You and Me/The trouble with me is you/As time goes by/Annie's song/The rose/She believes in me/You needed me/Can't help falling in love with you/Are you lonesome tonight/And I love you so/Ballerina/Time heals every wound/What would I do without my music/All I have to offer you (is me)/ Sounds of goodbye/The Elephant song/One hundred children/Danny Boy/Amazing Grace/Hey there Lord/My way/Ol' man river
Kamahl is the stage name of Kandiah Kamalesvaran born 13 November 1934), an Australian singer and recording artist, perhaps best known for "The Elephant Song", and his repertoire of popular music.
Born in Malaysia to Tamil Hindu parents, Kamahl is of Sri Lankan Tamil heritage. He grew up in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur, and studied at the Victoria Institution.
He arrived in Adelaide, South Australia in 1953 to receive a higher education at King's College (now Pembroke School), however, his arrival was not without prejudice on the part of an Australia still influenced by the White Australia policy. This experience gave bite to his well-known quote: "Why are people so unkind?".
At his first public performance in 1958 he shortened his name to Kamal, but the Master of Ceremonies announced him as "Camel". After that he changed the spelling to Kamahl.
As he made his way into the Australian music industry, Rupert Murdoch was an early important mentor. Murdoch tipped Kamahl £10 at a concert in December 1958 and encouraged him to move to Sydney. Without asking, Murdoch arranged for Kamahl to perform a six-week season at the Hotel Australia in Sydney. After that season, he boarded with the Murdochs for two years.
Kamahl has performed at the London Palladium and Carnegie Hall, as well as pubs and clubs throughout Australia. In 1982 Queen Elizabeth II asked him to give a Royal Command performance in Brisbane for the Commonwealth Games there. In 1984, he sang with Cathy Lee Johnson at the L.A. Variety Telethon.
His first album was A Voice to Remember, which was released in Australia in October 1967. He has released singles and albums in the United States, Canada, Britain, New Zealand, South America, India, Singapore, Malaysia and Germany (the last in German, as well as in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Scandinavia. From 1967 onwards in Australia his records, tapes and CDs were primarily on the Philips label, but he also recorded on EMI, Mercury, Festival, Dino and Reader's Digest.
In 1975, his single, "The Elephant Song" (composed and produced by Hans van Hemert) hit the number one spot on the Dutch Top 40, the Nationale Hitparade (currently Single Top 100) and the Belgian BRT Top 30. This song was part of the soundtrack of a World Wildlife Fund TV documentary.
He has been in the Australian music industry for fifty years, and throughout that time has made some memorable TV and film appearances, as well as concerts. He was one of the first people to appear in concert at the Sydney Opera House. He was a particularly popular guest on the variety show Hey Hey It's Saturday. In 2004 he appeared at the Big Day Out rock festival, and the year before he had cameos in the Australian films Harvie Krumpet and Fat Pizza. He collaborated with the Wiggles for some of their performances, showing his inter-generational appeal.
As a kid I remember cringing when he came on TV. Now I'm all-grown up I'd like to shake his hand and thank him for just being there. Sometimes we bandy the word "legend" about too much, and sometimes we don't recognize who the real legends are.
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ReplyDeleteI was in the same boat as you pb669 and I would never dreamed of listening to anything by Kamahl and oh forbid owning anything by him and even though I still enjoy listening to hard rock, blues and all the sixties bands I have come to appreciate Kamahl he truly is a legend.