Publication Date: Friday Oct 17, 1997

Dancing with a little green man

From George Clinton's Mothership to Blondie's new wave disco, space odysseys have long been part of dance music's repertoire. And so Palo Alto singer-songwriter Anu Deshpande is dancing in good company when she sings about an encounter with a little green man from Pluto in her single "Wiggle It."

"I guess I must have been feeling silly," Deshpande said. "I was feeling tired of writing about love and romance. I wanted to write something just for the fun of it."

The push is on to get Deshpande's danceable space tale, as well as her other tunes, to listeners. Her album, also titled "Wiggle It," was released last month. Furthermore, she is currently editing an video for her single. And she'll have two more singles out early next year, one a cover of the old Spinners hit "It's a Shame."

Although "Wiggle It" is her debut American pop album, Deshpande, 28, is no stranger to the performance industry. Her first album, "Baarish," which means "Rain," came out in 1994 in India, where Deshpande was born. She has also made a guest appearance for MTV Asia.

"I was always interested in music as long as I can remember," she said. "Music is in the family."

Both her parents play various traditional Indian instruments. Her mom has acted in several large Indian productions in the states as well.

"There was either always a concert to go to on weekends, or parties, where people were flown in to perform at," she remembered.

Born in India, Deshpande's family moved to Germany when she was 11 months old. Eight years later, they moved to the United States. After graduating from the University of Maryland with a degree in computer science, Deshpande moved west--and settled in Palo Alto where she works at Visigenic Software.

With a background in Hindi music, and now making a first attempt at pop, Deshpande says her inspirations are as varied as her songs.

"I like to spend a lot of time thinking about my feelings," she said. "My thoughts are what inspires me. It's a combination of things, the people we're surrounded with, the environment, a passion for music."

But, she adds, "I really dig the music of Prince."

Anyone interested in catching Deshpande's next show can drop by Bobby McGee's restaurant and nightclub, 150 Anza Blvd., in Burlingame on Saturday, Oct. 24.



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