ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the use of Eastern cultural and musical influences by popular musicians in the West during the late 1960s. It argues that interpretations were based on an Orientalist understanding of the East which constructed an exotic and mythical notion of an imaginary 'India' that has dominated Western understanding of Asian music. The chapter considers the production and consumption of Asian music through the genres of world music and bhangra. It focuses on how stereotypes of Asianness have affected both the financial success of the former and the failure of the latter to cross over into the popular mainstream. The chapter examines the historical terrain over which these stereotypes have been asserted, developed and contested. The rise of Asian bands, mirrored by the revival of Asian influences on popular rock and dance genres, has occurred despite a number of negative and reductive stereotypes of Asian culture and identity which are highly resilient and often have deep historical roots.
