The earliest music came from the theater at a time when the traditional open-air drama (referred to in Sinhala as Kolam, Sokari and Nadagam). In 1903 the first music album, Nurthi, was released through Radio Ceylon. Also Vernon Corea introduced Sri Lankan music in the English Service of Radio Ceylon. In the early 1960s, Indian music in films greatly influenced Sri Lankan music and later Sri Lankan stars like Sunil Shantha found greater popularity among Indian people. By 1963, Radio Ceylon had more Indian listeners than Sri Lankan ones. The notable songwriters Mahagama Sekara and Ananda Samarakoon made a Sri Lankan music revolution. At the peak of this revolution, musicians such as W. D. Amaradeva, H.R. Jothipala, Milton Mallawarachchi, M.S. Fernando, Annesley Malewana and Clarence Wijewardene did great work. Sri Lanka still remained one of the rare South Asian countries whose folk-pop music from the 1960-70s had not yet been compiled abroad. This gap is now to be filled with Sri Lanka: The Golden Era Of Sinhalese And Tamil Folk-Pop Music. This compilation presents the diversity of Sri Lankan musical styles between 1967 and 1979 through 30 titles. It comes along with a booklet depicting the country’s historical, cultural and musical context. Sri Lanka possesses a great variety of musical traditions and influences which have been shaped by centuries of regional and international exchanges. If Sri Lankan music is undeniably part of South Asian musical culture, its heritage is also a product of almost five centuries of European imperialism. Coming from an original form of creolization, as defined by Edouard Glissant, the baila bears the trace of both the African diaspora and the Iberian influences on the country. The Kaffirs – African slaves deported by the Portuguese – introduced African sounds, while the Portuguese brought their musical traditions and instruments (cavaquinho, mandolin, violin, tambourines). The baila, reminiscent of Caribbean calypso, became the ultimate popular music and dance. The sarala gee (also called light classical music) is a combination of Indian inspired music, either classical or close to Bollywood productions, with Sinhalese lyrics and a slight pop accent. In the early 1960s, the music label Sooriya Records, with founder Gerald Wickremesooriya, were determined to put into light proper Sri Lankan music. Wickremesooriya invented the “new sound of Ceylonese pop” and quickly, the label’s hits were broadcasted on Radio Ceylon, the number one radio for a long time. Sooriya Records’s catalog reflected the diversity of Sri Lankan musical styles of the times: Anglo-Saxon influenced Sinhalese pop stood next to the baila or the sarala gee. Traditional instrumental music, were also edited by the label. This selection, mainly constituted of titles from Sooriya Records’s catalog, presents the most popular artists of the times. Features: Pau Fernando, W.D. Amaradeva, Clarence Wijewardena, Paramesh,The Fortunes, Sanath & Malkanthi Nandasiri, A.E. Manoharan, Pani Bharatha & Party, Mignonne & The Jetliners, Shan, Amitha Dalugama, Maxwell Mendis, Police Reserve Hewisi Band, Shiromi Fernando, Wimala Amaradeva, Indrani Perera, Winslow Six, The Moonstones & Indrani Perera, Sidasi Turya Vadayako, Nalino Nel, Los Flamincos, Lilanthi Karunanayake, Claude & The Sensations With Noeline Mendis, H.R. Jothipala, The Golden Chimes and Victor Ratnayaka.  Sri Lanka is an island of the Southern coast of India. Its population is mostly Sinhalese, as well as minorities of Tamils, Burghers and the last remnants of the Veddas, the forest-dwelling aborigines of Sri Lanka. The two single biggest influences on Sri Lankan music are from Buddhism and Portuguese colonizers. Buddhism arrived in Sri Lanka after the Buddha's visit in 300 BC, while the Portuguese arrived in the 15th century, bringing with them cantiga ballads, ukuleles and guitars, along with African slaves, who further diversified the musical roots of the island. These slaves were called kaffrinha, and their dance music was called baila. Baila originally consisted of vocals with a guitar and handclaps or otherwise improvised percussion. Baila remains at the roots of modern Sri Lankan music, but it now includes electric guitars, synthesizers and other modern developments. Baila stars of the 20th century include Paul Fernando, Desmond de Silva and Voli Bastian. The earliest stars of Sri Lankan recorded music came from the theater, where the traditional, open-air dramatic culture (kolam or sokari or nadagam) remained the most popular form of entertainment until well into the 20th century. After a drama group called Elphinstone came to Colombo in 1870, Hindustani theatrical forms became dominant. Popular artists included C. Don Bastian Jayaweera Bandara and John de Silva. 1903's "Nurthi" is the first recorded music to come out of Sri Lanka, and it was followed by the rise of several Sinhalese stars. Radio Ceylon, which was long a monopoly in Sri Lankan radio, was established in 1925. One of Sri Lanka's pioneering broadcasters, Vernon Corea, introduced Sinhala Music on the English Services of Radio Ceylon. In the early 1960s, Indian filmi became the most popular kind of music in Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan stars like Sunil Shantha and Surya Shankar Molligoda became popular in India as well as their homeland, and Radio Ceylon soon found itself with more Indian listeners than Sri Lankan ones. Shantha, Molligoda and other songwriters, most notably Mahagama Sekara, soon kicked off a revolution in Sri Lankan lyricism. This new school of songwriting were deeply poetic and expressed simple concepts, many with nationalist ideas; Ananda Samarakoon, a prominent songwriter of the period, later wrote Sri Lanka's national anthem. By the time this revolution in lyricism began, musicians like Mohammed Gauss, Premasiri Kernadasa and W. D. Amaradeva began making a uniquely Sri Lankan variety of filmi music. This was followed, in the mid-1960s, by groups like Las Bambas, Humming Birds and Los Muchachos, who played calypso-style baila. This mixture of Trinidadian calypso with native baila was dominated by groups who took Mexican-derived names, owing, it is said, to a single Mexican group that played in a resort hotel. Later stars included The Moonstones, led by some of the biggest Sri Lankan superstars in history, Annesley Malewana and Clarence Wijewardene. The mid-1960s also saw the popular rise of pure Western-style pop musicians like Gabo & the Breakaways and Mignonne & the Jet Liners. The native pop-filmi music dominated the market in Sri Lanka during the late 1960s and early 1970s, but by the end of the decade, Indian film and music again became the best-selling sector of the Sri Lankan music industry.