos. I've enjoyed every minute of our correspondence and thank you so much for your friendship and trusting me with the information as it was revealed. I'm going to take more time to reread this piece and look at the photos again...we'll talk soon.

Thank you PlanetPage. I'm very happy all of your hard work paid off ;)

Thanks to MSG as well B)

Thanks Ally but all the credit here goes to PlanetPage. B)

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Is there confirmation of the date and publication in which the article "Led Zeppelin Land Briefly in Bombay' was published?

Courtesy: P. Banerjee, Executive Secretary to Editor/MD - The Statesman, Kolkata

The Junior Statesman, an early youth culture publication from The Statesman, Calcutta...

JScover.jpg

Photo of Musician Madhu Das on Cover of JS - He was also photographed for further '74/'75 issues of JS, but the JS folded around these mid years, starting with publications from 60's on...

http://www.bigdooker.com/milestones.html

...worth few cents back then, the scanned entire issue of JS is produced at approx. $900.00 U.S. to date;

Madhu informed me about the lost JS Issues/photos of Zep that he owned before, and that his girlfriend Sophia, now wife (pictured on his Official Site with him) use to plaster Zep photos on her wall...

- The Original Photos cannot be found. The Statesman confirms that a lot of their film has been destroyed over the years, unfortunately.

Edited by PlanetPage
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Thank you PlanetPage. I'm very happy all of your hard work paid off ;)

Thanks to MSG as well B)

Thanks for your friendship Ally. MSG is indeed great friend. She was always there to provide great contacts, assistance whenever I was unsure of things....

Here is the article written by Sidarth Bhatia, journalist from Mumbai during this archival search, a great story he felt;

Sidarth responded to my original inquiry of search of photos and he became interested in Led Zeppelin. He was a young freshman in college in '72 when Zep arrived in Bombay,

Sidarth informs me that he wrote this article for the "young generation" in India who are not familiar with "those" times, they do know Led Zeppelin, but the visit of '72 was indeed magical...

Time out Magazine - Various State Editions throughout India;

http://www.timeoutbangalore.com/music/music_details.asp?code=154&source=4

MSG - Thank you again, you made this article very special, your willingness to assist the writer with great contacts truly acknowledge.......

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Thanks for your friendship Ally. MSG is indeed great friend. She was always there to provide great contacts, assistance whenever I was unsure of things....

Here is the article written by Sidarth Bhatia, journalist from Mumbai during this archival search, a great story he felt;

Sidarth responded to my original inquiry of search of photos and he became interested in Led Zeppelin. He was a young freshman in college in '72 when Zep arrived in Bombay,

Sidarth informs me that he wrote this article for the "young generation" in India who are not familiar with "those" times, they do know Led Zeppelin, but the visit of '72 was indeed magical...

Time out Magazine - Various State Editions throughout India;

http://www.timeoutba...de=154&source=4

MSG - Thank you again, you made this article very special, your willingness to assist the writer with great contacts truly acknowledge.......

Wonderful article, PlanetPage! I think Sidarth did a great job with the resources that were available to him. I really enjoyed reading this - I thought it was well-written and, in addition to learning about LZ's trip, it brought back my own memories of India, the old Taj hotel and Bombay (before it became Mumbai). I'm sure the younger LZ fans in India will enjoy and be interested in reading about LZ's 1972 trip to India.

Thank you for your gracious comments, PlanetPage. It was my pleasure to be involved in this process - and I am delighted at the final result. I look forward to talking with you again soon.

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Wonderful article, PlanetPage! I think Sidarth did a great job with the resources that were available to him. I really enjoyed reading this - I thought it was well-written and, in addition to learning about LZ's trip, it brought back my own memories of India, the old Taj hotel and Bombay (before it became Mumbai). I'm sure the younger LZ fans in India will enjoy and be interested in reading about LZ's 1972 trip to India.

Thank you for your gracious comments, PlanetPage. It was my pleasure to be involved in this process - and I am delighted at the final result. I look forward to talking with you again soon.

....MSG, you are deserving of every gracious comment. Should there be any further developments with any additional photos, I will stay in touch with you and the fans -

Old Taj late 70's (The one Richard likes), Thanks MSG for sending this photo...

BombayOldTajII.jpg

Edited by PlanetPage
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....MSG, you are deserving of every gracious comment. Should there be any further developments with any additional photos, I will stay in touch with you and the fans -

Old Taj late 70's (The one Richard likes), Thanks MSG for sending this photo...

BombayOldTajII.jpg

Thanks again, PlanetPage - for your compliment and for including me in this process. I have other photos of Bombay of that same vintage, but not many as we spent less time in Bombay than in any other city or region of India. I think this might be the only one I have of the Taj (and one of the old black and yellow taxis). I'm sure the area has changed greatly. Again, I really enjoyed Sidarth's article as well as the process of seeing it all come together.

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  • 3 months later...
  • 5 months later...

Source: thequietus.com

Please note that the original article is much longer than this, but I have edited it down to feature only the LZ related material.

Amanda Barokh speaks to Madhukar Dhas of the mighty Indian psych rock band Atomic Forest about wearing curtains, the Asian Woodstock and jamming with Led Zeppelin

I'd love to know more about the Mumbai nightclub scene. Tell us some tales from your days at the Slip-Disc and Blow Up. Led Zeppelin visited Slip-Disc. Did you jam with them?

MD: Slip-Disc was a very small venue, about thirty feet deep by eighteen feet wide. No tables, nothing. The ceiling height might have been about fourteen feet maybe. I used to climb on the speakers, touch the ceiling and jump off the top of them. The atmosphere was always very dark with psychedelic lava lamps, strobes and UV lights. The ideal place for teenagers to come in and neck as much as they wanted without being recognized.

I was at Slip-Disc one evening, just hanging out. I was not on contract to perform there. It was nothing out of the ordinary until three gentlemen walked in. Some of their faces seemed unbelievably familiar. It was Robert Plant and Jimmy Page and another guy who I later learnt was Richard Cole.

Ramzan [owner of Slip-Disc] was one of the shrewdest businessmen I knew. But he had no clue who Led Zep were. I can recall him snapping his fingers at Jimmy and calling him Plant. "Come on Plant, Plant, Plant, have another drink.” The beer was pretty bad. It was called "Bombay Beer", when you opened a bottle it had no head. It looked more like soap bubbles. Nevertheless Plant and Page had quite a few and got tipsy.

I was commanded by Ramzan to go and talk to them. My feet were colder than ice but I did it. I looked like a total geek. I was introduced to Plant as India's No. 1 rock singer. Plant asked me. "What kind of music do you do?" And I went,"Hummana... hummanaa... hummanaaa... we try to copy you." Clearly Plant was not impressed. His next question to me was, "Where are the chicks man?" I promised that a few would show.

Ramzan's next command to me was, "Sing."

Not being under contract, and also with such cold feet, I refused. He dug his fingers into my left ribs, commanding me, "Go sing, you bastard!" And I did. I sang ‘Honky Tonk Women'. Robert Plant was sittings about ten feet away from me. When I was done, he gave me a thumbs-up. That image is forever etched in my mind and perhaps why I will never stop singing.

I have a faint feeling I enthused Plant and Page to get up and jam with the band after my cover rendition. Plant went into a wild ad-lib and after a ten-minute ramble, went into ‘Whole Lotta Love'. Jamal who was drumming and Xerxes were very familiar with the song and did a great job backing them. Keith Kanga's rented equipment was very inadequate for the power of the Zep. Richard Cole fed one amp into another and managed to get a pretty good sound. I used a guitar amp to sing through, a Fender Super-Reverb and my mic was Indian made and had to be screwed on to the stand. Not the kind where one could whisk the hand-held off the stand. Towards the end of that song, Plant tried to do so and realized it was screwed on and began to spin it off the stand, wrapping the mike cord around the stand. The soldering broke loose and just as he was doing his famous "Loooooooooooooooooove" it started cutting off. I wish I could vocally express how it went, but in type, more like "Looo uu..ooo...uuuu...oooove" I went to his rescue and held the mic wire to the mike to keep it from cutting out. I was shoulder to shoulder with Plant and wished someone had taken a photograph. I even tried to get the attention of the photographer, but he was looking the other way.

The evening ended weirdly. I think Plant and Page had quite a bit of booze. This also ended my 'hero-worshipping' them. They went upstairs to a whore-joint where then you could get a dozen women for a few bucks. I waited outside for a few hours. Richard was talking to me. I was asking him if they would ever consider playing in India. His answer to me was, "Fuck man, the Government of India cannot afford us." I felt let down and went home because I also had to be at work at my advertising job in four hours.

The next night Rumzan capitalized on the incident. Slip-Disc was packed to capacity and beyond. Plant and Page had promised to show and eventually did but I think they were hugely disappointed. The first night was so tranquil and innocent. The second night was a fiasco. Girls were trying to sit next to them. I remember Plant shoving a few off his row. Plant threw a glass of beer into a photographer's camera and both of them left in a huff.

Edited by kenog
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  • 8 months later...
  • 1 month later...
  • 11 months later...

Thank you!

R :wave: ger Berlin

Hello Roger, Truly, with sincerest respect I write to you....THank you for such wonderful culturally celebrated contribution here....I am always on the search for any special magazine for you from India..I shall sent it to you promptly...

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Oh, thank you PlanetPage...is this your name?

Roger from Berlin

Hello Roger, this is my Forum Name herein...I love this name very much, my sincerest tribute to "Page", Visionary Icon in Art and Culture...

... Stanley and Sons, on Arthur Bunder Road, near Slip Disc, Original International Vinyls/Tapes Record Store..

photo Courtesy. Ardeshir B. Damania/Bombay Historian/USC at Davis..

StanleyampSons_Then_zps68fa480c.jpg

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Ok PlanetPage :wave:

...Looking forward to your LZ Photo book, and I shall keep you updated further...

...about Stanley and Sons post above, Ardeshir also informed me during my photosearch that he use to visit Stanley and Sons, (as did most musicians mentioned herein), and that LZ Reel to Reel tapes, he still listens and they sound just as good...

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  • 1 month later...

An exclusive excerpt from journalist Sidharth Bhatia’s new book 'India Psychedelic: The Story Of A Rocking Generation'

http://rollingstoneindia.com/light-fire/

Time Out Interview...Led Zeppelin and the Cultural Revolution in India...

http://www.timeoutmumbai.net/books/features/interview-sidharth-bhatia

Edited by PlanetPage
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  • 2 months later...

..Veteran Celebrated Musician "Late Nandu Bhende" leaving warm memories...pictured here at Blow Up Disco/Taj Mahal Hotel October 1972 with his band Brief Encounter,

he recalled Robert Plant nearly destroyed their drum kit while looking around to play initially at Blow Up....

">http://BriefEncounterBlowup_zps78eb8619.jpg

....those days..

LZBombLNB_zpsc1e08691.jpg

">http://ledzeppelincoloredbombay_zps5770f75c.jpg

Edited by PlanetPage
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  • 6 months later...

....Residental area of Bombay Musicians...very highly likely, the recording from Slip Disc impromptu performance went missing here, soon thereafter, as informed by Madhu Dhas during my search of the Photos....

">http://http://s642.photobucket.com/user/planetPage_bucket/media/jonycastle_zps5adf715a.jpg.html'>jonycastle_zps5adf715a.jpg

Photo: Firoze Shakir

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  • 4 months later...

...Timeless Expressions of Culture, Gorgeous Robert Plant with Musicians from Bombay, including Seated beside him, Late Nandu Bhende (RIP).....
This is the First Photograph from Blow Up Disco, actually located in Taj Mahal Hotel;
Page and Plant did not like the "aristrocratic" atmosphere, here at blow up" so they turned to corner and went to Slip Disc for impromptu Performance...

Here Robert can be seen in Street Indian Attire, which the Manager of Blow Up did not find approrpriate for his establishment/guest at Taj Mahal Hotel...The "Duo" went to Slip Disc...
Photo: via Lachman Bilani/
">http://RPNBhende.BlowUP_zpsv2vpogqj.jpg

........
...they would soon meet Ramzan Patel, photographed in the middle. at Slip Disc... Photo Courtesy/Joseph Clement Pereira/India SIxties and Beyond
Ramzan.SlipDisc_zpszpr02atg.jpg


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.....we have seen "Led Zeppelin" ... L. Nandu Bhende with His Band, at the Blow Up/Taj Mahal Hotel circa '73

">http://NanduBhende.Blow%20UPdisco_zpsy6swm3dk.j

L-R: Late Darryl Mendonsa, RIP (bass) (L. "Nandu Bhende" RIP, Vocal); Remo Fernandez, Guitar (Remo also performed with "Page and Plant" '96 Chanel V/Mumbai; Lifetime Achievement to "Led Zeppelin"; drums Steve Sequeira; Michael D'Souza, Keyboards;

http://www.mid-day.com/articles/nandu-bhende-my-superstar/15226086

Edited by PlanetPage
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...Timeless Expressions of Culture, Gorgeous Robert Plant with Musicians from Bombay, including Seated beside him, Late Nandu Bhende (RIP).....

This is the First Photograph from Blow Up Disco, actually located in Taj Mahal Hotel;

Page and Plant did not like the "aristrocratic" atmosphere, here at blow up" so they turned to corner and went to Slip Disc for impromptu Performance...

Here Robert can be seen in Street Indian Attire, which the Manager of Blow Up did not find approrpriate for his establishment/guest at Taj Mahal Hotel...The "Duo" went to Slip Disc...

Photo: via Lachman Bilani/

">http://RPNBhende.BlowUP_zpsv2vpogqj.jpg

Great work as always PP. :thumbsup:

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