Raja for the Road

[Sureshs65]

I am sure many of us travel long distance and Raja is a constant companion during these travels. This thread is to discuss what music of Raja you tend to listen while you travel: to office, long drives etc.

[Sureshs65]

Recently went on a trip to Silent Valley in Kerala. As usual carried a lot of Raja songs with us. My wife had a long time back taped lot of Raja songs of 70s and early 80s, which I had digitized. I also recently bought what is called a FM Modulator which lets me play from my pen drive.

On the onward drive which lasted around 8hrs or so, for 6 hrs or more we listened to the 70s and early 80s collection of Raja. These were the popular songs and not rare ones. Not a single song was forwarded and we didn't replay any song. The beauty of each song is that even when you are not fully concentrating on the song, there will be atleast one line which will hook you in and you will hum along.

On the way back we listened to the latest songs, i.e. the songs of 2009 for more than 4 hrs.

This just reinforced what we all already know. I love lot of music directors and many of their tunes I rate on par with what Raja had composed. But no one has these many 'hits', this range and depth which Raja has. I mean, think of listening only to the 'popular' songs for around 6hrs, without repeatition and you haven't crossed the early 80s yet!!! You will not get someone like him so soon in Indian Film Music.

[Sureshs65]

One very nice side effect of the Silent Valley trip was that I could meet one of the ardent fan of Raja, our own 'rajaalltheway'. He sang a few lines of 'mandiram idhu' and I could clearly see how well he knows his Raja and the deep passion he has for Raja's music.

[rajaalltheway]

I thank God for creating Raja whose music brought his majesty Suresh and his wonderful family to my home.more comrades from this forum are welcome.Only requirement is carry your Raja collections along...

[tvsankar]

Recently went on a trip to Silent Valley in Kerala. As usual carried a lot of Raja songs with us. My wife had a long time back taped lot of Raja songs of 70s and early 80s, which I had digitized. I also recently bought what is called a FM Modulator which lets me play from my pen drive.

On the onward drive which lasted around 8hrs or so, for 6 hrs or more we listened to the 70s and early 80s collection of Raja. These were the popular songs and not rare ones. Not a single song was forwarded and we didn't replay any song. The beauty of each song is that even when you are not fully concentrating on the song, there will be atleast one line which will hook you in and you will hum along.

On the way back we listened to the latest songs, i.e. the songs of 2009 for more than 4 hrs.

This just reinforced what we all already know. I love lot of music directors and many of their tunes I rate on par with what Raja had composed. But no one has these many 'hits', this range and depth which Raja has. I mean, think of listening only to the 'popular' songs for around 6hrs, without repeatition and you haven't crossed the early 80s yet!!! You will not get someone like him so soon in Indian Film Music.

Suresh,
Unga varthai ellam Nijam.

IR songs kaetundu, Long journey - Really very nice experience...
Time poradhu theiryadhu.
Thookam varadhu.
Infact, Late Night - after 12, free ya irukara Raod la
IR songs kaetundu,(IR songs kaetkum podhu - pesa maten. En kitayum yarum pesa kudadhdu .... idhu en subavam.)

Enna enna songs kaeteenga.. Songs name sollunga Suresh.

Ennoda picks - Late night joruney ku - IR oda soft songs romba nalla irukum.

SPB - IR - MP3 - 8 hours long Night journey..

Time ponadhu theriyavilai. OOr vandhadhum theiryavilai.

Apadi oru Fresh Journey aga irundhadhu.

[Vivasaayi]

All raja melodies are great on a road.

One of my recent experiences is listening to "Putham pudhu kaalai" in a raining Kerala road - pure Bilss.



What an experience it was!

[Sureshs65]

Recalling two more trips I had with Raja.

First one was a mundane trip from Bangalore to Chennai by car. The mundane turned magical due to Raja. My wife had got some amazing songs taped only then and we were listening to these songs after a long time. How can a journey not be good when songs like 'metti oli', 'sanga kavigal', 'akkarai seemai', 'uravugal thodarkathai', 'thalatu pillai ennai thalatu', 'pani vizhum malar vanam' , 'chinna kannan' ,etc, accompany you!!!

The second experience had me cursing Raja. Travelling by bus from Hyderabad to Bangalore I started listening to Raja's Malayalam songs, mainly 90s and early 2000 numbers. I kept postponing my sleep and finally went to sleep at around 4am or later. It took me a couple of days to recover from this trip.

[app_engine]

Like I mentioned in another thread, during our recent trip, had to listen to booze irukkudhu of vAlmeeki some 30 times or so

Nowadays it's not so much of a free hand for me with such other "competing" interests. My son has his own preferences (mostly engilees) which are to be accommodated as well.

It's usually early IR numbers when the kids sleep off moondRam piRai, mudhal mariyAdhai, kadalOrakkavidhaikaL kind of songs are such a great company for long drives (some will be repeated many times).

[app_engine]

All said, no listening experience in the car can equal those bus journeys in TN when you're at the mercy of the driver / conductor.

Like I said earlier, rain is always more thrilling than the bath room shower

[Sureshs65]

app_eng,

Nothing like a bit of rain to enliven a journey and listening to songs in such atmosphere is as close to heaven as you can get. Remember one such ride in the ghats near Sringeri, lot of greenery all around and light drizzle and low light.

And yes, competing interest do exist and I have heard lot of 'engleesh' latest hits as well Nowadays I give the mp3 player to my kids to listen to their English songs and spare me the trouble Worked well this time!!