Monsoon -

Monsoon was an English-Indian ethno/art-pop trio led by singer Shelia Chandra with multi-instrumentalist Steve Coe. They scored a 1982 UK hit with “Ever So Lonely.”

Their first release, a four-track EP, appeared in 1981 on Indipop. Signed to the Mobile Suit division of Phonogram, they released three 1982 singles, collected with additional cuts on their 1983 album Third Eye.

Chandra made nine solo albums during the ensuing twelve-year period.

Members: Sheila Chandra (vocals), Steve Coe (producer, celesta, swarmandal, gong, organ, cabasa, backing vocals), Martin Smith (bass guitar, accordion, tambura, piano, sitar, tabla, ektara, backing vocals)

Background

Sheila Chandra (b. March 14, 1965) grew up in Waterloo, London, and first reached a national audience as Sudhamani Patel in the BBC drama Grange Hill between 1979 and 1981. While still in her teens, she joined Steve Coe and Martin Smith in Monsoon, a trio that placed Indian melodic material and instrumentation inside concise British pop structures.

Coe (b. December 24, 1950) cut two albums with the late-1960s pop-psych act Complex, then shifted toward writing, arranging, and production work. He launched Indipop and used Monsoon as the label’s first major project. Smith completed the trio as the main string player and second arranger, moving between bass guitar and a broader instrumental range that included accordion, tambura, piano, sitar, tabla, and ektara across later sessions.

Monsoon

Monsoon released their self-titled EP on August 28, 1981, on Indipop.

The EP places Chandra’s voice in clear relief over spare accompaniment. Coe inserts organ, celesta, and hand percussion in short phrases, while Smith and the guest players keep a light pulse under the songs. The arrangements stay compact, with direct English-language lines over drone, tabla movement, and sitar texture.

A1. “Ever So Lonely” (3:33)
A2. “Sunset Over the Ganges” (3:15)
B1. “The Mirror of Your Mind” (3:37)
B2. “Shout! (Till You’re Heard)” (3:33)

Coe produced the EP in July 1981 at Hallmark Studios in London. Guitarist Martin Smith rounds out the lineup with sitarist Dari Mankoo and tablist Markandey Mishra. The first issue came in a stickered plastic bag with a double-sided insert.

1982 singles

In March 1982, the EP’s first half reappeared as a standard single — “Ever So Lonely” (b/w “Sunset Over the Ganges”) — on the Mobile Suit Corporation, a newly launched Phonogram subsidiary that handled Monsoon and the Vicious Pink Phenomenon.

Monsoon mimed “Ever So Lonely” on the April 29 broadcast of Top of the Pops, which twice aired the song amid spring in-studio numbers by Hot Chocolate (“Girl Crazy”), Simple Minds (“Promised You a Miracle”), Spandau Ballet (“Instinction”), and Yazoo (“Only You”). “Ever So Lonely” reached No. 12 on the UK Singles Chart. Abroad, the song reached No. 15 in Spain and No. 12 on the Australian Dance chart.

In May, Monsoon released their second proper single: “Shakti (The Meaning of Within)” backed with “And I You,” both Coe originals. “Shakti” reached No. 41 in the UK.

A. “Shakti (The Meaning of Within)” — “Shakti” is a Sanskrit word for power, energy, or creative force, often personified in Hindu thought as the active female principle or divine energy.
B. “And I You”

On October 22, Monsoon dropped their third single: “Tomorrow Never Knows,” a Beatles cover backed with “Indian Princess,” a Martin Smith original. Bill Nelson plays guitar and bass on this single, which also features ex-Teardrop Explodes bassist Dave Balfe, recent Adam & The Ants drummer Merrick, and Kate Bush sideman Preston Heyman, who plays the Balinese gamelan. Merrick also drummed on Nelson’s current single, “Eros Arriving.”

A. “Tomorrow Never Knows” — Lennon-McCartney
B. “Indian Princess”

Coe produced both singles with Hugh Jones, a veteran Seventies soundman (David Ackles, Lesley Duncan, Matthew Fisher, String Driven Thing) with recent credits behind Dalek I, The Damned, Modern English, The Sound, and Echo & The Bunnymen.

Third Eye

Monsoon released their singular album, Third Eye, on August 19, 1983, on The Mobile Suit Corporation.

Third Eye contains their two prior a-sides and an expanded “Ever So Lonely,” plus “And I You” and six new tracks. Musically, the album weds British art pop with Indo exotica, replete with drone layers, ethno percussion, and lush studio layers vocalist Sheila Chandra.

“Wings of the Dawn (Prem Kavita)” opens with a chant-like vocal rise over a firm rhythmic bed and establishes the album’s denser ceremonial side. “Shakti (The Meaning of Within)” keeps the pace taut and turns repeated percussion figures into the central rhythmic engine. “Ever So Lonely” appears in a longer six-minute form that gives the refrain more space and lets the accompaniment unfold in wider cycles. “Tomorrow Never Knows” brings a harder studio surface, with guest guitar and percussion adding a thicker arrangement density.

Steve Coe multi-tasks on piano, celesta, swarmandal, gong, organ, and cabasa. Martin Smith juggles accordion, tambura, piano, sitar, tabla, ektara, and bass (4- and 8-string).

A1. “Wings of the Dawn (Prem Kavita)” (3:56) — Coe, Smith, Jhalib
A2. “Tomorrow Never Knows” (4:01) — Lennon-McCartney
A3. “Third Eye and Tikka T.V.” (2:53) — Coe
A4. “Eyes” (3:41) — Coe, Smith
A5. “Shakti (The Meaning of Within)” (4:04) — Coe

B1. “Ever So Lonely” (6:12) — Coe
B2. “You Can’t Take Me with You” (3:04) — Coe, Smith
B3. “And I You” (3:28) — Coe
B4. “Kashmir” (4:00) — Coe, Smith
B5. “Watchers of the Night” (3:47) — Coe, Smith

Coe and Hugh Jones co-produced Third Eye, which features multiple sessionists: Dari Mankoo, Clem Alford, Jhalib, Dinesh, Preston Heyman, Bill Nelson, and Paul James.

Mobile Suit lifted “Wings of the Dawn (Prem Kavita)” as a May 1983 single (b/w “And I You”). The song distills the album’s broader approach into a compact side, with a chant-like top line, a steadier percussive grid, and a more ceremonial buildup than the earlier hit singles.

Postlude

Monsoon split in 1982 before Third Eye reached stores after disputes with Phonogram over artistic direction.

Sheila Chandra moved straight into a solo career and released nine albums between 1984 and 1996, from Out on My Own and Quiet to the Real World titles Weaving My Ancestors’ Voices, The Zen Kiss, and ABoneCroneDrone.

Steve Coe and Martin Smith cut the 1984 Indipop single “Can’t Face the Night” under the name East-West, a trio with singer Usha.

In 2001, Jakatta rebuilt “Ever So Lonely” into “So Lonely” with Chandra’s voice at the center, and the remake reached No. 8 in the UK chart.

Discography: