Sheila Chandra

Real Name:
Sheila Savithri Elizabeth Chandra
Profile:
Sheila Chandra first came to prominence as a teenage actress on the British teen school soap "Grange Hill" playing the character Sudhamani Patel between 1979 and 1981.

At the same time as she left the series Steve Coe head of Indipop was looking for a vocalist for his Asian fusion band Monsoon. Allegedly he found an old demo tape of Chandra's in a box at Hansa and was attracted by her rich, fluid voice and South Indian heritage.

Monsoon's debut single, the much sampled "Ever So Lonely", recorded when Chandra was 16, reached #9 in the UK charts in April 1982, but subsequent singles made less impact and she left the group at the end of the year

She subsequently made 4 solo albums with Indipop, before retiring at the age of 20, coming back in 1991 for a 5th solo album "Roots and Wings" for Indipop where she began to expirement with voice tracks laid over drones, a style which set the tone for her work in the 90s

From there, Chandra's association with Real World Records began as she made 3 remarkable albums, "Weaving My Ancestors Voices" and "Speaking In Tongues" Parts 1 and II, fusing Arab, Andalucian, Celtic and Indian vocal styles with even older traditions such as Gregorian plainsong. She also performed live for 2 years in the 90s, for the first and so far only time in her career

In 1999 Real World released a retrospective of her work "Moonsung" and a retrospective of her Indipop work appeared in 2003
Sites:
In Groups:
Variations:
[a12369]
history / edit

Artist

  • Sheila Chandra Discography

    Recent Releases from Sheila Chandra
  • Sort By
  • Show

Albums

Quiet!

(5 versions)
Indipop 1984

Out On My Own

(6 versions)
Indipop 1984

The Struggle

(3 versions)
Indipop 1985

Nada Brahma

(4 versions)
Indipop 1985

Roots And Wings

(3 versions)
Indipop 1989

Weaving My Ancestors' Voices

(3 versions)
Caroline Records 1992

The Zen Kiss

(3 versions)
Real World Records 1994

Monsoon Featuring Sheila Chandra - Monsoon (2 versions)

Mercury, Chronicles 1995

ABoneCroneDrone

(3 versions)
Caroline Records 1996

Sheila Chandra With Ganges Orchestra, The - "This Sentence Is True" (The Previous Sentence Is False) (CD)

Shakti Records 2001

Singles & EPs

The Struggle / Om Shanti Om

(12")
Indipop 1985

Speaking In Tongues '98

(2 versions)
VCI Recordings, Real World Records 1997

Waiting EP

(2 versions)
Spacecraft, Spacecraft 2003

Compilations

Silk 1983-1990

(LP, Comp)
Indipop 1990

Silk

(2 versions)
Shanachie 1991

Best Of Sheila Chandra

(CD, Comp)
Alfa Records, Inc 1992

Moonsung (A Real World Retrospective)

(2 versions)
Real World Records, Real World Records 1999

Miscellaneous

Sheila Chandra With Ganges Orchestra, The - EEP1 (CD)

Indipop 1999

Sheila Chandra With Ganges Orchestra, The - EEP2 (CD)

Indipop 2000
▸ show all 1 review

Reviews & Discussion

Review by cthulhu303 Aug 26, 2002 (edited about 1 year ago)
Sheila sure has one of the most sampled female vocals. Think about RMB's "Love is an ocean"? Sheila Chandra. Visions of Shiva's "How much can you take"? Sheila Chandra. Andrew Brix's "Piano Euphoria"? Sheila Chandra.
She was even asked to perform the vocal on The Prodigy's "Smack my bitch up", but refused when realised the vulgarity of the track itself.
She's the One!
edit

Videos

Disclaimer: Videos may not match exact release