Diamond Harbour - Western arts & music in the BKWSU

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ex-l

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Diamond Harbour - Western arts & music in the BKWSU

Post11 Mar 2009

From: Old London (BKWSU Tennyson Road) photos.

Image

terry wrote:I can put some names to some faces in the photos, not all, but to what end? (I am in one of them).

What was happening at that time? If you don't want to mention names, that is fine, you must remember the event?

I can see old Shanti Bhavan stalwarts, Dr Peter Iveson (spell?), ex-BK Louis Cennamo (once considered to be one of "the greatest electric bass player in the world" and creator of the electric bowed bass guitar, until he got involved with the Brahma Kumaris). The black guy might be the nervous, and once marginalised now ex-BK, Wesley. Are those the "two Joys", the elder of whom "Values Administrator" Joy Rendell, at least, is still heavily involved. Is that one of the two Simons on the far left, the dark and "funny" one? The front row are all still in the Brahma Kumaris first team, looks like; Maureen Goodman, Waddy (Veronica McHugh), Janki, Sudesh etc. Who is the tall white guy at the back?

There is an old time video of Louis playing here (Kings and Queens), or search for Renaissance on Youtube, and it is good to see he gets back out now and again. Louis was a very early Western BK and famous within the BKWSU for the release of the "Diamond Harbour" album (as he mentions) but which has since been drowned out by other noise. It must have been the first contemporary Western BK musical release, a culturally significant challenge to the Bollywood dominance of BKism, and a very big buzz at the time. Kind of like that repeated by 'Bliss' a few years ago. Like Bliss, Diamond Harbour's stars are all ex-BKs now.

The interview linked to above documents the very time at which he was being enculted by the BKWSU. Looking at his trail from "Sunset Point" to "Armageddon" and now wishing to produce sounds for healing, I wonder. Its almost a musicologist's "soul's journey" into, out of and after Brahma Kumarism. I watched Louis from the outside sink into what looked depression and disallusionment and then unquestioned drift into invisibility.

At some point later, I heard that he was reduced to making money as a ticket tout (reselling tickets for musical gigs). I am not sure of specific details. Its seems to me that "Diamond Harbour" has suffered a Stalinesque purge from the anals (sister in charge) of BK history ... I wonder why when other early artworks are still in their catalogue?

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Mr Green

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Re: Old London (BKWSU Tennyson Road) photos

Post11 Mar 2009

I heard he asked for it to be withdrawn.
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paulkershaw

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Re: Old London (BKWSU Tennyson Road) photos

Post11 Mar 2009

Wasn't Ken from Brazil involved in Diamond Harbour? I heard him once comment that he was ticked off because the Music Maestro's of Abu had pirated his music from Diamond Harbour? Anyone got an old copy to check the credit list?

Terry

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Re: Old London (BKWSU Tennyson Road) photos

Post11 Mar 2009

Re: Diamond Harbour - I was involved a little in its production. Eromain and Louis were the musicians on the album, some songs by Eromain & Louis, some by Eromain alone, one had lyrics by Robert Forbes. Ken was not involved at all.

In early 90's, probably my last BK retreat, Janki was touring here. I was doing the music (start/end of meditation). Eromain had just left Gyan. I played one of Eromain's tracks that did not make it on the album, from a cassette. Janki interrupted the meditation and told me to take it off. I was stunned, I started to argue "but ..." she put her hand up, and said quietly to me - he is not Baba's child anymore, don't play it - or something like that. Now given they play other music that is by ex-Bks and non-BKs, this was revealing.

Either she did not want clues left that Eromain ever existed - a non-person now - or she felt betrayed by her golden boy (he came into Gyan very young). Or maybe she never really liked the song to begin with and now she had an excuse to stop it playing! Yeah, that' s probably it.
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paulkershaw

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Re: Old London (BKWSU Tennyson Road) photos

Post11 Mar 2009

Janki interrupted the meditation and told me to take it off.

Its amazing how someone's comments can re-emerge past memories. This also happened to me, during a Rakhi Day or something similar, when the big DJ sent me a message to stop playing English songs and only play Hindi ones. From that day on I believed that she had a problem with anything else other than Hindi being used or spoken. Is not it her karma that sent her to the UK then, eh? (see Mr. Green, karma does exist, but she's just Mrs Mama stubborn and won't learn her lesson!).

Considering she won't speak English anywhere else than where she's forced to, I wonder if we could track her next birth to see which royal household she won't end up in. (((( ;) ))) - I can almost already hear her accent ... and it ain't that good.
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ex-l

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Re: Old London (BKWSU Tennyson Road) photos

Post11 Mar 2009

Mr Green wrote:I heard he asked for it to be withdrawn.

Do you know why? I watched his demise as a BK and it was really sad. But, typically as BK, we never talk sort of stuff. Perhaps Eromain will tune back in at some point why he left, or how he fared.
terry wrote:She put her hand up, and said quietly to me - he is not Baba's child anymore, don't play it - or something like that. Now given they play other music that is by ex-BKs and non-BKs, this was revealing.

Yes, interesting. And, thank you for that. This was pre- the Child Abuse report work.

Yes, its strange. Bliss are still over all the BKs despite Lucinda 'Luce' Drayton hiking off into the sunset and coupling with another musician. After they were dumped by EMI publishing, it was the BKWSU that realy gave them their big break because, as 'Luce' said, the BKs "wanted spiritual songs sung in English". The collection was called 'Flying Free'. Bliss still lists her as a teacher of Raja Yoga and are selling her collection of meditations, "Simple Truths".
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Luce Drayton
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eromain

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Re: Old London (BKWSU Tennyson Road) photos

Post11 Mar 2009

Hi guys,

I never heard that story about Dadi getting my voice switched off. I am delighted to say that I laughed when I heard it. So much for the vibrations of love she claimed to send everytime she heard me :-). I am pleased that my voice and music distracted her.

It should be noted that my subsequent fall into being a Shudra (translation - a f*cking dimwit) wasnt enough to get them to stop selling the music. It was only after the child abuse scandal that I insisted that they immediately stop selling anything that had my work on it. Years later I was sent a copy of a tape made after I had left and, suprise suprise, my and Louis' name had been removed.

Years later when the child abuse stuff emerged, and the victims wanted to have as little attention upon them as necessary but for credibility reasons it was critical that the report not be annonymous, I felt that as someone whose voice had been one of the early Western voices around the world in favour of the BKs it did kind of fall to me to be a voice trying to warn people.

How they wish they could just turn off all our voices now.
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ex-l

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Re: Old London (BKWSU Tennyson Road) photos

Post12 Mar 2009

eromain wrote:I never heard that story about Dadi getting my voice switched off. I am delighted to say that I laughed when I heard it. So much for the vibrations of love she claimed to send everytime she heard me :-). I am pleased that my voice and music distracted her ...

Years later I was sent a copy of a tape made after I had left and, suprise suprise, my and Louis' name had been removed.

Would you not consider a county court legal action to recover royalties, e.g. a small claim to start with? It would not be about the money, it would be about the principle of the matter.

Ditto, if they have removed your name, is that not some kind of intellectual property rights theft? You may have other intellectual property right still floating about in there. As you were not an employee, and they have "no members", you still have the copyrights unless you explicitly signed them over.

If I need to spell it out ... it would be a very useful device to further opening up their finances legally ... on an international basis. I wonder where all the money from, say; the Peace Village media sales, all those pirated tapes they make etc. It is the principle of the matter, they have built they business empire of the rights and labor of others who they defrauded with false predictions and false historic claims.

Is this not something that the 'Performing Rights Organizations' (PRS/Musician's Union) does on behalf of musicians? I mean, you could claim not just for sales on items ... BUT ALSO ... each time the music was played. I doubt any of their centers are registered and paying for using the music they do and now we can draw exact correlations between their business interests.

If it looks bad, you can promise to give the money to a child protection charity.

is not it strange that the "most stable mind in the world" Dadi Janki Kripalani was so distrubed from meditation by your song that she had to have it taken off for hersake. No one else in the room knew. Everyone else was enjoying the sentiments.

Both ex-BK Marneta (Relax Kids) and ex-BK Juicy Luce (Bliss) are having their "itches" rubbed on a regular basis (we have to suspect), ex-BK Robert Shubow (The Voyagers) has lived a full life and is now teaching "Maya" and manmat, yet the BKWSU profits from their emissions ... so it cannot simply be the "sexual impurity" angle like you suggest. Perhaps it is possible to still be a BK and "Baba's child" and get ******* these days? Can anyone explain it for me? I mean, more than one center-in-charge has done so.

May be it was your ethics, or their shame, that are uncomfortable for the future Emperor of the Golden Age? Again, would someone please rescue me from my body-conscious confusion? Again, it goes back to your earlier point of the inconsistent nature of their system.
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eromain

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Re: Old London (BKWSU Tennyson Road) photos

Post12 Mar 2009

They sold the music with my tacit permission until the point at which I told them not to and then they stopped. And having surrendered any claim to royalties, I cannot now retrospectively turn around and sue for some.

You are correct that an artist has a legal right to have his works identified as his, and in removing my name without my permission they were wrong in this regard. This on its own would never make a legal case though as I would have to sue for damages and apart from to my gigantic impure ego there really weren't any.
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ex-l

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Re: Old London (BKWSU Tennyson Road) photos

Post12 Mar 2009

eromain wrote:They sold the music with my tacit permission.

How did you give your permission? I am just interested in how the Brahma Kumaris go about accumulating other people's copyright property.

Do BK authors, artists and musicians have to sign a disclaimer away specifically? How is permisson given or taken and on what terms? (recently we read of BK wrestling over the 'Relax Kids' rights, a business I would argue started as BK service).

And why did Louis leave? he just kind of shut his door and faded away. If not "Baba's first Western VIP" (although as a fairly counter-culture character he would detest that assertion) gosh, "he knew lots of famous people". He was certainly one of "Baba's first Double Foreigners".

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Re: Old London (BKWSU Tennyson Road) photos

Post12 Mar 2009

paulkershaw wrote:Wasn't Ken from Brazil involved in Diamond Harbour? I heard him once comment that he was ticked off because the Music Maestro's of Abu had pirated his music from Diamond Harbour? Anyone got an old copy to check the credit list?

I know he was upset with Madhuban copying his music without his permission but it was not about Diamond Harbour. It was about a CD he made of his songs. I cannot remember the title right now, something about "the sun" ...
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paulkershaw

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Re: Diamond Harbour - Western arts & music in the BKWSU

Post12 Mar 2009

Thank xbkti-pit ! Appreciate the clarity and time taken to post a response.
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tom

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Re: Diamond Harbour - Western arts & music in the BKWSU

Post12 Mar 2009

bkti-pit wrote:I cannot remember the title right now, something about the sun...

You mean the cassette titled, "You cannot Write Your Name on the Sun", with 6 songs from Ken O'Donnell with his guitar. My favorite from Madhuban, still on the shelf with other Madhuban cassettes and CDs, which I haven't touched since I left, to protect myself, not to get triggered into the trance-like mood again, who knows ;).

bkti-pit

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Re: Diamond Harbour - Western arts & music in the BKWSU

Post12 Mar 2009

Yeah, that is the one.
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ex-l

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Re: Diamond Harbour - Western arts & music in the BKWSU

Post13 Mar 2009

I am sorry to darken happy memories with difficulties I am having in understanding this. Speaking of the arts and music, I was inspired to ask some question on the Karma topic, here.

I am wondering if Dadi Janki refers to Robin Gibb as "Baba's child" (on past record, I am very sure she will), where she now refutes Eromain is "God's child" and any music he played on is too "impure" for her to meditate too. Perhaps she is confusing who is "God's child" with her "submissive follower" ... perhaps she is unaware of the idea that there could be such as thing as "Godly grownups" too.

Whilst the BKWSU (UK) were willing to spend over £250,000 promoting Just-a-Minute, at which Robin Gibb sang (reading from a piece of paper his praise for Dadi Janki), Robin was engaging in an adulterous sexual relationship with his housekeeper who has since given birth to his child. At the time Eromain and others were making 'Diamond Harbour', they were surrendered BKs and serving their god as they knew him.

Now, frankly, I am overjoyed by Robin's recent happiness. It is probably the best thing that has happened to him. I hope that he is out of the tangle which, what looks like to a gold-digging Brahma Kumari wife, has got him into (n.b. her pornographer ex-lover stated in the media that after "playing with her tarot cards and her witchery", Dwina "set herself out to marry a millionaire" and did exactly that) ... but can someone explain to me the principles at play here and what exactly is the BKWSU position? (Dwina's reported fury is not exactly "Brahmin" either).

Are all these artistes just being all caught up in some weird, exploitative, spiritualist soup ... and do they still play 'Mother of Love' for Janki now? Diamond Harbour certainly did not have production values like this, did you?

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