An '80s Obscurity

West India Company were a side project of Blancmange (see my last post for more on them). A collaboration between the duo and Indian songstress Asha Bohsle and percussionist Pandit Dinesh, their sound was synth pop + classic Indian music. I don't think they recorded more than a couple of singles together - I've never seen an album and Google doesn't have much to offer. The 12" that I have was released in 1984, and is for the lovely tune Ave Maria (Om Ganesha) - a bumping beat, fantastically soulful back up vocals, and Asha's drop-ead gorgeous voice singing what is a wierd cross pollination of the hymn Ave Maria and some Hindu music celebrating the Indian god Ganesh. The 3 other tunes on the 12" are variations of this musical theme, with some nice slower moments to balance the dance-y stuff. It sounds a bit dated today due to the sound of that era's synths, but I still find it pretty entertaining.