TRIBUTES poured in for British music icon Taz from Stereo Nation after he tragically passed away, aged 54.
Those who praised the late singer ranged from fans entertained by his songs to major names in music, who followed in his footsteps and those who worked with him. It is no surprise so many people from diverse backgrounds had so much to say about Taz and his impressive legacy.
His 33-year-long career can be divided into two distinct halves, with the first filled with timeless pop hits and the second being dominated with live performances around the world.
He was born Tarsame Singh Saini in Coventry on May 23, 1967, and grew up in the Midlands, when it was laying the foundations for British Asian music. By the time he stepped into a studio, neighbouring Birmingham had become the bhangra capital of the world and a second generation of artists had begun experimenting with western fusion sounds. This led him towards teaming up with music producer Tom Lowry and recording his debut album Hit The Deck, under the stage name Johnny Zee. The pop fusion album became a sensation when it released in 1989 because it blended Punjabi vocals with western pop sounds in a way never done before and connected with second generation Asians caught between two
contrasting cultural worlds, with songs like Hoon Ta Main Nachchna.
One of those was a young Rishi Rich, who would go on to become a globally successful music producer. He said: “My mum took me to Southall Broadway. I was in ABC music and remember hearing the Johnny Zee Hit The Deck album and that was my first ever purchase with my pocket money.”
In paying tribute, Rishi Rich added, “I’m heartbroken. My brother, Taz. Thank you for everything you did for me. Your album Hit The Deck was one of the main reasons I wanted to produce fusion music. You’ll always be my inspiration. Love you, my brother. Rest in peace.”
The chart-topping album made a huge cultural impact, with a new generation of artists using it as inspiration to grow British Asian music with their own songs.
He would follow up Hit The Deck with further pop albums as Johnny Zee, which included Vibes, From Me To You and Spirit of Rhythm. The pop sound evolved with each album.
He relaunched himself in the mid-1990s with music act Stereo Nation and the blockbuster album I’ve Been Waiting, which included the mega hit title track. Stereo Nation would follow this up with the even more successful Jambo in the late 1990s, which included a brilliantly original cover version of Neil Sedaka classic Oh Carol. He then reverted to his solo roots by becoming Taz from Stereo Nation. This would result in hit albums Nasha, Tazmania and perhaps his most popular release Slave II Fusion, which included super hit songs like Nachangeh Saari Saath, Pyar Hogaya and Galan Gooriyan.
Around the same time, he would deliver songs for Bollywood films, with Daru Vich Pyar in Tum Bin (2001) and It’s Magic in Koi Mil Gaya (2003). Taz would even try making it in the western mainstream with an English language song.
He would alienate himself from many of those who helped him become a huge success from the early 2000s onwards, so subsequent albums like Café Mumbai, Jawani On The Rocks, Rewind Selekta and Twist & Shout didn’t reach the great heights of his previous releases.
He made up for that with a second phase that would be dominated by live performances. The impressive bank of songs from the first half of his career would ensure live bookings globally, including becoming one of the most in-demand international artists in Pakistan. The hits drying up didn’t dampen his enthusiasm for delivering memorable concerts. The singer slipped into a coma in March and despite emerging out of it, he lost his battle with ill health and passed away peacefully in hospital. Taz remained connected to music till the end, with more live performances and songs planned. That love of music is what defined him and will connect him to all those who listened to his forever.
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A seated Jain enlightened teacherAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Ganesha from JavaAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
A Chinese silk painting depicting the BuddhaAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
ArdhanarishvaraAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Head of a grimacing yakshaAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
NagaAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Bimaran casketAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Hunia Chawla
A still from rehearsal
Them performing liveNajmuddin Saifuddin Qawwal Group
The cast of Marriage Material in key moments from the play, including Avita Jay, Kiran Landa, Omar Malik, Irfan Shamji and Anoushka Deshmukh
Sathnam Sanghera’s 'Marriage Material' adapted into bold new play on conformity
The play Marriage Material at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre is Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti’s adaptation of Sathnam Sanghera’s novel of the same name, which first came out in 2013.
She is lucky to have Iqbal Khan direct Marriage Material. The play, a co-production with the Birmingham Rep, is set in the late 1960s. Mr and Mrs Bains (played by Jaz Singh Deol and Avita Jay) run a corner shop in Wolverhampton. Their younger daughter, Surinder (Anoushka Deshmukh), is 16, her sister Kamaljit (Kiran Landa) is just a bit older.
They have a neighbour, Patwant Dhanda (Irfan Shamji), who, as we shall soon see, is not a very pleasant man. In fact, he comes across just as racist as Enoch Powell, who represented Wolverhampton South West for the Tories from 1950 to 1974.
It will be recalled this was a time when Sikhs working on the buses were told they couldn’t wear a turban. That was a hard-fought battle that had to be won.
The Bains, meanwhile, simply want to get their girls married off.
Nothing new here, I thought.
What makes the tale different is that the plot twists and turns down the generations. Mr Dhanda, who has the makings of a paedophile, makes a pitch for one of the girls when Mr Bains dies early in the play. “A life with no man in the house is no life,” he informs the newly widowed Mrs Bains.
Mr Dhanda has a wife but she has returned to India so he considers himself to be a free man.
Surinder’s English teacher from school, Miss Flanagan (Celeste Dodwell), who is also head of the fifth form, tells Mrs Bains about her daughter: “I don’t want to embarrass you, but she is bright. Ridiculously bright.”
She adds: “Mrs Bains, I think it would be a pity if Surinder didn’t stay on at school.” The initial response from Mrs Bains is not encouraging: “Too much education makes people’s brains get mixed up, they don’t sleep at night…”
But she is finally persuaded that Surinder should be allowed to stay on for a while longer before being married off.
Mr Bains was very old school. When Surinder confides she would one day like to be “a somebody”, he is amused that “my daughter wants to be a somebody”.
“Like you,” she tells her father.
Mr Bains consoles his daughter: “We will find a somebody for you to marry.”
At the point of a possible marriage, however, Surinder is sweet-talked by chocolate salesman Jim Wilson (Tommy Belshaw) into running away with him. They share a love of literature, and he calls her “Sue Bains”. But the relationship does not end well.
Once she has left, Surinder is written off as “dead” by her family. The story that is circulated is that she was only 16 when she was killed in a car crash. That’s better than to let on that she ran off with a white man.
By the time she is reconciled with her sister towards the end of the play, a great deal has changed. Kamaljit married Tanvir Banga (Omar Malik), a young man who helped out in the Bains’ corner shop. When the two sisters meet again, Tanvir has also died. But he and Kamaljit had a son, Arjan Banga (Jaz Singh Deol doubles up for this role after the death of Mr Bains). He has come home after his father’s death to help his mother who is still running the family corner shop.
Meanwhile, Mr Dhanda’s business has prospered. He now has a son, Ranjit Dhanda (the role is taken by Omar Malik after Tanvir’s death), and he is nearly as unpleasant as his father.
Arjan has an English fiancée, Claire (Celeste Dodwell). In London, Arjan worked as a creative director. But after deciding to stay in Wolverhampton to help his mother, he decides he cannot marry Claire because she is white. In other words, Asians are not free of racism, either. Happily, at the end, the couple are reconciled.
As for Surinder, she parted company with Jim Wilson after realising he was all talk, depended on her for money and had failed to earn a penny from his literary pretensions. She had prospered, though, as a hotel owner and had been transformed in time into a well-groomed businesswoman. After being tracked down by Arjan, she decides to return to her roots in Wolverhampton and help Kamaljit run the family corner shop. Perhaps 50 years had passed during the passage of the play.
Being subjected to racism turned some Asians into racists themselves. The word goreh (white person) is repeatedly spat out with venom. Maybe it is worth remembering the play’s audience isn’t exclusively Asian – white folk are watching as well. And maybe some of the toilet humour ridiculing white people, which always makes me cringe, could be cut out.
In Sanghera’s novel, there is a quote from Enoch Powell’s speech in November 1968: “The West Indian or Asian does not, by being born in England, become an Englishman. In law he becomes a United Kingdom citizen by birth; in fact, he is a west Indian or an Asian still... he will by the very nature of things have lost one country without gaining another, lost one nationality without acquiring a new one. Time is running out against us and them. With the lapse of a generation or so we shall at last have succeeded – to the benefit of nobody – in reproducing ‘in England’s green and pleasant land’ the haunting tragedy of the US.”
In Marriage Material, where the acting is marvellous (apart from Mr Dhanda’s Indian mannerisms and accent being overdone) we do travel across a couple of generations.
There is a scene when Tanvir rejects Mr Dhanda’s vision of creating a little Punjab in Wolverhampton.
Mr Dhanda wants to take over the Bains’ corner shop and is putting pressure on Tanvir to sign the papers. He says: “In this country, money is the path to freedom.”
“Sign, please,” he instructs Tanvir. “We must make sure our children learn to behave nicely, according to our rules.”
He insists: “We maintain our identity so we can be ourselves.”
Tanvir disagrees: “We can be us here. With the goreh.”
Dhanda warns him: “Then we will be inviting chaos.”
Tanvir’s comment is telling: “You sound like Enoch.”
Kamaljit, who is expecting a baby with her husband Tanvir, says: “I would like my child to grow up knowing the history of the Gurus and to read the Granth Sahib. And to love their culture.”
Tanvir tells his wife: “I would like my child to go to the finest schools, to cheer for England in the World Cup and eat Yorkshire pudding on a Sunday.”
Kamaljit sets out a dream that has perhaps come to pass with many third and fourth generation British Asians: “Maybe our child can do both.” Much, much later, in a throwback to the past, we learn of Surinder’s O-level results: “Biology A, Chemistry A, English Language A, English Literature A, French A, History B, Latin A, Mathematics A, Physics A…”
Kamaljit tells her younger sister: “Never mind about the B.”
And that is quintessentially Asian. Their acting is outstanding.
Marriage Material is at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre until June 21, and at the Birmingham Rep from June 25-July 5