Bill Forbes (aka Kal Kahn) (December 17, 1938 – February 7, 2021) was regarded as the first Sri Lankan solo artist ever to secure a recording contract and a hit recording outside his native country. He released 16 singles, his main hit being Too Young.
William Edward Forbes was born in Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), educated at St. Peter’s College in the suburb of Bambalapitiya. He started working part-time for Donavan Andree, who launched and promoted several singers on the beautiful island nation. Soon, the Forbes magic was there for all to hear and see, so much so that the action soon moved to England. And at the age of 17, he went to Britain to pursue his dreams of becoming a famous singer.
He auditioned for the new and popular Oh Boy! show and was accepted, making his debut singing an upbeat spiritual song “God’s Little Acre”, picked for him by the producer Jack Good. Shortly afterward, he was signed by Columbia. He most successful recording was a cover of “Too Young” which reached no. 29 in UK’s NME Chart during December 1959. In Ceylon, “Too Young / It’s Not The End Of The World” was a double-sided no. 1 hit in early 1960, beaming proudly on the overseas English Services of the venerable Radio Ceylon, celebrating her famous son. Besides his 11 appearances on Oh Boy!, Forbes was seen in Cool For Cats (1959, BBC) and Thank Your Lucky Stars (1961, ABC).
Bill met fellow Huddersfield musician John Armitage in 1963 when he invited him to become singer with the band, called The Contrasts. “We got our big break as The Contrasts when we had a summer season at Butlins in Skegness.
Meanwhile, Bill was inspired by the successful comical song “Goodness Gracious Me” sang by Peter Sellers and Sophia Loren. He decided to record his own “baila” styled (Ladies of) Calcutta and Aa-Chaa England (“Oh to be in England”, composed by Bill Forbes) under the name of Kal Kahn in 1964. Both songs are considered classics.
Bill ultimately gave up show business in 1975 and settled in Huddersfield, but forever remained keen about music. He died on 7th February 2022 at his home in Huddersfield, Yorkshire. He was 88 years old.
(Edited from Telegraph India, Questing Bandstand & Yorkshire Live)