Soundies Vol 08 The Exotic World Of Korla Pandit

One of the icons of early TV – and known as “The Godfather of Exotica” – KORLA PANDIT mesmerized viewers with his eloquent organ music, his Indian turban, and his silent but relentless gaze.

Allegedly born in New Delhi, India, to a Brahman priest and a French opera singer, Pandit started his television career in 1949 at local Los Angeles station KTLA which broadcast over 900 – nine hundred!!! – episodes of his daily 15-minute show, Adventures in Music. In all, Pandit never spoke. He just stared into the black-and-white camera lens – and right into American homes – with a sanguine smile and dreamy, almost hypnotic eyes. (While Pandit was at KTLA, he also provided the music for Bob Clampett’s Beany and Cecil puppet show, Time for Beany!) Unfortunately, like most early live TV made way back when, few Kinescopes of those programs exist today.

Pandit’s gaze widened in 1951 when he teamed with producer LOUIS D. SNADER to create ten 16mm musical shorts – known then as “Telescriptions” – which were syndicated to TV stations across the U.S. These short films – among television’s earliest music videos – were used as filler in local stations’ schedules, and helped introduce Pandit to the rest of America. In 1954, he and Snader produced another (short-lived) series of 16mm shows, simply titled Korla Pandit, which were also sent into syndication. Included here are 78-minutes worth of both shows, from Korla Pandit’s personal collection.

Usually playing the organ with one hand and a nearby piano with the other, Korla wears a suit and tie and turban – complete with trademark diamond dangling from it – and doesn’t stray too far from the established Pandit formula: he plays while remaining blissfully silent, soulfully stares at us and, every so often, gives us a smile.

Occasionally, an announcer names the musical presentations or just spouts some pseudo-poetic gibberish: “Moving now into the still enchantment of the desert, we have an old and ethereal emotion, a delicate kiss of love, love in its purest form. The nuances of this melody are singularly sweet….”

Props meant to evoke India are everywhere. Sometimes there’s smoke, sometimes clouds drift behind him. Sometimes we see dancers performing off to the side. On one show, an attractive blonde appears with a handful of flowers, walks over to him and smiles lovingly. Two of the 1951 shows feature shirtless male dancers, decked out in Indian regalia, gyrating around the studio.

Pandit passed away in 2005 at the age of 85. After his death, it was revealed that he was actually an African American born John Roland Redd, who created a clever show-biz myth at a time when black men weren’t exactly welcome in white people’s homes. Among his final performances were a cameo as himself in Tim Burton’s Ed Wood, and playing the organ on TV once again in the unaired pilot for Something Weird’s USA Network series Reel Wild Cinema.

And now, “we bring you musical gems from near and far, blended into a pattern of glorious harmony. A program based on the universal language of music, it is our pleasure to present to you… Korla Pandit!” -- Mr. Daddy-O