Chura Liya’ stole many a heart and made a new multi - cultural icon out of Bally Sagoo, the most popular DJ of the Asian Community in the West. His passion for music began as a consequence of his dislike for studies and the normal. Born and brought up in Britain amidst myriad sounds and influences, he took his time to recognize his own heritage and cultural roots before embarking on his journey

Spending his entire time and money on music, Bally used to record songs for his friends for a nominal sum and as his musical range increased he no longer was ashamed of his musical roots. To be around music, he took a job at a local Hi - Fi store and in the spare time recording his own music and re mixing music from all over the world. Indian sounds became staple for Bally now and it got merged with the other emerging sounds of the world and the process of musical integration among the music fraternity had begun - at least in private with Bally

Struggle And Rise

In 1989, Bally approached a local record company called Oriental Star who were impressed by the demo tape he had prepared and advised him to pick a track to be remixed. Bally remixed a track from the popular singer Malkit Singh’s catalogue ‘Hey Jamalo Tutak Tutak’. The song surprised everybody with it’s unprecedented success not just in Britain, but also in America and Canada. Realising his potential, Oriental Star wasted no time in asking Bally Sagoo to come up with an entire album of remixes

The compilation was named Wham Bam as a tribute to the Batman movies Bally Sagoo prefers. It became instrumental in the Asian community carving a niche for themselves in the music space of Britain. The yet inaccessible Indian sounds and rhythms and it’s juxtaposition with western beats and instruments was not attempted before and with it’s success the Asian community woke up to its own heritage in more ways than one and made tham realise their musical potentials. He became the torch - bearer of the resurgence of music among the Asian community and also the trail - blazer

After this, he became full time producer for Oriental Star and recorded an album called Magic Touch with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, which became a world wide hit

The next big break came when BollyWood Flashback was released. It took six months in being produced and the recording was at his studio called Currywood Studios. The phenomenal success of this album prompted Bally to be signed by Columbia Records. At one point in time there were around forty one bootlegged versions of the album available in the piracy market. Unofficial sales guesstimates put the sales at one and a half million. The single ‘Chura Liya’ became the first Indian language record to be play listed on the Mainstream Radio One

The next album that he cut with Sony Music finally enabled him to get access into an audience that was not strictly Asian in complexion. had the remarkable ‘Dil Cheez Hai’, which climbed to number twelve in the UK top forty in October 1996. The second single ‘Tum Bin Jiya’ also entered the Top Thirty charts in January 1997. Bringing down all barriers it became the first Indian language song to enter mainstream charts

The highest paid Asian DJ in the world, he ahs toured with Michael Jackson when he toured India in 1997. His innovative music has led to the formation of Sagloops for other producers to work on his lines. From the fun loving Bhangra songs to the serious remixes he has managed to win fans of many distinctions and tastes. His repertoire includes eighteen hit albums and his current venture Bollywood Flashback II is his next ambitious project with which he wants to replicate his success of 1994 and 1996

The golden oldies of Hindi films found a new appreciation at the hands of the younger generation due to the remixes of Bally Sagoo. The same is expected of this album by the DJ who has waited for six years to come up with it’s sequel on his own label called Ishq which he intends to use to promote new artists and talents from all over the world. Ishq he says “will represent the youth of today”

His multi cultural background has enabled him to reach across boundaries and prompts him to promote artists of all genres and regions. Music for Bally Sagoo remains an instrument of cutting barriers for reaching across to the few and many searching for an expression