Scotch & Soda - Usha Iyer | TRC Collectible

Usha Vaidyanath Someshwar Sami Iyer famously known as Usha Uthup is one of the pioneers of pop culture in Indian music.

Often addressed as Didi of Kolkata, She began her career as a singer with the ‘Ovaltine Music Hour’ of Radio Ceylon. In the show, she sang the number “Mockingbird Hill.” She then made several appearances in her teenage in various shows.

She began singing at the erstwhile Safire Theatre Complex in a small nightclub named Nine Gems on Mount Road in Chennai when she was 20 years old. She has also performed in famous nightclubs such as Trincas and Talk of the Town (now known as Not Just Jazz by the Bay).

Usha Iyer was married to Ramu Iyer who passed away. She later married Jani Chacko Uthup ( who she met for the first time at the Calcutta night club, Trincas) in 1971.

The LP "Scotch and Soda" by Usha Iyer was released in 1969 under Odeon Records on which she was accompanied by The Ronnie Menezes Quartet and The Savages.

Scotch and Soda includes songs by musicians such as John Davenport, Eddie Cooley, George Cory, Douglass Cross, Coleman Fields and many others sung in Usha's alluring voice.

The back of the record reads "Usha Iyer just happened! There is no other way to describe this artiste who, in her simple saries and deceptive mannerisms, bowled the youngsters over! For days after her Calcutta debut, her singing was the talk of the town. Never was there a young gathering where she wasn't discussed. And in what ecstatic terms!"

This album includes one of the earliest recordings of Usha Iyer (Uthup) and is now considered a collectible record for many.

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