Sri Lankan Alston Koch
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#SriLankan Alston Koch 
: Growing up by the sandy beaches of Mount Lavinia and attending Wesley College, he moved continents and settled down Down Under.
Today, he is one of Australia’s most-recognized in the music industry – a phenomenal achievement by Sri Lanka’s award-winning singer who has stamped his place in the international music industry, introducing the genre of Disco music to Australia with his band Dark Tan.
Alston has performed as a supporting act for ABBA and collaborated with musical phenomenons such as Alicia Keys, Lionel Richie, Air Supply, Bee Gees, David Bowie, Paul McCartney and others. At the World Music TV Awards, Alicia Keys introduced him to the audience as a ‘Superstar’.
Alston Koch is counted among Elton John, Rod Stewart, Olivia Newton John, Bonnie Tyler, Kate Bush, the Village People, Bob Marley, John Paul Young and other international stars who dominated Australia Broadcasting Corporation’s weekly Australian music television episodes, “Countdown” in the 1970s and 1980s.
“Countdown” was the most popular music program in Australian TV history. Alston Koch’s hits were a staple. “Disco Lady” achieved Gold status.
The song won him and Dark Tan the ‘Best New Talent’ Award at the 1979 International Disc Jockey Association Awards (Before the ARIA’S ) and that same year Dark Tan won Australia’s Observer newspaper’s ‘Best Disco Band’ award.
Mike Duffy who first introduced Kylie Minogue to the world by recording her first hit “Locomotion”, was the producer who recorded Alston Koch in his early years, at the world-famous EMI Studios.
His album “Don’t Funk With Me” hit #12 in the Aria Charts for Top 100 Physical Albums, out-performing even Prince that week.
In the 80’s, Alston also went Gold and Platinum, together with Madonna, Duran Duran and Cindy Lauper.
With Dark Tan he recorded three international hits on the RCA label and performed ‘The Stars & Stripes Concert’ in 1976, performing under the Sydney harbour bridge on a floating pontoon for Radio 2SM.
He was chosen by the Australian Task Force to write and perform on the America’s Cup album. A plethora of Australian musicians and songwriters were active at the time, but it was Alston who wrote and performed the theme song that was televised throughout the World in 1986.
Dark Tan would have 117 appearances on professional TV stations in a year.
Alston’s band appeared on ‘BANDSTAND’ which was the highest rating Pop program on television in the 70s. Along with Dark Tan, they included live performances of The Commodores, Elton John, Cliff Richard, ABBA, The Bee Gees and others.
“Rock Brains Of The Universe” and music historian Glenn A Baker has said that ‘Alston & Dark Tan’ were the originators of Disco Music in Australia.
Since 1975 Koch has released 21 singles and 4 albums through record labels such as RCA, BMG, EMI and Sony and he has over a dozen international releases on R.C.A (Elvis Presley’s record label) SONY LIfeStyle, Arista Ariola, BMG and EMI records spanning the globe.
The Daily Mirror (Australia) presented Dark Tan with the Best Disco Band Award in 1978 and the producers of the Channel 10 TV show “Thank God it’s Friday”, presented the band with a Gold Disc during the performance of “Disco Lady”
Alston Koch received his first ARIA (Accredited Award ) for Melissa ‘Read My Lips’ (1990). Three Gold Awards and one Platinum Award from ARIA (accredited) and a recipient of a Gold Disc from RCA/Laser Records in 1978 for “Disco Lady”.
He has been recognised as the ‘Purveyor Of Disco and Soul Music’ in the Southern Hemisphere by World Rock Historian Glenn A Baker and recognised by A.R.I.A as ‘THE FUNK MASTER’ in their CHARTFACTS in June 2012.
In 2010, he was inducted into the Hard Rock Hotel’s ‘Hall of Fame’ at a ceremony in Pattaya, Thailand, when the album, Kookaburra was installed on the venue’s ‘Golden Wall of Memorabilia’.
In April 2012 his album “Don’t Funk With Me” written and produced by Alston & the Sherifs, debuted at No. 42 on the official ARIA top 50 Albums chart, eventually peaking at No.16.
Our Alston Koch, was also the first Australian recording artist to launch a single (official release) at an International Cricket final when his song “Soul Sounds” (From the album Don’t Funk with Me) which was launched during the Australia Vs Sri Lanka, World Cup final.
He is not only a Member of The Grammy Academy (U.S.A) but a Member of The Australian Performing Right Association.(APRA)
He has received glowing accolades from Royalty, Presidents and Prime Ministers, politicians, music and sporting legends.
This is why he is lauded in the Australian and Asian media as “Asia’s King of Pop” or “Pop King of Asia”.
Winner of the “Best Actor Award” in 2019 for his amazing portrayal in ‘According to Matthew” (A SIGNIS international Award) he qualified for nomination for the Oscars (Academy Awards).
Alston was also recognised by the US Congress, US Senate and The House Of Representatives in the US for his contribution to communities in America.
With Sean Stone of Hollywood ( Son of multi Academy Award winning Hollywood director (‘Oliver Stone ‘), he presented a historical video on World TV with the support of Symphony Enviromental taking his message on Climate Change to the World.
Alston Koch was honoured at the 2nd Annual Global Officials of Dignity (G.O.D.) Awards, with the ‘World Artist Of The Year’ Award.
After gaining global success in the late 1970s, Alston has performed worldwide.
In 2018, he received the ‘Exceptional Achievement Award in California (Los Angeles).
A valued part of the Advocacy for The Recording Academy, last year, Alston withdrew from the Oscar’s ‘After Party’ which he incidentally hosted for the past five years, to honour the invitation of his Alma Mater back home, Wesley College in Sri Lanka.
Alston chose to perform for a Wesley College function which was held on the same day as the Oscars in Hollywood, showing how incredibly sincere and deep he is as a human being, preferring to bring joy to young school boys in Sri Lanka by foregoing yet another opportunity to meet Hollywood’s A-list stars instead.
He has been a special invitee who has sung at the after Party of the Star-studded ‘Academy Awards’ at in Beverly Hills. Alston Koch was one of the main features at the ‘After party’ of the 91st Oscars held at the Dolby Theatre at ‘Hollywood and Highland Center’ in Hollywood.
His greatest legacy is that no matter how deep in the music and film industry he went, he maintained a good character, faithful to family and a loving father to his kids, Danielle and Frederick James.
He has has been happily married for decades, to Yolande Koch (nee Yolande Ahlip) granddaughter of Sri Lankan national hero T.B. Jayah (who helped design the national flag of Sri Lanka) and a former Miss Ceylon who was also a finalist of the Miss World 1970 and Miss Universe 1970 beauty pageants.
Sri Lankan Alston Koch is a rare example of a very grounded man, who has lived a clean life with no drugs or alcohol in a free (celebrity) world where so many get carried away.
Despite being in an industry that is filled with many invitations and opportunities to indulge, Koch’s career has had no scandals, no misbehaviour, he has been remarkable, in that his success has been completely incident-free.
Despite rubbing shoulders with hundreds of international stars, he has kept himself untainted by impropriety, which is a testament to his faith-filled lifestyle and humble character. That’s why Sri Lanka is proud of Alston Koch
“I am very grateful to Australia for adopting me and giving me all I have today, but Sri Lanka is my motherland and will always take a prominent place in my heart and I will always do anything expected of me to make Sri Lanka what it should have been more than 30 years ago”
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