Multitone Records

Origin

Multitone Records was a record label whose name was synonymous with the word "bhangra". The label began in the early 1980s as an outlet for music created by early Bhangra bands such as Alaap, Chirag Pehchaan, Premi etc. The label was responsible for marketing the distinct, East meets West, 'Southall Sound'. Prior to Multitone, most Punjabi releases were folk and traditional in nature. The founder of the record was a man named Pravin Gohil who had earlier worked as A&R rep at Polydor Records. Their first major hit was the album 'Teri Chunni de Sitare' by the band, Alaap. Later hits included albums such as Frontline and Strikes Again by Premi as well as Aaja by The Sahotas. The label had the biggest roster of Bhangra bands at one time.

The label was also known for its distinctive packaging. This included numbering for their releases starting at 1000 and preceded by cmut for cassette and dmut for disk. All cassette releases also featured a distinctive red spine with black lettering (in use until about CMUT 1090).

decline and death

Towards the mid 90s, bands were being replaced by punjabi folk singers/PA acts and djs. The label's roster of bands was reduced in keeping with the general consensus that bands were something the public could not afford. What remained were djs/producers who released reworkings of earlier band hits or vocalists from bands releasing music produced by djs. This led to the catalogue losing its earlier hallmarks of quality and individuality. The catalogue was eventually purchased by BMG Records. The rise and fall of Multitone Records mirrors the rise and fall of Bhangra music.

Recently the entire catalogue has been acquired by a Punjabi folk record label called Moviebox Records. It remains to be seen if material from Multitone Records will see release under Moviebox as Moviebox caters to a rural folk audience who are unfamiliar with Bhangra music.

Bands on the Label

• Alaap
• Azaad band
• Apna Sangeet
• Achanak Bhangra Band
• Sahotas
• DCS

See also

• Bhangra
• List of bhangra bands

Sources

http://www.punjabonline.com/servlet/library.history?Action=Bhangra
http://www.thesouthallstory.com/decades-of-music/
http://sepiamutiny.com/blog/2006/05/30/going_multitone/
bhangra comes stateside via multitone
Billboard magazine, June 18, 1994 http://books.google.com/books?id=UQgEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA17&lpg=PA17&dq=billboard+multitone&source=bl&ots=95PbmdNlAB&sig=rHavhJwPFL2QQd-5O8aQuIu7aVs&hl=en&ei=4DWfTvaCKoWOigKf5OVZ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CCkQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=billboard%20multitone&f=falseċ

http://www.sohoroadtothepunjab.org/ traveling art exhibition featuring bhangra album cover art