(born September 5, 1952) is a South African multi-instrumentalist of Malay descent, who has performed as both a drummer, and a guitarist. He gained fame as an actor in the comedic television movie, All You Need Is Cash, a spoof on the actual history of The Beatles, and for his performance as a member of The Beach Boys. Fataar may also be recognized for his contributions as a record producer, and has worked on projects scoring music to film and television.

Music career

The Flames

Fataar’s first childhood band was The Flames, a band from his birthplace of Duban, South Africa that began in 1963. He joined the band at the age of nine. The band made several recordings as well as touring all over Southern Africa and before long they became quite popular in South Africa. By the time he was twelve years old he had already won the honour of being voted as the “Best Rock Drummer in South Africa.”

In 1968 the band moved to London and began touring in the United Kingdom. On one of their tours, they were spotted by a member of The Beach Boys, Carl Wilson. He was impressed by their talent and offered to sign them to the Beach Boys new record label, Brother Records. The band moved to Los Angeles, and they recorded and released their 1970 album The Flame with Carl Wilson producing the album.

Beach Boys

The Flames dissolved in late 1970. Fataar and his fellow former Flame bandmate Blondie Chaplin were recruited by the Beach Boys, in 1971. Fataar was asked to play drums for the band after drummer Dennis Wilson suffered a debilitating hand accident. The duo recorded two albums with the Beach Boys, and began touring with them in 1970. The 1972 Beach Boys album Carl and the Passions – “So Tough” featured musical and vocal contributions from Chaplin and Fataar. It also included two songs written by the duo, “Here She Comes” and “Hold On Dear Brother”. On the band’s next album, Holland, released a year later, both musicians recorded, and provided backing vocals, including the hit single “Sail On, Sailor”, on which Chaplin sang as lead vocalist. They additionally collaborated with Carl Wilson and Mike Love on the song “Leaving This Town”. 1973 saw the first live album The Beach Boys in Concert, upon which Fataar performed. It featured a live version of the previously unreleased Chaplin/Fataar/Love collaboration “We Got Love”, which was originally intended to be released on the Holland album, but was considered too weak a song to be included at that time.

Rutles

In 1978, Fataar starred in All You Need Is Cash, a mockumentary film known more commonly as “The Rutles“, a spoof on the real life history of The Beatles, which had a follow up to a Saturday Night Live television sketch, which is a popular comedy show in the United States. His character was Stig O’Hara, the band’s guitarist, (analogous to George Harrison). He has no speaking part in the film, and indeed he is sent up as “the quiet one” in it.