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in the early 1960's Mike and Malcolm two young Campionites started to 'jam' together on guitar.
Word got around and soon the two were regular fixtures at parties and the odd school/college/church
functions. Their repertoire comprised primarily of instrumentals by
the Shadows and Ventures. Malcolm sang a song or two.
It was the age of the "beat" phenomena and the idea of forming a
Beat Group started
to gain momentum. It was Ashok Daryanani. Mike's childhood friend
who introduced the duo to Suresh Bhojwani. So there was Mike on Lead
Guitar, Malcolm on Rhythm Guitar and Backing Vocals and Suresh on Lead
Vocals and Bass. And the enthusiastic Ashok as Manager. But
something was missing. ...................................A Drummer.
They soon heard from friends about Napoleon 'Nappy "Braganza a
talented drummer who unfortunately had no drum set! They met Nappy
one Sunday morning outside Regal Cinema in April 1964 and hit it off.
The Jets had arrived.
The Kirby's all chipped in. Darryl was the 'marketeer' passing out design tips, designing costumes and generally
pushing the self promotion part for the Jets. Mike's late father Joe
made their guitars and their first drum set. |
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Then the gigs began - Saturday nights at various hotels
mostly The Taj and the The Ambassador. They performed at all of Bombay's top
restaurants and auditoriums including the grand Sharmukananda Hall.
Their popularity and fame had spread and
soon they did a gigs in both Pune and Bangalore. However their
greatest tour was to Calcutta where they performed at The
Grand Hotel, Calcutta during the vacations for a whopping Rs 3,000
with boarding and lodging thrown in.
As happens good things do end and The
Jets had run it's course.
Malcolm needed to get his degree, Suresh had out grown the 'beat
music' and wanted to branch out by himself playing protest and folk
music which he liked, Nappy needed to finish his
apprenticeship and make an honest living, Ashok was already "
managing " other groups and organising shows and Mike's family
was migrating to New Zealand.
So the Jets called it a day with the 'Walk Don't Run' concert.
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