The Golden Era of Dr.IR and Dr.SPB

[app_engine]

#238 கண்ணோடு கண்ணான என் கண்ணா
(சிப்பிக்குள் முத்து, 1986 , ஜானகியுடன்)

Very sweet singing by SPB! rAsA in playful mood with that solo violin (that almost sounds like kottAnguchchi violin) He also indulges in his lovely chords + signature tabla rhythm but switches to sweet mridh stuff / country drums here and there making the song palatable to those with a taste for rAsA-brand-TN-folk songs. SJ sounds sweet when she sings for Radhika but irritates when singing for the boy

Overall a nice, enjoyable song! I've never had any song other than lAlee lAlee in my personal recordings but frequently heard this number in a variety of places / settings. One such was in the marriage of a co-worker in a village between Palakkad & Pollachi (near Chithoor) and was quite amused because it was not so common in that area to hear movie songs in marriage functions (very much part of the TN culture but not seen so much in Kerala, even in Palakkad district). Also, unlike childhood when any song got played in marriages the corresponding movie scene never popped up in mind, nowadays I was conscious of the proceedings going on in the function and felt how they are totally not connected to the movie scene (that popped up in mind) and was often amused

Now, moving to Cbe, I'm reminded of the x-cut road of 80's. It used to be crowded from the Gowri Shankar on the entrance to the Singapore Plaza that al_gates talked about but will suddenly be without much pavement walkers after that and there won't be much crowd till vada kOvai. There used to be a railway gate near the end of x-cut road close to vadakOvai (& close to the vadakovai rly station) which was such a big irritant for bus travellers those days. (The businesses around that place had strong ADMK connections and stalled the flyover project all the days that MGR ruled / lived).

Anyways, there was this Lakshmi Complex in the middle of the crowded part of the road, a great place that I visited umpteen number of times during bachelor days (remember, after a > 1 hour bus ride from Palakkad, a town in another state). Ofcourse, AnnapoornA Gowrishankar (and the "colorful crowd" in the complex) was one of the reasons. There were a couple of rabbits that played around in the lawn in the middle of the complex, which was a nice watch as well. But the primary reason was, ofcourse, cassette shops & the sweet music that got played by them that filled the air around! It was such a great thing for me (and I at times tortured my friends / collegues who weren't that much into TFM appreciation but had to hang around with me but they didn't complain as there were enough of the "other attraction" anyways). Almost all of those rAsA sweeties of 1986-1990 were thorougly enjoyed by me in the first floor of lachchumi complex on many evenings! Also, during that whole period (and even years afterwards), that was the place for me to buy "towels" (thOLil pOda illai, kuLichchuthukkappuRam thuvatta) that were supposedly of "export kwality" in the shop next to the restaurant!

If I'm correct, that restaurant in the complex was the smallest of theirs but extremely crowded & extra clean. At times one could watch families ordering the "family masAl dOsai" - a huge one that was from end to end of the table and everyone eating a portion. (Can someone from NJ / CA or Chicago / Atlanta areas confirm if any of the Indian restaurants do similar stuff anywhere in the USA?)

[app_engine]

#239 தர்மம் சரணம் கச்சாமி

மற்றும்

பட்டுச்சேலை தரேனுன்னு
(சிப்பிக்குள் முத்து, 1986 , ஷைலஜாவுடன்)

It's funny to listen to the peculiar concoction of the Buddhist word (kachchAmi), filmy-Muslim-song-sounds (tontoing tontoing at the end of each beat cycle) & kottAkguchchi violin sound rAsA was obviously in a very playful mood when doing this number. Ofcourse, the scene in the movie is not at all playful but made me cry.

Also, though the pattuchchElai number often got played because it was part of the package, I don't think it merits a separate post in its own right. (OTOH, such short numbers in BR films always created stronger impressions - like darisanam kidaikkAdhA, vizhiyil vizhundhu, Eh kiLiyirukku, ERAdha malai mElE, Eh kuruvi, dAs dAs chinnappa dAs dAs etc, none of which had SPB).

I don't remember listening to the sOga version of lAlee lAlee before on cassettes or other broadcasts. But it does have SPB However, since it's not the primary version of the number (i.e. in my books), it won't have a separate post here. rAsA had made his typical instrumental adjustments to bring the sOga mood to the song and SPB & PS exhibit the needed emotions as usual.

As a 'sElai' song is featured, I'm reminded of another connection to the x-cut road, the "authorised Garden a/c showroom" from which I got my first-ever-purchase-for-sis. It was after this that I noticed that my mom, her sisters & my sisters freely exchanged their sarees with each other (The same thing happens with my wife, her sisters & mom as well, even though each of them have 100's of sarees). I'm totally confused about this general behaviour among saree-wearing-women as I never liked to "share" another person's dresses ever. (Note : This doesn't mean 'handing down' of clothes. My ever-getting-tall-cousin's clothes were handed down to me during school days and they were my favourites. Same happened with mine to younger ones -nowadays, even my son sometimes grabs some shirts / pants of mine. However, these are on "non-returnable" basis and permanent transfers.)

The "borrow-for-one-day-one-wedding-one-function-thing" that is common with saree-wearing-women is another cultural facet of TN!

[app_engine]

With that post, we come to the end of swAthi muthyam songs ( we still need to get detailed posts from Plum & V_S on all the songs). And for the sake of a-song-a-day, we are covered till Dec-25 (Sun).

One more song is due for today

[app_engine]

#240 பொன்னி நதி
(முதல் வசந்தம், 1986 , இது ராசா எப்போ போட்ட பாட்டு?)

groucho had asked about the real timing of this song sometime back. Since this is a lazy afternoon with everyone on siesta allowing me hub-time (here in my sis' home in upstate NY), tried to do some googling / careful listen etc. I have heard this song a few times on buses etc before but never paid a close listen like today. I'm more or less sure this must be from late 70's, sounding more GKV-ish (even MSV-ish) or north-indianish in orchestral arrangements. Definitely not the full-blown rAsA style of 1986 (one even hears bongos in the start of the saraNam - something very untypical of later-day-rAsA.)

Ofcourse, the 'ARu athu Azham illa' of the same movie is his agmark later-80's style. So, it was tailor-made for the Manivannan movie without any doubt. (Per Sureshji's post on another thread, it was a special kind of inspiration from some old Hindi song). The MV song kuyilukkoru niRamirukku is likewise a definite 1986 product, going by the sounds of MV's voice. Same goes with SJ's summA thodavum mAttEn which appears to be tailor-made.

However, as known from the history, Manivannan had the practice of "buying" songs from unreleased movies (the well-known numbers being sOlai pushpangaLE & vadakkuththeru vaNNakkiLi of 'oomai veyil' that were used for 'ingEyum oru gangai'). Going by that history, ponni nadhi must have been a bought out number, even though the source is still to be unearthed. SPB voice sounds 70's. Interestingly, the SJ number from the same movie mAnAdakkodi must also be a bought-out song from late-70's or early-80's from an unreleased movie as the song had orchestration from the 'muLLum malarum' 1978 era. You cannot judge from SJ's voice, however, as she was a master in hiding age for the most part of her career with IR (i.e. from 1976 to 1991).

So, if someone who followed rAsA's unreleased outputs more closely and knows about the origin of ponni nadhi, please post

[genesis]

#240 பொன்னி நதி
(முதல் வசந்தம், 1986 , இது ராசா எப்போ போட்ட பாட்டு?)

groucho had asked about the real timing of this song sometime back. Since this is a lazy afternoon with everyone on siesta allowing me hub-time (here in my sis' home in upstate NY), tried to do some googling / careful listen etc. I have heard this song a few times on buses etc before but never paid a close listen like today. I'm more or less sure this must be from late 70's, sounding more GKV-ish (even MSV-ish) or north-indianish in orchestral arrangements. Definitely not the full-blown rAsA style of 1986 (one even hears bongos in the start of the saraNam - something very untypical of later-day-rAsA.)

Ofcourse, the 'ARu athu Azham illa' of the same movie is his agmark later-80's style. So, it was tailor-made for the Manivannan movie without any doubt. (Per Sureshji's post on another thread, it was a special kind of inspiration from some old Hindi song). The MV song kuyilukkoru niRamirukku is likewise a definite 1986 product, going by the sounds of MV's voice. Same goes with SJ's summA thodavum mAttEn which appears to be tailor-made.

However, as known from the history, Manivannan had the practice of "buying" songs from unreleased movies (the well-known numbers being sOlai pushpangaLE & vadakkuththeru vaNNakkiLi of 'oomai veyil' that were used for 'ingEyum oru gangai'). Going by that history, ponni nadhi must have been a bought out number, even though the source is still to be unearthed. SPB voice sounds 70's. Interestingly, the SJ number from the same movie mAnAdakkodi must also be a bought-out song from late-70's or early-80's from an unreleased movie as the song had orchestration from the 'muLLum malarum' 1978 era. You cannot judge from SJ's voice, however, as she was a master in hiding age for the most part of her career with IR (i.e. from 1976 to 1991).

So, if someone who followed rAsA's unreleased outputs more closely and knows about the origin of ponni nadhi, please post

கலக்கல் analysis தலைவா!! I always had difficulty associating these 2 songs with Madhal Vasantham, despite the fact I watched this movie in 1985/1986 in Namakkal (for Satyaraj - his encounter with "ghost" is one of the funniest part. He does "கன்னி சாந்தி" to the ghost). I am not sure about GK/MSV association, but the second part of first interlude from this song reminds me a lot about "madaprave vaa" from Madanoalsavam (MD:Salil Choudhary, 1978).

[groucho070]

Thanks for taking your time to do some research, app. Plum too said that this is hardly Raja's song. The opening violin is not Raja at all, and yes, the bongo is 70s, mono sound. Damn, if someone can come clean with some knowledge of where this song came from, and from whom....

[PARAMASHIVAN]

App anna

So sorry to hear about your chithappa

[Plum]

I kind of lost steam on Swathi Muthyam and since I believe in our man's philosophy that you either do something spontaneously, or not at all, couldn't manufacture a post on Manasu mayangum. But there is - apologies to genesis - my usual "telugu pride" to show case and just wanted to capture one comparison: the pallavi in tamil and telugu - I think the telugu version is awesome. Here are the lines: Tamil: **** manasu mayangum mouna geetham paaaaaduuuuu...****Telugu:**** manasu palike mouna geetham neevEeee...**** telugu in my biased ears is sweeter and has the perfect phrase for the tune. I think from geetham to neevE is a smoother transition than geetham to paadu. Plus, what the telugu lyrics say: "thou art the silent symphony spoken by my heart" as opposed to "sing a silent symphony that will capture my heart" in tamil. This is ok - each has its own charm. Next line: Tamil: manmadha kadalil chippikkul muththu thEdu is nowhere before "mamathalolikE swathi muthyam neevee". The perils of dubbing as usual.

[PARAMASHIVAN]

telugu in my biased ears is sweeter and has the perfect phrase for the tune. I think from geetham to neevE is a smoother transition than geetham to paadu.

Ithuku thaana "sunthara teluginil paatisaithu " nu TMS paadinar ?

[Plum]

Amaamam TMS paadinaar, Kannadasan paattu adhu