In 1959, Bangalore’s leading daily carried a note about the upcoming visit of Tony Brent, the Indian-born pop star who made it big in the West. The impending arrival created quite a buzz among music lovers who made a beeline to buy tickets for his shows at Town Hall and The Bowring Institute.
Several of his songs were topping the charts in the UK and were regularly broadcast over radio. ‘Cindy oh Cindy’, ‘Forever My Darling’, ‘The Game of Love’, ‘Walkin to Missouri’, ‘My Little Room’, ‘Don’t Save Your Love for A Rainy Day’ and many others remain as popular today as they were six decades ago.
“I couldn’t believe that a famous and internationally known pop star like Tony Brent was visiting Bangalore,” said Biddu Appaiah, then a high school boy, who became a pop icon himself. “I was deeply impressed because finally my hometown would be on the world map of entertainment and rock-and-roll.”
Teenager Biddu couldn’t afford a ticket for the shows but bunked school to be at the HAL Airport to greet his hero were a small coterie of journalists and photographers along with some important people were present.
On landing, Brent was copiously garlanded, a welcome speech was delivered, photographs clicked and Brent got into an Austin Morris which didn’t start and had to be literally pushed by onlookers.
The next day’s papers had a huge photograph with the caption ‘Tony Brent comes to Bangalore’. It was a photograph of a beaming Brent with his fans including Biddu in his school uniform.
Jeanette Menezes, then a 15-year-old was among a few selected by the principal of St Francis Xavier Girls School to welcome Brent with a bouquet. “The flight was delayed, we waited for three hours to see him, I was lucky to get his autograph as well as of musician Frank Cook, who accompanied Brent,” said Jeanette, who has carefully preserved her autograph.
Brent’s two shows were a big draw as music lovers didn’t want to miss a rare gig by the Anglo-Indian who carved a niche for himself in the Western music space. When he took to the stage, he received a rapturous applause. The audience hummed, clapped, swayed and sang along cheerfully.
“He sang quite a few numbers along with another male singer to a packed house, cracking some sleazy jokes,” recalled Enid Prabhu, who along with a few other teenage girls attended the show, chaperoned by their boarding school teacher.
After the show, many made a quick dash to get Brent’s autograph.
The Bowring Institute concert was a huge hit, especially with the girls, who egged him on with cries of encores. “I was a mere 17-year-old and I was fortunate to dance with Tony. The friends I was with knew Tony well. He had a beautiful voice, was quite a dancer and charmer with the ladies,” said Joan Marshall, after listening to him years later on YouTube.
Tony Brent was born Reginald Bretagne in Byculla, Bombay on August 26, 1927. After his early schooling in Bombay, he moved to Deolali to complete his Senior Cambridge. He married Noreen Crawford and moved to England where he blossomed as a singer. In 1949, after winning a singing contest at the Kingston Regal Theatre, Brent’s talent was spotted and he successfully auditioned with the Bert Ambrose Band and a recording contract with Columbia Records. He joined the BBC Showband in 1951 and took on the stage name of Tony Brent.
In 1952, he made his chart debut with a cover version of one of Sammy Kaye’s last hits ‘Walkin to Missouri’. Laudably, of his over 100 records, nearly 30 made it to the hit parade.
Brent retreated to clubs and in 1961 migrated to Australia with his family. While he continued to perform live and on television, he donned a new hat, venturing into the restaurant business with Indian cuisine. A good chef, he took personal interest in the different restaurants he set up in Sydney, even winning awards.
Bengalurean Mike Aranha, who migrated to Australia in 1970, an avid fan of Brent and who remembers all his songs from the radio in the 60s, was pleasantly surprised when Brent popped up on a TV show ‘In Melbourne Tonight’ in 1972.
“Brent lived in Sydney but would visit Melbourne often, do a TV spot on Thursday night, a dinner dance on Friday and be lead-in artiste to shows featuring the likes of Helen Reddy, Olivia Newton John and The Seekers on Saturday night,” reminisced Aranha, whose parents attended The Seekers concert in 1975. “I did have a meal at one of his eateries in Sydney while Brent was doing a show at a night club he co-owned a few streets away that night.”
Sadly, Brent’s wife Noreen passed away suddenly in 1981, deeply affecting him and his two children, Kevin and Karen. Following her death, Brent sauntered into the slow lane, quit his restaurant business and travelled around before retiring. In 1993, he died of a heart attack. His ashes were later scattered in the Ganges.
Brent may be a throwback to another era. He may not be spoken in the same breath as Cliff Richard, Freddie Mercury and Engelbert Humperdinck, the Indian born English musicians.
But for those who grew up in the 50s and 60s, his memories and music lives on forever.