Disco Sunday #52: Asha Puthli

July 5, 2009 - posted by Baron von Luxxury 1

A few weeks ago I met (and danced with!) the legendary Indian singer Asha Puthli at the biweekly Hunnypot Radio party in Santa Monica. Asha’s career has spanned four decades and at least twice as many genres since she moved from Bombay to New York in the courtesy of a dance scholarship from Martha Graham. Starting as the vocalist on Ornette Coleman’s “Science Fiction” album in 1971, Asha worked with a number of artists and recorded songs in numerous styles, from avant jazz to funk. She began a solo career in 1974, and her 1976 album “The Devil is Loose” included one of the earliest disco masterpieces “Space Talk,” produced and co-written by Dieter Zimmermann and Dave Virgin King. I loved this song the instant I heard it as it blends a dirty funk beat and bassline (later sampled by Diddy for the Biggie track “The World is Filled”) with jazz influenced chord changes and of course dreamy female vocals from the amazing Ms. Puthli.

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mp3: “Space Talk” – Asha Puthli

Here’s an even more Discolicious track from the movie “Squadra Antigangsters” and featuring DiscoWorkout faves Goblin:

Video: Asha Puthli “The Whip”