Dharmaratne Brothers was an influential
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
n music group, composed of the brothers Christie, Maxwell, Melroy and Ronald Dharmaratne. They were the first all family
Sinhala pop group, and racked up several hits in the late '60s and early '70s.
Early years
The brothers first began singing together at family gatherings. By 1967, they had decided to pursue a musical career. They sang on stage for the first time at "Asiri Kusum," a fund raiser for St. Bridget's Convent. They shared the bill with other harmony vocal groups like La Ceylonians, Moonstones, La Lavinians, Los Flamingos, Humming Birds, La Bambas, Los Muchachos and Trio Los Serenaders. In July, the following year, the group recorded some songs written by Melroy on the Phillips Label (after being discovered by Patrick Corea), that included "Vessa Wahinawa," "Punchi Hurathala," and "Kandukare." These proved to be successes, each selling over 3,000 copies.
Success
The Dharmaratne Brothers next recorded for the
Sooriya label, and had hits with "Varsity Kello", "Suhada Pathum", "Sahodarayo Hathardena" and "Kellani me Ahapalla." Around this time, in the early '70s, their niece Shiromie Fernando also entered the music field, and had hits of her own.
With the popularity of the group, Melroy got the chance to write songs for other popular musicians of the time. He was particularly happy to work with his idol
H. R. Jothipala
Hettiarachchige Reginald Jothipala ( si, එච්.ආර්. ජෝතිපාල; 12 February 1936 – 7 July 1987), popularly as H. R. Jothipala, was a Sri Lankan playback singer in the Sinhalese language, Sinhala cinema as well as a film ac ...
. For Jothipala, Melroy composed "Oba Nidanna," "Mal Ethano," "Gangawai-Mahamuhudai," and "Malin Peeregiya" among others.
Dissolution and comeback
Over the years the group slowly drifted apart; Christie accepted a job in the Middle East in 1978 causing the group to go on hiatus, and Ronald died in 1987 in a bus accident. In recent years, the three remaining group members have reconvened and regained some of their early popularity. In addition to music, Melroy has done directing work for
film
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
s and
stage dramas, written
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
and film script writing and has worked as a
freelance
''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...
journalist
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
for several publications including ''Lake House''. He has also authored several novels.
[Daily Mirror]
"Milroy's 35 years of Songs"
. ''Daily Mirror''. Retrieved November 19, 2006.
Notes
External links
Dharmaratna Brothers celebrate 40 years in musicThe Dharmaratne Brothers' page on Sinhala JukeboxCollection of Sinhala Video Songs{{Sinhala Music , state=collapsed
Dharmaratne Brothers