British Bhangra has never been as popular or more enjoyed as it is presently. The increasing live performances from artists of British Bhangra at gigs, private ceremonies, wedding functions and other important events have all helped to culminate this unique type of cultural production into a booming music industry that now, knows no bounds.

The whole era began in the early sixties, traditional Bhangra in Britain started in Sikh and Hindu temples by musicians who developed the art by singing there. Soon bands were being formed and performances in the traditional style were being portrayed at weddings and community centres. This was the initial beginning of Bhangra music essentially, but nobody at the time realised the big impact it would have on the world.

The evolution from traditional Bhangra into British Bhangra was forming shape in the early eighties.

Alaap amongst other bands were one of the first groups emerging from this transition. Amongst many of their titles, 'The Godfathers of Bhangra' remains the most poignant and perhaps most appropriate. The director of Alaap, Channi Singh who is also the singer, composer and founding member of the group has been around for nearly twenty-five years and remembers the early days. 'We started out as ten members and since then two members for specific reasons have left, we are still enjoying success purely for the simple reason that the music we produce is fresh and innovative.'

Channi who has also worked as a music director for various Bollywood films such as Yalgaar starring Sanjay Dutt, and Shakti Maan starring Ajay Devgan is also the founding member of a charity organisation. 'We founded the GK foundation in 1995, after my friend's mother, Gurdial Kaur died from cancer. The foundation's aims are to promote cancer research.'

Despite Alaap's phenomenal success world-wide, Channi remains down to earth and in touch with needing people. The profits for the last five years have gone into the GK foundation; he also does work in Bangladesh for poor women's marriages.

Channi predicts Bhangra is still coming very strong in various parts of the world. 'The Bhangra scene in the States is rapidly emerging, and will soon be as big as it is in the UK. What people listened to five, ten years ago in the UK is what people in the US are listening to now, the people in America are crazy about Bhangra. And if anybody should know, this man should; Channi recently toured in America, and performed in an open-air event in Washington to 8,000 adoring fans.

Alaap are regarded as the band who introduced Bhangra to the rest of us, the only band to have performed live with mainstream artists such as UB40 and Peter Gabriel, and the only band capable of attracting crowds of over 35,000 as they did four years ago in Birmingham.

Amongst all the major cities in the UK, Birmingham remains the most popular city for Bhangra lovers. Bands such as Achanak, Apna Group, DCS, Safri Boyz and XLNC all hail from there.

British Bhangra can simply be described as a development process, from the traditional forms of the folk style and music from Punjab to the current link with British pop, soul and r 'n b tracks.

Traditional Bhangra was practised on the Punjab peninsula, a huge area stretching the borders of India and Pakistan. A dhol was used as an instrument, a large, double-sided cyndrical drum. An alghoza, a twin flute may also be used to accompany the singing and dancing which in Punjab mainly consists of male dancers. The performers have to take it in turns to sing after one another and the content and lyrics of the song was initially in praise of their homeland. Currently as we can see regarding the Bhangra scene, the mixture of South Asian culture has led to a different style imminently different to the kind originated in Punjab.

Bhangra artists in the UK have not enjoyed the fame or financial rewards their counterparts in mainstream music have. This is mainly due to poor distribution and retail. Bhangra albums up to a few years ago were consistently sold at just under £3, and only recently that has increased to the £4-£5 mark, however this is still much less than mainstream artists, whose albums sell at no less than £10 and even higher on occasions. Unlike it's British pop and rock contemporaries the production and circulation of Bhangra albums in the UK have an almost non-existence relationship with the mainstream multinational record companies.

Amarajit Sidhu, a one-time presenter for the Asian Network in Birmingham, re calls the early days when Bhangra was in its infancy. 'I was a student at Leicester University, when we thought of forming a band, that's where Chirag Pehchaan essentially started, it was more or less the same time Alaap hit the scene. We wanted to mix and fuse traditional Bhangra with western influences. Soon we were playing at universities and small events and then before we knew it we become huge.'

Amarajit who now owns a pharmacy in West Bromwich thought it was exactly what the audience wanted. 'The Bhangra scene at the time we formed was changing, youngsters wanted something they could dance to, so we gave them that, our tracks were faster than the traditional folk styles and youngsters all over the UK were enjoying them. We realised then we had struck a market which could only grow, and just look at it now.'

In 1989 Amarajit started club events and for six years he made the Dome in Birmingham the home of Bhangra music. 'I started doing gigs at the Dome in 89, and it was huge, Bhangra lovers from everywhere came to Birmingham, it was unbelievable.' After his era, Amarajit remembers the up-coming artists coming through. 'When Apache came on the scene, he took Bhangra to another level as did Malkit Singh, Johnny Zee was the first artist to bring bass and drums to Bhangra music, Apache's whole ragamuffin style won over the fans, they continued to revolutionise Bhangra music.'

Presently we are seeing lots of young artists and DJ's emerging on the scene. Bands such as B21, D.I.P., Dr Zeus, The Senator, Panjabi MC are working wonders with their mixing and fusing, whilst established bands like DCS, Malkit Singh, The Sahotas and The Safri Boyz are still going well. However it is worthwhile noting the comments made by Channi Singh and perhaps it is fitting we finish with a quote by the great man. "Bhangra music will rule for many, many decades, however artists and musicians will only succeed if their work is fresh and that is the brutal truth. The secret is to produce only fresh and original material, something the audience haven 't had before, and something, which isn't poached from back home and experimented upon."

Wise words I feel, from a wise man.

Do you have any thoughts on this? Feel free to send Omar an e-mail @ Omar Ahmed.