BAILA KING Archives

VALE’, DESMOND De SILVA – by Des Kelly That’s life, as they say. The “Baila-King”, as he was famously known, has passed away in Melbourne, aged 77. To say that I was shocked to hear the news early this morning, would have to be the understatement of the year. This same baila-king was supposed to be coming along to pay me a visit before heading back home to Sydney, and I was looking forward to it, then, this happens !!. I was both shocked and saddened by the news. I was not privileged to know Desmond in Ceylon because, when he began his professional showbiz career in our lovely Island home, I was already in Australia. I believe that one of the original “groups” he started off with, was called The Fireflies, followed by several other bands, before moving abroad. I did get to know Desmond much better, after he ...

BAILA KING & I: 1987-1993 CONFESSIONS OF A GLOBAL GYPSY By Dr. Chandana (Chandi) Jayawardena DPhil President – Chandi J. Associates Inc. Consulting, Canada Founder & Administrator – Global Hospitality Forum chandij@sympatico.ca Source:-island.lk Today, instead of chronologically narrating another episode of the story of my career, I will write about a music legend. Uswatta Liyanage Ivor Sylvester Sunil Perera left us this month, saddening generations of Sri Lanka music lovers around the world, including me. Many tributes have been written about him during the last few days. Therefore, in this tribute, I will focus on my entertainment collaborations with Sunil during six short years three decades ago. It was a period when I was closely involved with the western music scene in Sri Lanka. First Meeting in 1972 In early 1972, when I was a trainee waiter at the Mount Lavinia Hyatt Hotel, I was asked by the ...