America Comes to India

By Paromita Mukhopadhyay

After a musical safari surveying disco, rap, hip hop, heavy metal and several more genres, a music lover is most likely to curl up in bed with a good song and a good melody at the end of the day. This is also the philosophy behind the music of America, a '70s and '80s folk-rock band that has to its credit popular numbers "A Horse with No Name," "Ventura Highway," "Lonely People" and "Tin Man." In December, after a 37-year career, the band made its maiden Indian performances in Mumbai and Bangalore.

America initially started as a trio with Gerry Beckley, Dewey Bunnell and Dan Peek, all children of U.S. Air Force officers stationed in England. The group started when they were teenagers and had 11 hit singles and 17 gold, platinum and multi-platinum albums to their credit. Though Peek departed at the height of their success, America continued with Beckley and Bunnell, cementing their standing with the hit "You Can Do Magic" in 1982.

The duo continues to have a strong fan following across the world and perform more than 100 shows every year. In January, 2007, America released their first major album in more than 20 years-"Here and Now"-and performed some numbers from it during the India concerts.

Courtesy: SPAN Magazine