The Jets
Mike Kirby

In the early 1960's two young Campionites Mike Kirby (1966) and Malcolm Mazumdar (1961) started to jam together. Soon the two were regular fixtures at parties and functions. Their repertoire comprised primarily of instrumentals by the Shadows and Ventures but Malcolm also sang a song or two.

Ashok Daryanani (1965), Mike's friend introduced the duo to Suresh Bhojwani (1964). So the duo became a trio with Mike on lead guitar, Malcolm on rhythm guitar and backing vocals, Suresh on lead vocals and bass and Ashok as Manager. They were introduced to Napoleon Braganza a talented but ‘drummerless’ drummer in April 1964 outside Regal Cinema.

It was the summer of 1964. The Jets had arrived.

The gigs began - Saturday nights at The Taj and the The Ambassador. They performed at all of Bombay's top restaurants and auditoriums including the grand Sharmukananda Hall. Their fame and popularity spread and soon The Jets did gigs in both Pune and Bangalore. However their greatest tour was to Calcutta where they performed at The Grand Hotel, Calcutta during the vacations for a whopping Rs 3,000 with boarding and lodging thrown in.

As happens good things do end and The Jets had run it's course. Malcolm needed to get his degree, Suresh had out grown the 'beat music' and wanted to branch out by himself playing protest and folk music which he liked, Nappy needed to finish his apprenticeship and make an honest living,&; Ashok was already managing other groups and organising shows and Mike's family was migrating to New Zealand. So the Jets called it a day with the 'Walk Don't Run' concert.