In the 1960s, while under the spell of the Moptops, Madras was simultaneously lapping up fare from a campus-grown talent, The Mustangs from the woods of Madras Christian College (MCC).
A student of MCC from 1965-68, when he pursued chemistry on the campus and flying outside, Capt. A. Ranganathan brought a guitar religiously to his weekly to-do list.
(After decades as pilot, Capt. Ranganatthan is now a commentator on matters relating to aviation; and he still keeps his guitars well-strummed).
Back then, at the MCC of the 1960s, he was strumming the strings for Selaiyur Swingsters, an MCC band associated with the Selaiyur Hall and contemporaneous with The Mustangs. The Mustangs were born in 1965 at a time when ever inch of the international stage seemed taken by inimitable music talent. Beatlemania. The sound of The Rolling Stones could be heard loud and clear. In terms of chart-busting releases, the 1960s might not have belonged to Elvis Presley the way the preceding decade did, but he already had a body of work that inspired regular Presley cover concerts far and wide.
When The Mustangs performed at Capt. A. Ranganathan's house at Injambakkam in 2017 to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of their practice sessions in Tambaram ahead of a major music contest in Madras in 1967. Photo courtesy: Capt. A. Ranganathan | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
In Madras, there was the best possible “amplifier” of these voices — The Mustangs. With evident music talent, stage presence and big-star attitude sans the arrogance, they “owned” the cover versions of international acts they performed at campus music events, and later at concert halls across Madras and beyond.
Capt. Ranganathan would have loved to hold court, standing shoulder to shoulder with The Mustangs. That coveted position was hardly a distant dream; he got to experience a version of it regularly. He has had the privilege of participating in The Mustangs’ practice sessions as a guitarist; for a while, even without stirring from his house.
“In 1967, there was a beach show in Madras which The Mustangs won. The victory was preceded by intense practice sessions. During the day, The Mustangs would not be allowed to practise in any of the Halls. My father Dr. Anathakrishnan being a professor of Chemistry at MCC, we had a house on the campus. He reluctantly agreed to let the Mustangs practise at our house.”
Years ago, rummaging through stuff that had for long stayed tucked far away from the fast lane, the tarmac to be precise, Capt. Ranganathan came upon a photo of The Mustangs clicked during a practice session in 1967 held on the campus, in his house, in fact in his very room.
“I shared the photograph with them, and said, ‘Listen, 2017 makes it 50 years and we should celebrate the 50th anniversary of the show, and let us have a show. To celebrate their first practice at my house (back in 1967), we thought we would have 50 friends from college, but ended up having 150 for lunch from all over the world. They came and we had a big show in my house at Injambakkam in 2017.”
Time had not tamed The Mustangs, as the performance proved — a clip of which Capt. Ranganathan shared with The Hindu Downtown.
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